Companies to Focus on Automating Document and Forms-Based Processing Across and Beyond the Internal Enterprise ORLANDO, Fla.--June 5, 2002--SAP AG and Adobe Systems Incorporated today announced a global technology and go-to-market agreement aimed at automating and streamlining paper-based communications that companies rely on to run their businesses. The agreement will initially result in the integration of Adobe Acrobat and Adobe PDF technology with mySAP.com, enabling companies to more effectively create and shareinformation across extended teams of people in different organizations and locations. This integration will be enabled through mySAP(TM) Technology, the underlying open infrastructure for the mySAP.com e-business platform. The announcement was made at SAPPHIRE '02, SAP's international e-business conference being held in Orlando, Fla., June 5-7. To reduce costs and accelerate time to market, business users and project teams need more efficient ways to share information, collaborate with each other, and reliably print information exactly as intended. Through the alliance, SAP and Adobe will work closely to bring together highly structured, transactional data stored in powerful enterprise systems from the unstructured, document-based information and processes found in most organizations. For SAP customers, the agreement with Adobe provides the opportunity to automate error-prone manual paper-based processes and integrate data directly with SAP solutions. Together, the two companies will collaborate closely to provide more secure communication and tight data exchange with Adobe PDF-based forms. "SAP provides a way of managing virtually every business process in the enterprise," said Bruce Chizen, president and CEO of Adobe. "However, there are huge challenges in automating and accelerating document-based processes that have traditionally slowed the pace of business. Adobe and SAP share this similar vision of network publishing for the enterprise that empowers people to collaborate more effectively beyond organizational boundaries." The direct integration of Adobe Acrobat and PDF technologies with SAP applications will provide an enhanced solution for the process-driven enterprise. The two companies will combine engineering and marketing efforts to improve the exchange, collaboration, review, and approval process of business-critical information throughout the SAP user community. Adobe Acrobat and PDF technologies are already a document delivery standard, with more than 300 million copies of the Acrobat Reader distributed. "Adobe's strength is helping people communicate better, and we share a vision to deliver compelling digital content regardless of platform or device," said Hasso Plattner, co-chairman, CEO and co-founder of SAP AG. "In addition to the transactional systems that companies need to operate at peak performance, documents are fundamental to the way businesses work and communicate. With the integration of Adobe Acrobat and PDF technologies, our customers will be able to access and share enterprise content in a reliable and secure way, extending the value of SAP solutions to an even broader base of users."