China Draws Maximum Attention as Support Stronghold, Innovation Springboard for SAP

SAP NEWSBYTE - In a move to strengthening its commitment in China, SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) announced today that it is expanding its premium, on-site support services, SAP® MaxAttention™, to specifically address the needs of large companies operating in the Chinese market. To guide the program in direct proximity to top customers, Dr. Uwe Hommel, corporate officer, executive vice president and head of SAP Active Global Support, is relocating to Beijing. Working from SAP China’s headquarters effective August 1, 2011, Hommel will continue to lead the company’s global customer support organization.

In offering SAP MaxAttention services custom-tailored for business in China, SAP’s largest Chinese customers stand to gain from deeper, closer and long-term support in co-designing and applying new technologies that meet their ever-changing industry demands. The program helps companies better manage growth and globalization, working closely with on-site SAP experts to deploy best practices and proven software solutions used by the world’s best-run businesses.

The move also bears potential benefits for larger global SAP customers among the Fortune 1000, many of which make significant investments in the Chinese market. It also benefits the company itself: SAP’s large customers are often times the pioneers, proving grounds, and strongest proponents of its breakthrough technologies, such as its new lines of mobile, on-demand and in-memory computing applications.

“In the global business IT industry, SAP is driving a fundamental new wave of innovation,” said Uwe Hommel. “In having maximum attention on China’s specific market requirements, and working even more closely with the largest, most influential local companies, we create a springboard to bring this transformational power to a market still in an early, formative stage. In high-growth areas such as enterprise mobility and breakthroughs such as in-memory computing, the country, its companies and its people will play a key role in spearheading the next phase of global innovation.”

Today with more than 3,900 customers in China – 95 percent of which are local companies – SAP China was founded in Beijing in 1995. Together with its offices in Shanghai, Guangzhou and various cities throughout China, the company’s Chinese subsidiary has more than 2,500 employees.

“Chinese enterprises are starting to accept the concept of services as part of IT investments, and SAP MaxAttention can help them achieve uninterrupted business growth in the fast-moving world,” said Hera Siu, president of SAP China. “We are committed to helping our customers in China become the best-run businesses. But this cannot be achieved without an in-depth understanding of our customers, as we strive to create value for our customers. Mr. Hommel’s relocation marks an important step in regards to SAP’s service offerings. He will lead the team to collaborate with customers, delivering localized services based on global best practices.”

For more information, visit http://www.sap.com/maxattention. Follow SAP on Twitter at @sapnews.