SAP is demonstrating a beta version of its new hosted midmarket application to select groups at the Cebit trade show in Hanover, Germany.

The application, known internally as A1S, is currently being tested by around 150 customers, said SAP CEO Henning Kagermann following a demonstration of the software Thursday.

A1S will target midmarket customers who seek an inexpensive, easy-to-deploy, low-risk suite of business applications, including ERP, CRM, and SCM. The hosted application will be available as a monthly subscription. It will give smaller, cost-sensitive companies the flexibility to set up and test the software on their own before deciding to make a purchase, using a "try, run, and adapt" model. Users who see the browser-based application for the first time will notice an interface that blends in with "the Windows environment," Kagermann said.

The new hosted midmarket application, which runs over the NetWeaver middleware platform, is designed to integrate with mySAP ERP business suite. Kagermann expects subsidiaries of large enterprises to be interested in the product.

Could users of SAP's All-in-One licensed midmarket offering, which is a slimmed down version of mySAP ERP, be attracted to the new hosted application to save money?

"Let me make a comparison to the car industry," Kagermann said. "You can buy a basic car that transports you from point A to point B. But if you want to have other special features, you pay for them. That's the difference between All-in-One and A1S."

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Prashanth Rai