Microsoft Corp. and SAP AG today announced a significant expansion of their long-standing relationship based on a shared commitment to Web services as the foundation for the next generation of enterprise software. The two companies detailed a road map for deeper integration between Microsoft .NET and SAP NetWeaver, the companies’ respective strategic platform initiatives. The jointly developed solutions will enhance access to SAP NetWeaver functionality for developers using Microsoft Visual Studio .NET and will increase the interoperability between SAP solutions and the Microsoft Office System. Intrinsic support for industry-standard Web services integration techniques promises to make business integration faster, cheaper and easier.

More than 40,000 SAP installations run on Microsoft Windows - more than all other platforms combined. Almost two-thirds of all new SAP installations are deployed on Microsoft Windows.

The two companies announced a road map for both technology deliverables and business engagement designed to deliver significant business value to customers:

Technology Deliverables:

SAP Enterprise Portal SDK for Microsoft .NET. SAP announced plans to begin a beta program this summer with a goal of enabling developers who use the popular ASP.NET programming model to customize and extend SAP solutions by delivering richer and more robust SAP Enterprise Portal development capabilities on the Microsoft Windows platform using Microsoft Visual Studio .NET as a development environment.

SAP .NET Connector Version 2.0. Building on the work the companies have already done to help customers more easily integrate SAP applications with solutions based on Microsoft .NET, SAP will offer a new version of the popular connector in August. New features include enhanced language support for Visual Basic .NET, better integration with Visual Studio .NET and enhancements to support development of more-secure applications and controls.

SAP Support for Visual Studio .NET. SAP will support Visual Studio .NET by joining the Visual Studio Industry Partner (VSIP) program, allowing developers who use Visual Studio .NET to more directly program against SAP applications from the familiar Visual Studio IDE.

SAP NetWeaver Support for Advanced Web Services Protocols. The next version of SAP NetWeaver will provide native support for advanced Web services protocols, enabling reliable and transacted interoperability with core Microsoft .NET technologies, including Microsoft BizTalk Server, as well as other products from Microsoft and other companies.

SAP NetWeaver Support for Microsoft Smart Client Technology. SAP is delivering sample applications for developers to implement smart clients to access SAP system capabilities from Microsoft Office System applications and Visual Studio 2005, a smart client UI, and an SDK.

Integration Between SAP NetWeaver, Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services. Microsoft will deliver repository managers that integrate between SAP NetWeaver knowledge management functionality, Windows SharePoint Services and Microsoft Exchange Server. The repository managers are expected to be available in early 2005.

Business Engagement:

Joint Staffing of Collaboration Technology Support Center. Microsoft and SAP will jointly staff a Collaboration Technology Support Center (CTSC) in Walldorf, Germany. The center will help the companies identify and showcase integration scenarios and will support both companies’ sales and support staffs.

Joint Sales and Marketing. Microsoft and SAP will collaborate on marketing and activities to drive sales and implementation of SAP on the Microsoft platform. These activities will include joint publication of white papers and joint support of a marketing development fund.

As part of the alliance, the two companies entered into a patent cross-license to provide a better environment for joint technical collaboration and solutions development.