The hybrid approach allows companies to have more flexibility, said Forrester analyst Liz Herbert. “Many enterprises don’t like having to choose one deployment over another, because there really is strength in mixing them,” she said.

SAP AG met industry expectations by unveiling an on-demand component to its customer-relationship management (CRM) product, mySAP.

The Web-based version is designed for large and midsize organizations, to manage sales, service, and marketing, and will be offered through a subscription-based licensing model.

In coming out with an on-demand application, SAP has positioned itself to compete with rivals Oracle and Salesforce.com.

Recently, Salesforce has seen significant growth as a result of interest in on-demand services, and Oracle just closed its takeover deal with Siebel Systems, giving it a stronger foothold in the market.

Supply and Demand

The on-demand version of mySAP is designed to help line-of-business executives, such as service managers and marketing directors, get up to speed on enterprise CRM quickly and painlessly, SAP stated.

But it also was created to help CIOs track existing I.T. investments and deliver new integrated business processes with minimal disruption to operations.

SAP has noted that it is the only provider whose on-premise and on-demand solutions are based on a common architecture, data model, and common user interface, which makes for a “seamless transition that is easy to manage.”

Available immediately, the on-demand version of mySAP will be followed by additional on-demand CRM products throughout the year, including marketing and service products, the company noted.

Also included in SAP’s announcement was the selection of IBM as the company’s hosting-services partner for the first go-round of the on-demand services. The SAP application will be powered by IBM’s Applications On Demand platform, which is designed specifically to automate application hosting and management.

Hybrid Vehicle

SAP claims it is offering the first hybrid CRM product that “transcends on-demand and on-premise” and integrates existing enterprise applications in both deployment models.

To facilitate the hybrid approach, the company has created what it calls the “isolated-tenancy model,” which combines high availability and low risk through its architecture.

The hybrid approach allows companies to have more flexibility, said Forrester analyst Liz Herbert.

“Many enterprises don’t like having to choose one deployment over another, because there really is strength in mixing them,” she said. For example, a company may choose to use an on-premise application in a department that has customized software, but on-demand in other departments.

“Hybrid deployment could help some enterprises employ CRM more effectively, and get a system in place faster,” she said.

Источник: Elizabeth Millard @ CRM-daily