SEATTLE, July 1, 1999 — Microsoft Corp. and SAP AG, the world’s leading supplier of inter-enterprise business solutions, today announced the opening of two new facilities dedicated to the development, testing and support of SAP TM inter-enterprise e-business solutions for the Microsoft® platform. The Enterprise Computing Lab for SAP and a DCOM Center of Expertise were introduced to hundreds of attendees at the SAP-Microsoft Forum in Seattle, an event focused on SAP and Microsoft integrated solutions for inter-enterprise computing and
e-commerce. In addition, SAP reported growing momentum with customers of all sizes for SAP R/3® on the Microsoft Windows NT® operating system and Microsoft SQL Server TM platform.
“Many of our customers are choosing Windows NT and SQL Server as the platform for deploying their SAP solutions, and this is in part because our work with Microsoft has resulted in enhanced scalability, improved customer support and seamless integration of our business software on the Microsoft platform,” said Andy Zoldan, vice president of New Dimensions at SAP America, Inc. “The two new facilities we announced today will ensure that this integration continues to deliver superior value to our customers.”
The Enterprise Computing Lab for SAP, located on the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Wash., is a state-of-the-art facility staffed by technical engineers from both companies, as well as key Microsoft and SAP partners, that focuses on integrating, testing and optimizing SAP business software with Microsoft products and technologies such as DCOM, SQL Server 7.0, Windows NT and the Windows® 2000 operating system.
The SAP DCOM Center of Expertise, located within the Enterprise Computing Lab, will offer technical consulting for both partners and customers and will house an integrated knowledge base of “best practices” for the implementation of SAP business software with DCOM. SAP has developed the SAP DCOM Component Connector to provide access to SAP business software from Microsoft COM-aware applications and languages to make application integration much easier and reduce the cost of enhancing enterprise business software.
“Customers that choose SAP business software and the Microsoft platform benefit from increased flexibility, enhanced functionality, and reduced costs of deployment and ownership,” said Jeff Raikes, group vice president of Worldwide Sales and Support for Microsoft. “The Enterprise Computing Lab and the DCOM Center of Expertise represent an additional investment from both companies to deliver well-integrated, scalable and reliable solutions for our customers. Today, we are reaffirming Microsoft’s and SAP’s commitment to enterprise computing on the Windows and SQL Server platform.”
Global Momentum for SAP Solutions on the Microsoft Platform
Momentum for SAP R/3 on the Windows NT and SQL Server platform continues to grow, evidenced by official reporting figures from SAP in the first quarter of 1999. Around the world, 60 percent of new R/3 installations were sold on Windows NT. Currently, 41 percent of all R/3 installations are on Windows NT, with more than 9,000 installations of R/3 on Windows NT worldwide. SQL Server was chosen in more than 30 percent of new R/3 installations on the Windows NT platform: The total number of R/3 installations on SQL Server is more than 1,800.
In an April study titled “R/3 on SQL Server 7,” Strategy Partners International reported that costs for R/3 on Windows NT and Intel server hardware are lower by a factor of 2 to 4 than comparable RISC-UNIX systems and that “the customers we surveyed typically [acquired] SQL Server for the same reasons: database stability, good price/performance and standardization of their IT environment on [Windows] NT. … The SQL Server-[Windows] NT-Intel combination holds the complete price/performance top 10 in the industry-standard TPC-C benchmark by a wide margin. … From this, we conclude that [the] SQL Server-[Windows] NT-Intel [combination] also offers among the best price/performance in the R/3 world.”*
World-Class Performance Results for SAP on Microsoft SQL Server
On June 22, Microsoft, Compaq Computer Corp. and Unisys Corp. announced that SQL Server 7.0 Enterprise Edition running on new eight-processor systems achieved world-record results on Windows NT Server 4.0 Enterprise Edition. SQL Server 7.0 set performance records with a result of 4,512 users on the SAP R/3 sales and distribution (SD) benchmark and on the Transaction Processing Performance Council’s TPC-C benchmark. Representing an 88 percent performance increase over previous benchmarks on SQL Server, the new benchmark also demonstrates the lowest cost per transaction ever for any server with more than four processors and is 43 percent less than the best cost per transaction ever published by Oracle.**
About SAP
SAP (NYSE ADR: 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.
*”R/3 on SQL Server 7″ by Henrik Klagges and Helmuth Gumbel; copyright 1999, Strategy Partners International
**More information about the Microsoft, Compaq and Unisys SAP R/3 SD benchmark results on SQL Server 7.0 can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/1999/Jun99/SQL8WayPr.asp .
Microsoft, Windows NT and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
SAP, R/3, A Better Return on Information and all SAP product names referenced herein are trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of SAP AG.
Other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
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