Gartner on Duet

8/3/2019 Gartner on Duet

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Fr Cntent & Cllabratin Pressinals

ExECUTIvE SUMMARy

Microso = knowledge worker soware. SAP = business process. Despite extensive eort on the part

o each vendor to encroach on the other’s tur, this high-level analysis still holds. Hence, the logic o

these two companies working together to span two disparate worlds makes sense. Duet, a joint initiative

designed to bridge SAP data and processes with Microso Oce productivity applications, ailed to

launch in its rst iteration. Now the companies have re-engineered and have introduced a new Duet

oering called Duet Enterprise. Tis new product ocused on extending SAP rom Microso SharePoint.Tis new emphasis is highly aligned with Forrester’s view o the Inormation Workplace value

proposition. Content and collaboration pros with strategic commitments to Microso and SAP should

take a close look at the new ocus o Duet Enterprise.

Content, CommuniCations, Collaboration in business ProCess Context

Pity the poor worker who straddles the world o SAP and Microso. A salesperson responding to a complex

opportunity would need to concurrently access SAP customer relationship manager (CRM) or business

data and to maintain account records, SharePoint or accessing proposals and contracts, Lync to connect to

co-workers in real time through instant messaging, Web conerencing and voice over IP, and likely numerous

other tools as well. Te result is constant switching between applications, ollowed by browsing and searchingto nd the right inormation. More likely, the poor salesperson relies on SAP and email and ignores the

myriad o collaboration tools available because the eort to move between applications is higher than the

perceived business value.1 Tis is in stark contrast to Forrester’s denition o an Inormation Workplace:

A soware strategy that drives knowledge worker efciency through the integration o commonly used

applications like content management, collaboration, communications, enterprise social, and business

application unctionality through an integrated, contextual user experience.

With Duet Enterprise, SAP business data and processes surace in SharePoint, in proper context and

with related content, contacts, and communication tools integrated into a cohesive user experience (see

Figure 1). Within this environment, some o the unctionality that a worker can access includes:

· Core application access. SAP data is brought into the SharePoint environment through a

SharePoint acility called Business Connectivity Services (BCS). An add-in called Duet Enterprise

augments BCS and handles the specic characteristics o the SAP/SharePoint environment. As part

o this solution SAP has also enabled simplied access to SAP data and processes through a SAP

NetWeaver add-on.

Nember 24, 2010

Micrst And SAP Duet’s New visin Fr TheInrmatin Wrkplace In SharePintA New Duet Dries Critical Integratin r Kpwz

with Matthew Brwn and Jseph Dang



Source: Forrester Research, Inc.58055

SocialReal-time collaboration

Content management

Business content

Source: Contoso Electronics

© 2010, Frrester Research, Inc. Reprductin PrhibitedNember 24, 2010

2Micrst And SAP Duet’s New visin Fr The Inrmatin Wrkplace In SharePint


· Presence and real-time collaboration. Once the business content is in SharePoint, integration with

Microso Lync provides presence inormation and access to instant messaging, Web conerencing,

application sharing, and soware-based VoIP and video. Te environment ags all contacts with

presence inormation so connecting to experts is seamless rom within the application.

· Content. SharePoint stores relevant content, and Duet Enterprise suraces content in the

context o the business process. For example, in a sales scenario, proposals, quotes, and

contracts related to a given account are automatically suraced in context. Tis reduces the need

to open a separate application and search or content.

· Collaboration and social. SharePoint collaboration workspaces, My Sites (proles), and social

capabilities like blogs, wikis, and communities are also available in context. Te example shown

in the gure, accessing additional content and expertise through a community o experts

dedicated to a topic, could support the salesperson’s activities described above.

F 1 SAP Data Wrapped With Micrst Cntent, Cllabratin, And Cmmunicatins



© 2010, Frrester Research, Inc. Reprductin PrhibitedNember 24, 2010



SAP remains the dominant business application vendor, and Microso is the leader in productivity

applications and collaboration as well as becoming increasingly relevant in portal and content

management. By working together in productive integration through Duet Enterprise, they are

relevant in the Inormation Workplace conversation or a number o reasons:

· For many organizations, these are the two most strategic sofware vendors. I SAP is a

primary vendor or business applications used to automate operational and transactional

processes in your organization and you are invested in Microso collaboration products,

particularly SharePoint, Duet Enterprise provides a valuable bridge.

· SAP and Microsof have handled a lot o tough integration challenges. Te promise o

integrating collaboration and business systems has been around or a while, and the challenge

has been that integration is never a simple proposition. In this instance, the problem o

integration has been taken on by the vendors: on the Microso side via SharePoint, BCS, and

the Duet Enterprise add-on; and on the SAP side with an SAP NetWeaver add-on.

· Te value proposition o a combined solution is greater than the two separate ones. While

we recognize the value o automating transactional and operational processes, human-centric

processes have generally been le out o the equation. For example, exception handling has

generally been done by knowledge workers ofine. By integrating core business systems

with knowledge worker-centric systems like collaboration, content management, and

communications, the promise o even greater eciency is evident as human latency can be

more easily identied and automated.

R E C o M M E N D A T I o N S

iF miCrosoFt and saP are Key strategiC Vendors, eValuate duet

Micrst and SAP cntinue t inest in Duet and the alue prpsitin is taking hld. This will

certainl hae an impact n ur Inrmatin Wrkplace strateg. When planning an Inrmatin

Wrkplace strateg, cntent and cllabratin pressinals shuld cnsider:

· if ’ saP mcf hp, kw h . Duet has had a slw start, but

the relatinship and cmmitment t priding an integrated slutin remains strng. Part

the cmmitment is recgnitin that frms cmmitted t bth endrs are prbabl deepl

inested r the reseeable uture. With this in mind, it is likel that the cmmitment t Duetwill cntinue. This means a bu rather than build scenari r ur Inrmatin Wrkplace

strateg that requires ealuatin.

· a if Wkpc wh d ep . I u are

inested in an Inrmatin Wrkplace strateg r in the prcess deelping ne, cnsider

the pprtunit presented b Duet. B taking adantage the integratin wrk dne b





Forrester Research, Inc. (Nasdaq: FORR) is an independent research company that provides pragmatic and orward-thinking advice to global leaders in businessand technology. Forrester works with proessionals in 19 key roles at major companies providing proprietary research, customer insight, consulting, events, and peer-to-peer executive programs. For more than 27 years, Forrester has been making IT, marketing, and technology industry leaders successul every day. For more inormation, visit ww w.orrester.com.

© 2010, Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited. Inormation is based on best available resources. Opinionsrefect judgment at the time and are subject to change. Forrester®, Technographics®, Forrester Wave, RoleView, TechRadar, and Total Economic Impact are

trademarks o Forrester Research, Inc. All other trademarks are the property o their respective companies. To purchase reprints o this document, please email [email protected] additional inormation, go to www.orrester.com . 58055

SAP and Micrst, u culd shrten the rad t capturing business alue and lwer csts

assciated with integratin and custmizatin that u ma therwise need t d ursel.

Fr rganizatins that drie their business primaril n SAP applicatins and are cmmittedt SharePint, this culd represent an anchr r ur erall Inrmatin Wrkplace strateg.

· a p vp. Prtal, cllabratin, cntent management, and cmmunicatin

applications may already exist in your organization, perhaps in overabundance. As you

cnsider the implicatins embracing Duet, cnsider the ptential r erlapping

technlgies. I u are inested in an IBM Ltus directin, the erlap between WebSphere,

Ltus, and SharePint will require attentin i u are lking t ptimize csts.

endnotes

1 In Q3 2010 Forrester surveyed 5,498 North American and European technology users as part o the

Workorce Forrsights Survey. Despite signicant investment and deployment only 32% responded that they used instant messaging, 19% team workspaces, and a mere 8% used social media tools. Source: Forrsights

Workorce Employee Survey, Q3 2010.

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.forrester.com/

http://www.forrester.com/

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Gartner on Duet