Software company SAP is working with third-party suppliers and
its customers to tackle poor trading conditions in the face of
economic downturn.
This was the focus of the opening session of SAP TechEd 2008
taking place in Berlin.
SAP co-CEO Leo Apotheker announced SAP EcoHub, an
online marketplace he said was
designed to enable customers to discover, evaluate and buy SAP
systems developed by partners.
Apotheker also spoke at length about the growing importance of
business networks as the boundaries between enterprises are
beginning to disappear.
He announced SAP's partnership with B2B integration services
firm Crossgate.
Apotheker said SAP would be focussing future development of its
business suite of products and Netweaver integration middleware at
meeting business needs to develop and maintain collaborative
networks.
"Business is becoming much more customer-centric, collaborative
and relationship-driven, where there is shared risk enabled by
business networks," he said.
Apotheker also announced a data privacy composite application
developed with Cisco to enable organizations to enforce data
privacy across the business network.
About 4,500 delegates are attending the event from 52
countries.