The new tools, IBM Workplace for SAP Software and IBM Lotus Notes Access for SAP, use service-oriented architecture technology to integrate the desktop products with SAP's ERP and CRM applications. Upgraded SAP software isn't necessary to integrate the systems, according to IBM. IBM unveiled the tools on the eve of SAP's Sapphire user conference. A week earlier, SAP and Microsoft Corp. announced a jointly developed product that links SAP's business applications with Microsoft's Office desktop products. It will begin shipping in June.
Rod Masney, global IT architect at Owens-Illinois Inc., a Toledo, Ohio-based maker of packaging materials, said he expects to evaluate the new IBM offerings.
The firm runs mySAP ERP 2004 software and other applications along with Lotus Notes, he said.
Masney said he hopes to learn more about the offerings at SAP's Sapphire and Association of SAP Users Group conferences to be held this week in Orlando.
Larry Bowden, vice president of workplace solutions at IBM, noted that the Duet software built by Microsoft and SAP to link SAP software and Microsoft Office can require upgraded SAP software.
IBM has included some links to SAP in its Notes offering since 1998, Bowden said. The links had been embedded in the Notes software and sold as part of the desktop package.
The new products, he said, extend the links between Notes, Workplace and the SAP applications.
For example, the Notes tool provides users of the Lotus product with workflow links to SAP applications, according to Bowden. Both new IBM tools add links between the IBM software and the contact management, vacation and time-leave processes in SAP applications.
IBM Workplace includes a browser-based front end to SAP applications, Bowden said. The interface will include scoreboards and dashboards with key performance indicators, he added.
IBM Workplace for SAP Software and IBM Lotus Notes Access for SAP will be available by May 30.
IBM Workplace for SAP Software requires the WebSphere Portal software and is priced from US$149 to $399 per user.
IBM Lotus Notes Access for SAP is available without charge for Lotus Notes customers. The capabilities will continue to be incorporated into the Notes software, according to IBM.