SAP Teams With DTI, 'Wash. Post'

By: E&P Staff Digital Technology International of Springville, Utah, reached agreement with SAP America Inc. whereby DTI becomes certified SAP business partner for U.S. newspapers. DTI said it will work with the mySAP Business Suite to create DTI Nexus, developed to provide "real-time integration to DTI's ad-production system" and to ensure that information remains in sync at all times between DTI and SAP systems.

Announcing the deal, DTI said the arrangement combines its own industry-specific expertise with mySAP Business Suite's comprehensive set of solutions to help manage all critical business processes. The combined solution is designed for fast implementation of affordable, preconfigured functionality that provides small and mid-sized newspapers with "technology designed for big businesses," according to DTI Marketing Director Alyson O. Williams.

DTI will serve as a turnkey SAP solution provider, with offerings ranging from software selection through implementation and configuration to long-term support and ongoing product development. Comparing SAP's unified business-side solutions to his own company's approach to editorial and ad production workflow, DTI CEO Don Oldham said integration of the two "can offer newspapers a true end-to-end solution" capable of reducing overall costs while affording management a more complete picture of operations.

The integrated approach aims to replace interfaces between disparate business and production systems which can be difficult to maintain, do not offer full-time availability of the latest information, and deprive employees of useful cross-departmental information.

DTI said Nexus can include any or all of the following solutions: financials, accounting, billing, system of record; real-time integration with ad production; circulation; customer relationship management (CRM); business warehouse; human resource management; and enterprise resource planning.

Separately, Munich-based SAP AG recently outlined details of the new intellectual property management (IPM) enhancement to its CRM solution. SAP said its IPM "will allow companies across many industries to better manage contracts and contract compliance, settle and report incoming and outgoing royalties, and track IP right inventories and performance efficiently and profitably."

IPM integrates with further functionalities in SAP for Media, which is fully integrated with the mySAP CRM solution, allowing users to manage relationships with rights holders, licensors, licensees and authors of intellectual property. mySAP CRM handles the entire life cycle of rights, licenses, and products -- from marketing to sales to value-added services.

At the high end of the newspaper market, The Washington Post last fall selected the SAP for Media portfolio and is implementing its industry-specific advertising management capabilities. SAP and the Post also agreed to develop classified advertising functionality that enables delivery of end-to-end services to its entire advertising base. SAP Systems Integration America, a subsidiary with newspaper experience, has worked with the Post on design, development, and deployment. SAP said Post participation will speed the implementation and aid its use for other publishing companies.

SAP for Media will help build the Post Advertising Solution (PAS) and consolidate various applications in one system to streamline advertising and support billing and finance. PAS will allow advertisers to order and compose classified ads online, review cost and billing information, and specify when and where (online or in print) an ad appears. Combined with SAP Business Intelligence analysis, PAS will improve customer service and the completeness of the paper's view of sales and financial data.

SAP's other U.S. newspaper customers include North Jersey Media Group, Hackensack, N.J., and Morris Communications, Augusta, Ga.