Workspace Portal Realized: SAP NetWeaver

When enterprise software vendors began to purchase portal software firms a few years ago, the move could go either way. The rich features developed through a niche product could get swallowed up in the politics of a large organization and innovation could take a back seat. On the other hand, the niche tool could be integrated into the broader suite of applications to enhance the value and create a whole greater than the sum of the parts (and the associated disconnected vendors).

Perhaps the most noted example of this industry consolidation was SAP's purchase of Top Tier. Now it appears that SAP has taken some interesting strategic directions to follow the latter route with its consolidation of their portal tools with other application suites under the SAP NetWeaver platform. NetWeaver combines SAP's: Web Application Server, Enterprise Portal, Business Information Warehouse, Exchange Infrastructure, Knowledge Management, and Mobile Infrastructure. They offer these tools within a framework that will make strategy consultants proud - People Integration: Portal/Collaboration, Information Integration: Business Intelligence/Knowledge Management, Process Integration: Integration Broker/Business Process Management, Application Platform: J2EE, ABAP, OB and OS Abstraction. See their developer network site for a more comprehensive coverage of the components and this Forrestor commentary for implementation suggestions.

This combination seems to offer a way to more fully achieve the "workspace portal" concept discussed in an earlier posting. I wish we had the NetWeaver tool set when were trying to the implement process-oriented KM described in this posting.

On their web site, SAP provides a series of case studies to illustrate the current benefits of NetWeaver. Most of these cases still rely on cost savings from infrastructure improvements but a few, such as Sasol and Check Point Software, hint at the greater gains that can be made through business process improvement. SAP appears to be moving to more fully embrace these greater gains through industry and process-specific extensions of NetWeaver. I look forward to seeing the results.