ARMONK, N.Y., Aug. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced it is the recipient of two 2012 SAP® Pinnacle awards in the "Global Technology Partner of the Year" and "Transformational Award: Rapid Time to Value" categories. SAP Pinnacle awards are presented annually to the top SAP partners that have excelled in developing and growing their partnership with SAP (NYSE: SAP) and driving customer success. Winners were selected based on over 150 nominations in 22 categories received from partners and SAP employees.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090416/IBMLOGO )

"Given our company-wide belief that collaboration with partners and clients is one of the best routes to innovation, we're very honored to receive an SAP Pinnacle award as the Global Technology Partner of the Year," said Joseph Bellissimo, managing partner, Global Practice for SAP Solutions, IBM Global Business Services. "The Transformational Award for Rapid Time to Value is especially significant as it reflects the ability of IBM's practice for SAP solutions to engage and execute on major enterprise transformations in an accelerated manner, which is critical in today's globally integrated environment."

The Transformational Award for Rapid Time to Value was presented to IBM for its new rapid implementation approach to business transformation engagements, which was developed through its work with leading biotechnology companies. These engagements, developed in an accelerated fashion, resulted in some of the largest globally integrated installations of SAP solutions in the world. IBM has subsequently folded the expertise and process knowledge behind these engagements into replicable implementation services for other industries.

"As a winner of two 2012 SAP Pinnacle awards, we recognize and congratulate IBM for its outstanding achievement in delivering strong value to our mutual customers and for its commitment to partnering with SAP," said Eric Duffaut, president, Global Ecosystem and Channels, SAP. "SAP has chosen to be an open innovator, with customers' success as the ultimate goal. Through close collaboration with our expanding partner ecosystem, SAP provides customers with choice and value second to none. Together, we help our customers adopt innovations easily, gain results rapidly, grow sustainably and ultimately run better with SAP solutions."

"Collectively, these awards are great recognition of IBM's intense focus on helping clients integrate SAP enterprise software into their businesses in ways that reduce complexity, enable actionable insight for quick decisions, and accelerate overall time to benefit," said John Leffler, managing partner, Global Clients & NA Practice for SAP Solutions, IBM Global Business Services.

IBM has been an SAP partner since SAP's inception 40 years ago, and has received SAP Pinnacle awards every year since the award program began. To date, IBM has received a record total of 25 SAP Pinnacle awards.

The SAP Pinnacle awards recognize the leading SAP partners across a wide variety of categories, including resellers, OEMs, sustainability, technology, support, services and outsourcing. They underscore SAP's commitment to a sound ecosystem strategy, which SAP recognizes as a key driver in delivering unmatched value to customers and enabling SAP to reach its business goals.

About IBM

For more information on IBM, visit: www.ibm.com/gbs

SAP, SAPPHIRE and all SAP logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.

SAP Forward-looking Statement

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts 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," "project," "predict," "should" and "will" and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including SAP's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.

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

SOURCE IBM