SAP unveils full upgrade of ERP suite

Computerworld - SAP AG last week unveiled a new version of its Business Suite ERP software, which analysts said marks the first time the modules are integrated on a single underlying platform.

"People have had this perception that it's this one integrated system, but the reality is the [systems integrators] have been tying all these [modules] together, making them work," said Ray Wang, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc. Now the full suite sits atop SAP's SOA-based NetWeaver middleware platform.

SAP said that Business Suite 7 includes more than 150 "functional innovations" and expands on the company's "enhancement package" strategy, which allows users to add specific functions without a full upgrade.

A spokesman added that the upgraded suite also includes a dashboard-like interface to pull in relevant information from different modules.

At a launch event in New York, SAP CEO Leo Apotheker called the new offering "a keystone we will build on for the future."

Jennifer Allerton, CIO at Roche Holding Ltd.'s pharmaceutical division, said SAP's new synchronized release schedule is good for her company.

In the past, release dates for individual modules were "all over the place," she said. "Now it's easier to plan for them."

Chris Kanaracus writes for the IDG News Service.

This version of this story originally appeared in Computerworld's print edition.

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