SAP Shifts Focus to Channel Partners

Online, December 11, 2012 (Newswire.com) - Orchestra LLC, a Portland, Ore.-based SAP Gold Partner and its craft brewery solution called OrchestratedBEER, is receiving well-deserved exposure within the enterprise software community after being showcased recently at SAP's small and midsize enterprise (SME) Summit with Co-CEO Bill McDermott in New York City.

During the Summit, SAP announced that channel partners like Orchestra, LLC are now collectively producing 33 percent of SAP's sales, which will bring SAP well within range of its goal of obtaining 40 percent of sales through channel partners by 2015.

Though SAP is better known for its robust ERP software for large Fortune 500 companies, it has recently shifted its focus to providing enterprise software solutions geared toward the growing small business sector - like craft breweries.

Orchestra anticipated future growth in the SME sector and developed three extremely successful solutions for "micro-vertical" industries built on SAP's entry-level product called Business One. Orchestra's solutions rely on the SAP Business One platform for about 80 percent of the base functionality like accounting and inventory, with Orchestra developing the remaining 20 percent for specific industries such as craft breweries, restaurants and downstream petroleum.

Orchestra's craft brewery vertical called OrchestratedBEER, has risen to the top as the most successful of the three verticals due to the current boom in the craft beer industry.

OrchestratedBEER also recently reached 30 customers this past December, but Orchestra Vice Present, Reshad Kazimee anticipates "214 breweries by the end of year 2014", (a 10 percent market share), making OrchestratedBEER the standard craft beer industry solution and contributing significantly to the success of SAP's channel partner program.

Orchestra chose to build its verticals on the SAP platform, claiming that SAP recruits fewer, higher-value partners compared to Microsoft, Sage or any other platform, because "That's what customers are looking for," said Orchestra President, Brad Windecker.