ARMONK, N.Y., May 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced today that it received the highest scores for its SAP services strategy and current offerings in the April 2011 Forrester Research, Inc. report, The Forrester Wave(TM): SAP Services Provider, Q2 2011.

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In addition, and for the third consecutive year, IBM received the SAP Quality Partner of the Year "Pinnacle" Award* based on the evaluations by SAP clients.

The Forrester SAP Wave report evaluated 19 global SAP service providers across 65 criteria and interviewed 186 user clients.

IBM received the highest scores for both the current offerings and strategy categories. The current offerings category includes client satisfaction ratings and evaluates the services provider's ability to provide end-to-end implementation services -- from advisory and process consulting through implementation to support services and hosting.

In the strategy category, IBM was the only provider to receive the highest score possible. The report says that "IBM is continuing its focus and investment on developing truly innovative, game-changing solutions, including its long-term partnership with IBM Research and Development and SAP R&D to develop solutions to clients' complex business problems and accelerate time-to-value."

The report also recognized IBM for its strong capabilities across the full lifecycle of strategy, consulting, service delivery, support and hosting. It cites IBM's decades of SAP experience and qualified consultants across the globe, which makes it one of the key choices -- especially for larger, complex, multinational rollouts. The report highlights the multiple awards IBM has received, referencing six SAP Pinnacle Awards in 2009 and 2010 including the prestigious customer satisfaction award for both years.

The SAP Quality Partner of the Year Pinnacle Award for 2011 will be presented to IBM at SAP's SAPPHIRE NOW event this week. With a record total of 22 awards, IBM has received SAP Pinnacle Awards every year since its inception. This year IBM will also receive the Community Leadership and Social Commerce Engagement award, which is a new category for partners leading in SAP digital as well as in social media marketing initiatives with SAP.

"We believe the Forrester Wave SAP Services Report and the SAP Pinnacle Awards reflect IBM's emphasis on client service and our commitment to delivering quality solutions in an accelerated fashion," said John Leffler, managing partner, Global SAP Practice, IBM Global Business Services. "Our multinational clients are intensely focused on becoming globally integrated enterprises, and with that in mind we offer a truly global SAP team that can use the same tools, methods and training around the globe, while still being able to adapt to each client's unique culture and needs."

IBM provides a full range of SAP services and solutions to support the needs of enterprises ranging from the largest, most complex, global clients to small and medium-sized businesses. In addition to business process and organizational transformation services offerings, IBM's SAP consultants also engage with clients in the areas of analytics, mobile and cloud computing.

For more information on the Forrester Wave report visit (www.ibm-sap.com).

*The SAP Quality Partner of the Year Pinnacle Award was formerly referred to as the Customer Satisfaction Award.

Media Contact:
Linda Hanson Hunt
IBM Corporation
914-766-2015
lindah@us.ibm.com

SOURCE IBM