Instead of releasing completely revamped application suites every two years or so, it plans to make mySAP ERP 2005, which started shipping in June, the core platform until 2010. Customers looking to add functions will receive smaller, more easily digested components of SAP every three to six months that they can install on their own. SAP announced the plans Tuesday in Las Vegas at its TechEd 2006 technical user conference.
"There is no mySAP ERP 2006 or 2007; mySAP ERP 2005 is it," said Peter Graf, executive vice president of SAP product marketing. "That's the platform. There is no reason to wait for an additional ERP release. It's stable for five years and you don't need to wait for anything." SAP will start shipping new enhancements by December that will also be service-oriented architecture (SOA) enabled.
These "more consumable chunks" of technology will come with documentation, service definitions, composite applications and libraries. Customers will be able to search through an xApps hub to find the particular composite applications they might want to install on top of their mySAP ERP 2005 backbone, he said. SAP will also provide tools such as collaborative wiki repositories to allow users to share lessons learned and definitions. Pricing will remain the same and be based on the number of users.
A couple of users asked about SAP's plans were upbeat about the new upgrade policy, particularly since it sets out a clear road map. There are lots of companies still using SAP's older R/3 ERP product, and they're struggling to create a business case to justify an upgrade to mySAP ERP 2005, said Matthew Rickard, the executive vice president of the Americas' SAP Users' Group (ASUG). He is also special projects manager at the New Brunswick Power Holding Corp., an SAP R/3 shop in Fredericton.
Such an upgrade is a large, expensive jump, and a company often faces the prospect that there will soon be yet another upgrade, he said. Now, SAP is offering a clear path that permits users to pick and choose what pieces of an upgrade they want, explained Rickard. His own company is contemplating launching an upgrade to mySAP ERP 2005 over the next year to take advantage of new functions, which include the Duet technology, which closely binds back-end SAP software with front-end Microsoft Office applications.