The program which was on in Europe, US and Asia was being introduced inIndia as part of the company's strategic plans to tap the growing softwaresolutions market and to eventually make India the solutions hub for Asia,said SAP Labs co-director Clas Neumann.

``We will certify products and solutions developed by third parties toacknowledge their compliance with SAP R3 platform. With the certification inplace, the companies can showcase a SAP certified product on a globalscale,'' Neumann said.The CSP initiatives currently have 475 partners, 750certifications, 575 certified products and 10 joint developemnt partnersincluding names like Siemens and Nokia. The certified Indian partners wouldhave access to SAP's worldwide customer base of 13,000 customers for theirproducts, he added.

On technology areas for third party developemnt, Neumann said that businessapplication protocols for mobile connectivity and WAP integration servicesfor palm-top devices and mySAP.com integration services would be the keyfocus.On the joint development front, the company is looking at formingstrategic partnerships for jointly developing solutions in the mobile devicesegment and solutions for B2B market places.

Close to 150 certifications and two joint development alliances wereexpected by year-end, Neumann said.``Besides certification services, SAPLabs will also assist the companies with the infrastructure, market supportand even distribution in some cases. Together with the suppprt, the companywill also have on hand a certified product that will have worldwiderecognition,'' he said.

On the broad investment required, he said that the companies would have toinvest approximately Rs 2 lakh each towards streamlining procedures andcertification while the modalities for joint development were currentlybeing worked out.SAP Labs was also likely to invest Rs 50 lakh in its jointdevelopment initiatives for this year, Neumann said.