SAP And Siemens Announce Global Alliance To Drive Greater Efficiency In Healthcare

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, April 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Two of the world's leading IT providers, SAP AG and Siemens AG today announced a global strategic alliance to deliver an integrated information technology (IT) offering to the healthcare provider market. With more than 10 years of experience working together in the healthcare industry, SAP and Siemens are expanding their partnership to help drive patient safety, increase efficiency and transparency, promote growth and innovation and reduce total cost of ownership (TCO) for healthcare organizations worldwide. The Siemens Soarian(R) and SAP Healthcare solution will first be made available in the United States, Germany and Japan using an integration powered by SAP NetWeaver(TM). The announcement was made at SAPPHIRE(R) '05, SAP's international customer conference being held in Copenhagen, Denmark, April 26-28.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050310/SFTH009LOGO-a )

With the joint solution from Siemens and SAP, healthcare organizations can conduct collaborative business planning, in-depth financial analysis and accounting and human resources tasks. They can also count on having strong patient-management capabilities while significantly reducing paperwork. Diagnostic and therapeutic services can be better coordinated and caseloads and treatment plans can be better managed. Internal and external procurement and logistics, equipment maintenance and other business processes can be better supported.

As a world leader in medical equipment and IT solutions, this relationship leverages Siemens' expertise in enterprise IT systems and advanced medical imaging technologies for the diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of patients. Additionally, customers for the new joint offering will benefit from Siemens' years of experience in clinical workflow improvement and clinical process redesign.

"The joint approach of Siemens and SAP brings powerful workflow management expertise, deep IT domain experience and committed customer service to bear to help healthcare organizations attain productivity improvements as well as a lower total cost of technology ownership," said Prof. Erich R. Reinhardt, president and chief executive officer of Siemens Medical Solutions. "This alliance complements Siemens strategy for transforming healthcare through innovation, benefiting all areas of a healthcare organization along the entire value chain."

SAP will provide best practices gained from experience with more than 1,000 successful implementations for ERP and patient administration systems in public and private healthcare, education and research organizations of all sizes around the world. Additionally, the collaborative nature of SAP(R) solutions will enable healthcare organizations to manage complex environments by seamlessly integrating a diverse landscape of software systems, including those that manage human capital; financials; quality; environment, health and safety; customer relationships; supply chain and supplier relationships; plant maintenance and facilities.

New Solution to Mend System Integration Pains

The joint solution is designed to improve collaboration between clinical and administrative departments, via a user-friendly portal, to allow for better transparency of systemwide information. This integration will not only help providers better manage these processes, but will also help healthcare organizations comply with numerous regulatory requirements, including the Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in the United States. The solution will equip healthcare organizations with an IT backbone to manage real-time clinical supply chain management processes from point-of-care to back-office.

"The needs of the healthcare world are changing and roles are evolving that requires clinicians, doctors and support staff to use new processes that break down boundaries between systems and departments," said Tom Shirk, president, SAP Global Public Services. "This new solution provides the flexibility to define and adapt these new roles and processes as they evolve, allowing providers to be more efficient while providing better care for patients."

About Siemens Medical Solutions

Siemens Medical Solutions of Siemens AG with headquarters in Malvern, Pennsylvania and Erlangen, Germany, is one of the largest suppliers to the healthcare industry in the world. The company is known for bringing together innovative medical technologies, healthcare information systems, management consulting, and support services, to help customers achieve tangible, sustainable, clinical and financial outcomes. Employing approximately 31,000 people worldwide and operating in more than 120 countries, Siemens Medical Solutions reported sales of 7.07 billion EUR, orders of 8.12 billion EUR and group profit of 1.05 billion EUR for fiscal 2004. More information can be obtained by visiting http://www.usa.siemens.com/medical-pressroom .

About SAP

SAP is the world's leading provider of business software solutions*. Today, more than 27,000 customers in over 120 countries run more than 91,500 installations of SAP(R) software-from distinct solutions addressing the needs of small and midsize businesses to enterprise-scale suite solutions for global organizations. Powered by the SAP NetWeaver(TM) platform to drive innovation and enable business change, mySAP(TM) Business Suite solutions are helping enterprises around the world improve customer relationships, enhance partner collaboration and create efficiencies across their supply chains and business operations. SAP industry solutions support the unique business processes of more than 25 industry segments, including high tech, retail, public sector and financial services. With subsidiaries in more than 50 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges, including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE under the symbol "SAP." (Additional information at http://www.sap.com/ )

(*) SAP defines business software solutions as comprising enterprise resource planning and related software solutions such as supply chain management, customer relationship management, product life-cycle management and supplier relationship management.

All statements contained in this document that are not clearly historical in nature or that necessarily depend on future events are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "intend," "may," "plan," "predict," "should," and "will," and similar expressions as they relate to Siemens or SAP are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. Neither Siemens nor SAP undertakes any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements (including statements regarding future financial and operating results) involve risks, uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond the ability of Siemens or SAP to control, which may cause actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from anticipated results, performance, or achievements. Economic, business, funding market, competitive and/or regulatory factors, among others, affecting Siemens' and SAP's businesses are examples of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. More detailed information about these factors with respect to Siemens are described in its filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including its Annual Report on Form 20-F for its fiscal year ended September 30, 2004 filed with the SEC on November 29, 2004. The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the SEC, including SAP's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC.

NOTE: SAP, R/3, mySAP, mySAP.com, xApps, xApp, SAP NetWeaver and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries all over the world. Siemens and Soarian as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Siemens AG in Germany and in several other countries all over the world. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. Data contained in this document serve informational purposes only. National product specifications may vary.

For customers interested in learning more about SAP products: Global Customer Center: +49-180-534-34-24 United States Only: 800-872-1SAP (800-872-1727) For more information, press only: Jason Loesche, +1-610-661-8541, j.loesche@sap.com, EDT Bonnie Rothenstein, +1-610-661-8867, bonnie.rothenstein@sap.com, EDT SAP Press Office, +1-610-661-3200, press@sap.com, EDT Mirko Lueck, Burson-Marsteller, +49-69-238-09-58, mirko_lueck@de.bm.com, CET Shoshana Lombardi, Burson-Marsteller, +1-202-530-4550, shoshana_lombardi@was.bm.com, EDT Siemens Medical Solutions, International Public Relations Axel Wieczorek, +49-9131-84-8335, a.wieczorek@siemens.com

During SAPPHIRE (from April 26 to 28), to speak with press contacts on site, please dial the SAP press room at +45-324-863-70.

CONTACT: Jason Loesche, +1-610-661-8541, or j.loesche@sap.com, EDT, orBonnie Rothenstein, +1-610-661-8867, or bonnie.rothenstein@sap.com, EDT, orSAP Press Office, +1-610-661-3200, or press@sap.com, EDT, all of SAP; or MirkoLueck, +49-69-238-09-58, or mirko_lueck@de.bm.com, CET, or Shoshana Lombardi,+1-202-530-4550, or shoshana_lombardi@was.bm.com, EDT, both ofBurson-Marsteller, for SAP; or international public relations, Axel Wieczorekof Siemens Medical Solutions, +49-9131-84-8335, or a.wieczorek@siemens.com

Web site: http://www.sap.com/

Web site: http://www.usa.siemens.com/