New Verticals Open Up As SAP Continues SMB Push

SAP's latest push targets SMB manufacturers and distributors with new third-party applications,and a major ISV relationship,that support its two SMB suites, Business One and mySAP All-in-One. For SAP's steadily growing network of U.S. channel partners, the offerings open up new vertical markets. Business One partners, in particular, receive sales and technical training options from SoftBrands, one of the leading names in the SMB manufacturing market.

Gary Fromer, SAP's vice president of SMB and hosting, said the German company expects particular benefits from its relationship with Minneapolis-based SoftBrands, developer of the market-dominating Fourth Shift Manufacturing Edition and Fourth Shift Lean Enterprise Automation applications. SoftBrands now will offer versions of those packages for SAP's Business One suite, intended for companies with fewer than 500 employees.

"SAP is known for our prowess in the manufacturing area, and being able to offer complete manufacturing solutions throughout the SMB space is important. But the SoftBrands alliance is the most strategically significant," Fromer said. "Fourth Shift has significant penetration. And the fact that [SoftBrands] has decided to help our channel community is a big plus for us."

SoftBrands President and COO Randy Tofteland said that help will take on a variety of forms: integrating the Fourth Shift software with the SAP suite, providing technical and sales training and certification, and handling support.

"We are SAP's education and training arm for this," he said. "And we will provide ongoing support, giving assurance that after an implementation, customers have one neck to choke."

When available, SoftBrands' rewritten applications will help batch, make-to-order, mixed-mode and discrete manufacturers run their organizations, as well as adapt to the new discipline of lean, or demand-driven, manufacturing, the companies said.

In addition to the new software designed to work with Business One, SAP has announced new ISV-developed manufacturing modules for its higher-end, mySAP All-in-One, aimed at companies that expect to eventually need the top-end SAP R/3 Enterprise.

For one, BizTech Consulting, South Korea, now offers software for high-tech manufacturers. BizExpert can deal with industry-specific needs such as bin management and multiple-planning scenarios.

And SAP channel partner N2 Consulting, Richardson, Texas, has developed FastTrack for the needs of custom manufacturers.

"I've never seen SAP so supportive as when we worked on this effort," said Allen Abell, president of N2, an SAP consultancy that has focused exclusively on SMB manufacturing since 1998. "I've been blown away by their level of support, sending people to our office, assisting us in training and inviting us to meetings. They are really behind this SMB push."