The extended supply chain: A virtual collaborative ecosystem to enhance and drive innovation

The boundaries for business are constantly moving beyond the physical premises. Today, customers are seeking innovative and dynamic business solutions that allow for business to be conducted at any place, anytime or on any device. SAP has recognised this need and has started to provide innovative business solutions that can be run on premise, on demand and on device. A key contributor to this need has been the Internet. Through the Internet, business services can be delivered to a variety of customers and on different platforms and devices. The Internet, supported by cloud-based infrastructures, allows for enterprises to coheres and form strategic partnership which could result in enhanced and integrated supply chains. These strategic partnerships have the potential to move the end-point of the supply chain from the shop floor to the customer's hands. Contemporary mobile technologies allows for such a strategy to be executed. SAP Research has capitilised on this opportunity by developing a cloud-based environment (called the Business Web) which aims to provide customers with the potential to access a secure, real-time trading network that delivers end-to-end business services optimised for mobility. This cloud-based environment has been realised by SAP Research IA&S Africa as a four-tiered cloud: mobile cloud; service delivery cloud; application cloud; and a data storage cloud.