SAP and IBM jointly agreed to promote the end-to-end retail offering comprised of the solution set of SAP and IBM retail solutions and technologies, leveraging in particular IBM store capabilities and SAP retail business solutions. This alliance is designed to help retailers maximize business efficiency and create distinctive customer experiences. Retailers worldwide are faced with unprecedented challenges and opportunities driven by rapid advances in technology, heightened global competition and discerning consumers who are demanding more choices and convenience in how they interact with retailers. To capitalize on this convergence of forces, retailers need new technologies and business models that are integrated from headquarters down to the store level with a flexible, resilient, real-time operating environment. By transforming their businesses to become more integrated and responsive, retailers have the ability to act instantaneously on consumer demands and changing market opportunities. The joint IBM and SAP products, platforms and services can help customers reduce their total cost of ownership for retail IT solutions and increase revenue. Customers can deploy in stages depending on their specific needs and organizational capabilities. SAP and IBM jointly agreed to leverage their combined assets and infrastructure (such as SAP for Retail, SAP NetWeaverâ„¢, IBM Store Integration Framework and IBM WebSphere) according to the needs of their joint customers in the retail industry. The effort also includes solutions and services for merchandise management, POS data management, Web-based workforce deployment, merchandise and assortment planning and advanced forecast and replenishment. IBM and SAP will also help customers improve store performance by migrating to state-of-the-art, open software solutions for master data management and RFID integration. In addition to combining the two IT leaders innovation and integration capabilities for retail, IBM and SAP will collaborate in the new agreement to share consulting knowledge and enhance offerings in areas of business process analysis and best practices. Retailers will also benefit from capabilities in supply chain, human resources, store operations, customer relationship management, finance and evolving technologies.
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