Wuerzburg/New York. In New York yesterday, Prof. Dr. Rainer Thome re-presented IBIS Prof. Thome AG, taking part in the official announcement of SAP’s most recent small business software. The Wuerzburg research firm counts among the first pilot customers for the SAP Business By-Design, and implements this software in its business processes both in practice and in a highly exceptional research environment.

In New York yesterday, September 19, 2007, SAP AG introduced its new software, SAP Business ByDesign, specially developed for small to medium-sized businesses. It was designed as a service-oriented solution based on the most advanced architectural concepts for user software. Selected users tested SAP Business ByDesign in a pilot phase. Among these users was the Wuerzburg IBIS Prof. Thome AG, one of the first customers to implement the recent innovative product.

“This was not just any ordinary software implementation,” comments IBIS’s executive of scientific research, Dr. Andreas Hufgard. “We had two separate teams participating in the pilot project. The “practical team” received instructions to conduct the project in the usual way and had no previous knowledge of SAP Business ByDesign. The SAP Business ByDesign-experienced “evaluation team” examined and analyzed the implementation progress. Our objective was to assist SAP, with whom we’ve been working on this project since 2004, in rounding off the technological, business and methodological innovations.”

“Ultimately, the conditions necessary for its productive implementation were that SAP Business ByDesign be configurable to specific customer requirements and operate stably”, explains IBIS’s executive of finances, Dr. Wolfgang Walz, under whose direction the “IBIS practical team” adapted the SAP Business ByDesign to the company’s individual needs. Since Wednesday, September 19,2007, IBIS employees have been using SAP Business-by-Design effectively in their daily work, applying it to process customer inquiries, track projects or manage personal data. Between now and January 2008, additional implementation packages will gradually be activated, in order to handle all major processes in service companies in an integrated manner and utilize the advantages only software can provide.

As representative of IBIS Prof. Thome AG, Prof. Dr. Rainer Thome (chairman of the supervisory board and chairholder at the University of Wuerzburg), attended the product launch in New York yesterday.

SAP has involved IBIS Prof. Thome AG since March 2004 in its development of the new software. In particular, the adaptability and configurability of the solution – known as Business Configuration – are based on methods and tools developed by IBIS Prof. Thome.