Citrix has picked up a little showcase account. It says SAP will virtualize about 500 servers with XenServer by mid-year to reap the rewards of server consolidation. Of course Citrix (whose CTO Simon Crosby is pictured below during an appearance on SYS-CON.TV) and SAP have been tight for a long time and of course XenServer is now free for unlimited production deployment.

The servers include boxes in Germany that power SAP’s worldwide training centers and development, test and support environments.

By the end of the year the rollout should embrace SAP’s offices in Asia and the US.

SAP believes the move will cut its carbon emissions by up to 600 tons a year besides fetching immediate savings on hardware.

SAP has already deployed Citrix’ XenApp application virtualization technology to deliver applications to both employees and external partners, upwards of some 50,000 people including product development and support.

The software, more than 40 programs altogether, includes Office and SAP’s own Business Suite.

It anticipates a 35% savings in terminal server costs.