SAP Extends Successful Safe Passage Program to Siebel Customers

BOSTON, Oct. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- In a move to further establish its leadership position in the CRM industry, SAP AG today announced that it is extending its Safe Passage program of SAP(R) applications, technology and support in a special offer for companies running Siebel software. The new offering from SAP provides "safe passage" to companies grappling with the uncertainties arising from Siebel's pending acquisition by Oracle Corporation and the resulting challenges these customers may face.

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With the recently announced planned acquisition of Siebel by Oracle Corporation, Siebel customers may face the same uncertainties and concerns experienced by the customers of PeopleSoft, JD Edwards and Retek solutions (among others) as they consider the impact of Oracle's consolidation activities and the potential issues arising out of Oracle's Project Fusion. As the world's leading provider of business software solutions and the recognized CRM industry leader, SAP offers a stable, proven, trusted vendor alternative for customers seeking a clear path forward.

SAP Safe Passage Program for Siebel Provides Present and Future Business Value

Both CRM leaders and customers have acknowledged that point solutions have fallen short of meeting today's business needs, and companies are demanding an integrated family of applications. By moving to mySAP(TM) Customer Relationship Management (mySAP CRM), companies can extend their customer-focused business processes across the entire enterprise. Fueled by the power of the SAP NetWeaver(R) platform, mySAP CRM gives customers the flexibility to quickly adapt their businesses to changing market needs and customer demands while leveraging existing IT investments to reduce complexity and lower costs. SAP NetWeaver also helps address Siebel customers' concerns for the future road map of their solutions under Oracle by providing a clearly defined blueprint for adapting to the next generation of CRM services through a service-oriented architecture (SOA).

SAP's Safe Passage program for Siebel customers is an offering designed to help ensure that projects are delivered on time, on budget and on value:

-- Investment protection through a credit of up to 75 percent of their original Siebel software licensing fees against the licensing of comparable CRM solutions from SAP. -- A value engineering assessment that provides customers with a comprehensive total cost of ownership (TCO) snapshot and an actionable plan for how to derive new business value with integrated processes and a governance process to ensure project success. -- Conversion tools, implementation methodologies and services from SAP and its partners to help ensure a smooth transition to mySAP CRM, which delivers end-to-end, industry-specific processes. -- Project team and end-user training to boost project success rates and increase return-on-investment (ROI).

To help meet the needs of CRM customers of all sizes, SAP Safe Passage provides Siebel customers with hosted short-term development environments designed to help kick-start CRM projects as well as long-term production hosting that encompasses all the technical services and systems needed to support e-commerce, interaction centers or sales force automation.

"Customers have a mandate to grow their businesses today," said Bill McDermott, president and CEO, SAP America. "They cannot afford to wait until 2008 or 2010 or 2013 to see if the merged software code of Oracle's multitude of acquired companies yields a viable product. SAP's Safe Passage program provides companies with a proven and affordable roadmap to protect their current investments and to begin the process of innovating their businesses today. We are entirely focused on delivering value to our customers now and are not distracted by the challenges of integrating multiple code bases, companies and corporate cultures."

SAP's Safe Passage program for Siebel customers is initially available in the United States and on a country-by-country basis. Siebel customers seeking more information should visit http://www.sap.com/usa/safepassagesiebel. For more information on mySAP CRM, SAP's award winning CRM solution, visit http://www.sap.com/crm.

About SAP Safe Passage

Safe Passage programs are comprehensive offerings from SAP addressing the concerns of Oracle customers facing the uncertainties of the end of life of Oracle (ORCL), PeopleSoft (PSFT), JD Edwards (JDE) and Retek solutions. Elements of Safe Passage programs include access to SAP's best-in-class enterprise resource planning (ERP) and other market-leading solutions, investment protection for a customer's existing investment in ORCL, PSFT, JDE or Retek solutions, immediate integration benefits through the SAP NetWeaver(R) platform and migration support services. In addition, third-party maintenance for certain PSFT and JDE solutions is available through SAP subsidiary TomorrowNow and SAP's network of channel partners focused on small and midsize enterprises. Safe Passage was initially introduced by SAP for customers running both SAP and PSFT/JDE. The program was next expanded with offers for Retek customers, small and midsize enterprises and Oracle's customers using solutions through business process outsourcing. For more information, please visit http://www.sap.com/safepassage or see the related press releases:

"SAP Provides Safe Passage for Its Customers Running PeopleSoft and JD Edwards Solutions," Jan. 19, 2005 "SAP Extends Safe Passage Program to All PeopleSoft and JD Edwards Customers in United States," Apr. 4, 2005 "SAP Declares Definitive Leadership in Retail Industry; Announces Safe Passage Program for Retailers," May 25, 2005 "SAP Extends Safe Passage Program to Small and Midsize Enterprises," June 29, 2005 "SAP Extends Safe Passage Program with Business Process Outsourcing Offer," Sept. 15, 2005 About mySAP CRM

Moving beyond traditional CRM functionality, SAP's innovation and unmatched industry expertise are setting new standards for the way companies connect with their customers and partners, creating customer-centric business processes across enterprisewide operations and business applications. mySAP(TM) Customer Relationship Management (mySAP CRM) delivers the market's greatest breadth and depth of functionality, offering more than 280 end-to-end, industry-specific processes to cover the unique business demands of more than twenty-five industries. Built on the open, Web services-based architecture of the SAP NetWeaver(TM) technology platform, mySAP CRM helps companies leverage existing IT investments, achieve lower total cost of ownership, gain faster return on investment and continually evolve the business processes having the greatest impact on success. (Additional information at http://www.sap.com/crm )

About SAP

SAP is the world's leading provider of business software solutions*. Today, more than 28,200 customers in over 120 countries run more than 96,400 installations of SAP(R) software-from distinct solutions addressing the needs of small and midsize enterprises to suite solutions for global organizations. Powered by the SAP NetWeaver(R) platform to drive innovation and enable business change, mySAP(TM) Business Suite solutions are helping enterprises around the world improve customer relationships, enhance partner collaboration and create efficiencies across their supply chains and business operations. SAP industry solutions support the unique business processes of more than 25 industry segments, including high tech, retail, public sector and financial services. With subsidiaries in more than 50 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges, including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE under the symbol "SAP." (Additional information at http://www.sap.com/ )

(*) SAP defines business software solutions as comprising enterprise resource planning and related software solutions such as supply chain management, customer relationship management, product life-cycle management and supplier relationship management.

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