Microsoft, SAP to boost partnership with deployment of ERP on Azure cloud

Microsoft and SAP's long-standing partnership is set to get a boost with the deployment of SAP's ERP (enterprise resource planning) and other software on Azure cloud infrastructure service.

By the end of the second quarter, SAP's Business Suite, Business All-in-One, mobile platform, Adaptive Server Enterprise database, and the developer version of the Hana in-memory computing platform would be certified for Azure, according to the companies.

With SAP's Cloud Appliance Library, it would be possible to launch preconfigured SAP software packages to Azure within just a few minutes.

Under the agreement, Microsoft would support customers if a problem cropped up at the infrastructure level, with SAP taking over if the issue involved an application error, according to Kevin Ichhpurani, senior vice president, head of business development and strategic ecosystem at SAP.

If the source of the problem could not be targeted right away, SAP and Microsoft would work together to resolve it, he added.

Also, on Monday, the companies announced the general availability of integration between SAP BusinessObjects and Microsoft Power BI through Excel; an upcoming release of SAP's Gateway that would tie together SAP applications and Office 365; and plans for SAP mobile applications supporting Windows and Windows Phone 8.1.

The companies' long-term partnership would be extended in three critical areas: enterprise cloud computing with SAP applications certification for Microsoft Azure; improved interoperability between data from SAP applications and Microsoft Office, including general availability of connectivity between SAP BusinessObjects business intelligence (BI) solutions and Microsoft's Power BI offering; and mobile productivity with expanded development and support for Windows and Windows Phone 8.1.

In an interview with eWEEK, Takeshi Numoto,  corporate vice president of cloud and enterprise marketing at Microsoft, said this was an expansion of a partnership the companies had had for over 20 years. Together, the two companies, served about 75 per cent of the enterprise customers out there, he said, adding that by the end of June, multiple SAP assets would be certified to run on the Azure cloud.

''Microsoft and SAP have a great history together, and we are committed to meeting the diverse needs of our enterprise customers,'' said Scott Guthrie, executive vice president of Cloud & Enterprise at Microsoft, in a statement.

''Our expanded partnership with SAP demonstrates our continued commitment to deliver the applications and services our customers need - in their private clouds, service provider clouds, Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Office.''