Sun Solution Center for SAP Competency

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My SAP.com is arguably the most powerful ERP software in the world. With that power comes complexity. Successfully integrating it with numerous versions and releases of other applications makes it hard to keep up.

A Single Testing and Proof of Concept Environment

You're interested in mySAP Business Suite, but don't know how it will perform with your other software products and technology elements. And you'd like to see it run in the exact configuration you plan to use, not just as a one-size-fits-all demo. Or maybe you want to upgrade to a newer release of SAP, but need assurance of full integration with the rest of your environment.

Now you can. Rely on the Sun Solution Center for SAP and its SEMPI (Sun Enterprise Middleware Product Integration) Lab.

An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system as powerful as mySAP Business Suite prompts a wide range of questions before and after implementation.

Prospects need to understand what the system can do for their organizations and how mySAP Business Suite will perform on various hardware platforms. Customers need to know how to integrate mySAP Business Suite with any number of other applications, databases, operating systems, and hardware platforms.

Sun found that customers had very valid questions but no forum for getting real answers based on very specific criteria. For example, how does SAP 4.5b work with Solaris 2.7 update 2 and Oracle 8.5? Unless they knew of another company running the exact same versions and releases of every product that interfaces with mySAP Business Suite, prospective users had no way to really judge its performance.

Taking the Lead: Sun Solution Center for SAP Competency

After fielding many of these questions and issues one-on-one, Sun Microsystems took a thought leadership position and created the Sun Solution Center for SAP Competency. The Sun Solution Centers provide a single, trusted avenue for prospects and customers to:

See mySAP Business Suite product demos in a real operating environment
Test specific functions of mySAP Business Suite, in different combinations, with different configurations
Work with Sun to develop a proof-of-concept based on precise business needs

The Sun Solution Center for SAP Competency is staffed by Sun technical experts, not salespeople. Currently, center locations are in California, Virginia, and in Germany.

Hands On, Real-Life Experience with mySAP Business Suite-Solution Center Services

Because the Sun Solution Centers are chartered to provide stable, neutral environments for mySAP Business Suite, the focus stays on helping visitors get everything they need to make informed decisions about implementing mySAP Business Suite or upgrading to new solutions. Sun Authorized Solution Centers offer five main services:

Technical Product Demonstrations
Technical product demos help prospective mySAP Business Suite users get a thorough understanding of what the ERP system can do for their business.

Proof of Concept
The Proof of Concept is an engagement where Sun Partner experts and engineers work directly with the customer to address specific mySAP Business Suite integration issues, such as sizing and interoperability. The end result is a blueprint that shows how to proceed in making technical components work together within mySAP Business Suite on a Sun platform. This mitigates the customer's risk and provides a clear move-forward plan of action.

Sun Partner Solution Set
Recognizing that vertical industries such as retail or finance experience business and technical issues germane to their specific markets, Solution Center experts also develop what's called Sun Partner Solution Sets. A Solution Set solves a common technical issue or challenge and is then configured and packaged as an approved offering by Sun for the various vertical markets.

Reference Configurations
Reference Configurations are bundled solutions of commonly requested hardware, software, and network configurations for mySAP Business Suite. Currently, Sun offers 35 such configurations, guaranteed to work.

SEMPI Lab
The SEMPI (Sun Enterprise Middleware Product Integration) Lab is an area within Sun Solution Centers that focuses strictly on SAP and middleware considerations. It provides a stable environment for all SAP products and is ideal for customers planning a migration from one SAP solution to another, as well as for those who are seeking assistance in configuring mySAP Business Suite correctly.
The SEMPI Lab pays particular attention to the ten most common functions customers want to see in production--storage management; performance analysis and monitoring; output management; disaster recovery; application integration; messaging; backup; HA/cluster; job scheduling; and security.

Reasons to Rely on the Sun Solution Center

Reasons the Sun Solution Center initiative has been so successful for Sun and SAP:

Offers a single location and single point of contact for SAP-related issues
Mitigates risk for customers
Provides a neutral, stable environment for a true look at what mySAP Business Suite can do
Offers dozens of configurations and vertical market solutions
Provides opportunity to develop Proof of Concept and blueprint
Helps customers dot-com their businesses faster and more reliably with mySAP Business Suite and Sun solutions
Extends Sun's proven methodologies and reputation as a trusted partner

Looking Ahead: What You Should Know

New Sun Partner Solution Sets are coming out all the time (twelve new ones each month) that could save time and cost of your mySAP Business Suite operations
Considering a migration or upgrade? Rely on the Sun Solution Center for: