SAP AG today christened its suite of hosted ERP software for midsize companies SAP Business ByDesign during an event in New York.
SAP officials have said that the company will invest $400 million to $550 million by the end of 2008 to support the introduction of the service, including a consumer marketing campaign on the Web to alter the perception of SAP as a provider of software for big businesses.
During a demonstration of the product at today’s event, SAP CEO Henning Kagermann said the unveiling of the service, code-named A1S, was “the most important announcement I have made in my career.”
He said the service would first be offered in the U.S. and Germany, and then in England, France and China.
Business ByDesign is priced from $149 per user per month for a minimum of 25 users, including services and support, SAP said. Customers also pay $54 per month for each group of five “efficiency users,” or casual users who access the software only to fill out expense reports and purchase confirmations, for example.
