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SAP Deutschland SE & Co. KG Hasso-Plattner-Ring 7 69190 Walldorf, Germany http://www.sap.com/germany
Contact Ms Torrey Fazen +1 617-764-0146

Family Businesses Run SAP Solutions for Small and Midsize Companies

SAP Delivers Operational Excellence Through a Portfolio of Dedicated Solutions for Small Businesses and Midsize Companies

(PresseBox) (New York, )
SAP (NYSE: SAP) today announced that family-run businesses in the United States are further growing through the use of SAP® solutions for small businesses and midsize companies. Family-run businesses are built on their trusted reputation of providing exceptional service and products focused on personalized attention to customer needs. This value is mirrored by SAP solutions that fit the unique business processes, requirements and challenges of small and midsize companies - providing unsurpassed customer service and adapting to a company's evolving needs. The announcement was made at the National Retail Federation Convention, being held Jan. 11-14 in New York, NY.

Currently working with nearly 40,000 small businesses and midsize companies, SAP understands the unique needs and challenges of family-run businesses in various industries. During these challenging economic times, small businesses and midsize companies are even more concerned with improving operational efficiency to support profitable growth - as well as developing the ability to adjust to changing environments and business demands faster than their competition.

SAP offers complete, proven business solutions with deep industry-specific functionalities that are quick to implement, easy to use and flexible to support the unique and changing business needs of small and midsize companies. These solutions optimize operations by providing one platform for all company processes, thus enabling transparency throughout the entire business so that informed decisions can be made in closing deals, managing financial information, tracking production, expanding relationships with business networks and delivering various services.

SAP® Business All-in-One solutions are based on SAP® Best Practices packages, and are designed specifically to enhance business agility, improve operational efficiency and strengthen customer relationships. SAP® Business One offers a single application for streamlining end-to-end operations by providing instant and complete information across the entire business. SAP® Business ByDesign(TM) is a complete and adaptable on-demand business solution designed to unify and streamline core business operations for midsize companies. All three solutions address the diverse needs of small businesses and midsize enterprises (SMEs), a rapidly growing segment that accounts for a significant percentage of SAP's total customers.

Family-Run SMEs Find Success With SAP

SAP has helped the following family-run businesses achieve business excellence and growth through the use of its small and midsize business solutions: Annin & Co., Ateeco Inc. (maker of Mrs. T's Pierogies), Barber Foods, Community Coffee, Drywall Supply, HB Communications, Inc., Life is good, Schumacher Elevator, Sentry Group and The Fruit Company.

Life is good is a New Hampshire-based apparel company that sells and markets an assortment of optimistic and humorous Life is good products, including clothing, accessories and footwear. The brand was growing, but the company was hindered by stove-piped master data management and disparate operating systems. Working on an aggressive timeline, the company implemented an apparel and footwear industry solution from SAP in only 24 weeks. Based on attune's pre-configured solution attune for Brands (a4B), the implementation has resulted in a highly visible, streamlined flow of information and collaboration across the company and its supply chain. The solution's capacity for growth and system-wide accuracy are further helping Life is good to tailor and grow its business.

"We have seen considerable results through the solution from SAP and attune," said Kevin Scheeler, director of technology, Life is good. "We now have improved visibility into the warehouse and can easily locate products on every level, allowing us to better control the quality of both inbound and outbound processes. SAP's solutions not only have an exceptional ability to cater to our specific industry needs as a family-run business, but they helped us realize tangible improvements to our bottom-line through increased order fill rates, reduced schedule changes on the shop floor and improved ability to match supply and demand."

The Fruit Company, located in Hood River, Oregon, is an online retailer of fine fruits and gourmet gift specialties. The Fruit Company required a single, integrated view into all of its departments - and found the answer in the SAP Business One application. SAP Business One provided a flexible business solution that the company could adapt to meet its own dynamic business needs, as well as integrate easily with The Fruit Company's existing operations, upgrading from one-dimensional spreadsheets.

"It was important for us to find a solution that could deliver the appropriate level of service, as well as be flexible enough to change with our business - and do so at a reasonable cost," said Scott Webster, chief executive officer, The Fruit Company. "The rich functionality of SAP Business One provided us with the cost-effective solution we were seeking to relieve our integration concerns. SAP Business One fit our needs as a growing business, with the added benefit of lowering overhead costs through its integrated view."

Jointly with its widespread global network of qualified and customer-focused resellers often specializing in a certain industry, SAP also has a presence in remote global locations and can provide its customers with the required service through experts who speak the same language of a small business or midsize company in a specific industry.

Providing Additional Benefits to Customers

In the current economic environment, the right technology solutions are essential tools to help businesses tightly manage cash, drive efficiency and reduce costs, which is what the SAP® Business All-in-One fast-start program enables companies to do. Companies need proven solution packages that help them quickly adjust to the new market reality and thrive in an uncertain economy, as well as enable them to make the appropriate investments to be best-positioned for business gains upon economic recovery. The best practices included in SAP Business All-in-One are built upon SAP's long proven experience in helping businesses manage through tough economic cycles.

About SAP® Solutions for Small Businesses and Midsize Companies

With more than 39,500 small and midsize customers worldwide, SAP is a leading provider of business applications and an established and highly successful player in the small and midsize enterprise (SME) market. SAP offers a broad and innovative solution portfolio for small businesses and midsize companies to meet the heterogeneous demands of SME customers. SAP solutions for small businesses and midsize companies include SAP® Business One, a single integrated application for successfully managing small businesses; SAP® Business ByDesign(TM) , the software industry's most complete, integrated and adaptable on-demand solution for midsize companies; and SAP® Business All-in-One, a customizable and extensible solution for midsize companies with deep industry best practices built in. Sold, implemented and maintained through SAP and an expanding network of qualified partners, all of the solutions are competitively priced, easy and quick to implement and scalable to customers' growing business needs. The SAP solutions specifically designed for SMEs help enable small businesses and midsize companies to lower operating costs, improve operational excellence, gain better business insight and control, and grow their businesses flexibly. Additional information is available at www.sap.com/solutions/sme

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "intend," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "should" and "will" and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including SAP's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.

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SAP Deutschland SE & Co. KG

SAP is the world's leading provider of business software(*), offering applications and services that enable companies of all sizes and in more than 25 industries to become best-run businesses. With approximately 76,000 customers in over 120 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges, including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE, under the symbol "SAP." (For more information, visit www.sap.com)

(*) SAP defines business software as comprising enterprise resource planning and related applications.

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The publisher indicated in each case (see company info by clicking on image/title or company info in the right-hand column) is solely responsible for the stories above, the event or job offer shown and for the image and audio material displayed. As a rule, the publisher is also the author of the texts and the attached image, audio and information material. The use of information published here is generally free of charge for personal information and editorial processing. Please clarify any copyright issues with the stated publisher before further use. In case of publication, please send a specimen copy to service@pressebox.de.