ERP server ready in 30 minutes, says DiData

Dimension Data has announced that it has been certified a "global provider of cloud and hosting services" for SAP, and that cloud customers can now have an ERP server running in 30 minutes.

The giant integrator said in a statement that the accreditation would last for the next two years for all its "Managed Cloud Platforms" internationally.

"SAP is the world's leading provider of enterprise software and services, and the certification of our cloud and hosting services is a vital part of our global strategy to enable clients to offload their SAP applications in production environments and temporary workloads," said Steve Nola, head of Dimension Data’s IT-as-a-Service unit.

The statement said that Dimension Data now has server images of SAP software available for customers, which consist of "SAP enhancement package 7 for SAP ERP 6.0, Microsoft Windows 2008 R2 and Microsoft SQL Server 2012".

By deploying such images onto a virtual machine in the cloud, the solutions provider claims a new ERP cloud server could be operational in less than 30 minutes.

Resellers and customers have the option of using the server images or to host their own SAP environments on Dimension Data's cloud infrastructure.

The company said the new SAP cloud offering would allow partners and customers "to develop, test and customise SAP applications quickly while reducing upfront capital expenses and ongoing operating expenses".

Nola said: "Our enterprise clients and provider partners can benefit from the right size, right scale and right time characteristics of the cloud to deliver significant cost savings and efficiency gains for their cloud-based SAP applications coupled with our experience in optimising the data centre."

Dimension Data currently has nine MCPs located around the world, including Sydney and Melbourne.

As well as SAP, Dimension Data said it offers an entire "service catalogue of pre-configured commercial software" available in OS image form. Such cloud software is charged "hourly or monthly, and provides the same pay-for-use flexibility of using cloud servers and cloud files".

The SAP cloud news comes hot on the heels of Dimension Data's recent launch of support for Microsoft cloud technology.