Siemens and SAP to offer resellers finance
organisations come together to offer VARs branded SAP financing
SAP and Siemens Financial Services have joined forces to offer resellers branded SAP financing packages.
Marketed through SAP Financing and delivered through Siemens, the two firms have claimed the new financial services are tailored to meet the specific cash-flow requirements of end-users. The packages cover the costs of software, hardware, internal and external implementation services, and maintenance during project installation for SAP products.
A Siemens representative told CRN: “The benefit for resellers is that it is an SAP-branded product. VARs can go to the customer with the finance already there, which doesn’t happen much at the moment. Resellers will be offering a kind of SAP
one-stop-shop. This will appeal to customers as they like to deal with
as few people as possible during a transaction.”
Siemens claimed SAP Financing combines all relevant costs into a monthly payment. Long-term costs associated with an SAP solution are calculated for a period of up to seven years, enabling companies to plan their long-term IT investments and better understand the opportunity for lowering total cost of ownership of their IT.
Trevor Lewis, chief executive of SAP reseller Chalford, said: “We’ve been using leasing firms for many years. What appears to be different about the SAP and Siemens offering is that it actually includes internal costs, which can often be quite significant. Also, the fact that the lease is for seven years is good.
“To wrap internal costs into the finance package makes it a very attractive offering. The main benefit is that from a single source we can get a finance package as well as the software package.”
SAP Financing is currently available in 13 countries including the UK, but by mid-2006 it will be on offer in 40 countries.