Business Intelligence Network - The Vision for BI and Beyond

SAP Customers to be Transitioned to SAP's Enterprise Support

Published: July 17, 2008

SAP Enterprise Support is the next generation of support offerings that supports mission–critical business processes and heterogeneous software environments.

SAP AG recently announced that all SAP customers will be transitioned to its recently released support offering, SAP Enterprise Support, as of January 1, 2009, further demonstrating a dedication to providing solutions and support offerings that meet the evolving needs of customers. Launched earlier this year to new customers, SAP Enterprise Support is the next generation of support offerings that supports mission–critical business processes and heterogeneous software environments. In the six months since its release, the offering has experienced positive market adoption, with more than 350 customers signed on. As part of this transition, current customers will begin experiencing some of the added benefits of SAP Enterprise Support, beginning in July at no additional cost, with graduated pricing beginning in January.

Replacing previous support offerings, including SAP Standard Support and SAP Premium Support, SAP Enterprise Support provides SAP support through a 24/7 service–level agreement, continuous quality checks, support advisory and advanced support for implementing SAP ERP enhancement packages and support packages. An enterprise edition of SAP Solution Manager enables proactive risk reduction while helping to increase the business value of SAP solutions. SAP's leading operations methodology, Run SAP, helps customers beyond the go–live phase and focuses on application management, business process operations and administration. With SAP Enterprise Support, customers are provided an unrivaled comprehensive support offering at a cost that is below the average of maintenance fees found elsewhere.

"SAP Enterprise Support is the natural evolution of SAP's previous support offerings, and is an indication of ongoing trends in software support services," said Elaina Stergiades, senior research analyst, Software Support Services, IDC. "Enterprise customers are demanding a more robust support solution from their support providers and SAP is answering that call with SAP Enterprise Support. Integrating advanced tools with proactive support capabilities can free support staff to focus on high–value interactions with IT departments and end users. In addition, enterprises are looking for their support services providers to offer end–to–end capabilities for their environments. With SAP Enterprise Support, SAP will be able to provide a more complete software support solution for its customers."