Dell ups enterprise credibility with SAP deal

Dell has beefed up its enterprise credentials in a new deal with SAP today that will see the German enterprise software company work towards optimising its software for industry standards-based hardware from Dell.

Speaking at an event at Nasdaq in New York earlier today, Dell chairman and CEO Michael Dell said: "Technology spending is increasing. Companies are more confident within their business and remembering what spending is all about."

He said spending is moving "towards growth… more than just a focus on costs".

Half of SAP installations are in transition to standards-based platforms and that represents a huge opportunity for Dell. However, SAP CEO Henning Kagermann told silicon.com that the new partnership, while an endorsement of Dell and its model, does not mean the end of SAP rollouts on equipment from the likes of Sun and IBM.

He said: "We've been working with a long time for our partners. Dell is very attractive with its hardware and good services. But we are not relegating our relationship with other vendors."

Dell customers running SAP include ABB, DeBeers, Ericsson, Aventis and Texaco.

Dell-SAP competence centres have been established in Austin Texas, Walldorf in Germany and Kawasaki in Japan.