SAP Mobility: Open Sybase & Partner Power
By Sam Sliman, President, Optimal Solutions Integration

 

SAP’s acquisition of Sybase adds steak to SAP’s ‘on-device’ sizzle, transforming marketing rhetoric into a bona fide enterprise-mobility power play that is the envy of SAP’s competitors. SAP customers, more importantly, need not suffer the lengthy wait-and-see period typical of a large merger before benefitting from the SAP/Sybase mobility bounty. Thanks to Sybase’s open-standards approach and SAP’s thriving partner ecosystem, much can be done right now to propel mobility for SAP customers.

 

For a bit of background on the SAP/Sybase partnership read: Putting Sybase in SAP Mobility Context (Near-Term)

 

On the heels of SAP’s friendly bid, Sybase launched its comprehensive, unified Mobility Platform which integrates best-in-class mobility servers, services and applications. The Sybase Mobility Platform includes advanced data synchronization software and is open-standards based, providing a sandbox full of vital tools available now to SAP customers and partners for the development and support of a broad array of mobile business apps.

 

It is important to note that the Sybase Mobility Platform is backend, device and OS neutral, offering database and synchronization support for all leading business applications -- SAP, Oracle, IBM, Microsoft, etc., and all leading smart devices and mobile operating systems -- iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Android, etc. Completing the package, the Sybase Mobile Platform includes advanced security and device management capabilities.

 

It is equally important to understand that SAP/Sybase alone cannot meet the immediate demand and address the enormous range of region-, industry- and function-specific mobility apps. Scale at this scope requires a robust partner ecosystem, which SAP undeniably has.

 

From mobile infrastructure through the application layer, SAP is counting on its partner ecosystem to keep its ‘on-device’ strategy on track. “We need content providers in our ecosystem, and cloud operators, and mobile service providers, and widget developers and app developers […]” said Singh Mecker, global head of SAP's Ecosystem and Partner Group.

 

Because of Sybase’s open standards approach, the Sybase Mobility Platform can be leveraged for mobile apps other than those developed by SAP/Sybase, making adoption of certified SAP partner mobile solutions risk-free, now and in the future.

 

With hundreds of partners currently delivering thousands of mobile solutions, the SAP partner ecosystem represents the lion's share of SAP mobility solutions available today, and will most likely continue to do so during the foreseeable future.

 

A selection of forerunners in the fertile SAP mobility ecosystem includes Mowego Mobile Solutions by Vivido Labs, Roambi, Sky Technologies, Syclo, and ClickSoftware, among others.

 

All SAP-certified partner enterprise mobility solutions are catalogued on SAP EcoHub -- an indispensible resource for SAP customers looking to mobilize now, and a great platform for SAP partners to promote their SAP enterprise mobility offering.

 

The next SAP Advisor article examines how the Sybase acquisition is likely to shape the long-term future of SAP enterprise mobility.

 

By way of setting the table for this discussion, read In-memory Technology & Enterprise Mobility and SAPPHIRE NOW’s Most Memorable First.