Questra Among First Software Vendors To Participate in New SAP Co-Innovation Lab

Questra Corporation, the leader in Intelligent Device Management (IDM), has announced that it is among the first Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) to sign on to initiate projects in the SAP Co-Innovation Lab announced by SAP AG yesterday. Questra will collaborate with SAP, other SAP partners, and equipment manufacturers on enterprise solutions built upon Service-Oriented Architecture (Enterprise SOA) to transform four key business processes: service handling, software management, pricing and ordering, and content delivery. The company also will test and demonstrate joint solutions in the Lab’s heterogeneous, open IT systems environment, which simulates real-world enterprise data centers, including performance and security requirements for web-based applications.

“The SAP Co-Innovation Lab demonstrates the power of the SAP ecosystem to engage customers and partners - such as Questra - in joint collaboration,” said Zia Yusuf, executive vice president, Global Ecosystem and Partner Group, SAP. “We look forward to fostering this laboratory as a trail-blazing experiment in the exchange of ideas and the joint development of the next generation of innovations that customers need to run their businesses successfully.”

Questra currently offers the Enterprise SOA-enabled Questra RemoteService™ Solution, which allows equipment manufacturers to develop sophisticated, new business processes. An SAP-Endorsed Business Solution, Questra RemoteService delivers relevant device performance data — directly from monitored devices without manual intervention — and all IDM functionality as industry-standard web services. This guarantees data integrity and seamless integration with business applications across software platforms. By combining device performance data with other business application data, manufacturers and end customers can leverage existing investments to increase productivity and revenues. Questra’s IDM applications are powered by SAP NetWeaver® and seamlessly integrate with SAP® Service and Asset Management, the SAP application for after-sales service management based on SAP® ERP and SAP® Customer Relationship Management (SAP CRM).

Working with SAP, other SAP partners, and equipment manufacturers in the SAP Co-Innovation Lab, Questra will develop solutions based on current and future technologies that transform business processes across the manufacturing enterprise. Companies that deploy IDM-based solutions will dynamically change four key business processes:


1. Service handling will be transformed through the remote monitoring and management of devices installed at customer locations. IDM provides more efficient and effective service, lower service costs, greater customer loyalty, and new revenue opportunities.

2. Software management will be transformed through automation. IDM improves the efficiency and reliability of remote software delivery, updates, and trials. It also increases regulatory compliance by providing accurate records of the changes made to customer devices.

3. Pricing and ordering will be transformed through usage monitoring. IDM enables manufacturers to offer usage-based pricing and proactive ordering of consumables as well as automated, accurate parts and inventory management.

4. Perhaps the greatest business process transformation enabled by IDM will be in content delivery. By delivering business information that their customers can use to streamline operations and improve performance, productivity, and profitability, equipment manufacturers transform themselves from product vendors into business partners.


“SAP deserves to be recognized for their leadership in fostering innovative collaboration between SAP, ISVs like Questra, and mutual customers such as equipment manufacturers,” said Emil Wang, president and CEO at Questra. “This collaboration will expedite the creation of technically excellent solutions with tremendous business value, increasing competitive advantage and improving efficiencies through the transformation of business processes and networks. Questra is honored to be among the first software companies to initiate projects at the Lab.”