1. FEATURE STORY
Ecosystem and Channels
This article appeared in the Oct Nov Dec 2013 issue
of SAPinsider (www.SAPinsiderOnline.com) and appears
here with permission from the publisher, WIS Publishing.
n
n
The Customer-to-Partner
Evolution
Make the Switch from SAP Customer to SAP Partner to Transform Your Business
by Kevin Ichhpurani, SAP
When SAP was just a small startup in 1972, its
opments, and has accelerated both SAP and
at customers’ data centers and tackled develop-
partner growth.
ment work back in the office mostly at night
Headquartered in Weinheim, Germany, FIT
and during weekends. To realize their vision of
operates as part of the Freudenberg Group
standard application software for real-time data
of companies, a family-owned conglomerate
processing, the founders knew success would
with more than US$8 billion in annual sales.
come from taking the perspective of a customer
Freudenberg was among SAP’s first users in the
looking in, rather than from the inside of the
1970s — customer number seven to be exact.
company looking out. This philosophy served
In this capacity, the company assisted in the
as SAP’s foundation then, and despite dramatic
Kevin Ichhpurani (kevin.
ichhpurani@sap.com) is
Senior Vice President of
Strategic Ecosystem and
Business Development
at SAP. He is responsible
for managing the Global
Strategic Partners and driving
business development for the
Mobility, Cloud, and
Database & Technology
market categories. Previously, Kevin was Senior Vice
President of Corporate Business Development at SAP,
leading the development of
all strategic partnerships and
the SAP NetWeaver equity
fund. Before joining SAP,
Kevin spent 15 years in the
technology sector in various
executive roles. He holds
an MBA from the Kellogg
School of Management.
networking, apps proliferation, and other devel-
five employees spent the majority of their time
initial development of SAP software, so much
industry-wide changes over the past four decades,
so that the FIT brand emerged as a spin-off in
user experience and customer needs and results
1995 to ultimately deliver SAP hosting services
remain paramount. That’s not changing.
throughout Europe, North America, and Asia.
This customer-centric approach is reflected
“Our SAP partner business clearly began with
in today’s SAP partner ecosystem. Our partners
our customer relationship — a great beginning
have thrived by building their businesses around
as our parent company gained both user and
similar
values. They
contributor insights during those startup years,”
have embarked on extraordinary co-innovation
says Kevin Diaz, FIT’s Senior Vice President of
projects inspired by their customers and their
North America, where the company is rapidly
own experiences with SAP technology, and often
expanding its SAP service offerings. “Today, we’re
become users of the SAP-based solutions they
making all SAP applications available to our own
create for their customers. Importantly, some
customers in a multitude of hosted scenarios
SAP partners were SAP customers before the
across multiple data centers worldwide. The SAP
idea of becoming a partner, and offering and sup-
portfolio is now so much deeper and broader in
porting SAP products, ever crossed their minds.
scope that it’s creating unprecedented paths for
customer-centric
core
partnership and business growth.”
A Longtime Hosting Services
Partnership
Freudenberg IT (FIT) is one of the earliest
Take the Next Step: Partner
Program Offerings
examples of an SAP partner that initially began
FIT’s partnership to provide SAP hosting services
as an SAP customer. Its customer-to-partner
to its customers is just one example of the many
evolution began long before the onset of the
ways SAP customers can take the next step to
current knowledge-based revolution, which
transform into strategic partners. Our partner
encompasses mobile, bring your own device
programs offer multiple avenues to successfully
(BYOD), cloud, big data, analytics, social
make this transition.
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2. Accelerating the Pace of OEM Development
in All Directions and Regions
truly original in this formula is that the end result
SAP’s original equipment manufacturer (OEM)
growth across all market segments and regions.
partner program allows partners to embed SAP
While SAP HANA can be viewed as a rising
solutions and platforms into their own applica-
tide that is lifting all types of partnerships, it is
tions to build more robust, reliable products
not the only reason why OEM partners are thriv-
at a lower cost. These OEM partners, many of
ing. More partners are adopting our mobility
whom first acquired their SAP skills as users, can
platform, driven by SAP Afaria and SAP Mobile
capitalize on a broad range of program benefits
Platform. Others are choosing SAP Sybase SQL
to further their SAP business, including:
Anywhere, SAP Sybase Adaptive Server Enter-
■■ Access to SAP applications, analytics, database
prise (SAP Sybase ASE), and SAP Sybase IQ to
and deliverables of these partnerships are driving
and technology, and mobile, cloud, and
enhance their business. OEM partners are inno-
in-memory solutions
vating in their own markets by embedding SAP
■■ Flexible licensing, deployment options,
and royalty models that fit unique business
requirements
■■ Fast time-to-market with integration
validation, not-for-resale demos and
licenses, and implementation programs
■■ Co-innovation and co-development in partnership with SAP’s product management team
technology into their products to deliver more
end-user benefits.
Managed Cloud as a Service: Simplicity
and Successes in the Cloud
SAP’s managed cloud as a service program, formerly called “ITO” (for IT Outsourcing), takes an
SAP partner’s private cloud and application management model one step further, enabling the
■■ Special invitations to beta testing, SAP Ramp-
partner to offer SAP solutions through its own pri-
Up programs, and future roadmap insights
vate cloud and on a subscription basis.1 Partners
UK-based McLaren Group is an example of an
can create unique and differentiated offerings
SAP customer that shifted gears toward an OEM
that combine software, cloud infrastructure, and
partnership. The company has been using SAP
managed services in one complete package at
HANA to accelerate data aggregation and analysis
a low monthly price. Advantages include more
for myriad Formula One car components. Better
rapid time-to-value and the ability for customers
race-day decisions set the pace at first. Now, the
to shift expenses from “Capital Expenditure” to
company is considering the potential of an OEM
“Operational Expenditure” on the balance sheet.
partnership with SAP to support business diver-
The model is relatively simple and straight-
sification related to performance management
forward. Partners leverage a term license for SAP
systems, including telemetry, modeling, and real-
solutions within what they offer for managed
time simulation capabilities. These capabilities
cloud as a service. Depending on the partner-
can be applied to a wide range of areas, such as
ship structure, SAP offers further alignment and
sports, health and wellness, energy, and automo-
support with field resources, as well as other mar-
tive. For example, programs may be as diverse as
ket development benefits. Partners, in turn, use
monitoring patients’ health remotely to real-time
these licenses to create new industry and line-
analytics, or simulating complex engineering
of-business offerings tailored to customer needs,
processes in the oil and gas sector. As an OEM
including complete management and support of
partner, McLaren would use SAP innovations to
the customer’s SAP environment.
augment the competitive advantage it provides
For example, a large telecommunications com-
across these areas.
pany recently licensed SAP Business One, SAP’s
Within the last few years, OEM partner-
ERP software for small businesses, to create a new
ship types at SAP have become more and more
“ERP-as-a-service” solution for its SME customer
diverse. Although hardware companies are usually associated as OEMs, many more independent
software vendors (ISVs) and systems integrators
(SIs) are joining SAP’s OEM partner program
alongside other unique device partners. What’s
1
To learn more about managed cloud as a service, see
“Managed Cloud as a Service: SAP’s On-Premise Applications Delivered as Cloud Solutions by Trusted Partners” by
Mitchell Kick on page 25 of this October-December 2013
issue of SAPinsider (SAPinsiderOnline.com).
Subscribe today. Visit SAPinsiderOnline.com.

3. applications for enterprises can join the SAP
PartnerEdge program for Application Develop-
By thinking, planning, and
ment. The program provides the opportunity to
engaging from a partner
market applications through the SAP Store as
perspective, you can transform,
well as bundle and resell them with SAP technology runtime licenses. Designed so developers
elevate, or move your business
everywhere can rapidly build the continuous
in new directions that may not
innovations that all types of businesses and orga-
have otherwise seemed possible.
nizations require, the program is open to ISVs,
value-added resellers (VARs), SIs, web development specialists, and of course, SAP customers.
base. This package enabled the company to pull
through additional solutions and services with
Undertaking Humanitarian Efforts
managed cloud as a service. In another partner-
SAP
ship, a major retailer across Latin America added
ingly taking co-innovation with SAP worldwide
a new IT services line of business that includes
across nearly all market segments and solution
offering SAP software to the company’s tenants.
categories. Some of these partners have a spe-
Both of these partners are enjoying growth in
cific altruistic goal in mind, intending to do good
revenue and profitability due in part to the innova-
things for people and undertaking worthy social
tive solutions they can now offer their customers.
or environmental causes. One example is the
customers-turned-partners
are
increas-
Carbon Disclosure Project, an OEM technology
Application Development Grows Up
partnership that uses embedded business intel-
If you’re ultimately interested in selling your
ligence to help over 3,700 companies benchmark
own packaged software, SAP also has a newly
and manage their own performance and make a
expanded program specifically designed to sup-
positive contribution to climate change.
port partners across multiple SAP platform
technologies, such as the SAP HANA platform,
Elevate Your Business
SAP HANA Cloud Platform, SAP Mobile Plat-
Many SAP customers do not realize that they
form, SAP databases, and the SAP NetWeaver
can greatly prosper by becoming SAP partners.
platform. The new SAP PartnerEdge program for
As a customer, you experience SAP technology in
Application Development goes beyond the pre-
ways that can benefit you in a partnership capac-
vious focus on mobility and SAP HANA Cloud,
ity. Co-innovation with SAP can also become
which quickly grew to close to 400 partners over
another powerful means of differentiation. By
the past year and resulted in approximately 150
thinking, planning, and engaging from a partner
partner-created mobile apps in the SAP Store, as
perspective, you can transform, elevate, or move
well as hundreds more in various stages of con-
your current business in new directions that may
ceptualization and development.
not have otherwise seemed possible.
“SAP’s innovations in its mobile technol-
For more information on SAP’s partner
ogy platform have greatly enhanced our ability
programs, visit www.sap.com/partners. n
to provide our customers with intuitive apps
that integrate back-end SAP data onto a mobile
device,” says Jim Cameron, Partner at Naperville,
Illinois-based ExpertIG. As an enterprise mobility solutions developer, ExpertIG received a 2013
SAP Pinnacle Award as the Packaged Mobile
Application Innovator of the Year. Cameron
describes the SAP PartnerEdge program as
instrumental in this achievement, as it provides the tools that partners need to efficiently
develop, market, and sell applications. Any
Additional Resources
n
“Opening New Doors: SAP Innovation
Presents New Opportunities” by Kevin
Ichhpurani (SAPinsider, October-December
2012, SAPinsiderOnline.com)
n SAP and Intel Co-Innovation Story”
“The
by Bill Lawler and Rob Shiveley
(insiderPROFILES, April-June 2013,
insiderPROFILESonline.com)
company that intends to develop packaged
Subscribe today. Visit SAPinsiderOnline.com.