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Business process management software developer Intalio Inc. on Tuesday announced new technology to help companies extend their business processes within ERP [enterprise resource planning], SCM [supply chain management] and CRM [customer relationship management] environments.
The Intalio/APEX 3.0 platform is optimized for SAP AGs ERP software. It uses SAPs NetWeaver integration stack and lets users consolidate multiple instances of MySAP, integrate new SAP modules or upgrade to the latest version of SAPs software, R/3 4.7, without making any significant changes to the applications themselves, Intalio CEO Ismael Ghalimi said.
“Companies change a lot of code with their applications to implement or support their own processes,” Ghalimi said in Redwood Shores, Calif.
“When the time comes to do an integration or consolidate applications, they have to do all that [customization] work over again. What we bring is an alternative approach based on the extension of an application.”
APEX, or application process extension, sits on top of SAPs Web Application Server and takes advantage of NetWeavers underlying Exchange Infrastructure for integration with SAP and non-SAP applications, as well as SAPs Enterprise Portal for end-user interfaces that are developed using NetWeavers Developer Studio. Intalio is working on supporting NetWeavers master data management capabilities.
APEX brings to the table an application process extension layer that does not exist in NetWeaver and likely wont for the next four years, according to Ghalimi. APEX extends that layer in a single integrated environment, negating the necessity of using SAPs existing workflow tools, which Ghalimi said require hard-to-find expertise.
“This [APEX] is useful for the average ABAP developer—it extends NetWeaver with the process part that is missing today,” Ghalimi said.
APEX works with SAPs current 4.7 suite version, as well as with older versions including R/3.
Because APEX was built to run on top of the companys Intalio/n3 3.0 business process management system, it too has been given a 3.0 version number.
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