Determined to carve a bigger slice of the huge but highly fragmented midmarket, SAP plans new regional centers to expand its portfolio of industry-tailored business applications, the company said Tuesday at its European Sapphire customer event in Paris.

The Walldorf, Germany, business software maker will locate teams of trainers, consultants and other experts in the Americas, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, according to company spokeswoman Astrid Polchen. The teams will collaborate with local resellers, independent software vendors and other partners to develop new software applications targeting small and medium-size businesses (SMBs), she said.

In the past, SAP has worked closely with partners to develop industry-specific applications for markets such as manufacturing and banking. The goal of the new SMB Solution Centers is to "accelerate this development process and fill holes in our portfolio of applications designed for the midmarket," in addition to reducing implementation times and costs, Polchen said.

The teams will build localized industry applications based on mySAP Business Suite applications and the company’s Best Practices offerings, consisting of a methodology, documentation and preconfigured systems. "They’ll be looking at where we’re strong and where we still need to develop solutions," Polchen said.

SAP is targeting about 650 applications tailored for the SMB market worldwide.

The teams, consisting of a dozen or more SAP experts, will be based in Barcelona (Spain), London (England), Prague (Czech Republic), Walldorf (Germany), Singapore and Newtown Square, Pa.

-John Blau, IDG News Service

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