13 March 2003 SAP has unveiled mySAP ERP, its first enterprise resource planning (ERP) package built on its NetWeaver web services platform, unveiled in January.

Users of SAP R/3, including SAP R/3 Enterprise, the latest version of R/3, are being encouraged to upgrade to mySAP ERP so that they can more easily and cheaply add new modules, as well as using the SAP software as a platform for web services projects.

“MySAP ERP is designed as a deploy-as-you-go package, which enables companies to implement only the business functionality they need when they need, thus simplifying upgrades and reducing total cost of ownership,” said SAP co-chairman and CEO Henning Kagermann.

“MySAP ERP is essentially a combination of SAP’s R/3 Enterprise product and its recently announced NetWeaver technology platform,” said AMR Research analyst Jim Shepherd. The new product was necessary to cut the confusion among customers about the difference between R/3 Enterprise and MySAP Business Suite, he says.

“This new ERP product should allow SAP to stop selling R/3 to new customers and send a clear message to existing customers about their migration path. R/3 has had a remarkable run, but it is time for SAP to make a clean break and send it off to the software half of fame,” concludes Shepherd.

But Giga Information Group’s Byron Miller advises caution. He suggests that users should wait at least until the summer when the second version of the XI integration component of the NetWeaver/mySAP ERP platform is released. Then, they will be better able to assess the maturity of the platform.

Links:
SAP bets future on web services (March 2003)
SAP CEO Hasso Plattner says that the company’s release of NetWeaver is as significant as its 1992 launch of R/3, the software package that propelled SAP to international renown. Is such hyperbole justified?