SAP Ranked Leaders in the Business Intelligence Tools Market

IDC has reported SAP as the market leader in the business intelligence (BI) tools market based on software license and maintenance revenue. IDC also reported that SAP has grown faster than the market for financial performance and strategy management (FPSM) applications for the fourth consecutive year.

“Today's competitive business environment demands real-time visibility into performance, and SAP delivers that by providing our customers with the most comprehensive set of integrated BI and EPM solutions," said Sanjay Poonen, executive vice president and general manager, Business User and Line-of-Business Sales, SAP.

"We continue to lead the combined BI and FPSM market because SAP enables customers to give their employees - from the boardroom to the shop floor - instant insight across all lines of the business so they can contribute to their bottom line. Customers continue to turn to SAP solutions over competitors because we provide a unique vision and approach to analytics, and we deliver those solutions on a modern platform that works with their existing IT environments. This makes it easy for all business users to get up running quickly, so they can focus on running their business more effectively."

SAP is clearly in tune with the diverse needs of businesses relative to their sector and the dynamic nature of the environments in which they reside.
Testament to this is the continued growth which SAP have achieved despite the negative growth overall in the IT market. They are a trusted and extremely well established business software provider and their commitment to innovation is central to their continued success.

Innovation is the hot topic - SAP B1 8.8 PL 12

Innovation has been, and will continue to be the hot topic with regards to SAP B1 which was highlighted at the demo in Boston at the end of last year.

The main focus for innovation with regard to SAP B1 was intended to be incorporated in version 8.81 at the end of 2010 but due to the positive market reception elements of the development have been pulled forward.
The 8.8 PL 12 initiates the beginning of future innovations that have been planned and anticipated for SAP B1.
Key features include the new Cockpit, Dashboards and Mobile Services.
The critical thing to remark upon is that these features are all optional and will not be forced upon users, though the benefits are certainly advantageous and the demonstrations ought to speak for themselves and prove appealing!

The Cockpit provides quicker access to important information and functions the user employs regularly and action based upon the information can be accomplished with ease. Increased efficiency is also supplied to users throughout the use of this readily customisable function.

The first framework to deliver Dashboards in SAP B1 is being created and is now geared up to be introduced and demonstrated to customers. What is available at the moment should be regarded as a preview though it should most definitely be installed in demo systems and included and highlighted in customer presentations. It does at this time have limitations, though it may be possible to use in a productive environment, the key focus and intention at the moment is to gain feedback from customers so that SAP can work to resolve issues and modify the functionalities for Dashboards they want incorporated as they develop SAP B1 8.81.

Mobile services don’t yet include “out of the box capabilities” discussed at the demo in Boston, however what is now contained in 8.8 PL 12 is a Mobile Service framework and the guides on how to develop and build upon this will be made available to partners before long.

As with all Patch updates 8.8 PL 12 also includes important corrections and legal changes. Crystal report layouts have also been contemplated and now include graphics and visual breakdowns; the intention going forward is to furthermore embrace and take advantage of the key features Crystal has to offer.

Everything we need to know as Partners with regard to the key features, familiarising ourselves with them and getting them up and running is available at:

What has been stressed, and should be continually emphasised to customers is that innovation is of core importance to SAP and the innovations they supply are all part and parcel of the sustained maintenance SAP is committed to delivering.

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