Microsoft and SAP have agreed to a partnership designed to improve big data, cloud computing and enterprise mobility, the companies said in a statement. SAP applications will now be available on Microsoft Azure, Excel will be connected to SAP BusinessObjects, and SAP will be creating apps for Windows and Windows Phone 8.1.
Microsoft Azure will support SAP’s Business Suite software, Business All-In-One solutions, Mobile Platform, Adaptive Server Enterprise, and the developer edition of SAP HANA. Customers and developers will be able to deploy and provision preconfigured SAP solutions to Azure via the SAP Cloud Appliance Library tool, both companies said. The integrations will be completed and readily available by the end of Q2 2014.
Microsoft has connected Excel to SAP BusinessObjects BI solutions via Microsoft's Power BI platform. Additionally, SAP has released the Gateway app for Microsoft, which is designed to help customers access SAP applications and data through Microsoft Office 365 and Microsoft Azure.
The two companies also announced that they will develop and co-market SAP mobile apps for Windows and Windows Phone 8.1. The apps will be managed and secured by SAP Mobile Secure or Windows Intune.
The cloud push
SAP and Microsoft have invested heavily in getting users to adopt cloud. In March, SAP agreed to acquire contingent workforce management firm Fieldglass to boost its cloud services. The company also enabled users to pay for access to SAP HANA based on consumption and allowed them to choose additional end-to-end features or options on a case by case basis.
Last week, SAP told TechRadar the company is planning a restructure that will shift approximately 2,500 roles from software programming to cloud computing.
Microsoft recently made Azure ExpressRoute available to enterprise users. The service is designed to allow businesses to create private networks between on-premise or colocation data centers and IT infrastructure.
In April, Microsoft upgraded its data solutions offering with three services designed to ease data capture, storage and usage via the cloud. Microsoft also announced that Azure will be gaining a host of new features, including a redesigned management portal, and the company announced significant price reductions for Azure.
