Realizing the relative advantage of small vendors for offering solutions to SMEs, SAP has made a new move:

One should never neglect the importance of a partner ecosystem, given that even SAP cannot be all things to all people. Thus, early in 2006, in order to expand its offering of business management software solutions for the resource and industry requirements of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), SAP introduced 39 new qualified mySAP All-in-One partner solutions to an overall portfolio of over 600 such solutions. The solutions were developed and delivered by SAP partners in countries including Australia, Belgium, China, Denmark, Germany, hungary, India, Italy, Korea, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the UK, and the US.

According to an analysis done by Technology Evaluation, each offering includes built-in best practices for managing business processes within a specific industry, giving these new solutions the ability to address diverse industries ranging from biotechnology, plant construction, and transportation services, to aviation and fashion retailing. The latest additions to the world's largest portfolio of microvertical solutions for SMEs, the thirty-nine new offerings are part of more than a hundred new solutions introduced in the last twelve months. Nearly 600 qualified mySAP All-in-One partner solutions are available in over 50 countries; they are used by more than 7,100 customers worldwide.

Let's see whether this new strategy helps SAP to cope with the challenges provided by small! rivals or not...