Acquisition enhances SAP's Business One upgrade
SAP AG has acquired Norweigan software startup iLytix Systems AS, which makes a reporting and budgeting tool, and will use its technology in a new version of SAP's Business One applications suite that was announced Wednesday.
The German software vendor has been rounding up new channel partners to help boost its sales of Business One, a broad suite of applications aimed at smaller businesses. As well as releasing the upgrade Wednesday, SAP announced that the suite is now available from resellers in several additional countries, bringing the total to 35.
The upgrade adds new materials requirement planning capabilities and enhancements to the financials and embedded customer relationship management features. It will also add improved reporting and data analytics capabilities through the acquisition of iLytix, which is based in Oslo, SAP said.
ILytix makes a tool called XL Reporter that helps companies pull together business reports and budgets that can be viewed in Microsoft Corp.'s Excel spreadsheet software. Including the tool with Business One means customers won't have to export and reformat data to get it from their business applications into Excel, said SAP spokesman Jim Dever.
ILytix also developed versions of XL Reporter for ERP (enterprise resource planning) suites from competing vendors, including PeopleSoft Inc. and Microsoft Corp.'s Great Plains division. It was unclear Wednesday whether SAP would continue to support those other platforms.
The new version of Business One is available now to new customers and will be offered to existing customers as part of their maintenance contracts. SAP plans to include XL Reporter with the suite for no additional charge by the end of the first quarter, Dever said. Pricing for the suite remains unchanged; in the U.S. it costs US$3,750 per user.
Business One recently went on sale through resellers in Mexico, Chile and South Africa, among other additional countries. SAP offers "regionalized" versions of the product for Eastern Europe and the Asia Pacific, however, and the upgraded version will take longer to reach customers in those regions, Dever said.
SAP completed its acquisition of iLytix in the fourth quarter last year and has already started to integrate the company into its operations. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. ILytix was founded in 2000 and has about 10 employees.
IDG News Service
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