Enterprise software maker SAP AG and Accenture plc., announced a new offering that marries the management consulting firm’s analytics technology with SAP’s HANA in-memory database platform.
Accenture will sell the product called Marketing Performance Solution to chief marketing officers. Marketing Performance Solution enables marketing executives to analyze results from marketing campaigns and run simulations from desktop PCs and mobile devices.
Accenture said more packages serving various verticals will be released later.
The SAP and Accenture announcement said that Accenture will be the single point of contact for customers as it will handle all contracts for software and services.
The need to point this out illustrates how complex the offering is, said Frank Scavo, managing partner of IT consulting firm Strativa.
The offering would have included a SAP HANA license, hardware licenses, hosting services contract, a contract for Accenture’s business processing services, and possible third-party software licenses.
He also said it proves that SAP HANA alone is not a solution but rather an “enabling technology.” HANA’s value comes from the applications built on top of it.
The offering illustrates how the line between services and products are blurring, said Ray Wang, CEO of Constellation Research.
He said the services market is moving away from “body shop time and materials work” to selling intellectual property and products. Companies are realizing they have to build IP in order to deliver value to customers and sustain their margins.