WALLDORF, Germany and NEW YORK; Jan. 10, 2016 – SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) and Accenture (NYSE: ACN) are joining forces in the core and industry development and go-to-market of SAP® Business Suite 4 SAP HANA® (SAP S/4HANA), the next-generation business suite from SAP built on the industry’s most advanced in-memory platform. This unprecedented collaboration intends to accelerate development of SAP S/4HANA as well as industry and line-of-business solutions, with a view to simplifying and fast-tracking customers’ journeys to digital businesses.
“This strategic agreement to further advance our collaboration and integration builds on the success of the existing Accenture and SAP Business Solutions Group,” said Paul Daugherty, chief technology officer, Accenture. “Accenture developers and industry experts are now working side by side with SAP, providing us with unique input, insight and development opportunities with SAP S/4HANA. For example, our teams in Germany and Shanghai are helping SAP with the design and build of the SAP S/4HANA Finance solution. In addition, we plan to involve clients as part of a broader co-innovation strategy to ensure that we are optimizing our development efforts for SAP S/4HANA to meet their needs and help them stay competitive across industries and markets.”
In addition to co-development activities, a unique go-to-market approach will build on joint value-proposition capabilities and collaborative delivery efforts between SAP and Accenture. The result would be differentiated solutions with flexible delivery options for bundled industry cloud deployment. The companies will co-invest in resources and appoint dedicated executives to bring maximum value to mutual clients. The planned key benefits include:
- Enriching solutions by combining SAP and Accenture’s deep industry expertise, as well as extensive product knowledge
- Shortening time to market by leveraging Accenture delivery expertise for core and industry cloud solutions development for SAP S/4HANA
- New apps for SAP S/4HANA Finance using the SAP Fiori® user experience to bring an enhanced and simplified user experience and increased productivity across finance functions
- Accelerating adoption of SAP S/4HANA and shortening clients’ time to digital value by aligning and scaling joint go-to-market efforts
”Our enhanced agreement with Accenture signifies another key step to further strengthen our commitment to SAP S/4HANA,” said Bernd Leukert, member of the Executive Board, Products & Innovation, SAP. “We look forward to working with Accenture to drive digital transformation for businesses with even simpler solutions that accelerate time to value. Our comprehensive portfolio allows companies to successfully tackle the diverse challenges of the digital economy across the whole value chain, today and beyond, and make them ready for the future.”
About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions – underpinned by the world’s largest delivery network – Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With approximately 373,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com.
About SAP
As market leader in enterprise application software, SAP (NYSE: SAP) helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device – SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 296,100 customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably. For more information, visit www.sap.com.