SAP today unveiled the latest version of its NetWeaver integration and application platform, which for the first time has been designed as a standalone product.

The firm said that the web-based SAP NetWeaver 2004 product could better tackle the problems of integrating enterprise resource planning (ERP) data across enterprises, and will form the foundation of forthcoming releases of its mySAP application suite.

Speaking at the CeBIT trade show, SAP chief executive Henning Kagermann said: "SAP applications have been relatively well integrated with NetWeaver, but the problem was that this integration was hard-coded.

"We started as a client-server vendor and are now moving to a responsive, service-oriented enterprise architecture that will be stable for the next five years."

The SAP software components that have been synchronised to produce the newly integrated platform include Mobile Infrastructure, Enterprise Portal, Business Intelligence, Master Data Management, Exchange Infrastructure, Web Application server, Composite Application Framework and Solution Manager.

The latest NetWeaver release, which features a business intelligence component that facilitates automated data distribution, XMLA interfaces and Java SDK for custom development, aims to ease the integration of legacy data with ERP systems.

Its enterprise portal has been enhanced to include multi-language Unicode support and Windows or Unix compatibility.

With the latest version customers can also integrate radio frequency identification data into SAP solutions, using the SAPAuto-ID Infrastructure to automate communication to and from hardware devices.

"The benefits of one product, one price, with a package that needs only one installation process are clear," said Kagermann.

"R3 mainly focused on the transactional user. ERP addresses everybody in a company with one system and user interface.

"We are focused on the processes which go beyond the company itself and establish a bridge in real time to the rest of business, including other companies, customers and suppliers."