Earlier this month, more than 50 of the top analysts in our community, along with a few members of the press, traveled to the SAP offices in Newtown Square, PA to get an update on SAP’s strategy for Industries. SAP has long been known for its deep expertise within industries across the globe, and the Industries Base Camp is designed to help the analyst community understand how SAP is combining applications, technologies and go-to-market knowledge to create innovative solutions that help our customers “run like never before.”
Dr. Kerstin Geiger kicked off the event, illustrating how SAP’s industry strategy to run, grow and transform businesses arises from our history as a leading supplier of applications, our investments in new technologies such as mobile and cloud and our global presence across 24 industries. She also spoke about our commitment to customers, fielding questions about the ways SAP balances the support for systems we’ve created over the past 40 years with the need to implement cutting edge technology. Her depth and breadth of experience were evident to the audience. Nicole Engelbert of Ovum remarked via Twitter that “Kerstin Geiger is the human representation of why customers buy from SAP.”
Whether the delivery platform is on premise or in the cloud, SAP’s applications help customers optimize and understand complex value chains and our business suite applications are still in high demand. As Geraldine McBride jokingly pointed out, “Thank god for industry laggards. We can still sell them ERP.” Kidding aside, SAP’s strategy emphasizes ‘innovation without disruption’ – allowing customers to actualize long term benefits from core applications, while still providing a platform from which to deploy new technologies.
With investments from the past several years in cloud, mobility, analytics and database, SAP is now uniquely positioned to help our customers grow – whether that’s due to increasing volume from more streamlined operations or a move to an unfamiliar geography. Albert Pang of Apps Run the World remarked, “After buying Sybase, SuccessFactors, Crossgate, and Ariba, SAP’s industry footprint is felt wide and deep.”
Across the board, SAP speakers discussed how customers in all industries transform their businesses in fundamental ways. Whether it’s a manufacturer like Nike opening its own retail shops, or an airline buying its own refinery, the lines between industries are blurring. Enterprises are working like never before to understand how they can leverage new technologies to target consumers, manage logistics and inventory, and optimize resources with more precision. One customer cited by SAP’s Stephanie Buscemi found that average revenue per unit (ARPU) increased 10% to 25% by using personalized, real-time offers.
For the analysts who attend the Industries Base Camp, the event provides a unique opportunity to get visibility into the full SAP technology and product stack, insight into how we work with customers, and a chance to form new relationships with key SAP executives and other thought leaders across industries.
If you missed the event, or want more information, check out our videos on YouTube or www.sap.com/industries.
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