SYBASE TEAMS WITH SAP TO ADD MOBILE ACCESS CAPABILITIES TO SAP R/3 ENTERPRISE SOLUTIONS.

Effort Defines Mobile SAP R/3 Infrastructure, Includes Joint Development Of Customizable Apps

Sybase Inc.'s Mobile and Embedded Computing Div. is collaborating with SAP Labs Inc. to extend its e-Anywhere strategy to enable mobile access for SAP R/3 inter-enterprise business solutions. Initially, Sybase and SAP are developing customizable applications, integrating Sybase SQL Anywhere Studio's popular mobile database and synchronization technology with SAP R/3, to enable handheld or wearable Internet appliances to intelligently interoperate and interact with mySAP.com solutions.

The companies say they plan to jump-start development by providing evaluation versions of the applications free of charge, two of which are already available.

Unveiled late last month, Sybase's e-Anywhere strategy targets a range of portable computing devices, including laptops, handhelds, smart phones and intelligent appliances.

"Sybase and SAP share a common vision for empowering a large number of employees with low-cost access to their enterprise solutions -- anywhere, anytime," says Terry Stepien, general manager of Sybase's Mobile and Embedded Computing Div. "Our work with SAP extends Sybase's strengths in mobile enterprise information management to the enterprise solutions market."

"The combination of Sybase's mobile computing technology and low-cost pervasive computing devices will enable rapid next-generation application development for SAP customers within the mySAP.com product strategy," adds Robert Wenig, chief technology officer at SAP Labs. "Sybase and SAP's efforts will help jump-start the market, enabling ubiquitous deployment of mySAP.com business scenarios wherever handheld or palm-top devices are used."

Sybase and SAP are developing customizable applications for use in occasionally connected environments, such as sales, service, manufacturing and mobile computing. The first two, Cross-application Time Sheets (CATS) and Fixed Assets, were showcased at TechEd '99.

The CATS application is designed to help an organization capture critical job date and time data directly into SAP solutions to automate and improve service management. A repair person for example, could more accurately track jobs charged to a specific job, order, cost center, etc. while on the job -- automating what is often currently done by paper and pencil.

The Fixed ASsets Inventory application addresses the mobile needs of companies conducting annual inventory. The system allows the inventory- taker to record (via scan or input) such information as asset location, employee number, cost center, asset tag number, manufacturers serial number and equipment type on a handheld device, for synchronizing with the master inventory SAP files. This speeds the inventory process and greatly reduces the possibility of errors.

The cornerstone of Sybase's e-Anywhere strategy is its mobile database solution, Sybase SQL Anywhere Studio. SQL Anywhere Studio's UltraLite deployment option provides the local storage of SAP data on the end- user's handheld or embedded computing device. SQL Anywhere provides two- way enterprise server synchronization, enabling the UltraLite database on a handheld device to seamlessly receive information from and send information to the corporate SAP solution.