IBM and SAP have announced a new collaboration that aims to equip clients with new generative AI capabilities and industry-specific cloud solutions.
Building on the companies’ existing ties, the new Value Generation partnership will see IBM’s consultancy business, IBM Consulting, work with SAP to deliver AI-based services through Rise with SAP ERP, a subscription-based solution for migrating on-premises enterprise resource planning (ERP) to the cloud.
In an announcement, IBM said the move reinforces the two organizations’ commitment to client needs and meeting market demand.
“IBM and SAP’s shared approach to generative AI, built on an open ecosystem, trust and purpose-built models, will help empower clients to optimize business outcomes,” commented John Granger, senior vice president at IBM Consulting.
“Our new Value Generation partnership initiative will enable clients to accelerate the path to innovation, competitive advantage and become a next generation enterprise through generative AI.”
Initially, IBM said it plans to extend AI capabilities across SAP’s cloud solutions and applications, including Rise with SAP, Grow with SAP, supply chain management solutions, human capital management offerings, and more.
The firm said it also plans to implement a proof-of-concept adoption program that leverages SAP Signavio and SAP’s Business AI solutions.
The pair will also build intelligent, data-driven industry use cases into end-to-end business processes, initially focused on industrial manufacturing, consumer packaged goods (CPG), retail, defense, automotive, and utilities industries.
IBM has already started development of more than 100 industry and product delivery-focused AI solutions, and plans to develop prescriptive value maps for business processes, all which will be available via IBM Innovation Studios and the SAP Experience Center.
The collaboration will also focus on creating next-generation reference architectures, with IBM to leverage SAP’s BTP, Signavio, and LeanIX offerings, while IBM’s AI platform watsonx is being made available through SAP’s Generative AI Hub.
Additionally, IBM and SAP said they plan to partner around their respective employee network groups and communities, such as their women’s networks, the SAP University Alliances program, and their respective Veterans to Work initiatives.
“It makes perfect sense to expand our partnership with IBM to help more customers accelerate their cloud journey leveraging RISE with SAP and realize the transformative benefits of generative AI for business in the cloud,” said Scott Russell, CRO and executive board member of SAP’s customer success division.
“This expanded partnership will help more of our joint customers reach new heights by innovating through the cloud, data and business AI to grow and transform their businesses.”
