Accenture (NYSE: ACN) today announced the opening of a new Accenture Innovation Centre for SAP® solutions in Australia, adding to its global network of centres around the world.

Based at the Telstra Customer Experience Centre in Melbourne with virtual presentations accessible Australia-wide, the Innovation Centre provides leading-edge, fully-scalable SAP solutions for Australian enterprise and government organisations. The Centre supports Accenture and Telstra’s existing innovation agenda by strengthening the alliance with SAP Australia and New Zealand.

The Innovation Centre will provide industry-specific demonstrations of how SAP solutions, including business analytics, mobility, the SAP HANA® platform and cloud computing solutions can support Australian organisations in developing a comprehensive technology roadmap. It also offers a multi-faceted learning environment where clients can validate their business case through a scenario-based proof-of-concept trial that can be tested within an organisation.

Kellie Simpson, Accenture’s SAP Australian Practice lead said that the centre will demonstrate first-hand the innovative solutions clients can adopt to improve their business performance through Australian-specific solutions.

“This initiative brings together the strength of all three organisations to deliver a differentiated service to the market,” said Simpson. “This Innovation Centre is the latest addition to Accenture’s growing network of innovation centres around the world, which enable our clients to continue to lead the charge in innovative practices.”

“This Centre puts the customer at the core of the innovation process and will further enable our customers to understand the benefits of SAP’s business offerings,” said Jeremy Goddard, Head of business solutions and cloud, SAP Australia and New Zealand. “Customers can create an infrastructure to perform proof-of-concept trials and explore emerging delivery models such as cloud and mobility; understand analytics through real business-oriented scenarios; and take advantage of the best offerings from SAP, Accenture and Telstra to realise value through business transformation.”

Philip Jones, Executive Director, Data IP Network Application and Services, Telstra said, “The Innovation Centre is a showcase of the potential that Telstra, Accenture and SAP can provide through its alliance – combining Accenture’s global expertise, SAP’s industry-leading solutions and Telstra’s award-wining cloud capabilities.”

This follows the news that Accenture has expanded its global network of Innovation Centres for SAP solutions with the opening of new centres in Beijing, Tokyo, and Singapore.

Accenture’s network of innovation centres are co-located with and leverage the skills and expertise at locations across the Accenture Global Delivery Network, Accenture Technology Labs and the Accenture Global Talent and Innovation Network. The new Melbourne centre joins Accenture’s global network of innovation centres in support of SAP solutions based in San Jose, Calif.; Chicago; New York; Toronto, Canada; Sophia Antipolis, France; Bangalore, India; Tokyo, Japan; Beijing, China, and Singapore.

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 246,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$25.5 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2011. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

About SAP

As market leader in enterprise application software, SAP (NYSE: SAP) helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device – SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 176,000 customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably. For more information, visit www.sap.com. Follow SAP Australia on Twitter at @sapanz.

About Telstra

Telstra provides network services and solutions to more than 200 of the world’s top 500 companies. These organisations rely on Telstra to do business across 240 countries and territories and to enable greater productivity, efficiency and growth. Telstra solutions offer the best of all worlds – skilled people and a rich portfolio of services delivered on our world-class Telstra Next IP™ network and Next G™ network. To ensure reliable performance, they’re monitored and maintained from our dedicated centres using advanced management and operational systems. Telstra customers enjoy Enterprise-grade Customer Service™ and one of Australia’s largest and most qualified field and technical workforce. Visit www.telstra.com/cloud for more information about Telstra Connected Clouds.

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