SAP and Dell unite for Retail industry

by Oliver Long

The alliance, which brings together the world's biggest business-software maker and the number two PC maker, is intended to help retailers run their business more cheaply and efficiently.

SAP for Retail software will be installed on Dell’s Retail OptiPlex 745 POS system and PowerEdge servers allowing retailers to better track customer behaviour and buying trends, as well as processing transactions faster and viewing inventory levels more accureatley.

"The combination of two leaders within this industry can alleviate many of the challenges our joint customers wrestle with daily," Jem Mattecheck, head of SAP America's retail division, said in a statement.

Terry Klein, vice president of Dell's Advanced Systems Group, said retailers would now no longer be forced to make separate hardware and software decisions.

Retail is one of SAP's strongest specialties. The company also has a retail point-of-sale partnership with IBM, the world's largest technology-services company.