SAP Bows Enterprise Software For The iPhoneSAP Bows Enterprise Software For The iPhone

Well before the SDK has been made available by Apple, SAP created a new version of its sales force automation software that will work on the iPhone. It will help salespeople manage prospective customers and keep an eye on their sales cycles. Is this the first in a wave of Web-based enterprise apps for the iPhone?To be honest, I'm surprised it took this long for an enterprise company to develop a version of browser-based software for the iPhone. Not that the iPhone is really an enterprise-class smartphone, mind you, but its browser is powerful enough to run some enterprise applications.

What's interesting is that SAP is making this particular set of software available for the iPhone before standard smartphones, such as BlackBerry or Symbian devices. According to SAP, that's because the iPhone is one hot little item, and people are using them for business purposes.

"The iPhone has become such a popular thing," said Bob Stutz, a SAP senior VP who is responsible for developing the company's customer relationship management software. "Everybody wants the ease of use of the iPhone."

The software will let users load their business contacts, information on sales prospects, and account data onto the device, according to Stutz. Whether or not it uses the iPhone's existing contact application or introduces a new one wasn't made clear.