EDB becomes the first Norwegian certificated SAP Hosting Partner

(Oslo, 29 March 2004) EDB Business Partner ASA is the first Norwegian company to be certificated by SAP Hosting AG as a SAP Hosting Partner. Following a technical audit, EDB is certificated for 2 years. This represents confirmation by SAP that EDB satisfies all the technical requirements and has all the necessary procedures in place to ensure that EDB can deliver reliable and efficient operating services for SAP solutions.

"This certification is a further step in EDB's increased emphasis on new customer groups in the retail, industrial and public sectors, where collaboration with leading solutions providers plays an important role.  SAP certification is an obvious choice in view of SAP's strong position", explains Tom Scharning, Executive Vice President - Business Development, EDB Business Partner ASA.  "SAP and EDB's strong position as an IT operations supplier make a strong combination.  Our main target group is medium-sized and larger Nordic companies where EDB's local market knowledge will be of particular benefit to our customers", adds Tom Scharning.
 
A central feature of EDB's offer is that Norwegian customers can now use SAP software on a pay-as-you-go service basis without major investment.  This lowers the threshold and will encourage more companies to use SAP's market-leading solutions. New SAP users will benefit from EDB's extensive experience of the use of these solutions in other areas. 
 
"EDB is a local partner with the capacity to run multiple SAP systems from one location. This gives SAP users access to economies of scale and can help to reduce their costs", comments Øystein Jåtog-Rød, Deputy Managing Director of SAP Norway. "EDB offers a secure and reliable operating environment, and has the experience needed to ensure rapid implementation", adds Øystein Jåtog-Rød, who expects to see several of SAP's largest customers consider outsourcing their operations requirements in the future. SAP already has three certificated international partners.
 
SAP and EDB believe that their collaboration opens up attractive market opportunities, and they plan a number of joint events for customers including seminars, customer meetings and conferences.
 
 
Any enquiries may be addressed to:
Reidar Gjærum, Executive Vice President Corporata Communications, tel: + 47 908 55 101
 Øystein Jåtog-Rød, Deputy Managing Director, SAP Norway, Tel: + 47 415 44 769
 
 
EDB Business Partner is one of the leading suppliers of IT operations and software in the Nordic region. We provide industry-leading total solutions in the areas of banking and finance, telecommunications and IT operations. Our objective is to contribute to our customers' value creation by offering productivity-enhancing IT solutions combined with flexible and reliable operating solutions with unique economies of scale. EDB Business Partner has some 2,500 employees and reported turnover of NOK 4.3 billion in 2003. We are represented in Norway, Sweden, the USA, England, France, Spain and Switzerland. EDB Business Partner ASA is listed on Oslo Børs with the ticker code EDBASA.
Further information can be found on the EDB website at: www.edb.com.
 
SAP is the world's lading software supplier for enterprise management solutions. SAP's solutions are designed to meet the needs of companies of all sizes, from the small and medium-sized business through to multinational corporations. SAP NetWeaver(tm) is an open applications and integration platform that reduces complexity and costs and paves the way for business development and innovation. The solutions that make up mySAP Business Suite help companies to improve their relationships with customers and other business partners, streamline their activities and realise significant improvements in efficiency throughout the supply chain. SAP offers solutions designed to meet the particular needs of 25 different customer sectors from aerospace through to nuclear power. Over 21,600 companies in more than 120 countries currently use SAP, with over 69,700 installations of SAP® software. SAP has subsidiaries in more than 50 countries and is listed on several stock exchanges, including Frankfurt and the New York Stock Exchange with the ticker code "SAP". Further information can be found on SAP's website at: www.SAP.com.