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Significant New Customer Contracts; Customer Base
Passes 46,100

We grew our customer base by more than 8,100 in 2007, to beyond 46,100. The year was characterized by a variety of product innovations and the rapid expansion of our offering for small businesses and midsize companies. Currently, we define more than 65% of our customers as small businesses and midsize companies. 

In 2007, we sealed contracts with many large corporations and midsize organizations. For example: 

  • The State Administration of Taxation of the People’s Republic of China bought a tax management solution from SAP to simplify and consolidate tax administration processes. The initial deployment was at Xicheng District National Tax Bureau in Beijing, covering more than one-fifth of the country’s top enterprises. The solution uses the SAP NetWeaver Business Intelligence component to integrate information from various IT systems.
  • To help optimize the management of the benefits it provides, AOK, Germany’s largest health insurer, announced plans to enhance oscare, its industry solution based on SAP software. AOK wants its policyholders to benefit from shorter processing times for medical, nursing, and care benefits.
  • Multinational consumer goods conglomerate Unilever strengthened its long-time relationship with SAP. Unilever is deploying SAP ERP and the SAP NetWeaver technology platform as the cornerstones of a company-wide organizational optimization initiative, including transitioning to enterprise SOA. It was the first consumer goods company to sign a global enterprise agreement with SAP. The GEA is a strategic, subscription-based master agreement characterized by close long-term cooperation between the parties. It provides worldwide software licenses and maintenance, and strengthens SAP’s position as Unilever’s strategic partner during its entire structural adjustment.
  • Global retailer Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. decided to enhance its financial information systems using the SAP ERP Financials solution. Wal-Mart chose the SAP application for its ability to support global expansion and efficiently respond to changes in the business and regulatory landscape.
  • ESPRIT, an international lifestyle brand, chose SAP ERP for its global retail and wholesale operations. The SAP software will help ESPRIT integrate its global supplier network, optimize retail and value processes, and support its international growth. 
  • The Edeka group, a leading food retailer in Germany, announced it would consolidate its IT activities with SAP software. We will be Edeka’s technology partner under an arrangement with a planning horizon to 2012. Edeka will be using functions from the SAP for Retail solution portfolio, SAP ERP, and the SAP NetWeaver technology platform.
  • Vodafone Group Plc, a leading cell phone operator, extended the scope of its 2005 master agreement with SAP to cover the deployment of business applications and services based on SAP ERP and the SAP NetWeaver technology platform to Vodafone companies worldwide.
  • Hitachi, Ltd., a leading global electronics company, strengthened its long-time relationship with SAP by choosing the SAP ERP application, built on the SAP NetWeaver technology platform. Hitachi signed a GEA with SAP, providing broad access to SAP solutions.
  • Dow Corning Corporation, a leading innovator of silicon-based solutions, adopted SAP CRM and the SAP NetWeaver technology platform as the foundation to unify its customer-facing business processes on a single, integrated SAP application platform.
  • In August 2007, we welcomed the 10,000th customer to choose SAP Business All-in-One solutions for midsize companies: U&M Mineração e Construção, a Brazilian engineering, heavy construction, and mining company. U&M, which specializes in earth moving and surface and underground mine contracting, runs a solution from Procwork, an SAP partner in Brazil, to integrate its operations and support local and international growth.
  • Saudi Arabian Airlines chose SAP solutions as a platform for its far-reaching business model transformation. The airline is integrating its processes for aviation operations, revenue accounting, reservations and ticketing, fuel management, and technical documentation.
Finance Plan for SAP Solutions

Implementing business software solutions can represent a major investment. A strategic partner of ours, Siemens Financial Services GmbH (SFS), offers a financing service that helps companies invest in SAP solutions. Interest in the service is high: It is offered to customers in 45 countries, and in 2007 we received twice as many inquiries about financing as in the previous year. In 2007, this offer of finance was extended to include large corporations. However, SFS targets the financing service chiefly at the midmarket, and 70% of the customers that signed up were in that segment. In the past, the plan chiefly provided loan finance, but now SFS is adding greater flexibility by offering to lease to customers.

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