Systems integrator, Technology Solutions Co and e-commerce applications vendor HAHT Software, Inc. today announced a strategic relationship that reflects the growing importance of back-end sales and distribution functionality to the success/failure of e-commerce initiatives. Together, HAHT and TSC will offer companies implementing e-commerce systems the ability to extend existing SAP R/3 processes to sell configurable products and services to customers over the internet. But with SAP unveiling its mySAP.com portal today at SAP’s Sapphire user show in Philadelphia the new venture may struggle to find an audience.
Chicago, Illinois-based TSC and Raleigh, North Carolina-based HAHT collaborated to integrate SAP’s Internet Pricing and Configurator (IPC) with the HAHT e-Scenario for Sales & Distribution (SD e-Scenario), developing a product that enables off-line and web-based R/3 sales configuration and pricing capabilities.
SAP had plans back in March 1997 to resell the HAHTsite product as a quick and easy way of connecting R/3 users to the web. Those plans seem to have come to nothing. By year-end 2000, SAP is expected to achieve 15% to 20% market-share of the business-to-business, inter enterprise and E-commerce solutions market according to Gartner Group.
HAHT’s SD e-Scenario is tightly integrated though with SAP R/3, providing real-time views of inventory and pricing information. In addition, the reusable configuration functionality provides flexibility for all sales channels – direct and indirect – to selectively configure consistent, accurate and complete sales proposals using product master information from different sources, claims the company.
Configuration functionality is very popular at the moment. Dell Computer Corp showed the potential of configuration technology with the launch of its web site from which customers could build their own ‘dream machines’. Customers are said to increase the size of purchases when they have a hand in building the specification of the product. All the major ERP vendors have since either bought smaller software houses or, as SAP has done, developed in-house applications. Baan bought Aurum back in 1998 to provide its configuration functionality; Oracle paid $43m for a configuration suite from Concentra called SellingPoint, to be integrated into Oracle’s Manufacturing suite; while JD Edwards bought Numetrix in May 1999 for $80m.
