SAP Boosts Hosting, Big Data and Mobile Solutions update from March 2013

Global enterprise software giant SAP AG (SAP) had several hosting, big data and mobile announcements from conference events around the world this week.
Savvis Delivers Subscription-based Hosting Services for SAP HANA

Savvis will be offer global, subscription-based hosting services for the SAP HANA platform. This hosting arrangement will provide enterprises a new way to tap into their big data. Using the hosted version will allow global enterprises gain instant, real-time entry into a leading transactional and analytical database platform--without the effort of owning and maintaining the infrastructure that supports it.

SAP HANA is a real-time database platform that streamlines analytics, planning, and predictive and sentiment assessment to allow business to operate in real time. As an SAP-certified provider of cloud and hosting services, Savvis will provide global enterprises with a cost-effective, on-demand hosting and cloud-based delivery model for mission-critical SAP applications.

“Our subscription-based services for SAP HANA give enterprises the ultimate flexibility and scalability they need as data sets grow and analytics capabilities evolve,” said Jeff Von Deylen, president of Savvis. “When organizations tap into SAP HANA through Savvis’ hosting services, they reduce the costs of owning and maintaining expensive server hardware without losing control over their operating systems and application layers.”

SAP to support Intel Hadoop Solution

SAP announced that it will work with Intel to bring to market a breakthrough big data solution  for enterprise customers centered on the SAP HANA platform and Intel Distribution for Apache Hadoop software. The solution will store and analyze in real-time large volumes of structured and unstructured data from across the enterprise. SAP plans to leverage the in-memory technology innovations in SAP HANA as well as Intel's innovations in security, connectivity and management tools for Apache Hadoop to bring a unique solution to market. The planned major technology components of the solution include integral parts of the SAP Real-time Data Platform, along with Intel Hadoop software.

"SAP is reinventing the information processing landscape with SAP HANA – from business analytics and data warehousing, to enterprise applications and SAP Business Suite, and next to big data with Intel Hadoop," said Franz Faerber, head of Data Management, SAP. "Together, SAP and Intel have a strong vision to bring significant innovations, enterprise IT maturity and go-to market efficiencies that will enable organizations to easily adopt an enterprise-class big data solution."

Upcoming phases of the big data solution from SAP and Intel are planned to enable integrated query processing, optimized data loading, and unified administration.

SAP expands Portugal Telecom partnership

At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, SAP announced the expansion of a global relationship with Portugal Telecom to make solutions built on the SAP HANA Cloud platform available on SmartCloudPT. The two companies are collaborating and plan to make available a developer edition of the SAP Business One application, version for the SAP HANA platform.

"PT has changed its business model to focus on data and managing big data, which is a challenge for every enterprise," said Miguel Moreira, Managing Director, Portugal Telecom, Sistemas de Infomacao. "We believe that with our SmartCloudPT offering for SAP HANA, small and large businesses will be able to experiment with the advantages provided by SAP solutions in a low-risk development environment. They can then later scale that environment to a virtually unlimited capacity as SAP HANA delivers more value to them."

SAP launches Rich Communication Services 365

SAP announced the launch of the cloud-based SAP Rich Communication Services 365 (SAP RCS 365) mobile service. For mobile subscribers, RCS makes services such as instant messaging, video and file sharing as simple and intuitive as sending a text message. The new service enables a "pay-as-you-go/grow" model so that mobile operators can avoid both the complexity of deploying RCS within their networks and the capital expenditure traditionally associated with that approach. It also enables operators to quickly establish themselves in this evolving market, excite their subscribers with new IP-based messaging services and capitalize on the underlying value of their network.

"User behavior and expectations have dramatically changed with the emergence of smartphone and tablet experiences," said John Sims, president, SAP Mobile Services. "In today's evolving mobile environment, operators are being threatened by new competitors offering innovative IP-based services. They must respond by rethinking their business models and innovating new service offerings. SAP RCS 365 arms mobile operators to quickly and cost-effectively launch such services while the SAP IPX 365 mobile service allows them to be interconnected to our ecosystem of mobile operators around the world."

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