SAP chooses Nortel's CRM software

SAP America and Nortel Networks have formed a strategic alliance in which SAP will resell Nortel's customer relationship management software. The companies will also collaborate on enterprise, open internet based services.

As part of the agreement, SAP has embedded contact centre software from Nortel's Clarify ebusiness Applications unit within the mySAP.com workplace. The companies said that with the embedded applications from Clarify, mySAP.com will provide a contact centre that delivers customer information via the web, phone, fax, handheld device and face-to-face interaction.

Chris Larson, president of SAP America, said the partnership between the two companies goes beyond any point solution the market offers today. "We have committed to collaborate beyond implementation. We will provide joint sales and marketing, consulting, and post-implementation support as well as co-locations of development teams."

"This is not a minor gesture. It's all about speed to market," said Larson, adding "that customers will be served through a single point of contact".

Larson pointed out that the collaboration will result in a more competitive option for customers that require a highly integrated and scalable customer interaction solution in their mySAP.com environment.

Integration, he said, is the key factor, and because Nortel's applications are embedded, it has no peer in the marketplace. "We've raised the stakes and we have moved further up the food chain."

Tony Zingale, president of the Clarify eBusiness Applications unit acquired by Nortel Networks last month, said the alliance will enable customers to realise faster time to market and faster time to money.

The joint solution, available this month, will initially target the banking, insurance, high-tech and communications industries. Zingale said the alliance will have an impact on partners, systems integrators and the industry. Companies that have integrated SAP with Clarify include BP Amoco, GTEC and Scientific Atlanta.

"This alliance is a broader portfolio that we can bring to the market," Larson added. "We are confident we will jump about 50 per cent with this alliance."

Peggy Menconi, an analyst at AMR Research, pointed out that this deal will not give SAP thought leadership, but does align them with a company that is one of the movers and shakers in the CRM market.