Q&A: SAP's Dennis Moore on what to expect from Mendocino - Computerworld

Q&A: SAP's Dennis Moore on what to expect from Mendocino - Computerworld: "Aren't you concerned about losing your customer interface -- the mask users see on their computers -- by allowing them to access information and perform many functions through the Office interface?
We have a large number of SAP users. But that number is far smaller than the number of people using Office products. In many of our customers' offices, people use Outlook for e-mail and receive copies of reports generated from SAP data without knowing that. Now, with the new product, they'll see SAP in the 'smart pane,' which pops up when it has something important for them from SAP, and they'll see the SAP logo in other appropriate places. Office is becoming an extensible platform on which ISVs such as SAP -- which is the first major ISV to do this -- can build software to integrate processes.
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And one last question for those users who are wondering about this new partnership between SAP and Microsoft: Will the two companies also remain competitors in the small and midsize business (SMB) market?
SAP and Microsoft will compete vigorously in the SMB market. This new joint product will work with our midmarket systems and those from Microsoft."