SAP Grows Legs

Traditional office programs found their way onto smartphones years ago. Business applications such as SAP are up next. They increase the productivity of the mobile workforce even more. Take customer management systems for example: Sales staff, service technicians and consultants can take a quick look in their CRM system to get valuable, up-to-date information on the way to their appointments.

The global trend cannot be stopped. While Gartner estimates that around 1.2 billion people will have a mobile end-device by the end of 2010, IDC analysts see a professional world in 2013 in which at least every third employee will be mobile. For these mobile employees to be truly productive no matter where they are, they need business software like SAP as well as Office programs running securely on their mobile end-devices such as smartphones.

Always up to date
Insurance brokers like Dieter Z., for example, can already benefit from a mobile SAP CRM solution. Representatives of several larger insurance companies consider current customer data to be the most important factor when it comes to successful business transactions. Dieter Z. is usually on the road and would be able to use his Blackberry or iPhone to access up-to-date information between appointments. He could find out whether or not his next customer has contacted their insurer in the past few hours to file a claim, for example. And he could find out about special offers being promoted by the insurance company and then discuss them with his customer and be optimally prepared for his next appointment.

The advantages of using a mobile solution are very apparent when it comes to customer management. Data is always up-to-date and employees can sync their smartphone with headquarters as soon as they are finished with their appointment. Because they can verify credit standing, claims history and classification of risks on their mobile end-device, they can wrap up business quickly and efficiently. That means that both companies and field staff save time and money. Whereas contract information used to have to be written down manually many times over, it is now possible to enter it immediately with mobile access using company applications.

No license or hardware costs
Service technicians can also save valuable time. They can use their smartphone to access service order data from the company server while on-site at the customer and enter directions, what time they started and finished their work and which replacement parts they used as well. Service technicians can then send this data to their CRM system, initiating the billing process. And service teams can plan their routes more efficiently. Technicians can look up their next appointment while on the road, saving time and travel expenses.

Companies that already have SAP CRM can use it for mobile activities without having to purchase additional SAP licenses. They do not have to invest in hardware either since in most cases they can use the software on the smartphones they already have. T-Systems plans to bring out additional SAP Business Suite 7 modules for smartphones together with SAP and Sybase in addition to the CRM module. In addition to mobile applications, SAP Workflow is also available. This allows managers to use their smartphones to quickly approve vacation requests and forward them to the human resources department and more.