Accenture plc (ACN) and SAP AG (SAP) are coming together to offer advanced enterprise mobility to oil and gas, utilities and consumer goods verticals. The announcement was made at the Sapphire Conference held by SAP in Orlando.
The combination will develop new mobility solutions based on the Sybase Unwired Platform 2.0 along with Accenture’s enterprise mobility offerings. Sybase is a subsidiary of SAP. With this innovation, organizations can significantly reduce their costs and time needed to implement a mobile strategy.
Integration of mobile devices such as smartphones with the available SAP applications will be made easy, facilitating information access and business transactions from outside the walls of an enterprise.
The terms of the agreement will also require both the companies to develop a structured “go-to-market” model to promote collaboration between their sales teams.
Mobility has become a part and parcel of peoples’ lives. The strategic partnership is expected to capitalize on the emerging demand for mobile transactions in businesses. The success of new enterprise mobility offerings will also strengthen the long-standing relationship between Accenture and SAP.
Apart from this, Accenture will also work as a solution-partner to SAP’s Business-ByDesign and will develop add-on solutions for customer relationship and human capital management.
Though we are unable to gauge the financial benefits, we remain encouraged by the close association that Accenture enjoys with the leading enterprise application software developer. The recent deal extension between the two tech giants will be mutually beneficial.
Accenture’s clients will be more loyal due to their ready access to SAP applications. On the other hand, SAP applications will get a larger podium through Accenture’s large customer base.
We are encouraged by the healthy growth in revenue and bookings in Accenture’s recently concluded third quarter of 2011. However, the economic turmoil in Europe and competitive pressure from International Business Machines Inc. (IBM) could considerably rationalize Accenture’s growth prospects.
SAP is the leader in the worldwide enterprise applications market with the biggest market share. Its business suite helps clients improve customer relationships, enhance collaboration and improve efficiencies across their supply chains and business operations. IBM and Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) are major competitors.
Currently, both Accenture and SAP shares have a Zacks #3 Rank, implying a short-term Hold recommendation.
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