Fujitsu FlexFrame provides virtualization for mySAP 13 September, 2006 By Liam Lahey

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Achieving the benefits of shared services requires both SAP Enterprise Services Architecture (ESA), SAP's blueprint for putting SOA to work, and a flexible hardware platform capable of responding rapidly to business changes.

With the latest version of FlexFrame for mySAP Business Suite, companies can achieve a full-fledged SOA deployment of mySAP applications based on SAP's Adaptive Computing Initiative, officials said. With more than 100 customer deployments, Fujitsu is the only vendor offering a proven solution that takes advantage of the virtualization of mySAP applications.

"FlexFrame is a highly virtualized environment," said Patricia Hanford, director of alliances at Fujitsu in Sunnyvale, Calif. "The benefit for our customers is it enables them to make the most out of their hardware infrastructure.

"Traditionally, customers had to dedicate one server to run an SAP module and that left a lot of servers sitting idle."

Thus with FlexFrame, organizations could consolidate their SAP landscape through virtualization and thereby run any SAP service on any server at anytime, she explained.

The bundled Fujitsu suite includes services, network attached storage, blade servers running the Linux OS, and the virtualization software.

Virtualization is just beginning to take off with enterprises of all walks, Hanford continued, adding an independent study of Fujitsu's FlexFrame produces a cost advantage of roughly 60 percent TCO (total cost of ownership).

"We see (virtualization) taking off to an even greater degree given everyone's SOA quest," she said. "It is on the top priority list for organizations.

"And if you look at companies that are interested in becoming SOA compliant it is a long process but even then it is not a complete solution . . . FlexFrame provides the virtualization aspect for a flexible environment."

Fujitsu officials cited a recent Aberdeen Group survey of Global 2,000 companies revealed 98 percent of these companies will be engaged in SOA projects by 2007, and large companies expect to save as much as (US)$53 billion between 2006 and 2010 simply by applying SOA principles to application development and deployment.

FlexFrame for mySAP Business Suite, developed by Fujitsu in close cooperation with SAP, is an adaptive computing solution that virtualizes and automates IT infrastructures.

FlexFrame separates SAP applications from infrastructure resources, including computing power, the network, storage, and control and system management. This separation enables significantly greater utilization of the existing resources, resulting in a higher level of service to customers, greater adaptability to changing business demands, and lower overall TCO.

The latest version of FlexFrame for mySAP Business Suite supports NetWeaver 2004 (a recent addition to SAP's enterprise applications product group) ensuring that organizations following SAP's recommended upgrade path can continue to reap all the flexibility and cost benefits of FlexFrame.

"One of the biggest challenges facing companies deploying a service-oriented architecture has been controlling the underlying infrastructure costs," she said. "As large enterprises running SAP applications make their move to an SOA, FlexFrame for mySAP Business Suite can address the infrastructure cost challenge through simpler management, lower maintenance overhead, and greater versatility and speed in responding to changing business needs."

FlexFrame for mySAP Business Suite pricing begins at (US)$500,000 for hardware, storage, software for virtualization, high-availability agents, and services. That estimate is based on SAP's definition of the SMB market of companies earning $1.5 billion or less in annual revenue, she said.