Aquarion Water Company Taps SAP to Transform Enterprise IT Systems

U.S. Top-Ten Ranking Water Utility Selects mySAP™

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - April 25, 2006 - SAP America, Inc., a subsidiary of SAP AG (NYSE: SAP), today announced that Aquarion Water Company, the largest investor-owned water utility in New England and among the ten largest in the United States, has selected SAP software to support NextGen, the water utility’s enterprise-wide IT transformation project. NextGen will see the replacement of the company’s disparate legacy systems to create a strategic foundation for business efficiency and future growth. Aquarion will use applications from mySAP™ Business Suite and the SAP® for Utilities solution portfolio to fuel its entire enterprise with the goal of improving capital and operating efficiency, enhancing the quality of customer service and improving the effectiveness of managerial reporting.

Aquarion has begun its SAP implementation and expects to finish the project later this year. As the primary water provider for approximately 215,000 customers or more than 714,000 people in 53 cities and towns, the company conducted a comprehensive analysis of its core business processes to identify opportunities for improved service efficiency and effectiveness.

Aquarion President and CEO Charles V. Firlotte, together with Vice President of Operations and Technology Howard J. Dunn, identified four key areas for transformation—improving the quality of customer service; streamlining core business processes such as financials and human resources; making better use of capital expenditures; and increasing the sharing of information across the organization. After an extensive competitive review process, Aquarion chose SAP over other utility point-solution providers to power this company-wide transformation.

“This project is incredibly exciting and crucial,” said Firlotte. “The complexity of this initiative surpasses any other since Aquarion’s founding in 1857, as it will take us well into the next generation as we continue to enhance our efficiency and service delivery.”

Through the rollout of project NextGen, building on SAP applications, Aquarion expects to:

* Improve work efficiencies -- manage capital and maintenance jobs more efficiently and effectively by implementing an integrated business system that enhances communication between the office and the field
* Improve customer service -- improve service call response time and on-time delivery of water services by standardizing key managerial and administrative functions across all departments
* Increase financial viability -- more accurately report and forecast revenue, and ensure that capital is being spent optimally on utility infrastructure with real-time visibility into budgets, expenditures and business revenue
* Provide a foundation for future growth -- be more adaptable to ever-increasing customer demands by reducing the complexity of business processes

“SAP is committed to working alongside Aquarion as it seeks to transform into a next-generation utility company—optimizing processes to reach today’s business needs and turning tomorrow’s business hurdles into profitable market opportunities,” said Klaus Heimann, senior vice president and head of Utilities, SAP. “SAP has the deepest industry insight, best business practices and strongest vision to help Aquarion transform its IT structure to drive open, future-ready, industry-oriented business processes.”

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About SAP for Utilities
SAP for Utilities is a set of state-of-the-art software solutions that helps electric, gas and water utilities of all sizes in regulated, transitioning or deregulated markets sharpen customer focus while increasing flexibility, productivity and profitability. With 950 utility customers in 70 countries, SAP offers what no other solution provider can: end-to-end management of all critical business processes to help utilities gain enterprise-wide visibility for better decision-making and quick responsiveness to market demands. SAP for Utilities enables customer-centric and asset-centric strategies across core processes such as enterprise asset management, customer financial management, billing and settlements, energy data management; and energy sales and services. Based on the open architecture of the SAP NetWeaver® platform, SAP for Utilities helps companies integrate third-party systems to better collaborate with partners, quickly adapt business processes and extend operational excellence into the field with SAP® solutions for mobile business. (Additional information at www.sap.com/industries/utilities/)

About SAP
SAP is the world’s leading provider of business software*. Today, more than 33,200 customers in more than 120 countries run SAP® applications—from distinct solutions addressing the needs of small and midsize enterprises to suite offerings for global organizations. Powered by the SAP NetWeaver® platform to drive innovation and enable business change, SAP software helps enterprises of all sizes around the world improve customer relationships, enhance partner collaboration and create efficiencies across their supply chains and business operations. SAP solution portfolios support the unique business processes of more than 25 industries, including high tech, retail, financial services, healthcare and the public sector. With subsidiaries in more than 50 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges, including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE under the symbol “SAP.” (Additional information http://www.sap.com)

(*) SAP defines business software as comprising enterprise resource planning and related applications such as supply chain management, customer relationship management, product life-cycle management and supplier relationship management.

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