Mahindra Group and SAP Enter Strategic Relationship to Drive Business Transformation

BANGALORE, India : SAP AG today announced that the Mahindra Group has signed an enterprise agreement with SAP for consolidation of systems and strategic transformation across the company's diversified operational landscape. The $6.7 billion Mahindra Group is among the top 10 industrial houses in India. Focused on continued growth and optimization of IT processes, the company and SAP will work together to design and implement a scalable, standardized IT landscape across the Mahindra Group that will yield significant benefits due to synergy. The announcement was made at SAP(R) TechEd 2008 Bangalore, being held Nov. 12-14, in Bangalore, India.

By entering into an enterprise agreement with the Mahindra Group, SAP will assist in accelerating the company's enterprise-wide rollout of end-to-end SAP(R) solutions and technologies to:

-- Drive scale and business process innovation that supports growth. -- Lower total cost of ownership while creating a standardized and integrated IT landscape. -- Deliver value through integration, collaboration and synergy within the Mahindra group.

"We have been an advocate of technology as a pivotal pillar on our journey toward enabling business excellence," said Mr. Arvind Tawde, senior vice president and CIO, Mahindra & Mahindra. "We cherish the continuing evolution of this long-standing relationship; together we hope to take this relationship to newer heights of collaboration and co-innovation."

Under the agreement, common processes across the Mahindra Group of companies, such as human resources, employee services, administration, finance, procurement and analytics, will be standardized on the SAP technology platform. The agreement is designed to cover all software, maintenance, consulting services and support under SAP's support offering.

This agreement extends SAP's position as a leader in providing comprehensive enterprise software for the automotive and manufacturing industries. The ability to rapidly integrate new operations resulting from mergers and acquisitions, shift supplies due to changing demand and collaborate across a business network of partners is vital to companies as they strive for market share and greater profitability in the industry.

"The SAP-based IT platform aims to help Mahindra Group enhance operational excellence and business agility as well as derive greater synergies across different group companies," said Ranjan Das, president and CEO, SAP Indian Subcontinent. "Working with Mahindra Group provides continued validation that Indian businesses are relying on SAP to drive excellence across the enterprise. This enterprise agreement represents another significant milestone for SAP in India."

The US $6.7 billion Mahindra Group is among the top 10 industrial houses in India. Mahindra is the market leader in multi-utility vehicles in India. It made a milestone entry into the passenger car segment with the Logan. Mahindra & Mahindra is the only Indian company among the top tractor brands in the world.

The Group has a leading presence in key sectors of the Indian economy, including the financial services, trade, retail and logistics, automotive components, after-market, information technology and infrastructure development. Mahindra has recently made an entry in the two-wheeler segment which will see the company emerge as a full-range player with a presence in almost every segment of the automobile industry.

Mahindra's Farm Equipment Sector has won the Japan Quality Medal, the only tractor company worldwide to be bestowed this honour. It also holds the distinction of being the only tractor company worldwide to win the Deming Prize. The US based Reputation Institute recently ranked Mahindra among the top 10 Indian companies in its Global 200: The World's Best Corporate Reputations list.

Mahindra is also one of only four Indian companies to receive an A+ rating from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) for its first Sustainability Report.

SAP(R) TechEd 2008 in Las Vegas, Berlin, Shanghai and Bangalore

More than 16,000 SAP customers, partners and technical experts are convening at SAP(R) TechEd 2008 to learn how to transform existing business processes and IT landscapes and take advantage of the power and flexibility of service-oriented architecture. Celebrating its 12th anniversary, SAP's largest ecosystem education event of the year offers more than 1,000 hours of lecture-driven and hands-on sessions. SAP TechEd 2008 was held in Las Vegas on September 8-12, Berlin on October 14-16 and Shanghai on November 5-6, and is being held in Bangalore on November 12-14. For more information, please visit .

About SAP

SAP is the world's leading provider of business software(*), offering applications and services that enable companies of all sizes and in more than 25 industries to become best-run businesses. With approximately 76,000 customers (includes customers from the acquisition of Business Objects) in over 120 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges, including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE, under the symbol "SAP." (For more information, visit )

(*) SAP defines business software as comprising enterprise resource planning and related applications.