Licensing Layers for SAP Mobile Apps

December 23, 2011 | SAP News | Clare Plaisance | 0 Comment

Layers

Enterprise mobility is on the rise. As more and more of the population acquires smart phones and tablet computers, companies are faced with a choice between blocking company resources from personal devices or embracing mobile computing as part of their overall IT strategy. Oliver Bussmann, CIO at SAP, recently estimated that half of all iPads sold are used in business.

If you are a follower of SAP, you have, no doubt, noticed that SAP’s mobile solutions have been developing rapidly. SAP has recently released a new version of the Sybase Unwired Platform, many new apps, and opened its own Store for Mobile Apps. Unfortunately, enabling SAP’s mobile apps to integrate with an existing SAP system remains a much more complicated affair than downloading an SAP app from the iTunes store, or the new SAP Store for Mobile Apps. Thomas Wailgum of ASUG News recently interviewed Nick Brown, Senior Vice President of Mobile Strategies at SAP, about the levels of licensing that enterprises need to negotiate in order to enable SAP mobile apps. There are three levels of licensing: the SAP back-end, the mobile platform, and the mobile applications.

Back-End

If you are running an SAP system, you already have all the licenses you need to use data residing in SAP as the back end of your mobile solution.

Mobile Platform

SAP’s mobility platform includes the Sybase Unwired Platform, Sybase Afaria for mobile device management, and NetWeaver Gateway, a flexible framework that can connect SAP systems with mobile devices using various standards and programming languages. At this time, most of the SAP mobile applications available require the Sybase Unwired Platform, and some also require NetWeaver Gateway.

SAP sells a license priced per user for unlimited access to the Sybase Unwired Platform, Netweaver Gateway and Afaria for all of a customer’s mobile apps. According to Nick Brown, SAP is selling this license in different bundles to accommodate a range of customer needs. SAP also sells a runtime version of the Sybase Unwired Platform and Netweaver Gateway, which is priced per user per app, which allows customers to deploy SAP mobility solutions at a lower cost than the license for the full platform.

Applications

Some of the SAP mobile apps developed so far are free, but the ones that require a paid license cost anywhere from 25 to 1000 Euros per user per app. SAP aims for 80% of mobile apps to be built by SAP Partners, the prices of which will be set by the Partners who build them.

License Criticisms

Some have been critical of SAP’s mobile licensing model, which requires a large investment on the platform level. Jarret Pazahanick argues that SAP would make it easier for customers to adopt its mobility solutions by using a “razor and blade” business model, charging less for the platform and deriving revenue from other sources. Dennis Howlett foresees that the high cost of SAP’s mobility platform will deter developers from creating new applications.