HANA is designed to improve decision-making and increase the speed of existing processes and accessing large amounts of data.
Enterprise application
software specialist SAP (NYSE: SAP) announced two new offerings that are
designed to deliver the benefits of the companys HANA platform, a combination
of in-memory data management software and SAP partner hardware, to small and
midsize businesses (SMBs). With analytics powered by HANA for the SAP Business
One application and HANA Edge edition, SMBs can leverage in-memory technology
from SAP.
HANA is designed to improve
decision-making and increase the speed of existing processes and accessing
large amounts of data in shorter periods of time. HANA Edge edition is globally
available via enabled and authorized partners. The platform aims to provide
midmarket companies with real-time access to information tailored to their
individual requirements.
Analytics powered by HANA
for SAP Business One are intended to provide a cost-effective combination of a special
product version of HANA designed with the needs of small businesses in mind.
Targeted at companies using Business One, the channel-only solution aims to
offer a small-scale, easy-to-use HANA-based application including operational
reporting with the companys Crystal Reports software. Ramp-up is planned to
begin at the end of February, with general availability slated for later in
2012.
Analytics powered by HANA
for SAP Business One will offer customers the flexibility to create interactive
reports and run ad-hoc analysis faster than before, said Ketan Solanki,
consulting manager at Evolution Future Solutions, an Australia-based SAP
channel partner delivering Business One. Another major advantage is the access
to relevant information in seconds with freestyle search, with the ability to
navigate through various business objects from SAP Business One without having
to move from screen to screen due to it all being included in the current
cockpit. We expect that customers will benefit from tremendously improved
productivity.
HANA Edge edition is an
indirect offering compiled specifically for reselling in the midmarket. The
software targets SAP customers in the midmarkettypically those running the
companys Business All-in-One solution. An additional value proposition is
offered when the version of HANA for midsize companies is bundled with the
companys BusinessObjects Edge Business Intelligence (BI) software, with the
combination delivering insight in real time to midsize organizations.
Small enterprises have big
data issues also, said Donald Feinberg, vice president and distinguished
analyst at IT research firm Gartner. Big data is not only large volumes of
data but also includes the variety and complexity of the data. Looking at
content such as audio, video, text, documents, small enterprises have as much
big data as large enterprises. Solutions for small enterprises must address the
issues of big data.
For quick implementation of
HANA, customers and partners can use SAP Rapid Deployment solutions, including
the companys ERP rapid-deployment solution for operational reporting with
HANA. Rapid Deployment solutions delivered by SAP partners include
preconfigured software, partner implementation services and end-user enablement
resulting in fast time to value with easy-to-deploy and integrated solutions.
Another offering is SAP CO-PA Accelerator software, which allows faster
processing of complex allocations and nearly instantaneous ad hoc profitability
queries. It belongs to accelerator-type usage scenarios in which HANA becomes a
secondary database for SAP products such as the ERP application.
Small businesses have the
dual need of a real-time software platform for their business, and yet
simplicity in their IT landscapes, said Vishal Sikka, member of the SAP
executive board, technology and innovation platform for SAP. HANA enables
nearly 80 percent of our customers, which are small and midsize businesses, to
bring together structured and unstructured data analysis from any source, as
well as transactional applications and analytics, in a single highly scalable,
elastic infrastructure for true real-time computing. Together with our
ecosystem partners, we are excited about HANA delivering unprecedented
performance improvements to businesses without compromise.
Nathan Eddy is Associate Editor, Midmarket, at eWEEK.com. Before joining eWEEK.com, Nate was a writer with ChannelWeb and he served as an editor at FierceMarkets. He is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
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