SAP Research's Campus-based Engineering Center (CEC) Belfast was founded in January 2005 as the Research Center of SAP (UK) Limited. It is embedded in an advanced research environment including local universities Queens University Belfast and University of Ulster (UoU); the UK e-Science Network, an initiative to promote grid computing in the UK; and Grid Ireland, a similar initiative in the Republic of Ireland.

With a strong focus on business grids, CEC Belfast is also working in the software development (next generation SOA) and Internet of Services research fields. Business grids will become the central ICT backbone in future economies – achieving a profound economic impact. In this respect, business grids differ significantly from traditional e-science grids, which focus on specific application areas and often aim to provide shared access to specialized, high-performance computing resources or datasets.

Research Environment – Working with World-Class Researchers

Business grids also deal with independently executing, stateless batch jobs that can be easily moved around a network and executed based on some given input files. Building upon the research results of the e-science community, business grids address the need for a general purpose ICT infrastructure for arbitrary business applications, capable of providing efficient business flexibility. The grids take into consideration that business applications do not exist as independent executables, but involve a complex technology stack containing, for example, application servers, databases, other middleware components, and other co-existing and cooperating business applications. Usage patterns are often interactive or session-based.

Belfast is an ideal location for dealing with business grids, as the UK offers the most advanced research community for grid computing in Europe. Aside from setting up and maintaining a close relationship with the two local universities, the lab also collaborates with the Belfast e-Science Centre, one of the 11 UK e-Science Network centers. Further collaborations are on track with HP Labs in Bristol.

Learn more about CEC Belfast's research collaborations:

• Queens University Belfast
• University of Ulster (UoU)
• UK e-Science Network
• Grid Ireland