SAP's Newest CRM Release Makes Industry Gains

WALLDORF, Germany, Dec. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SAP AG today announced that customers worldwide across a variety of industries have selected the newest version of mySAP(TM) Customer Relationship Management (mySAP CRM) to drive business growth and improve end-user productivity across sales, service and marketing roles. The Whirlpool Corporation, Bluefin Solutions and Purdue University are among the latest companies leveraging the recent release of mySAP CRM for better customer insight, improved decision- making and enhanced forecasting processes.

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Whirlpool Corporation Streamlines After-Sales Service to Boost Customer Loyalty

Starting in the United Kingdom, appliance manufacturer Whirlpool is deploying mySAP CRM in its service operations to close a gap between the company and its customers. Previously, customers reporting product flaws and requesting repairs would dial a hotline that routed them to the service partner closest to their location. Partners would then set up service appointments directly with the customer. With the SAP(R) Interaction Center application in mySAP CRM, Whirlpool will own and handle each customer interaction. The company's call center agents will log complaints into a centralized workforce management solution that automatically generates work orders, which service partners can access via the Web from any location.

"We were looking for a CRM solution that would allow us to view vital business processes such as after-sales service through the customer point of view," said Phil Sifrig, director of Information Systems, Whirlpool Corporation. "With mySAP CRM, we will have a comprehensive view of the customer, allowing us to build stronger bonds throughout the customer life- cycle while delivering quick, reliable service well beyond the original purchase."

Bluefin Solutions Manages Business Growth Through Improved Account Management

Bluefin Solutions, a UK-based consultancy and provider of SAP services, is implementing mySAP CRM as a central source of customer information to increase visibility across all customer touch points. In a three-phased implementation, Bluefin will provide account managers real-time customer information on historical and planned interactions, develop targeted marketing capabilities and replace its current Application Management helpdesk system.

"As a young company undergoing sustained and rapid growth and expansion of services, we need a comprehensive CRM solution with the functionality to handle a complex array of customer interactions," said James Appleby, managing director, Bluefin Solutions. "The SAP CRM solution will help us increase productivity for both account managers and administrative staff while improving forecasting and decision-making processes."

Purdue University Innovates Student Recruitment Processes with mySAP CRM

Based in West Lafayette, Indiana, Purdue University is expanding its existing SAP specifications to include the newest version of mySAP CRM to gain greater visibility into vital recruitment, service and marketing information. The CRM rollout is aimed at creating a central information source to connect faculty, staff and 70,000 students across Purdue's numerous and diverse departments and campuses.

"With mySAP CRM, admissions officers will have the ability to better elicit and analyze prospective student information, developing a 360-degree view of student profiles to drive targeted recruitment campaigns, class demographic construction and class revenue predictions," said Douglas Christiansen, Purdue's Dean of Admissions.

Purdue enrollment officers will access powerful analytical capabilities via SAP NetWeaver(R) Portal to segment their recruitment pool based on candidate quality and probability of attendance, identify qualified applicants and address them with individually tailored marketing materials. Purdue also will leverage SAP's integrated ERP and CRM enterprise infrastructure to increase admissions staff productivity and improve tuition revenue forecasts.

"Customer successes with the newest version of mySAP CRM confirm SAP's accomplishments in driving industry-specific business processes into the CRM solution mix," said Bob Stutz, senior vice president, CRM Global Strategy and Product, SAP. "Tapping the strengths of SAP's solution set to extend IT investments and reach beyond enterprise boundaries, customers continue to embrace mySAP CRM as the solution of choice for making the 'customer' the centerpiece of business growth, product innovation and market strategy."

First Announced in May 2005 and shipping to customers since late October, the newest version of mySAP CRM delivers another set of highly innovative business processes designed to meet specific needs of companies of all sizes in more than 25 industries. The latest customers join the ranks of other industry-leading SAP customers such as Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Brother International, Sony of Canada, and Global Enterprise Management Solutions (GEMS) that are similarly reaping the benefits of SAP's latest fully- integrated CRM solution.

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(R) 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 29,800 customers in over 120 countries run more than 100,600 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.

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "intend," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "should" and "will" and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including SAP's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.

Copyright (C) 2005 SAP AG. All rights reserved.

SAP, R/3, mySAP, mySAP.com, xApps, xApp, SAP NetWeaver and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries all over the world. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. Data contained in this document serve informational purposes only. National product specifications may vary.

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