SAP and Microsoft integrate applications
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Software giants mesh enterprise and desktop software.
26 April 2005 SAP has revealed that it is to release a joint product in conjunction with software giant Microsoft that will allow businesses to integrate enterprise applications with programs running on the desktop.
The new product, codenamed Mendocino, was unveiled at SAP's user conference in Copenhagen, and is expected to ship in the third quarter of 2005.
Mendocino allows users to integrate Microsoft's Office suite directly with their SAP's enterprise resource planning software, hardwiring systems such as email and directly into supply chain.
One possible application for Mendocino will be linking the calendar functions from Microsoft's Outlook with an SAP Human Resources system. Mendocino can also be used to populate spreadsheets generated on the desktop with live sales data from the ERP system.
"Desktop and enterprise applications are a disconnected universe; this has meant workers have spent far too much of their time searching for the information they need to do their jobs," said Jeff Raikes, group vice president at Microsoft's information worker group.
The product will only be available to SAP's users that have already migrated to its mySAP platform. But notably, the level of integration provides far closer integration between SAP and Microsoft than Microsoft currently has with its own Microsoft Business Solutions (MBS) applications range.
The joint project is not an exclusive development, and SAP's CEO Henning Kagermann said he expected Microsoft to continue to compete aggressively with SAP in the mid-market as it develops a similar product for its MBS range.
"It is an important change in the way we develop software. In the future we will continue to develop applications with our partners that complement our platform, and in some cases partners may have products that compete. That gives customers more choice," he said.
Mendocino has been developed using SAP's NetWeaver integration platform and Microsoft's .Net tools. It will be sold by both Microsoft and SAP, although the precise licensing details have yet to be confirmed.
Kagermann refused to be drawn on whether the joint project with Microsoft would lead to closer integration between the software giants, saying such speculation had been dealt with previously. In June 2004, the two companies disclosed that they had engaged in unsuccessful merger talks in late 2003 - talks triggered by joint development projects.
