SAP and Sharp Form Global Partnership to Deliver Mobile Solutions for Business
SAP AG and Sharp Corporation announced an agreement to partner in technology development and marketing for mobile solutions for corporate users. In recent years, demand has been increasing for business applications that can be used not only on wirebound office systems, but also in the wireless mobile environment. This is particularly true for CRM systems intended for mobile workers, such as sales personnel and service technicians who work outside of the office. In the past, laptop computers have been used to handle such advanced services, but calls are growing louder for the ability to use compact, lightweight and nimble mobile terminal devices for this purpose.
To respond to such strong market demands, SAP and Sharp will jointly promote mobile solutions for corporate users which are expected to see rapidly growing demand in the future. Specifically, Sharp will develop the software and handheld terminal devices forSAP’s mobile applications and platforms. The two companies will expand their promotional efforts to build optimized mobile solution systems and distribute them widely.
As a first step, SAP Japan and Sharp will launch cooperative efforts in the Japanese market. Various SAP mobile applications such as mobile sales and mobile service will be mounted on the Zaurus SL-C760 and SL-C750, which are equipped with high-resolution SystemLCDs and run under the Linuxｮ OS, an open development environment. On this basis, the two companies will jointly develop end-to-end mobile solution systems suitable for SAP’s corporate customers and will offer solutions enabling them to download into the Zaurus the business-critical analysis and graph data from customer and product databases residing on office systems and utilize the information in the off-line environment. Users will also be able to use the Zaurus to gain seamless access to the SAP applications in the online environment taking full advantage of wireless networks.
From now on, the two companies plan the development of mobile solutions terminals such as mobile personal computers and mobile phones in addition to Zaurus, and will work on creating new demand. In addition, corporate users, for whom enterprise mobility is a necessity, are expected to reach 17 million worldwide and 1.2 million in the Japanese market alone, and represent a huge reservoir of potential demand. In light of this fact, the two companies are laying plans for future expansion of their joint business activitiesinto overseas markets, including North America, Europe, and Asia, after the success of the initial launch in Japan, where the mobile wireless infrastructure environment is the world’s most advanced.