SAP Empowers Partners to Better Reach Global Small Businesses

Enhanced SAP PartnerEdge Program Offers Framework for Global Collaboration and Individual Support

WALLDORF, Germany .- In a move to further empower its global network of SAP® Business One software solution partners, SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) today announced that partners that serve small businesses now have access to streamlined global solution partner agreements, enabling them to expand their market reach to SAP’s fast-growing customer base of over 15,800 small businesses worldwide. SAP said that new marketing and sales support have been added to its successful SAP® PartnerEdge™ program, which provides a best-in-class approach for supporting software solution and reselling partners by leveraging a collaborative selling model and a micro-vertical product strategy around SAP Business One.

Also available to software solution partners are enhanced sales and marketing enablement tools, including increased customer visibility through an online solution catalog, new implementation methodologies and access to the SAP PartnerEdge P2P Network, an online community that allows software solution partners and resellers to collaborate and meet specialized customer needs, while expanding their global business reach. This micro-vertical approach allows SAP and its partners to launch fully integrated solutions that address specific customer requirements. These solutions include not only actual business capabilities, but detailed implementation guidance and support methodologies.

“The new benefits in SAP PartnerEdge help us tremendously by authorizing partners to sell in multiple markets internationally while simultaneously providing a comprehensive toolset for developing and marketing our offerings within new markets,” said Mark Loveys, CEO of Enprise Solutions Ltd., a founding SAP Business One partner.

Qualifying for SAP PartnerEdge
The SAP PartnerEdge program includes a qualification process for software solution partners, ensuring they meet rigorous requirements in traditional areas such as development, localization and translation, as well as the provision of adequate sales and product support, before making the solutions available in additional countries. This thorough process ensures that partner solutions smoothly integrate with SAP® Business One, contributing to high customer satisfaction.

To reflect the close nature of the partner relationship between SAP and the solution partners for SAP Business One, SAP has changed its partner designation to “software solution partner” from “independent software vendor.” In addition, SAP is launching a new designation for qualified micro-vertical solutions: Products carrying the “Enabled by SAP® Business One” have passed SAP’s micro-vertical solution process and are offered by partners as part of SAP’s comprehensive go-to-market strategy. SAP is working with partners such as Acellos (Canada), be.as (Germany), CitiXSys (India), Coresystems (Switzerland), Enprise (New Zealand), SoftBrands (USA), Trimergo (Netherlands) and Xioma (Israel) to provide the first group of such micro-vertical solutions.

“The program provides a strong foundation for co-innovation within our partner network,” said Ralf Mehnert-Meland, global director Software Solution Partners, SAP Business One.