Microsoft today announced its partnership with SAP, making Azure available for SAP applications. With this partnership, Indian enterprises will now be able to leverage the flexibility and scalability of Microsoft Azure for their mission critical SAP deployments.
Microsoft Azure is an open and flexible cloud platform that enables users to quickly build, deploy and manage applications across a global network of Microsoft-managed datacenters. The partnership is expected to deliver 200%-300% efficiency increase in IT infrastructure deployment and savings of 40-75% on total ownership costs with Azure’s “pay per use” model.
As per a recent study by the consulting firm Zinnov, 30% of IT spend in India is aimed at transformational projects, specifically in the areas of mobility, cloud and big data. Microsoft and SAP are extending their long-term partnership in three critical areas: enterprise cloud computing, with business-critical SAP applications certification for Microsoft Azure; improved interoperability between data from SAP applications and Microsoft Office, including general availability of connectivity between SAP BusinessObjects business intelligence (BI) solutions and Microsoft’s Excel offering; and mobile productivity with expanded development and support for Windows and Windows Phone 8.1.
The SAP applications certification for Microsoft Azure allows customers with existing SAP licenses to deploy SAP software on Microsoft Azure, thus safeguarding and increasing the value of their Microsoft and SAP investments.
“Along with SAP, we will deliver the best applications and services to customers on the cloud. This will help improve employee productivity, enhance workforce mobility and drive increased business value”, said Peter Gartenberg, General Manager – Enterprise and Partner Group, Microsoft India.
Deb Deep Sengupta, Chief Operating Office, SAP India said, “SAP and Microsoft are among the most trusted vendors for Indian enterprises. With this partnership we are enabling SAP customers to extend their on premise ERP deployment across cloud and mobile.”
Sujit Mohanty, Head Technology Infrastructure Group, Sonata said, “We are thrilled to be selected as an early partner by Microsoft and SAP to take these unique solutions to market. Our proven track-record in mobility, BI and analytics coupled with our commitment to invest and innovate continuously across different segments of Microsoft’s business will help us deliver value to customers across industries and cloud configurations.”
Compared to traditional on-premises deployment, SAP applications on Azure will additionally provide savings up to 60% on storage, with fast recovery capabilities and easy transition from existing data centers to cloud at no extra cost.
Microsoft and SAP will also help customers conduct business anywhere and anytime by developing and co-marketing SAP mobile apps for Windows and Windows Phone 8.1. These new applications will be managed and secured by the SAP Mobile Secure portfolio or Windows Intune.
The IT major in a release issued today said that it (Microsoft) is committed to helping customers thrive in this mobile-first, cloud-first world, with industry leading platforms that support the software, services and applications required to run their business. This announcement brings exciting new capabilities to customers and opportunities for partners and developers through the combined strengths of Microsoft and SAP applications and platforms.