May 14, 2012
Accenture to Expand Scope and Capabilities of Innovation Centers to Develop New Solutions Based on SAP® Database Technology
Becomes First SAP Partner to Make Significant Commitment and Investment in SAP HANA®
ORLANDO, Fla.; May 14, 2012 - Accenture (NYSE: ACN) is expanding the scope of its Innovation Centers for SAP® solutions to become the first global systems integrator (SI) to focus on accelerating the development and delivery of SAP’s real-time database solutions and services, the company announced today. The goal is to help clients rapidly leverage the new innovations in database technology that SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) has delivered with the introduction of the SAP HANA® platform. This move will enable organizations to capitalize on the strong potential that this fundamental shift in the role that the data layer presents for enterprise software solutions.
The announcement was made at the SAPPHIRE® NOW conference being held in Orlando, May 14 – 16, where Accenture is exhibiting in booth 2501.
"We’re ramping up the next phase of research and development in our Innovation Centers because we believe the new in-memory technology featured in SAP HANA can drive significant benefits for our clients," said Mark Willford, global managing director of SAP business for Accenture. "The rapid, easy and timely consumption of data represents a new frontier for unlocking the value of business applications and is key to the creation of new competitive advantage. With the tremendous performance and speed of SAP HANA, clients can take advantage of in-memory computing in a way that allows for real-time business modeling and hyperfast analytics processing across virtually any volume of structured and unstructured customer data. We’re pleased to be the first global SI to make a significant commitment to build on the new platform.”
As part of its commitment, Accenture will make a significant investment in creating a workforce of up to 1,000 professionals skilled in SAP database and technology solutions by the end of 2012 and a dedicated research and development (R&D) capability. Through this, it will not only develop new applications for the SAP database platform, but also offer a set of new tools and best practices developed specifically for this domain. Furthermore, Accenture plans to use its Innovation Centers as a solution and delivery channel for its clients and create a solution factory via its India locations.
"Accenture is one of our most important alliance partners and a top provider of SAP solutions, so we welcome the substantial investment they are making to build out a dedicated workforce in support of SAP database solutions," said Steve Lucas, executive vice president and global lead, Database and Technology, SAP. "Our customers tell us they plan to continue adopting solutions like SAP HANA. Given that Accenture has been investing with us from day one, we believe this announcement is great validation of our strategic direction for SAP HANA. Accenture’s industry leadership, expertise and delivery capabilities make it the ideal partner to help drive the development and adoption of new solutions and business applications based on SAP’s real-time database platform.”
Together, Accenture and SAP intend to create a portfolio of client offerings to significantly improve performance of and investments in the lifecycle of data-layer implementations. The first solution culminating from this new investment is a real-time customer analytics solution based on the combination of Accenture’s Customer Insight (ACI) solution running on the SAP HANA platform with predictive analytics.
About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with approximately 246,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$25.5 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2011. Its home page is www.accenture.com.
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Contact:
Peter Y. Soh
Accenture
+ 1 703 947 2571