SAP AG (SAP) is adding intelligence and automation into its cloud-based social collaboration solution SAP Jam. The goal is to assist businesses with decision making through new functionality on operational processes that affect customers. And there’s a channel play here, too.

The enterprise resource planning (ERP) company put work patterns into place to connect SAP Jam deeper into a business process, and provide businesses with an in-depth look into critical workplace activities, assisting them with making more informed decisions rapidly.

SAP Enterprise Social and Collaborative Software Senior VP and GM Sameer Patel revealed to Talkin’ Cloud how channel partners can make use of work patterns.

“SAP channel partners will be able to take advantage of work patterns to develop pre-built departmental and industry-specific business processes that they can market and sell to their existing and new customers,” he said.

He added: “SIs (systems integrators) can develop these departmental and industry-specific processes and package to sell along with their expertise in retail (industry) and department (sales, service, marketing, etc.) for applications (SAP CRM), and pre-defined content.”

Patel also noted how the new functionality can benefit value-added resellers (VARs) by enabling them to  “sell a highly-differentiated, integrated social software solution that is aligned with processes for the departments they support.”

“For example, a VAR targeting selling sales solutions and services can position SAP Jam and its work patterns to the customer,” he said. “The customer gets to take advantage, and see immediate returns from the pre-built work patterns.”

The first set of work patterns tackle collaborative sales and service processes with the SAP Customer Relationship Management (SAP CRM) application, but expect more in the future.

Patel said there’s an unlimited opportunity for work patterns in other areas of a business process, “especially when you expand this to the channel partners and IT/developers within companies.

“We will focus on work patterns for HR (performance and goals), service, etc.,” he said. “Our partners can create specialized approaches taking the core work patterns further and developing new ones based on a company’s unique business requirements.”

In other SAP-related news, SAP recently teamed up with IT solutions company Mindtree to help customers execute cloud strategies on SAP cloud applications and mobile platforms.