SAP AG has updated its portfolio of on-demand products with feature pack 2.6 for the SAP Business ByDesign. The new release serves as an open platform on which partners can customize the software based on customer needs. Further features include support for additional mobile devices and on-demand integration of subsidiary operations into on-premise installations at headquarters.
With feature pack 2.6 for SAP Business ByDesign, SAP partners and customers can extend the product to individual requirements. Approximately 80 percent of all project-specific adaptations — such as adjusting the user interface, creating new reports, building forms and adjusting business processes — can be completed by users without programming. For the remaining 20 percent, SAP has also introduced the first version of the software development kit (SDK) SAP Business ByDesign studio, which will enable partners to create complete add-on product packages.
This Microsoft Visual Studio-based development environment is integrated into the lifecycle management system from SAP and is currently being tested with selected partners, who are starting with project-based add-ons.
SAP Business ByDesign offers new features, including:
- Integration for subsidiaries –With feature pack 2.6, SAP offers the first integration scenario for financial consolidation to help companies deal with the growing level of global financial reporting standards, multiple currencies, and tax jurisdictions.
- Platform for line-of-business offerings –SAP Business ByDesign will serve as the platform for line-of-business offerings for large enterprises from SAP.
- Extended mobile support – In addition to supporting the iPhone, feature pack 2.6 for SAP Business ByDesign extends mobile support to the iPad and RIM BlackBerry smartphones. The next version is planned to include further support for the Android and Windows Phone 7 operating systems. Also, partners have the ability to build native mobile applications that run Web services from SAP Business ByDesign, as well as build mobile applications using SAP Business ByDesign studio.
- In-memory expansion – The analytics functionality within SAP Business ByDesign runs on SAP in-memory computing. Feature pack 2.6 adds sales and financial planning scenarios powered by the same in-memory technology.
The dashboard app provides worksheets to arrange and organize reports, as well as annotations, notes, e-mail, and voice notes for collaboration with colleagues. A compare function allows access to previous versions of customer data, including the ability to highlight significant changes in data based on a predefined threshold. The dashboard app will be free to download from the Apple iTunes store and available in demo mode for non-SAP Business ByDesign customers.
