Those interested in integration of the Wonderware System Platform (based on ArchestrA)

and SAP should take note:

From AMR Research:  In an effort to more tightly integrate Wonderware's ArchestrA platform with SAP, Invensys and SAP are inking a cooperative development agreement under which the two companies will work together to create packaged composite applications (PCAs). The PCAs integrate SAP business applications with Invensys’ production and performance management applications, using SAP’s NetWeaver and xMII and Wonderware's ArchestrA technology.

The development and joint marketing agreement was a year in negotiations, navigating not one but two large corporate bureaucracies. It lets both companies deliver ArchestrA based deep manufacturing content in a certifiably composite—composite application, that is—form.

When SAP purchased xMII nearly 18 months ago, it seemed the implementation of a business model for
partnering and co-development using xMII was imminent. As it turns out, SAP’s internal workings have
successfully kept all but a handful of the most perseverant partners at bay. But based on the two packaged composite applications initially slated for delivery, not to mention the long-term potential of this partnership, the wait was worthwhile.

In sharp contrast to the many PowerPoint partnerships we see in the market, this is a business relationship with teeth. Consider the following:

• Tangible deliverables—Not just one but two PCAs are slated for a 2Q07 delivery: a production
  execution application and a real-time finance application.

• Executive sponsorship—The agreement is a two-year contract signed by both SAP and Invensys senior executives. Joint clients should feel comfortable their investments in co-developed PCAs will be protected as both vendors’ product platforms progress.

As an aside, a business relationship of this stature wouldn’t be complete without some form of incentive to both participants’ sales forces, but neither company was available for comment at the time of this writing.

SAP + xMII + Archestra = MES “lite”

The initial products from this relationship are the following two PCAs:

• Production Execution PCA—This starts to deliver on the promise of MES “lite” and operations process management (OPM), providing highly configurable production workflows that users can simply connect to their legacy systems (see “Demand-Driven Manufacturing” for more on OPM).

• Real-Time Finance PCA—Even more startling, this capitalizes on the Invensys Real-Time Accounting application to directly deliver on the vision of an Enterprise Control System. It connects real-time manufacturing financial performance to business financial performance and challenges standard accounting and costing practices—like those modeled in SAP Financials, of course. We’ll be following the market’s acceptance of this PCA with great interest.

Beyond this, the partnership elevates the ArchestrA framework to the status of a platform for delivering highly flexible yet packaged composite applications. It gives manufacturers a configurable means to weave legacy investments into their new overarching manufacturing architectures. Of course, it also gives SAP and Invensys/Wonderware a way to tap into manufacturing scenarios that had previously been inaccessible to them both.

Marriage of titans?

SAP has traditionally partnered closely with small (relative to SAP) companies that could easily be acquired or, with a judiciously placed R&D investment, replicated. This is not the case with Invensys, and that’s what distinguishes this particular partnership from others SAP has engaged with to augment its manufacturing capabilities.

Invensys is a substantial entity in terms of revenue, technology bench, and industry experience. It has also invested heavily the past five years in building out ArchestrA, a comprehensive software framework for manufacturing application development and delivery.

Couple this development engine with SAP’s marketing machine, sales know-how, and a global delivery network that would likely get on board with the right incentives (like extending their account ownership into the manufacturing realm), and the stage is potentially set for a substantial shift in the manufacturing software market.

Is this partnership a harbinger of things to come? Will it change the manufacturing operations software market landscape?  We can only wait and see.

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