WALLDORF, Germany, and REDMOND, Wash., Jan. 13, 1999 — SAP AG (NYSE ADR: SAP) and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) today announced the immediate availability of SAP
™R/3® on Microsoft’s new enterprise database software, SQL Server 7.0. Both companies signed a new worldwide licensing agreement, which allows SAP to distribute the Microsoft SQL Server database directly to SAP customers. Through its improvements in database response and run times, SQL Server 7.0 represents an easy-to-implement solution that enhances SAP customers’ return on information.
Five SAP customers, Applied Automation Inc., Bitburger Brewery, Lyondell-Equistar Petrochemicals Co., Pennzoil Co. and Microsoft, are already productive with their R/3 solutions running on SQL Server 7.0 and are realizing enhanced database reliability, scalability, performance and ease of use. In addition, more than 100 SAP customers have started to deploy SQL Server 7.0.
“As a result of our extensive testing and development efforts with Microsoft, we are pleased to offer our customers immediate support for Microsoft SQL Server 7.0,” said Karl-Heinz Hess, executive vice president of systems technology development and member of the SAP AG extended executive board. “Microsoft’s powerful database fits customer requirements ranging from desktop to enterprise solutions. With the new reseller agreement, SAP customers can now obtain R/3 and SQL Server 7.0 directly through SAP.”
Benefits to SAP Customers
Among its enhancements, Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 offers greater scalability and reliability, improved performance and unprecedented ease of use. Features such as Dynamic Row Level Locking and the new Query Optimizer provide SAP customers with enhanced ability to deploy highly scalable R/3 solutions with increased data volumes and thousands of users. In conjunction with Microsoft, SAP has also created tools to allow customers of SAP R/3 to quickly and easily upgrade from previous versions of Microsoft SQL Server.
“SAP has vast experience in satisfying customers with enterprise business software, and is now a leading supporter of SQL Server 7.0,” said Steve Ballmer, president, Microsoft. “In addition to our joint efforts in testing SQL Server 7.0 with R/3, SAP and Microsoft have now closed a licensing agreement which will make it much easier for our joint customers to deploy R/3 on SQL Server.”
Customer Results
Over the past two years, SAP Basis developers worked on site with the Microsoft SQL Server development team to ensure readiness of SQL Server 7.0 for R/3. SAP and Microsoft developers ran rigorous tests in the beta phase using actual R/3 customer data. These development and test efforts allowed database conversions of several productive R/3 solutions to SQL Server 7.0 with very positive results.
Pennzoil is one customer that has relied on Microsoft and its strong alliance with SAP to ensure that its requirements were met and the conversion went as smoothly as possible. “Microsoft and SAP did extensive testing with SQL Server 7.0 and SAP R/3, and the result reflected this,” said Britt Mayo, CIO for Pennzoil. “Since migrating to SQL Server 7.0, the R/3 System at Pennzoil has been stable and reliable, and our users appreciate the substantial improvements in response and run times.”
Bitburger Brewery has also noted similar success with its R/3 solution on Microsoft SQL Server 7.0. “Since migrating to SQL Server 7.0, we have not had a single technical problem nor any downtime with our R/3 installation,” said Hans Werner Rolinger, IT manager at Bitburger Brewery. “But best of all, our users are enthusiastic about the dramatic improvements in response and run times.”
Today, more than 50 percent of new SAP customers select Microsoft Windows NT, with more than 1,300 customer installations running Microsoft SQL Server with R/3. Recent SAP initiatives created to speed implementations for SAP customers – including Accelerated SAP
™
, SAP Accelerated Solutions
™
and SAP Ready to Run R/3
™
– have rapidly increased deployment of R/3 Solutions on Windows NT and SQL Server.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft 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.
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.”
©Copyright 1999, SAP AG
SAP, R/3, AcceleratedSAP, SAP Accelerated Solutions, Ready-to-Run-R/3, A Better Return on Information and all SAP product and service names referenced herein are trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of SAP AG.
Microsoft and Windows NT are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
Other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
