SAPsters,
Great news announcement by SAP:
_________
Wednesday October 8 3:03 AM EDT
Company Press Release
SAP Announces First Standards-Based Enterprise Application
Integration With Wide Range of PC Desktop Applications
KARLSRUHE, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 8, 1997--
- Customers Can Mix and Match Favorite Desktop Applications to
Reduce Training and Maintenance Costs and Lower Total
Cost of Ownership -
At its Technology Days Conference here, SAP AG today announced support for the Microsoft OLE compound document standard in R/3(TM) Release 4.0, which allows customers to freely use a wide range of desktop
applications such as Microsoft Office, Corel Office, Lotus SmartSuite and Visio with R/3.
With this support, R/3 is the first enterprise application solution to offer such an advanced level of convenience and flexibility for PC desktop application integration.
Through a combination of enhancements to the Business Client(TM) graphical user interface (formerly SAPGUI), new interfaces within the R/3 application server, and support for Microsoft OLE compound document technology, any OLE-enabled desktop application can be integrated with R/3 business processes and data. This enables R/3 customers to reduce training and maintenance costs and improve productivity by leveraging existing investments and user knowledge of office applications. And since no modifications to desktop applications are required, customers can upgrade to new versions of desktop applications without affecting R/3 integration.
SAP currently provides customers with an integration solution for applications such as Microsoft Office 97. The new support for OLE compound document technology extends this integration to provide greater flexibility.
''SAP is continuing to focus on improving ease of use and finding technologies that reduce our customers' total cost of ownership,'' said Karl-Heinz Hess, executive vice president of system technology development at SAP AG. ''The flexibility to use any release level of PC desktop applications will clearly lower maintenance requirements and cost.''
The integration between R/3 and desktop applications occurs seamlessly with desktop applications embedded directly inside an R/3 Business Client screen, automatic linking of R/3 data from desktop applications, and the addition of R/3-specific menus and toolbars to desktop applications.
Architecture Based on Technology Standards
Available with R/3 Release 4.0, which is due for first customer shipment at the end of 1997 and general availability in the second quarter of 1998, the new office application integration incorporates three main technologies:
Component-enabled Business Client - The new R/3 Business Client provides the ability to incorporate and execute desktop controls and components. A new document container control manages the linkage between the Business Client desktop applications.
Open, generic interfaces - Implemented within the R/3 server using ABAP Objects, a new generic desktop application interface provides a consistent and open interface between R/3 data and desktop
applications. This allows R/3 data to be linked or embedded in the same way, regardless of the desktop application used.
OLE compound documents - The mechanisms for linking R/3 data and event handling are based on standard OLE compound documents. OLE is the standard for desktop application integration, ensuring that all major desktop applications can be used with R/3.
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