With the recent launch of the powerful BlackBerry 10 smartphones, SAP and BlackBerry have been working together to bring even more business critical apps to the new platform. SAP mobile finance apps are now integrated with core features of the BlackBerry 10 smartphone such as the BlackBerry Hub, Calendar, and more, to provide you with an exceptional user experience.

This week at SAP’s SAPPHIRE NOW and BlackBerry Live, we’re going to provide a peek at these new tools that are available to increase your mobile productivity.

SAP Customer Financial Fact Sheet

This app gives business customers the ability to stay up to date on their customers’ financial status anywhere and anytime. It connects directly with the SAP ERP system to provide the most relevant customer financial data to a BlackBerry 10 smartphone.

Features include:

• Display a list of all customers assigned to you, customers classified as critical, and recent customers
• View customer sales volumes for the past fiscal year
• View total outstanding invoices, credit info, and the average payment arrears for the last 12 months
• Retrieve original invoices in PDF format and access archived documents stored in the backend

Get a free demo of the app from the BlackBerry World storefront and give it a try.

SAP RealSpend

SAP RealSpend for BlackBerry 10 smartphones gives business customers access to real-time, accurate budget and spend information.

Features include:

• Access to the SAP ERP application
• Access real-time budget and expense information, including trends and projections
• Analyze and benchmark spend data by department, project, or expense type across any period of time
• Receive customized spending alerts
• Collaborate with team members to resolve issues

Download the demo version of the app today.

SAP CFO Vantage

Giving business executives the most timely and accurate information to enable key business decisions can have a great impact on day-to-day operations. SAP CFO Vantage does just that – so executives have the right tools and info to help increase productivity and improve decision-making capabilities.

Features include:

• Access to SAP financial data
• Access to critical media content
• Access to important analyst information
• View social media content in real-time
• Ability to communicate easily with team

We are truly excited about these new finance apps, which are another important piece of the executive’s application toolkit on BlackBerry 10. Currently the apps are available for BlackBerry Z10 smartphones, with BlackBerry Q10 editions on the way soon.

Do you use SAP tools in your work? How would taking these processes mobile speed up your work and provide benefit? Share in the comments below.

Today, any company that is creating mobile apps faces an important decision – should you develop in native or HTML5? Both have advantages and disadvantages, so the choice really depends on your requirements and available resources. Certainly, native apps can provide a better user experience, but developing for native usually takes longer and can be more costly. HTML5, on the other hand, allows you to reach a wider market sooner without the restrictions imposed by walled storefronts. So wouldn’t it be great if we could have the best of both worlds? Well, we can with hybrid apps like those built by BlackBerry WebWorks or PhoneGap. A hybrid app is actually a native app that runs on the device, but it is written using web technologies (i.e., HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, Canvas, and others) Since hybrid apps run inside a native container, it can access native device capabilities and leverage native security features. This makes it ideal for most enterprise apps.

In fact, we worked with partners like SAP to help them develop WebWorks apps. The Customer Financial Fact Sheet and RealSpend apps are two examples that were developed in just a matter of weeks. By leveraging Responsive Web Design principles, these apps work on the latest BlackBerry 10 smartphones, BlackBerry PlayBook tablets, BlackBerry 6 and 7 smartphones, and even in a desktop browser. With some minor tweaking, these apps can also run on other platforms. This cross-device and cross-generation support is important because it allows companies to upgrade their inventory in a more cost-effective way, it allows their apps to reach a wider audience sooner rather than later, and it simplifies training and support.

For app developers, using HTML5 allows them to leverage and re-use their existing skillsets, workflow, and infrastructure. With dozens of solid frameworks (e.g., Sencha Touch and jQuery Mobile) and hundreds of libraries to choose from (see jsdb.io and microjs.com), developers can quickly prototype and focus on their business logic without reinventing libraries. Even companies that leverage enterprise solutions like SAP’s NetWeaver Gateway, which uses OData, can use the following libraries to get up and running quickly:

• datajs
• Sencha Touch’s oData Connector
• jquery.odata
• JayData
• Breeze OData Adapter

With datajs, for example, developers can read and display data, read paginated data, add data, and add data in batches. This API supports both JSON and ATOM-based formats, and it provides a mechanism for combining remote services with local storage.

As you can see, HTML5 and hybrid apps offer a compelling solution for enterprises. If you’d like to discuss web development for BlackBerry in person, we’ll be available at the BlackBerry booth at SAP Sapphire Now from May 14-16.

Also, don’t forget to go by the Enterprise Development pods at BlackBerry Live & BlackBerry Jam from May 14-16 and be sure to check out these sessions:

• JAM44 – Building for the Multi-Device Enterprise using Sencha
• JAM19 – Calling and Consuming Enterprise Web Services

The growth of workplace mobility has increased the demand for business applications and thus the opportunity for enterprise developers. With the BlackBerry 10 platform, we are committed to supporting the development of enterprise-grade mobile apps, as well as the BlackBerry developer community behind them.

Today, we’re pleased to announce the first BlackBerry & SAP Mobile Apps Challenge to provide innovators like you with an opportunity to reach millions of business users. By participating, you will gain access to BlackBerry and SAP virtual boot camps and expert coaching. In addition, finalists will gain valuable marketing opportunities, public exposure and could win up to $10,000 in prizes.

This initiative represents a longstanding partnership between BlackBerry and SAP and our mutual commitment to mobile innovation in the enterprise. Here’s some more information on how you can participate:

If you have an application or an idea that you would like to submit, you can enter the BlackBerry & SAP Mobile Apps Challenge today! Stay tuned to the Inside BlackBerry for Business Blog for updates and announcements – we look forward to your submissions.

What SAP applications does your organization use for business? Share with us in the comments below.

The BlackBerry Enterprise Developer Partnership team was on hand to showcase the latest in BlackBerry technology including BlackBerry 10, and show how easy HTML5 applications can be developed for or ported over to the BlackBerry platform. At each event, most of the developer teams built their apps using HTML5 and showed demonstrations of these applications running on BlackBerry devices, including both the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and the BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha device.

All of the BlackBerry versions of the applications were built with HTML5/BlackBerry WebWorks, and considering that they were built in a day and half – and that they all connected to theSAP HANA platform using oData – it was quite impressive. This really illustrates how quick and easy it is to develop effective enterprise applications on the BlackBerry platform, with very little time and development effort.

At the end of the day a winning app was selected. At the Healthcare focused Innojam hosted in Las Vegas as a part of SAP TechEd, the app “Nurse Assist” was crowned the victor. At The Innojam hosted at SAPPHIRE NOW in Madrid , the theme was connecting people in larger cities with each other, and the “WeCare” app emerged victorious:

Nurse Assist (winner in Las Vegas)

Nurse Assist is designed to help mobile nurses in their day to day activities, keeping them better informed about patients and providing an easy and effective way to update patient records. It even provides the quickest way to get to their next appointment. This app was designed to run on the BlackBerry platform using HTML5/WebWorks, and was integrated with SAP solutions on the back end to enable the user to pull the latest information, and to update patient records and information. The application was demonstrated on a BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha device.

WeCare (winner in Madrid)

The WeCare application was the winner at the Madrid Innojam, and was designed to better connect people in large cities with their neighbors; similar to the experience of those living in smaller towns and communities. The app makes it easier for people living in large cities to easily and securely connect with their neighbors to help out with shopping, carpooling, babysitters, and more. The app connects to SAP HANA for the latest information and updates, and was integrated with various social media tools like Twitter & Facebook.

To learn more, check out a full video recap of the Las Vegas event and the Madrid event.

For more information on developing applications integrated with SAP solutions on the back end, check out the SAP for BlackBerry Development Guide, and for more on BlackBerry development best practices, check out the BlackBerry Enterprise Development Guide.

We also hope you will take the time to check out all the new and exciting news and information on the upcoming BlackBerry 10 platform. Have you developed business or government apps using BlackBerry WebWorks? Share your experience in the comments below.

The guide posted below will help developers understand SAP middleware solutions, which can help remove one of the complexities of SAP in the mobile space. Key topics covered are:

• SAP Mobile Continuum
• SAP Middleware
• Deploying and Managing Client Applications
• Securing Enterprise Content

Check out the development guide below and share your thoughts and feedback in the comments.

Morgan Parker of RIM Product Marketing and Jon Wong, Sr. Product Manager, walked us through a scenario of checking sales data using SAP® BusinessObjects Dashboards on the BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet mounted on the dash of the Porsche, a well as leveraging the Citrix® Receiver to access a virtual Microsoft® Windows desktop. Check out the video below for the full scoop!

[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

What BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet apps would you use in a car like this? Share your ideas in the comments below.

[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

I’m really excited to have to have this opportunity today to present you with a new BlackBerry PlayBook video. Our friend Jonathan from the Product team at Research In Motion® (RIM®) was kind enough to help us demonstrate a few of the many BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet use cases for business professionals. Included in the video above is a brief demo of email pairing with your BlackBerry® smartphone via BlackBerry Bridge, multi-tasking, viewing Microsoft® Office® documents, and secure access to business applications such as Flash®-enabled dashboards from SAP® BusinessObjects Explorer.

I think the video demonstrates how easily the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet makes your corporate information portable and accessible in a variety of different ways. Post a comment below and let us know what you think, as well as noting which additional business features of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet you’d like to see demonstrated.

Today, I wanted to share two video case studies that could prove valuable for enterprise users, as they show how financial and public services alike are utilizing the BlackBerry® solution in their businesses. In the above video, you can see how the Volkswagen® Financial Services Group improves risk management by implementing a BlackBerry solution and SAP.

For a look at how the BlackBerry platform works within public service, here’s the Bedfordshire Police talking about how they put more officers on the street while providing them more access to information on the go:

I’m looking forward to sharing more video case studies over the next couple weeks – is there something in particular that you’d like to see? Let me know!