ATLANTA, April 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SAP AG , the world's leading provider of business software solutions, and Curam Software, the leading provider of social enterprise management (SEM) software solutions, today announced a new agreement to offer the most comprehensive SEM solutions to public sector organizations worldwide. The relationship establishes new levels of agility and performance for government human services, workforce services and social security benefits agencies, by integrating Curam Software solutions with SAP's industry-leading enterprise solutions, which are Powered by the SAP NetWeaver(R) platform. The announcement was made at SAPPHIRE(R) '07, SAP's international customer conference, being held in Atlanta, Georgia, April 22 - 25.

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Together, SAP and Curam Software will enable government social agencies to offer the highest levels of service to their citizens to achieve individual and collaborative outcomes in the most effective manner. SEM solutions serve the needs of national social security programs, state and local health and human services, and social services programs such as food stamps and child support enforcement. Due to aging populations, increased life expectancy and other demographic shifts, the costs of providing social services are growing. Analysts estimate that in the United States, up to 40 percent of state government spending is done by health and human services agencies.

Under the agreement, Curam Software's SEM software has become Powered by SAP NetWeaver and has become an SAP-endorsed business solution, creating seamless integration with the SAP(R) ERP and SAP Customer Relationship Management (SAP CRM) applications, and allowing public sector customers to consolidate and standardize their IT infrastructure on SAP NetWeaver. The companies will offer Curam Software's best-of-breed, commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) SEM solution, integrated with and enhanced by SAP NetWeaver and SAP's industry-leading enterprise applications and services. SAP will continue to market and support its current social services framework, based on SAP NetWeaver serving as a business process platform for public services.

"Governments are looking for a more complete view of their citizens in need of human services, workforce services, and social security benefits through case management tools," said John Kost, managing vice president, Gartner. "Governments at all levels continue their push to become more holistic in providing services and to use technology to pursue transformation toward more seamlessly integrated government and we believe that companies that can deliver these services will find a growing market opportunity."

In the short term, the integration of Curam Software and SAP applications will give customers a means to provide constituents with multi-channel access to apply for constituent services. In addition, it will empower social enterprises to improve operational decisions by integrating data across the enterprise and delivering advanced infrastructure, management, and analytics capabilities. Future Curam Software integration with SAP NetWeaver, SAP CRM and SAP ERP is planned to provide customers with increased visibility into their organizations, improved service delivery capabilities, and enhanced decision-making tools for fiscal accountability and planning.

"At Curam Software, we are dedicated to improving the societal value of social services and enhancing the quality of services that government agencies deliver to citizens," said Ernie Connon, president, Curam Software, Inc. "Both Curam Software and SAP share a common vision and approach to delivering flexible solutions that allow agencies to enhance services, without the constraint of outdated legacy systems."

SAP Ecosystem

As part of its platform strategy, SAP is building an open ecosystem to drive adoption of enterprise service-oriented architecture (enterprise SOA); foster co-innovation between SAP, customers and partners; and deliver value for all participants. Building on its deep industry knowledge and diverse community of partners and leveraging SAP NetWeaver as a platform for product and service innovation, SAP and its ecosystem are driving new dimensions of collaboration-turning breakthrough ideas into innovative solutions for customers.

"SAP is proud to deliver to our public sector customers a flexible platform with a vibrant ecosystem of partners that can meet the vast needs of government organizations," said Tom Shirk, president, SAP Global Public Services. "In Curam Software, we have found a like-minded company who understands the value we can jointly bring to the market when we co-innovate on an open and flexible platform, using re-useable business processes that are delivered through an enterprise-service oriented architecture. Our work together will help ensure that social services organizations worldwide can deliver even better services to their constituents at a lower cost."

The two companies also announced that Curam Software's composite application for overdue payments has become "Powered by SAP NetWeaver," certified by SAP. This SAP xApp(TM) composite application introduces a workflow system that covers the complete overdue payments query process, a system that is inefficient in many agencies today.

About SAP-endorsed business solutions

SAP-endorsed business solutions are complementary to SAP(R) software offerings, are developed in accordance with SAP development guidelines, and provide additional choices and flexibility for businesses running SAP software. SAP-endorsed business solutions are powered by the SAP NetWeaver(R) platform and are offered by SAP partners.

About Curam

Curam Software is the leading provider of Social Enterprise Management (SEM) software solutions, delivering best-in-class applications for social enterprises globally including, health and human services, workforce services, and social security organizations. Using the Curam Business Application Suite(TM) agencies can immediately reap the benefits of client-centric business processes and an outcomes-driven integrated service delivery model. The Curam Business Application Suite, underpinned by the Curam Enterprise Framework(TM), combines the advantages of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software, an enterprise platform, and service-oriented architecture (SOA) with the business and technical flexibility required to allow agencies to implement solutions to meet their strategic objectives. Curam Software is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland with additional offices located in New York, Washington, D.C., United Kingdom, Australia, and Bangalore, India. Curam customers include the Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies (OACAS) in Canada, New York State, and New Zealand's Ministry of Social Development.

About SAP

SAP is the world's leading provider of business software*. Today, more than 39,400 customers in more than 120 countries run SAP(R) applications-from distinct solutions addressing the needs of small businesses and midsize companies to suite offerings for global organizations. Powered by the SAP NetWeaver(R) platform to drive innovation and enable business change, SAP software helps enterprises of all sizes around the world improve customer relationships, enhance partner collaboration and create efficiencies across their supply chains and business operations. SAP solution portfolios support the unique business processes of more than 25 industries, including high tech, retail, financial services, healthcare and the public sector. With subsidiaries in more than 50 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges, including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE under the symbol "SAP." (Additional information at http://www.sap.com/ )

(*) SAP defines business software as comprising enterprise resource planning and related applications such as supply chain management, customer relationship management, product life-cycle management and supplier relationship management.

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.

NOTE: SAP, R/3, mySAP, mySAP.com, xApps, xApp, SAP NetWeaver and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries all over the world. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. Data contained in this document serve informational purposes only. National product specifications may vary.

For customers interested in learning more about SAP products: Global Customer Center: +49 180 534-34-24 United States Only: 1 (800) 872-1SAP (1-800-872-1727) For more information, press only: Andy Kendzie, +1 (202) 247-7064, andy.kendzie@sap.com, EDT Alicia Lenze, +49 (6227) 7-40445, alicia.lenze@sap.com, CET Jason Loesche, +1 (484) 437-0015, EDT, j.loesche@sap.com SAP Press Office, +49 (6227) 7-46315, CET; +1 (610) 661-3200, EDT; press@sap.com Tina Powell, Curam Software, +1 (703) 738-9800 ext. 9818, tpowell@curamsoftware.com Jan Cornelius, O'Keeffe & Company, Inc. (for Curam Software), +1 (703) 883-9000 ext. 102, jcornelius@okco.com, EDT

During SAPPHIRE (from April 23 to 25), to speak with press contacts on site, please dial the SAP press room at +1 (404) 222 5000.

CONTACT: press only: Andy Kendzie, +1 (202) 247-7064,
andy.kendzie@sap.com, EDT; Alicia Lenze, +49 (6227) 7-40445,
alicia.lenze@sap.com, CET; Jason Loesche, +1 (484) 437-0015, EDT,
j.loesche@sap.com; SAP Press Office, +49 (6227) 7-46315, CET; +1 (610) 661-
3200, EDT; press@sap.com; Tina Powell, Curam Software, +1 (703) 738-9800 ext.
9818, tpowell@curamsoftware.com; Jan Cornelius, O'Keeffe & Company, Inc. (for
Curam Software), +1 (703) 883-9000 ext. 102, jcornelius@okco.com, EDT

Web site: http://www.sap.com/