Fujitsus Utility Computing Product Ready for SAP SOA Initiative

Fujitsu Computer Systems virtualized infrastructure is now ready to run SAPs SOA applications.

The Sunnyvale, Calif., companys FlexFrame for MySAP Business Suite has been certified to support the software makers growing service-oriented architecture initiative, said Pat Hanford, director of alliances at Fujitsu.

"Well be able to run any SAP service on any server at any time," Hanford said.

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Fujitsu is making the announcement Sept. 12.

Fujitsus virtualized infrastructure—which offers a combination of hardware, storage and software to create a utility computing environment—has supported SAP deployments since it was introduced in North America in 2004. Having the capability to run SAPs SOA offerings extends that partnership, Hanford said.

SAP, of Walldorf, Germany, introduced its ESA (enterprise services strategy) in 2003. The methodology behind SOA calls for integrating services to create composite applications—combinations of service-enabled applications tied together for specific business purposes.

SAPs initiative, expected to be completed in 2007, not only calls for building new applications, but also componentizing older software on its NetWeaver platform.

SAP is looking to bring other software developers into the fold. At its TechEd conference in Las Vegas Sept. 12, the software giant is announcing its Business Process Expert community, a group aimed at helping the industry-wide move toward SOAs.

More than 100 SAP customers have opted to run some or all of their applications on Fujitsus FlexFrame offering, Hanford said.

The goal is to simplify the SAP environment by separating the applications from the hardware, enabling users to view the computing, storage and networking devices as a single pool of resources that can be deployed based on business needs, she said.

The result is a 60 percent improvement in a business overall cost of ownership.

Fujitsu needed to tweak the virtualization tools and techniques within FlexFrame to make it interoperable with the SAP SOA initiative, Hanford said.

While Fujitsu currently offers FlexFrame only for SAP applications, the company expects to expand it to other software platforms, she said. Hanford declined to say at what other platforms Fujitsu is looking.

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