NICE, France, May 3, 1999 — Microsoft Corp. and SAP AG, the world’s leading provider of enterprise business solutions, today announced at SAPPHIRE® ’99 Nice that they intend to interconnect Microsoft® MSN
™
and the mySAP.com
™
portal through the Microsoft BizTalk
™
framework and SAP Business Framework
™
, enabling SAP customers to take advantage of a wide array of business and personal services provided by the two companies.
In addition, the two companies reaffirmed their commitment to collaborating on the design and deployment of the Microsoft BizTalk technology framework and SAP Business Framework to enable and accelerate collaborative customer segments. This announcement was made in conjunction with the newly introduced mySAP.com Internet business strategy to create and facilitate dynamic business relationships. Microsoft and SAP have already begun defining BizTalk and SAP Business Framework schemas for exchanging product catalog information and business documents between trading companies. The specification that is created will be used to integrate the SAP Business-to-Business Procurement
™
(SAP B2B
™
) solution and Microsoft Commerce Server.
“Microsoft and SAP have worked together for many years to develop products and technologies that benefit our mutual customers,”
said Bob Herbold, executive vice president and COO at Microsoft.
“By combining SAP’s substantial business process expertise with Microsoft’s leading-edge commerce products, we are enabling Internet business solutions for small and large businesses alike and creating the opportunity to quickly and effectively implement commerce solutions.”
“Through mySAP.com Internet offerings, SAP is able to drive the emergence of collaborative customer segments, allowing businesses to work more closely together and communicate easily without the traditional barriers,”
said Hasso Plattner, co-chairman and CEO of SAP AG.
“In addition, SAP’s close relationship with Microsoft ensures that SAP’s Internet solutions will work seamlessly on the Microsoft platform for businesses of all sizes.”
About BizTalk
Introduced in March, BizTalk is a new cross-platform e-commerce framework that makes it easy for businesses to integrate applications and conduct business over the Internet with trading partners and customers. The BizTalk framework is based on new Extensible Markup Language (XML) schema and industry standards that enable integration across industries and between business systems, regardless of platform, operating system or underlying technology. The newly created XML specification will provide streamlined, accelerated and easy-to-use business processes and eliminate current system boundaries, help companies create more online business, and increase the opportunity to communicate and cooperate with other companies.
About SAP Business Framework
The SAP Business Framework is an integrated, open, component-based product architecture that encompasses SAP
™R/3® enterprise applications, third-party products and e-commerce standards. SAP Business Framework provides SAP customers with simplified systems upgrade and maintenance, interoperability with partners, R/3, legacy systems, customer-specific and third-party solutions, and a flexible Web-enabled platform enabling continual change.
About SAP
SAP, the world’s largest enterprise software company, provides companies of all sizes with business solutions that deliver A Better Return on Information SM . SAP products and services integrate an organization from financials and human resources to manufacturing and sales and distribution. This integration enables companies to optimize supply chains, strengthen customer relationships, and make more accurate management decisions. Founded in 1972, SAP today leverages a global network of people, processes and products to assure customer success. SAP is listed on several exchanges including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE under the symbol
“SAP.”
The SAP World Wide Web site can be found at http://www.sap.com .
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.
Microsoft and MSN are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
SAP, SAPPHIRE, mySAP.com, SAP Business Framework, SAP Business-to-Business Procurement, SAP B2B and all SAP product names referenced herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG.
Other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
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