SAP AND MACROMEDIA ADVANCE USABILITY OF ENTERPRISE SOFTWARE
Close collaboration yields rich, intuitive business applications that increase productivity, reduce training costs, and extend use of existing software investments
COPENHAGEN, Denmark - April 26, 2005 - SAP (NYSE: SAP) and Macromedia (NASDAQ: MACR) today announced they are extending SAP NetWeaver with the Macromedia Flex application framework to give organizations the ability to create rich interfaces for SAP solutions, including customer-facing SAP Enterprise Portal-based applications. As a result, employees and customers will have an enhanced experience of using SAP solutions, yielding higher employee productivity and greater satisfaction among customers. The announcement was made at SAPPHIRE ’05, SAP’s international customer conference being held in Copenhagen, Denmark, April 26 - 28, 2005.
The next release of SAP NetWeaver Visual Composer will include Flex technology and will be made available to all existing SAP NetWeaver customers. SAP NetWeaver Visual Composer with Flex technology gives programmers the ability to deliver applications that combine the interactivity and expressive power of desktop software with the reach of SAP’s enterprise solutions—all in a "zero footprint" client application.
"We are working closely with SAP to give enterprise knowledge workers the tools they need to be more productive and provide a great, effective experience for end users with rich Internet applications," said Stephen Elop, CEO, Macromedia. "By capitalizing on Enterprise Services Architecture, which is enabled by SAP NetWeaver and supported by Macromedia Flex, customers and companies will have the ability to increase adoption and use of SAP solutions without additional training or cost."
New Tools for Enterprise Developers
SAP NetWeaver Visual Composer is a highly productive, model-driven tool aimed at business analysts and developers for code-free creation of composite applications. By combining the robust SAP NetWeaver platform and SAP NetWeaver Visual Composer with Flex, the leading presentation-tier solution for enterprise rich Internet applications, users are able to visually design application logic and process flows, and then provide more effective, engaging end-user experiences. Through this partnership, SAP NetWeaver Visual Composer users can develop rich graphical interfaces that extend current investments in their SAP NetWeaver infrastructure by using Flex technology, and businesses can gain credible, clear, and comprehensive business insights through new analytics solutions. Additionally, Macromedia has certified SAP NetWeaver as a supported platform for Flex. With this support, enterprise developers, SIs, and ISVs can leverage the standards-based programming methodologies of Flex to build customizable, flexible applications on top of the SAP NetWeaver platform.
"SAP is working with Macromedia to bring enterprise data alive for the end user," said Shai Agassi, president of the product and technology group and member of the executive board, SAP. "Macromedia Flex will help SAP NetWeaver customers extract maximum value from the platform by combining rich user interfaces with customized process flows and business analytics."
"This is an important partnership for both SAP and Macromedia," said Gary Hein, vice president and service director for application platform strategies, Burton Group. "This relationship will benefit SAP users with an improved, more intuitive, and responsive environment in which to operate in their day-to-day business. It is also an important milestone in the adoption of rich Internet application foundations, like the Macromedia Flex platform, as a key solution for enterprise applications."
ABOUT MACROMEDIA
Experience matters. Macromedia is motivated by the belief that great experiences build great businesses. Our software empowers millions of business users, developers, and designers to create and deliver effective, compelling, and memorable experiences - on the Internet, on fixed media, on wireless, and on digital devices.
ABOUT SAP
SAP is the world’s leading provider of business software solutions*. Today, more than 27,000 customers in over 120 countries run more than 91,500 installations of SAP software—from distinct solutions addressing the needs of small and midsize businesses to enterprise-scale suite solutions for global organizations. Powered by the SAP NetWeaver platform to drive innovation and enable business change, mySAP Business Suite solutions are helping enterprises around the world improve customer relationships, enhance partner collaboration and create efficiencies across their supply chains and business operations. SAP industry solutions support the unique business processes of more than 25 industry segments, including high tech, retail, public sector and financial services. With subsidiaries in more than 50 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges, including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE under the symbol "SAP."
(Additional information at http://www.sap.com/.)
(*) SAP defines business software solutions as comprising enterprise resource planning and related software solutions such as supply chain management, customer relationship management, product life-cycle management and supplier relationship management.
