INDUSTRY

To answer the demand for scalable, flexible computing platforms among users of SAP enterprise applications, Silicon Graphics today announced an agreement with REALTECH AG, a leading technology consulting and software firm, naming REALTECH as a certified SAP migration partner for SGI platforms. REALTECH is based in Walldorf, Germany. As one of just a handful of authorized SAP migration partners, REALTECH will help enterprise customers easily move their SAP environments from older proprietary UNIX and mainframe platforms to SGI's high-performance, highly scalable SGI Altix Linux OS-based solutions. Under terms of the agreement, the two companies will assist each other from the pre-sales stage through completion of customer deployments. "This exciting new relationship is an important inroad for SGI into a marketplace that has a growing need for proven platforms that are based on industry-standard technologies and that leverage all the benefits of Linux," said Michal Klimes, EMEA enterprise business development manager, SGI. "REALTECH is an absolute expert on SAP environments, with terrific insight into how SGI platforms can help dramatically optimize SAP solutions and workflows. This new relationship brings greater flexibility to SAP customers, and allows them to transition from outdated hardware architectures to industry-standard, easily upgraded SGI systems." In addition to its consulting services, REALTECH offers theGuard! System Management Suite, which allows SAP customers to ensure 24/7 reliability and SAP application availability. REALTECH's SAP Add On solutions enable efficient and automated interfaces between SAP and third-party systems and ensure the safe exchange of mass data. They also safeguard the distribution of system modifications in large networked SAP landscapes with the guarantee of full auditability. More than 1,500 enterprises worldwide have opted for REALTECH's cross-industry IT solutions. "Linux is now a viewed as new progressive choice for enterprise customers and SAP users, which presents a huge opportunity for companies that can meet the performance criteria of the largest organizations with scalable Linux OS- based systems," said Johannes Lang, Managing Director, REALTECH. "Without question, solutions like SGI Altix have the reliability and flexibility that make Linux not only a desirable component of the SAP environment, but an essential one as well. The time is right to give SAP customers a superior choice for optimal performance by allowing them to adopt SGI's powerful and scalable open-standard platform." One of the world's most powerful and scalable systems, Altix is based on the Intel Itanium 2 processor and the Linux operating system and features the unique SGI NUMAflex architecture. The Altix system's NUMAflex design allows SAP users to grow all aspects of the system as their requirements evolve.