sven.denecken

Needed to share this here, very powerful: #SuccessFactors Partners on #SAP Acquisition

Sven Denecken — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 08:11:04 GMT

The integration of enterprise cloud applications and go-to-market resources promises new business opportunities for partners worldwide

SAP’s acquisition of SuccessFactors combines the powerful assets of each company – including world-class cloud expertise, software applications and go-to-market capabilities – to create a global cloud leader with an end-to-end offering of cloud and on-premise solutions for managing business processes.

“Our industry is at a tipping point, as executives around the world position their organizations to fight and win the global war for talent,” said Mercedes Ellison, vice president of global alliances and channels, SuccessFactors. “Our union with SAP will accelerate SuccessFactors’ BizX roadmap by 10 years, which in turn will speed our partners’ ability to deliver new solutions that meet growing customer demand. Together, we will scale our businesses to capitalize on the tremendous business opportunities in enterprise and people-focused cloud applications.”

SuccessFactors Partners Speak Out

The SuccessFactors Partner Program will help partners effectively tap the comprehensive resources from SuccessFactors in order to develop, market, sell and deliver solutions that help solve customers’ business execution problems.

“With the acquisition of SuccessFactors, SAP is expanding its rich portfolio of offerings in key areas such as cloud computing and human capital management. For Accenture, the main beneficiaries will be our SAP clients who are increasingly interested in adding these capabilities to their information technology mix.”

Mark Willford, Global Managing Director, Accenture’s SAP business

“AKT has been partnering with SuccessFactors for almost four years in the Israeli market. Together, we have made SuccessFactors a de-facto standard in the high-tech sector in this region. We are excited about this acquisition, as we believe that SAP’s presence in Israel can be leveraged to make SuccessFactors a standard for cloud solutions beyond HR.”

Yoav Ventura, Managing Partner, AKT Human Capital Solutions

“SuccessFactors is an excellent match for SAP, not only for its leading Business Execution application and its experience in the cloud computing market but also for its specialized partner ecosystem with companies like Avanxo, which brings cloud expertise and added value to SAP solutions and, very importantly, to end customers. With the acquisition of SuccessFactors, SAP has confirmed that it is serious about cloud computing. Avanxo, as a pure-play cloud computing system integrator, feels very positive about the new opportunities that will arise from engaging with both SAP and its customers.”

Diego Maldonado, CEO, Avanxo

“At Capgemini, where we help organizations drive performance through people, the union of our two partners, SuccessFactors and SAP, offers an exciting opportunity to find fresh answers to the strategic challenge of talent management. Cloud services can give the HR function the workforce analytics, visibility and scalability it needs to take decisive action in the acquisition, deployment and development of talent globally. The combination of SAP, the leader of business applications, and SuccessFactors, the cloud-based

www.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?expire=&title=SuccessFactors+Partners+Applaud+SAP+Acqui… 1/416.02.12 SuccessFactors Partners Applaud SAP Acquisition — SAN MATEO, Calif., Feb. 16, 2012 /PRNews..Business Execution provider, will provide best-of-breed cloud solutions that add great value to on-premise enterprise application systems. This integration is great news and a perfect match.”

Barbara Spitzer, Vice President, People & Performance, Capgemini

“Congratulations to SAP on its strategic acquisition of SuccessFactors, the best cloud company out there. SuccessFactors provides exceptional business execution capabilities with maximum speed and flexibility to its ever-growing customer base. We have experienced this at close range during our seven-year partnership and more than 60 joint SuccessFactors customer engagements. We welcome the merger of SAP and SuccessFactors as it will provide the option for all of us to create even more satisfied customers. Our clients will be executing their business strategies faster and better than ever before.”

Mikkel Krogsdal, CEO, Effective-People

“The world’s fastest-growing companies rely on Jobvite for innovative recruiting solutions that can perform and scale as fast as they do. SuccessFactors and SAP are world-class companies and their combined creative efforts will provide our customers with innovations to further power their suite of cloud solutions.”

Dan Finnigan, President and Chief Executive Officer, Jobvite

“The acquisition of SuccessFactors by SAP immediately places SAP in the leaders category of cloud-based Human Capital Management solutions. The combination of SAP’s deep heritage of powering the leading companies in the world combined with the innovation and deep domain expertise that SuccessFactors brings in both the Human Capital Management space as well as groundbreaking technologies such as cloud and social computing create a powerhouse in the industry that has the potential to benefit customers and partners from both organizations for years to come.”

Jason Averbook, CEO, Knowledge Infusion

“As a long-time partner of both SAP and SuccessFactors, Learn2Perform is a huge proponent of this merger. The integration of these two powerhouse solutions will strengthen Learn2Perform’s ability to deliver the best learning and performance solutions to our customers, with all the benefits of the cloud – including faster implementations, at lower costs, by high-skilled professionals, with little or no IT issues or geographical limitations. Given our history and expertise with both SuccessFactors and SAP, we consider ourselves uniquely positioned to help customers discover how this business union can accelerate their HCM software solutions.”

Steve Bradley, President and Founder, Learn2Perform

“For more than a decade Korn/Ferry International and SuccessFactors have partnered to bring clients increased scale for implementing our Lominger competency-based solutions across the entire talent management lifecycle. With the merger of SAP and SuccessFactors, and the integration of their best-in-class SaaS and on-premise applications, our clients will benefit from their focus on innovation to accelerate functionality and the end-user experience.”

Chuck Feltz, President, Lominger International (A Korn/Ferry International Company)

“Our clients range in size from 1,000 employees to more than 500,000 employees, and they all share a common goal – find innovative and cost-effective ways to improve their entire talent acquisition life cycle. That is: identifying, developing and retaining key talent. The emergence of powerful cloud-based solutions has afforded our clients the ability to turn this goal into a reality. We continue to look to SuccessFactors for best-of-breed cloud-based talent and performance management solutions for our clients. We believe that the combination of SAP and SuccessFactors will provide just the kind of positive disruption this market needs to help us provide our clients with a competitive advantage in the war for talent.”

Rick Landsman, CEO, Marick Group

“I firmly believe in the undisputed power of BizX, as driven by SuccessFactors and McKinney Rogers. The recent news that SAP will be acquiring SuccessFactors is perfectly timed to allow us to further enhance and accelerate the distribution of this amazing capability. Our customers are going to love the increased value we will provide to help them optimize individual performance and organizational results.”

Damian McKinney, CEO, McKinney Rogers

“PDI Ninth House cooperates with both SAP and SuccessFactors, and we know the power that each company has in the HR technology space. We view the merger as both a bold and highly strategic undertaking that integrates SAP’s global footprint as a world- class technology firm providing extremely broad offerings delivered on premise or via mobile devices, with SuccessFactors’ value as a nimble, fast-growth, cloud-driven, dominant human capital software firm. This is a hand-in-glove scenario, the perfect fit. We look forward to continued teamwork with this new powerhouse to deliver premier solutions to our hundreds of joint clients around the globe.”

R.J. Heckman, President and CEO, PDI Ninth House

“We are excited to see our SaaS partner SuccessFactors join with SAP. Over the last few years Ping Identity has helped many

www.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?expire=&title=SuccessFactors+Partners+Applaud+SAP+Acqui… 2/4

16.02.12 SuccessFactors Partners Applaud SAP Acquisition — SAN MATEO, Calif., Feb. 16, 2012 /PRNews..customers secure and streamline access to SuccessFactors’ Business Execution Software Suite and SuccessCloud. Now we can extend our cloud identity management solutions to a broader SAP customer base, allowing them to securely access cloud-based talent management tools.”

Mike Desai, Senior Director of Business Development and Strategic Cloud Alliances, Ping Identity

“The combined resources of two market leaders will drive exciting new capabilities and benefits – especially for our enterprise clients. We are excited about the enterprise focus and ability to streamline the cloud-based business process enablement discussion that this transaction brings to the marketplace from enterprise resources to human resources. Surrex Project Solutions will be able to serve our clients more efficiently with this larger solution footprint, and our clients will be the eventual benefactors of the new combination of capabilities provided by SAP and as they turn to the cloud to reach their enterprise goals.”

Chad Downey, President, Surrex Project Solutions

“SAP’s acquisition of SuccessFactors is clear evidence that the company is set to make a strong statement in the cloud computing space. Our ongoing partnership, working alongside SAP as a services partner, reflects UST Global’s continued dedication to building expertise across the SAP suite of products. SAP develops powerful technology solutions, and it’s clear to us that this marriage will take SuccessFactors to new heights.”

Sajan Pillai, CEO, UST Global

“Verifications, Inc. is excited about the prospect of helping the clients using solutions from SuccessFactors and SAP shorten their time to hire and improve employee productivity. We are proud of our partnership with SuccessFactors. Together we will make a positive difference in the lives of new hires by helping them start their new job on the right foot more quickly.”

Curt Marks, CEO, Verifications, Inc.

“We’re excited by SAP’s acquisition of SuccessFactors and how these companies will continue to provide organizations with state-of- the-art tools to better leverage their people and execute strategies that drive business outcomes. New and improved capabilities and capacity will be available to our current and future customers faster than ever before. As a SuccessFactors partner, we’re also excited to be connected to a global leader in cloud-based human capital management solutions.”

Nancy Heet, President, Workforce Management Strategies, LLC

It’s Time to Love Work Again. It is time to co-innovate with the customers and partners now…

Regards Sven… (SDenecken)

SAP’s Offer for SuccessFactors, Inc. Shares is Successful (prnewswire.com)
SAP’s Acquisition of SuccessFactors Makes Joint Partner, Learn2Perform a Company to Watch (prweb.com)

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Recap SAP Influencer Summit 2011 Highlights

Sven Denecken — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 06:19:05 GMT

As some of you know, the eighth annual SAP Influencer Summit took place on December 13-14, 2011, in Boston, MA. Over 130 key influencers including industry analysts, business thought leaders, journalists, bloggers, SAP Mentors and university professors were welcomed on-site.

Over 3,000 additional virtual attendees from around the globe joined to hear keynote presentations featuring Jim Hagemann Snabe, Vishal Sikka, Sanjay Poonen, and Raj Nathan as well as deep dive and breakout sessions with SAP executives, experts, customers, and partners.

During the two day event, SAP provided influencers with an clear view of 5 key strategic areas – core (Line of Business), mobility, in-memory/HANA, analytics, and cloud, which was then validated extensively by the in-depth stories and engaging Q&A opportunities of 25 on-site customers and partners.

Check out the virtual platform and social media activities via #SAPSummit . They expanded the event reach and enabled us to receive real-time interaction and feedback.

The video below features highlights from the keynotes and customer panel discussions. It is also available to be viewed on the SAP YouTube Channel

Looking forward to your feedback, regards Sven Denecken (@SDenecken)

Influencer summit – some highlights on cloud (blogs.sap.com)

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SAPs take on European Cloud Partnership

Sven Denecken — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 07:36:34 GMT

SAP’s take on European Cloud Partnership

January 26, 2012 by Sven Denecken

Below you will find a short reaction from SAP on the initiative to establish an european Cloud partnership, from Peter Lorenz, SAP Corporate Officer and EVP for OnDemand Solutions

We very much welcome the initiative of the EU Vice President in Davos to establish an European Cloud Partnership, bringing governments and industries together to advance cloud computing in Europe. We also fully support the initial focus of the partnership to promote the adoption of Cloud Computing in the public sector. It is our firm belief that Cloud Computing can not only significantly reduce IT costs and improve the performance of the public sector.A rapid and wide adoption of Cloud services in the public sector can also drive overall market penetration of Cloud Computing in Europe across companies large to small. At SAP we are convinced that Cloud is a global core topic and we are fully committed to contributing our know-how and expertise to ensure a successful European Cloud partnership together with CIOs and the public sector in member states. Jointly we should also be able to enhance the practical work of achieving a Digital Single Market for Cloud services and we are looking very much forward to additional elements of the EU Cloud Strategy.

Peter Lorenz, SAP Corporate Officer and EVP for OnDemand Solutions

#SAPChat on SAP´s Cloud Strategy - transcripüt

Sven Denecken — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 23:31:01 GMT

#SAPChat on SAP´s Cloud strategy – transcript

December 18, 2011 by Sven Denecken

Image via Wikipedia

December 7th we conducted a tweetchat (see #SAPChat) on SAP´s Cloud strategy. Focus was based on a recent blog I posted (see here:http://blogs.sap.com/cloud/2011/11/17/sap%E2%80%99s-cloud-approach-%E2%80%93-supporting-hybrid-landscapes-to-do-serious-business/ ) and of course many tried to check if #SFSF would be discussed. Well, you will for sure hear more about this from me after close.

We gave some background to customer and partner experiences, especially from our co-innovation program where we involve them from day 1 of starting a new project. We highlighted some of the increasing demand we do have for subsidiaries, especially for OnDemand products, the 2 Tier ERP Approach.

Keep following us, we will have a new #SAPChate coming up soon in Q1, and of course we will answer topics we could not answer December 7th

Read the transcript here

Welcome to our #SAPChat on #cloud! We have our hosts @SDenecken & @Rhirsch here to answer your questions live!

07-Dec-11 15:00 | @SAP

We know a lot of you may have questions related to @SuccessFactors. But unfortunately we’re unable to answer questions… #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:02 | @SAP

…due to legal issues. Here’s a post to explain: Here’s a quick blog post explaining what we can discuss http://t.co/DPpThFvq #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:02 | @SAP

I know that #SFSF is a hot topic for you now, feel free to join a discussion here http://t.co/wUIsoZ5t not now in #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:05 | @SDenecken

#SAPChat Since #SAP cant comment on Q&A regarding #SuccessFactors I used my crystal ball to answer http://t.co/1uxPYltj

07-Dec-11 15:17 | @SAP_Jarret

looking forward to #SAPChat on Cloud Strategy – let’s get started – try & stump us

07-Dec-11 15:02 | @rhirsch

Let me get the ball rolling: why is a hybrid on-demand & on-premise strategy important for #SAP’s #cloud strategy? #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:05 | @SAP

I think that the hybrid approach (OnPremise/OnDemand) allows SAP to use process experience from OnPremise in OnDemand environments

07-Dec-11 15:05 | @rhirsch

Is there a plan to publish cloud app roadmaps and white spaces for partners to focus on? #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:05 | @s_khan

@s_khan Yes, we are discussing whitespaces with the eco-system already and working on roadmaps #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:06 | @SDenecken

@s_khan I assume that you are interested in the ByDesign whitespaces? Correct? #SapChat

07-Dec-11 15:08 | @rhirsch

Thanks @SDenecken. @rhirsch not only ByD, but LOB and Industry apps as well #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:09 | @s_khan

What types of companies are making the move to the #SAP cloud? What qualities of the #cloud make them want to go that direction? #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:07 | @itelligence_US

@itelligence_US we have companies of all sizes, look at our portfolio for details on SME, LE and Partner ecosystem #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:11 | @SDenecken

what is the future strategies on Enterprise Portal related to #cloud #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:08 | @rajubbk

@rajubbk you may want to take a look at the PortalOnDemand solution – it is planned to run on NetWeaver NEO trunc.it/io9my

07-Dec-11 15:08 | @rhirsch

@rajubbk Enterprise portal more related to OnPremise, for cloud solution mainly mobile, Silverlight and HTML5 coming #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:08 | @SDenecken

don’t think that a common/managed end user UI is only relevant on premise (re. #EP on premise) @rajubbk #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:10 | @dakoller

@dakoller I think it depends on whether on whether we are talking webUI or mobile #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:14 | @rhirsch

@rajubbk Portal also plans an on demand strategy, see portal roadmap future directions: http://t.co/wWU6VgTJ. #SAPchat

07-Dec-11 15:15 | @PORTAL_SAP

@rhirsch right, but pure html5, mobile etc. is *alone* no replacement for a complete portal solution #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:16 | @dakoller

@dakoller true, mashup capabilities need to be considered as well. Wouldn´t a service imntegrate to an existing portal? #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:19 | @SDenecken

@SDenecken right:however SAPs strategy focussed 4 me on providing THE internal portal ¬ so much on integration into othr portals #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:22 | @dakoller

@dakoller but the definition of the portal is expanding into the OnDemand arena as well – hybrid potential is there as well #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:26 | @rhirsch

@SDenecken So in that case SAP will provide a solution similar to #salesforce ? #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:12 | @rajubbk

@rajubbk Not know enough about what SFDC is doing or really delivering, we believ in decoupling of logic + UI to stay flexible. #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:15 | @SDenecken

@s_khan @rajubbk yep that it is the advantage of the NW Neo – open standards #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:16 | @rhirsch

could you define the cloud in a tweet? #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:09 | @stebren1

@stebren1 the SAP definition or a general one? For which audience? It is tough in a tweet? #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:11 | @rhirsch

@rhirsch its tough, i appreciate, sap definition? #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:13 | @stebren1

Can you tell anything about Core and Edge, and whether these are outdated concepts or not? #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:10 | @fredverheul

I’d say Core/Edge is still meaningful as edge stands for more rapid innovation, while core = commodities (running core processes) #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:13 | @steinermatt

@fredverheul Still valid, names might change. But we believe that multiple platforms with common qualities and lifecycle / hybrid #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:13 | @SDenecken

@steinermatt #SAPChat – its not #SAPinese, but I like core defined as core competency (differentiating), edge as everything else

07-Dec-11 15:17 | @GregChase

#SAPChat what is a reasonable timeframe to consider moving core apps – ie SRM from on-premise to SAP Cloud?

07-Dec-11 15:13 | @kgrovetx

@kgrovetx good question #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:14 | @stebren1

@kgrovetx SRM is already available “in the cloud”, called Sourcing OD check http://t.co/dzaGzPhZ #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:17 | @SDenecken

What is the biggest challenge SAP faces to realize its vision w/ NetWeaver River/Neo – Java developer platform #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:14 | @jonerp

@jonerp I think it is getting momentum in the developer environment and defining the use cases that fit the platform #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:17 | @rhirsch

#SAPChat What about the cultural implications of the #SuccessFactors deal on staid, old #SAP. See any challenges? #EnSW

07-Dec-11 15:14 | @mkrigsman

@mkrigsman …due to legal issues. Here’s a post to explain: what we can discuss http://t.co/jY04x0j0 #SAPChat #succcessfactors

07-Dec-11 15:14 | @GregChase

#SAPChat @GregChase Rephrase: Is #SAP capable of becoming a “cloud culture” in 2012? #EnSW

07-Dec-11 15:16 | @mkrigsman

via @mkrigsman: #SAPChat What about cultural implications on staid, old #SAP? #EnSW — Staid? Have you been around @sapmentors lately?

07-Dec-11 15:18 | @finnern

@mkrigsman What are factors of a #cloud culture? Here’s one: regular rapid scheduled release. ByDesign is already biannual. #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:18 | @GregChase

@mkrigsman @dan_mcweeney but the ecosystem (devs, etc) can also help influence the culture #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:24 | @rhirsch

@sapmentors MAKE culture. And frankly, most of SAP’s customers want SAP to make sense of innovation and change! @mkrigsman @finnern #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:24 | @GregChase

@mkrigsman ….it’s about strengthening the cloud part of the hybrid vision…this is a big step in the right direction #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:26 | @SDenecken

#SAPChat @finnern @sapmentors @sap Yes, agreed there is new enthusiasm and innovation, but is it in happy silos or pervasive?

07-Dec-11 15:26 | @mkrigsman

RT @finnern: via @mkrigsman: #SAPChat Think @sapmentors are atypical of SAP culture as a whole. – I see renewed innovation energy @sap: HANA, InnoJams

07-Dec-11 15:26 | @GregChase

#SAPChat @rhirsch @dan_mcweeney Agreed that the dev ecosystem can play important role in driving culture (and it should!).

07-Dec-11 15:27 | @mkrigsman

@mkrigsman agree that in terms of changing culture around cloud that embracing new biz models is hardest part. Many hurdles there. #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:29 | @jonerp

@mkrigsman …good point…orchestration discussions help avoid silos #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:30 | @SDenecken

via @mkrigsman: #SAPChat @sapmentors Happy silos or pervasive? — HANA’s long tentacles reach far. Enthusiasm of new opportunities @sap

07-Dec-11 15:31 | @finnern

@mkrigsman @jonerp I think changing corp. culture and changing the business models regarding cloud are two diff things entirely #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:31 | @rhirsch

RT @mkrigsman: #sapchat @jonerp Eventually, #SAP will get #cloud technology totally right. The business model changes are harder, after 40 yrs in business.

07-Dec-11 15:31 | @fredverheul

#SAPChat @rhirsch @jonerp Respected friends, I would argue that business model change and cultural change to the #cloud are tightly linked.

07-Dec-11 15:33 | @mkrigsman

@fredverheul it is about hybrid, preserve the good that you have + adapt to the paradigm shift of the cloud http://t.co/KuSTaGIn #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:34 | @SDenecken

@mkrigsman @jonerp true – I was referring to the levels of difficulty to change them respectively #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:34 | @rhirsch

@mkrigsman @rhirsch “I would argue that business model change and cultural change to the #cloud are tightly linked” – agree with M. #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:35 | @jonerp

@jonerp @mkrigsman regarding business change / culture change – would be interesting to explore role of broader ecosystem in each #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:38 | @rhirsch

#SAPChat @rhirsch @jonerp Business model change without cultural acceptance creates a house divided. #SAP must be careful about that issue.

07-Dec-11 15:41 | @mkrigsman

Q10

#SAPchat you probably read my concerns on “Safe Harbor vs. Patriot Act”. What do current #cloud clients think about this toppic?

07-Dec-11 15:14 | @se38

@se38 Customers are vocal about this, especuially our co-innovation customers… they want to decide where data recides #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:18 | @SDenecken

Q11

#SAPChat Will there be unified approach for partners to develop add-ons on top of core like ByD + LOB, irresp. of platform (if multiple)?

07-Dec-11 15:18 | @fredverheul

@fredverheul are you referring to ByD and NetWeaver Neo – they reflect 2 different use cases – tough to have one unified approach #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:18 | @rhirsch

@rhirsch Yeah but also referring (illegally) to #SFSF and maybe others. If NGAP + NEO Core + Edge resp., tougher for 1 approach #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:23 | @fredverheul

Q12

role of #cloud for #SAP in high-growth market strategy? we see regional players esp. in #BRIC driving share gains w/ #ERP #cloud #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:17 | @EAHHTBR

@EAHHTBR True, cloud in fast growing markets is key, see our collaboration in China e.g. and 2Tier ERP strategy (see my blog) #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:21 | @SDenecken

@EAHHTBR I know that #SFSF is a hot topic for you now, feel free to join a discussion here http://t.co/wUIsoZ5t not now in #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:28 | @SDenecken

@EAHHTBR to the platform PaaS and IaaS http://t.co/M6elOeRo #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:32 | @SDenecken

@EAHHTBR look at the HANA AppCloud – I’ve done a few blogs about it – http://t.co/cAosLZl7 #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:33 | @rhirsch

Q13

How is SAP education keeping up with these rapid product development cycles #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:17 | @BoobBoo

@BoobBoo irt Neo / PaaS it’s mostly opensource so the community upskills itself #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:21 | @steinermatt

@BoobBoo they are at the forefront than change management is huge here #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:22 | @SDenecken

@BoobBoo agree, take for example a software development kit, needs to be easy to use but rich in content #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:23 | @SDenecken

@steinermatt @BoobBoo that is 1 emphasis for NW NEO that dev can influence the platform by collaborating in open source projects #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:23 | @rhirsch

@BoobBoo @steinermatt Furthermore – all the current SAP Netweaver Neo beta users get of course a getting started tutorial. #sapchat #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:24 | @evilyeti

@BoobBoo I say #SAP understands that to gain momentum, we need to contribute to upskilling as well, we started w/ this @#SAPTechEd #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:27 | @steinermatt

@BoobBoo @steinermatt the whole issue of developer education is critical for the success of NW Neo – devs beyond SAP ecosystem #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:27 | @rhirsch

Q14

#SAPChat Heard #SAP is building a data center in the US. Where is it located & when will it be operational.

07-Dec-11 15:19 | @SAP_Jarret

@SAP_Jarret Data center in US is already operational in NewTown Square, PA #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:22 | @GregChase

@GregChase @SAP_Jarret …. and further data centers planned – but in SAP Business cloud quality #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:24 | @SDenecken

Q15

#SAPChat Please discuss planned of impact Rapid Deployment Solutions on #SAP market #RDS #EnSW

07-Dec-11 15:22 | @mkrigsman

@mkrigsman RDS – packages mainly for OnPremise, but you can also see them as fast packages to integrate cloud serv going forward #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:27 | @SDenecken

Q16

#sapchat So when is the planned release date to NW Neo. And provide me more information on NW Neo

07-Dec-11 15:26 | @rajubbk

@rajubbk NW Neo beta is open for registrations at http://t.co/h8xqgf46 #sapchat. You can search on #SDN the great blogs of @steinermatt

07-Dec-11 15:30 | @evilyeti

Q17

@SAP @SDenecken What would you think? Will SAP replace Human decision making with its new in memory computing in future?#SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:27 | @Xenon_Kv

@Xenon_Kv don’t know whether it will replace it but they will be complementary to one another. So many use cases… #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:29 | @rhirsch

Q18

#SAPChat Sheer curiosity: are we gonna hit 1000 customers for #ByDesign on 2011-12-31?

07-Dec-11 15:28 | @fredverheul

.@fredverheul FWIW on the two SAP-SuccessFactors calls, Jim Snabe said ByDesign would reach the goal of 1,000 customers for 2011… #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:33 | @jonerp

@fredverheul #ByDesign yes, and Jim just iterated on the calls last weekend #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:29 | @SDenecken

Q19

For Hybrid environments across IaaS and onPremise we need tools like Titanium – when can we see these even in Ramp-up #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:28 | @BoobBoo

.@BoobBoo Regarding Titanium, hunting for projected ramp-up data for you #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:35 | @GregChase

.@Booboo Re: Project Titanium – we are hoping to go into ramp up in 2013, but no certain date yet. Have to finish some development #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:45 | @GregChase

@BoobBoo ok, good question, but thought of it in terms of a consistent offering from #sap side #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:39 | @dakoller

@BoobBoo for devs #gateway imo enables needed integration 4 mobile developments,a 2nd mobile platform is likely not #sap’s priority #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:40 | @dakoller

For those wondering about what Titanium is: Easy provisioning of SAP system templates from catalog / store into IaaS @booboo #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:53 | @GregChase

@GregChase thx… didn’t get that before … thought it is about the mobile app dev tool #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:54 | @dakoller

@GregChase Iaas and MDMHub are a critical component in the cloud strategy – should be get more attention IMHO #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:56 | @rhirsch

Q20

Thanks @rhirsch. Any new business model incorporating SAP HANA App with cloud tech, is SAP working on? If so, when is the release? #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:34 | @Xenon_Kv

@Xenon_Kv seen a few slides but to be truthful don’t know any release dates – my blogs are attempt to understand use cases for HanaAppCloud

07-Dec-11 15:34 | @rhirsch

@rhirsch liked the concept, how real/how fast will it be available? re. #hana #appcloud? @sdenecken #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:37 | @dakoller

@dakoller have to distinguish between HANAApCloud and HANA in the cloud? BIOnDemand is already partly based on HANA #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:39 | @rhirsch

@rhirsch had the app cloud in mind. #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:41 | @dakoller

@rhirsch @dakoller … and ByD uses inMemory/Hana for analytics already as well #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:42 | @SDenecken

@dakoller seen demo of it but absolutely no details #hanappcloud #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:43 | @rhirsch

Q21

Is #SAP expecting to offer an #ERP solution in the #cloud? If so, what model will be used? #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:36 | @itelligence_US

#SAPChat @itelligence_US What about Business byDesign as an #ERP solution in the cloud?

07-Dec-11 15:39 | @mkrigsman

@mkrigsman Indeed, it’s a great solutions for SME’s or subsidiaries of LEs #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:41 | @JohnAnthonyHunt

@itelligence_US also check here http://t.co/EvBcnPIp more to come in further blogs from John and myself #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:43 | @SDenecken

Q22

#sapchat Will #ByDesign eventually replace Business Suite in your opinion? Say 2020? When everyone is totally into cloud + support ends?

07-Dec-11 15:41 | @fredverheul

@fredverheul if I knew 2020 will have a different job… ok, 2Tier ERP / subsidiary is the focus now #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:44 | @SDenecken

Q23

@SDenecken What’s the future of “River” and “Career on Demand”? #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:41 | @nikee69

and #river have more integration points with #sap either on or off-premise? @nikee69 #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:44 | @dakoller

@nikee69 if you are referring to NetWeaver Neo / Project River, it isn’t going anywhere – it will only get impt in the future #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:45 | @rhirsch

@nikee69 IMO SAP can’t comment much on Career OnDemand till SAP-SF deal goes thru in 2012. #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:45 | @jonerp

Q24

@fredverheul At the moment, the strategy is to position ByD for SME market only #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:43 | @s_khan

@s_khan @fredverheul #Bydesign not only for SME – platform for LoB OD solutions and much more ME this year, on stage #sapsummit #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:46 | @SDenecken

@SDenecken If more SF like deals take place in future, dont think ByD will act as a platform for all LOB apps. New apps on ByD only #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:50 | @s_khan

@s_khan “SaaS and Multitierd ERP Strategy” or how we would call it – get your subsidiary linked in fast…: http://t.co/8tUlog1Z #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:50 | @SDenecken

@s_khan @fredverheul #Bydesign not only for SME – platform for LoB OD solutions and much more ME this year, on stage #sapsummit #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:59 | @SAPByDesign

Q25

Will #RDS be provided as a #cloud model? #SAPchat

07-Dec-11 15:48 | @sv_muc

@sv_muc RDS is offered as hosted + subscription based pricing, so closed to… #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:50 | @SDenecken

Q26

Will #cloud be a dedicated new LoB at SAP? #SAPchat

07-Dec-11 15:50 | @sv_muc

@sv_muc it is already #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:54 | @SDenecken

Q27

Today #cloud tomorrow on premise; will customers have choice / flexibility for #hybrid? #SAPchat

07-Dec-11 15:50 | @sv_muc

@sv_muc absolutely…our strategy is derived from customer demand #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:50 | @JohnAnthonyHunt

Q28

How can #Gamification play along with #cloud #LoB #apps? #SAPchat

07-Dec-11 15:50 | @sv_muc

@sv_muc question is what unique characteristics of OnDemand platforms can enhance #Gamification efforts #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:54 | @rhirsch

@sv_muc yes, SAP Plays Games with the Analysts, and the Gamification of the Enterprise Begins. See http://t.co/BIm3vUbp #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:53 | @SDenecken

Q29

How to integreate a #cloud philosophy into traditional #software license business? #SAPchat

07-Dec-11 15:51 | @sv_muc

@sv_muc by dedicated uinit, dedicated gtm org and offering hybrid so customers have a choice #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:53 | @SDenecken

Q30

What are the pros and cons of NetWeaver Gateway currently? (Good and not good use cases) #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:52 | @jonerp

@jonerp are you talking about the Cloud-related aspects of Gateway or more general aspects? #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:54 | @rhirsch

@rhirsch cloud-related I guess since we’re in a cloud chat. #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:55 | @jonerp

@jonerp i see gateway like features important for on-demand platform offering to ensure easy consumption #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:57 | @s_khan

@jonerp much depends on ease of integration into OD offerings – if things are too difficult that devs will use it in isolation #sapchat

07-Dec-11 15:59 | @rhirsch

Q31

@steinermatt In what way SAP subsists itself in on-demand solution?Has SAP stepped in considering change in business model so far? #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 15:59 | @Xenon_Kv

@Xenon_Kv cloud is one of our 5 pillars, and a substancial business going forward #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 16:01 | @SDenecken

@Xenon_Kv sorry, must have missed your tweet. yes, alternative business models are vital part of the cloud story #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 19:22 | @steinermatt

Q32

@SAP @SAP I have one question on UI.. Why can’t SAP get any look and simplicity such as Apple’s? #SAPChat

07-Dec-11 16:00 | @rahulkarur

@rahulkarur check out our new solution: SAP Travel OnDemand..currently in beta…customers love the UI #sapchat

07-Dec-11 16:02 | @JohnAnthonyHunt

SAPs Cloud Approach supporting hybrid landscapes to do serious business

Sven Denecken — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 09:19:58 GMT

SAP ON THE CLOUD

SAAS AND ONDEMAND

SAP’s Cloud Approach – supporting hybrid landscapes to do serious business

November 17, 2011 by Sven Denecken

During Sapphire we did lay out SAP´s cloud strategy in several encouraging meetings – with customers, partners and of course with our influencer community. Peter Lorenz explained in his session on where we are heading – I thought you might like some of the key topics in writing…

Check this blog for the fundamental building blocks of SAP´s Cloud Strategy where we have aligned all of cloud related activities to offer the market the best and most reliable business cloud to run business more efficiently and leverage the positives of the cloud.

The cloud strategy is based on four main pillars: OnDemand solutions (SaaS), Platform and Eco-System (PaaS), Commercial Platform and Cloud Operations (IaaS).

SAP’s cloud approach differentiates significantly from the competition by allowing customers to orchestrate hybrid solution landscapes that best fit their business. We are committed to win in the cloud market by leveraging all our assets and providing a choice for our customers to configure a solution landscape out of on-premise, outsourced and on-demand solutions that best fits their needs. To get where we want to be, we will deliver cloud services in five flavors: software, collaboration, data, mobile and platforms as a service.

As a result, solution landscapes will often combine multiple deployment models, hybrid solution landscapes will become the norm.

1. On Demand Solutions (SaaS)

Check out the portfolio of our solutions via www.ondemand.com . Important starting point for us has been, that for this entire solutions portfolio user experience is key. We do follow the approach of Design Thinking and Co-Innovation with customers and partners.

Key Design Principles are as follows:

Mobile & User Experience

For OnDemand solutions the consumer grade user experience is key. Compared with some other old-fashioned SaaS solutions we differentiate through consistency & attractiveness. We provide a fully adaptable UI (look, user interface, extensions, etc.) and the UI Model is independent from rendering. New UI paradigms like HTML5 are easy to adopt. Just compare with some of the 10 year old screens the end users of some SaaS “leaders” sit in front of, not compare to the marketing brochures or mock-ups.

Mobile first! Mobility needs to be build-in from day one, as this trend is changing our business. We will see entire populations and specific working groups leapfrog the era of a PC or Laptop. To provide online access out of the box, paired with a modelled container/player approach, ensures to keep up with the fast innovation cycles in this segment. And by forcing an engineer to build for a screen in a size of a smart phone and/or tablet – believe me – creates different and better solutions.

Insight/Decision

Simplicity of the solutions, tailored to the exact need of the respective audience ensures high value to the users. We achieve this through role concepts, intuitive navigation, business driven configuration and design thinking approach with customers.

Insight at your fingertips with business context is guaranteeing fast value – a lesson we have learned with the domain expertise we have in house. This is achieved by embedded analytics, powered by inMemory and will also result in new applications – simulative, predictive, …

Socially Integrated

To address the needs of social behaviour, our solutions are designed network centric & collaborative. In addition the ability to mash up services, feeds and the capabilities to integrate social networks is one, even more important is that our collaboration is embedded in the business processes – NOT an afterthought with a tool on top creating additional noise.

Especially the ability of OnDemand/OnPremise Integration and the openness of B2B scenarios enable our customers and partners for the future and increases efficiency. Connectivity between one business and the other over the cloud – a big topic not only in our installed base. But believe me, 65% of world wide GDP touched by an SAP system – we know how to do that, now coming cloud based.

Speed/TCO/Scalability

To gain speed, beside waves of new solutions every quarter in 2012 and a new version of the service minimum every half-year, we have focused as well on topics around personalization, adaptability and extensibility. We do enable our eco-system and customers to work with a Software Development Kit (SDK) on our PaaS´s and are exposing a public semantic model to have a head start. See more below under eco-system.

Those add-ons will be certified by SAP and provisioned via an App Store, ensuring seamless distribution to customers and end-users.

2. Platform and Ecosystem (PaaS)

Platform

Today two SAP Cloud Platforms, the Core and the Edge Platform, will serve SAP Cloud Solutions to support the rapidly evolving developer needs at the “edge” of enterprise applications, while preserving the stability and integrity needs of “core” enterprise applications.

Core PaaS – NGAP/ByD based platform for transactional applications that leverage the services and end-to-end business processes provided by SAP Business ByDesign. This is the ideal foundation for transactional Line of Business on-demand solutions, like e.g. SAP Sales OnDemand, SAP Travel OnDemand, SAP Store

Edge PaaS – Java based platform components, and the technology of project “River” is evolving as the foundation for building ‘edge’ or utility applications, such as network centric applications that collect data from all different sources, analyse them and provide some information back to e.g. SAP Business Suite.

The key objectives of SAP´s PaaS are to enable the ecosystem to accelerate innovation. We do achieve this by enabling them to build on-demand (SaaS) apps with transactional as well as collaborative and analytical capabilities. At the end partners, and respective the customers, will decide based on accelerate speed, efficiency, integration and security – a gold standard powered by SAP´s business cloud.

SAP´s cloud infrastructure will support appropriate cloud infrastructure options (SAPs private Cloud, customers’ Private Cloud, and Public Cloud) that best fit the needs of each application type. We are already and will further leverage In-Memory and mobility, two important disruptive trends which the end user will benefit, even more expect.

Needles to say that a uniform programming and user experience model, delivering the results in a multi-tenancy, rapid provisioning and elastic scalable way are further attributes that define the success of a PaaS. More than that, given a hybrid landscape of solutions at the customers, the need to provide straightforward integration and orchestration (to on premise, master date, security) differentiates from an approach going via service partners or providers. Results in one layer of complexity less.

Last but not least, for partners a platform needs to facilitate performance management, usage tracking and billing – and let us not forget – a global reach to the markets.

All tools and development services are converging around the SAP NetWeaver technology foundation- enabling out of the box integration to SAP´s Business Suite, as well as on a set of common standards around quality, security, in-memory technology, analytics, application life cycle management etc.

Ecosystem

Co-Innovation with Customers + Partners ensures us building a vibrant partner ecosystem. We are providing a set of platform-as-a-service (PaaS) offerings to allow partners to leverage our cloud innovations to deliver new solutions and services.

And one of the main differentiators for the Core platform is, you start from a platform that is derived from a complete suite – not just a toolbox or one functional area like lets say sales? Nearly all the objects are defined and available – key for partners to build differentiating solutions capabilities on top.

We will, together with the eco-system, increase solution reach with additional functionality and support a broad set of use cases and application types from core transactional applications to collaborative, analytical, and mobile applications. There are a multitude of extensibility use cases and development/test environments.

This will allow us to increase solution reach with additional functionality for more industry segments and countries and to address the needs of larger portions of a customer’s user base. Ultimately we will shorten development time for enhancements by marshalling customer and partner involvement directly.

3. Commercial Platform (PaaS/IaaS)

SAP Store: A Platform for Partners to Build and Sell Cloud Add-ons/ Covering development through sales and customer support

In the past months we already have been working with selected partners including Accenture, Bautzen IT, Data One, All for One and Intelligence who are leveraging the SAP ByD studio to create add-ons and other solutions to be made available in the SAP Store. We continue to expand this dedicated engagement with partners in a step-by-step approach throughout 2011, including the LoB OnDemand solutions.

The SAP Store will provide a broad offering of partner solutions around SAP Business ByDesign – including integration scenarios, mash-ups, services and add-ons for customers to choose from. At the same time we will be keeping a close focus on gathering feedback from customers and partners in the early days of the SAP Store to guarantee the high quality and flawless processes our customers and partners are expecting.

During Sapphire we announced the addition of the SAP Mobile solutions for the SAP Business Suite as the next category in the store, now as well available via iTunes App store… just search for SAP.

4. Cloud Operations + Infrastructure – continuous investment into SAP Cloud (IaaS)

SAP Cloud operations adhere to the highest compliance standards (ISO 27001, SAS 70 Type II, ISAE 3402 certificate) as security and quality is essential in the cloud business.

SAP Data Centers are located in Germany and US, APJ in preparation – iot will be all about giving the customers choices on where their data should be. For China we collaborate with China Telecom to use their Cloud Computing Infrastructure for SAP Business ByDesign.

The scalability through full multi-tenancy enablement and In-Memory readiness via latest blade technology with 144 GB – 2 TB main-memory is an important differentiator of SAP´s cloud operations. In-memory database will further improve performance and reduce cost of integration with a service backbone.

Through continuous, proactive monitoring we ensure highest availability and with a SAP support network (Cloud Services Provider Certification Program), which focuses on training up partners with SAP skills to use certified environments and support infrastructure for SAP applications we support global availability.

In December we will further detail our Cloud strategy with the influencer community in Boston, looking forward to feedback and input – 2012 will be a key year for SAP´s cloud strategy to be rolled out further to the market.

Ah, and for the ones who are willing to look at the videos check it out on our SAPPHIRENOW online platform: http://www.sapvirtualevents.com/sapphirenow/sessiondetails.aspx?sId=694

LoB OnDemand solutions on the SAP ByD platform

Sven Denecken — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 03:47:46 GMT

I have been asked to write a blog about what do you use from the SAP ByDesign platform “technical architecture”, and I am happy to take a look into that. But thinking about it more, and it possibly will be disappointing for the technical gurus under us; I decided to look at it from the eyes of our co-innovation customers. And hey, it will open the opportunity for another blog on this with my colleague and partner in crime Rainer Zinow and Oliver Bussmann – but more to that later.

But back to the question, “what did you use from the platform SAP ByDesign”… first and simple answer – everything. It is the most modern platform in the PaaS world as of today if you think about serious applications that support business processes and delivers services, either connected with your system of records, or stand-alone.

Why should someone that is interested in servicing a line of business, be it sales, service, talent management or travel – just to name a few – start to develop on a platform that has no proven track record of following top 3 areas:

One: delivering close to all objects and processes someone needs to build application in multiple domains fast, without building it from scratch - as it has proven in practice that it can run services for multiple domains – not just one niche area, maybe even a suite?
Two: having a mature backbone for scalability, as even if some domain areas and tasks are specific, in SaaS it is all about starting smaller and scale fast while not being trapped in a niche “technology”
And three: configurability, to be able to adapt to specific wishes and circumstances without forcing the customer in heavy coding or 3^rd party services right from the start, like: “well if you want that area, go to partner xyz”

But let´s go back to what I hear our customers saying, and as we are running an intensive co-innovation program for Line of Business OnDemand at SAP, the platform and it´s value to customers do play a role. I have customers who visit us to “see their cloud”, and I do not mean that dismissive at all – they want to check if IaaS, PaaS and last but not least the service they sign up for (SaaS) “is safe/secure/scalable/prooven”.

I would argue in the On Demand world we are all in this together. Delivering a service through the cloud is for many customers still an area where trust, stability and reliability play a major role. Good that we can provide a proof point – we bring them to one of our data centers around the world (actually we are running one of the largest data centers in Europe for our On Demand business) and we let them experience what security and reliability means. Hey, here I have another idea for the next blog with my colleague Oliver Bussmann, CIO from SAP who oversees this are – some nice statistics and information about certification and more. Interested?

So the first major point of usage from SAP ByDesign platform is – security and scalability. This goes far beyond the certification logos you see often, it is also how fast future innovation, like connectivity of hybrid landscapes and In-Memory computing are inherited in the platform. Oliver, we need to write a blog here…

Now to develop a service, a product delivered via the cloud, an On Demand offering that delivers value to our customers fast. Apart from how you develop (watch out for some upcoming blogs about co-innovation 2.0), the platform has a significant impact on how fast and scalable you can deliver. And just imagine, you have a platform which let´s say has some good capabilities around SFA, but you very soon realize that there are adjacent areas where you need to provide services around let´s say – financials, supply chain… Customers do appreciate that possibility to expand on a need basis and of course integrate to their business suite when needed.

Do you need thousands and thousands of objects and tables, data structure and processes for this, like a business suite we do provide – for sure not. SAP ByDesign offers us an option that is by far leaner than that. But how about you need to “connect” your sales data with your talent management to find the right people with the right expertise to close collaborate, or you realize that lead to opportunity is good, but your order needs to be processed, a proposal been made, a product been shipped and an invoice been paid? I don´t think you want to leave an environment and have a next partner to build new objects on a native platform, with different behavior and not compatible? And even worse, with a different user experience? Not even thinking about to force a partner or even a customer to build on a platform that is in a niche and you again are left to 3^rd party to make the next step.

Concrete, if you see that it is important to see your orders and shipments for a specific customer, leverage all the objects given in the platform SAP ByDesign and connect them to your system of records. The later by the way not a simple task as some out there claim and point you again to a 3^rd party service. So if stand-alone is your approach, even there a viable set of objects and processes are needed beyond the niche you started to build your service and being able to expand.

So the second major advantage of the SAP ByDesign platform is the fact that we can expand to adjacent areas - take SAP Sales OnDemand as an example- and having the intelligence and structure of a suite as a given. With this we are able to mainly to focus on customer value on top of that platform and build native collaborative solutions that address the needs of end-users and solves their business problem first – but keeps integrity and orchestration beyond in mind.

I am very convinced that the world is and will stay hybrid for a foreseeable future, a combination of software that the customer owns (on premise) and services that a customer rents (on demand) so your platform should have the DNA to deliver exactly this.

That brings me to the third area, which for me are mobility (on device) and the user experience that goes along with that. We are leveraging the capabilities of SAP By Design´s support of mobile devices, which I can tell you (mobility) is not only key part of our customers strategy, I tend to observe no software as a service will survive without thinking about mobility. Coming from Design Thinking, I would even argue let´s think mobility first - you do build the better user experience and can come back to more specific user interfaces afterwards. But this is yet another blog…

“It is hard to make ugly software on an iPAD”, my boss boss did tell us at the beginning of the development, and he was right. Beside the superior user experience that a sales representative expects on his gizmo – Android, Apple or BlackBerry to just mention the most common – you can also leverage capabilities that those devices provide you. Examples like geo location come very handy, if your platform allows that.

So finally let us look ahead. And Rainer, I will ping you for a blog on this one. Assuming we have the ingredients mentioned above, what is next and what will we re-use going forward? As said before, all innovation coming around extensibility, flexibility and scale, like for example In Memory computing we will be able to leverage – but there are topics on the agenda where customers and partners will take advantage right now – the top 3?

Extensibility – the possibility not only to adapt screens, fields and workflows, but to mash up services from different domain areas with a consistent user experience. This we do see as a common pattern going forward
Custom development – either for partners or for customers themselves – via an SDK (should I say Service Development Kit?) that enables them to build on top of what we provide, for example an industry or regional specific extension
Commercial platform – if as a partner I do build on that platform, how will I be able to bring this to market, globally? Here you could leverage the On Demand Commercial platform we are providing - stay tuned for more as the eco-system we do have is one of the strongest and most reliable in the industry

To summarize - if you have expected a technical description about what we do re-use, sorry for that. But I hope that the priorities I hear from customers do match with what you hear too. If not, please let me know.

If you are interested, get involved via http://sales.ondemand.com and apply to co-innovate with us.

Co-innovate with Influencers feedback is key!

Sven Denecken — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 22:06:53 GMT

Co-innovate with Influencers – feedback is key!

Just coming back from an by invitation only event with some 20 of the most important influencers in Boston (and right into Cebit…), thrilled by the momentum we had with positive and constructive feedback from this group.

What did we want to achieve?

We wanted to articulate our LOB On-demand vision and offer an early preview of Sales OnDemand as the first representative of our collaborative and person-centric solutions, built on the ByD platform. More important, we wanted to incorporate their feedback into our co-innovation process.

What did we achieve?

I am sure we achieved this objectives, getting open and direct feedback on where we stand, what we want to achieve… and where to improve. Bottom line, we are very well on track – but it was just the start.

Some of the feedback was prooving our ideas, just let me pick 3:

Collaboration betwen sales teams, using web 2.0 technologies helps to control the overflow of information and focus on the important things, so sals reps can work more efficiently on their opportunities. This also shortens sals cycles and increases quality
Mobility is core to sales people to engage with all relevant information about their accounts everywhere, anytime
Analytics with context help to make the right decisions, based on the right facts

I think Joshua Greenbaum picked it up very nicely in his blog: "SAP plays games with analysts"
"...That's because SAP chose to "gamify" the presentation of product X to the analysts: the SAP team very cleverly used the doldrums of the post-lunch digestive phase to stage a game in which the analysts were teamed up and then competed to take the product through its paces. We were given some very rudimentary tasks that gave everyone a good sense of what the user experience of the new product looked and felt like. There were bugs, there was confusion, and there was a ton of fun to be had in the process..."

(http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/enterprise_apps/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=229219542)

Now, how to best get feedback?

Well, simply put: let the people have some hands on experience – of course you need to be brave but it pays off. I actually was reading something that I found fitting to this, a quote from Reid Hoffman: “if you shipped your product and you're not ashamed of it, you've probably shipped too late”. ...

There is only so much you can anticipate, but we were able to create a trusted environment – a lot of encouraging and detailed feedback that helps to improve and prioritize the next steps in our co-innovation journey - and will keep the momentum. Second, have customer talk to how they perceived the co-innovation approach, the solution during its evolvement and where they do see the benefits.

Now how to keep the momentum?

There are multiple ideas, but you need to keep it focused and personal. Sales.ondemand.com is inheriting a platform to stay connected – but co-innovation is a longer journey where you can invite experts to be part of, you need to stay connected. We have a dedicated program to run this co-innovation with customers and partners (I would argue often it is both in one) to make sure we deliver what the market needs.

We will see how the influencers will write, tweet, blog, etc about this, from the product organization it was an encouraging start tuning up the volume towards our formal launch @Sapphire in May.

If you are interested, get involved via http://sales.ondemand.com and apply to co-innovate with us.

On Demand Line of Business - Role of the Cloud in Enterprises

Sven Denecken — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 01:43:00 GMT

Role of the Cloud in Enterprises

The horizon certainly looks cloudy - these solutions are here to stay. Cloud computing has headlined Gartner’s list of top trends for the past two years. They labeled 2009 as the “year of discovery”, 2010 the “year of experiment”, and predict the next three years to be those of “expansion”, with expectations for this trend to peak in 2014.

I completely agree that cloud solutions will continue on a growth curve over the next few years, as companies get more serious about on demand solutions. These solutions are increasingly being factored into IT and line of business budgets and agendas. So, why is cloud so popular, and what does it mean to an enterprise? Cloud services offer some universal benefits, and a host of opportunities to companies, departments and individuals.

Companies turn to on demand solutions for these much touted, universally enjoyed features:

Affordability and predictability,
Consumption-ready solutions, designed to fit their unique needs, that are easy to purchase, deploy and use,
A terrific user experience in all facets of exploring, evaluating, purchasing, tailoring and using the solution,
Continuous availability, and extremely responsive service.

In my opinion and talking to customers, on demand solutions offer distinct benefits and uses to enterprises based on their size, some highlighted here:

For Large Enterprises, with sophisticated software & mature IT infrastructure, cloud computing provides significant opportunities to reduce improve IT operations and efficiency.
For Lines of Business, cloud and on demand solutions provide new ways to streamline or improve processes, and leads to enhanced collaboration, improved decision making and faster business outcomes.
For Small and Midsize Businesses, with limited IT infrastructure and resources, on demand solutions provide the opportunity to access sophisticated business management software without the cost, risk and complexity traditionally associated with enterprise software. SMEs also benefit from their scalability, and need systems that can grow with them.
For IT Solution and Service Providers, this growing field opens up new opportunities for greater innovation and participation across the IT industry.

Trends and developments that I expect to see over the next couple of years:

Cloud and large enterprises:

According to a Gartner study, 70% of companies with over 1,000 employees have not yet adopted cloud solutions. In my observation, even though larger companies that have not yet taken the cloud leap (for reasons such as security, compliance, quality and cost – including switching costs) they are seriously evaluating their options. Many of them are already using cloud solutions for certain functions or lines of business. Larger companies will continue to keep the existing infrastructure intact, but will adopt cloud solutions from the edge. Cloud will infiltrate gradually, and will complement their existing systems.

Hybrid Cloud landscape:

Enterprises will end up a ‘hybrid landscape’ involving some permutation of customized private clouds running inside a company, pre-packaged clouds from vendors, exclusive clouds, public clouds, a cloud based ecosystem and everything in between. I think the big challenge will be to manage these diverse infrastructures, while running an end-to-end business process. Enterprises and IT departments will need to orchestrate a host of services which include custom private, packaged private, exclusive clouds, community clouds, public clouds. They will need to chart out an overall strategy that goes beyond loosely linking together a host of web services. Our customers are going to require a framework, enterprise service oriented architecture, business process engineering and best practices. SAP offers expertise and a long heritage of dealing with such challenges.

Need for Content Rich Platforms:

Enterprises are going to demand broader platforms that contain business content as well as context, and can be orchestrated as well as linked to a larger system. Solution providers will need to create outstanding application portfolios. To start from “empty” platforms without business context is burdensome, to use platforms caged in a distinct area of expertise – even more so.

Cloud Ecosystem:

The value to and from a cloud ecosystem lies in ‘delivery as a service’. Consider the ecosystem as customers using your platform, infrastructure and software on an ‘as needed’ basis. The ecosystem will seek all solutions that deliver value to them and to their customers, and this will involve not necessarily involve a single vendor ‘stack’. Providers will need to combine and layer infrastructures such as private and public clouds to serve distinct customer needs.

Role of IT:

IT departments are going to be charged with managing the cloud landscape, will need to provide governance and support. IT will also need to be more strategic in their role and evaluation criteria, and will need to consider not just the cost of the solution, but the overall, long term value proposition. Will blog on my observations here more in detail next time.

Exciting times lie ahead for all of us involved in the world of cloud. There are many ‘silver linings’ to embrace, and some challenges to consider. We are going to see this technology dominate the next few years, and every company, regardless of size, will need to figure out their cloud strategy.

It is encouraging in our co-innovation work to see how fast and serious our customers embrace that topic, though looking for clear guidance and proof points where to start.

On Demand Line of Business - Key Trends in the New Year a look into the `crystal ball´

Sven Denecken — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 08:13:07 GMT

Key Trends in the New Year – a look into the `crystal ball´

I have spent the past couple of months with co-innovation customers and partners, attending conferences, speaking with experts and colleagues, in an attempt to look into the ‘crystal ball’ for 2011.

What are ideas will play a key role in the coming year?
What trends do research point to?
What’s important to our co-innovation partners?

Included is my list of industry trends (based on our conversations with co-innovation customers/partners, and analyst research from Gartner and Google), along with personal thoughts on each area. I believe that cloud computing, collaboration/ social networking, person centric solutions, and the continued rise of mobile devices will continue to be major forces in 2011.

1. Cloud Services

Cloud computing/ cloud services have headlined Gartners Top 10 Strategic Technologies for 2 years in a row. Cloud technology is here to stay, but has yet to reach maturity – which means that the next few years will offer opportunities and more exciting developments.

I will be discussing this area in more detail in an upcoming blog titled, “The Role of Cloud in Enterprises”. My top line observation here is that we will see a hybrid landscape in the future, and it will be interesting to see strategies for governance and orchestration in a hybrid cloud set up.

“Software as a Service is already a given...baked into other technology trends"

SaaS is officially mainstream, and a trend that many of our customers plan to adopt (some with caution), but it has already been baked into both the IT and business agenda. We are going to see a growth in corresponding arenas such as Infrastructure as a Service and Platform as a Service.

2. Devices

Devices continue to change the way we work and live. Vendors need to continue to provide products, apps, services and software to take advantage of them, and to cater to the new behavior patterns and needs of the end user.

Super-productive nomads

Google predicts that smartphones will outsell PCs and laptops by 2012, just one year away! Smartphones and tablets are increasingly being used as the primary device to conduct business. Super-productive nomads are folks who spend a lot of time on the road, but continue to be highly productive.

I see a real need to equip their ‘virtual offices’ and mobile devices with a lot of meaningful content as well as context – not gatchets. I also see a need to ‘push’ relevant information out to decision makers, and to provide analytics linked to systems of record in real time to make them even more productive.

Video

is an interesting trend, one that continues to migrate over to the business arena from consumer world. It is most widely used for e-learning and communications, and the growth of virtual, global workplaces will make video chats a ‘normal’ way of communicating. Most smartphones have high quality video recorders built in for easy communicating and one step vlogs.

3. Rise of the Corporate App Store

I expect to see this area to grow and evolve, fueled by both the shift away from PC’s to mobile devices, as well as by changing consumer expectations from their user interface. End users prefer to consume solutions through this interface.

Business apps need to walk a fine line between creating the user experience of a consumer app (being fast and easy to consume, with great interfaces and instant evaluation); along with providing value-added solutions that are meaningful in a business context.

Barriers to entry are higher in the world of business apps: It’s easy to come up with a frivolous consumer app, but creating a business critical app is a different story. Also, apps without orchestration or integration into the larger system of records, do not add value in a business or enterprise context.

I believe we will see a trend toward ‘micro apps’ as customer demand for apps from multiple vendors continues to grow. End users will be able to buy micro apps that relate to a certain part of a business process, and combine them with other micro apps for complimentary processes.

As a vendor, we need to give some thought to how we slice and dice our product and to enlighten the eco-system to build extensions with the same concept in mind.

4. Location Awareness/ Context awareness

Location aware services leverage not just data, information and applications, but also the device itself. Customers want more intelligence pushed out to them in real time, to help them better digest or leverage a location, account or event.

We already equate this into our on demand offerings, and currently have new examples, and iPAD versions being tested by our co-innovation partners. Feedback from customers/partners, “this is an interesting value added feature for a distinct usage group”.

A longer lasting trend will be that of context brokers. Adding both content and context to a business setting can be very powerful, and we are going to need brokers or a service provided by vendors to link the two worlds.

5. Combine Databases and applications

Combining databases, applications and In-Memory offers up a host of new opportunities. End users can already leverage this capability through our on demand products, and it is starting to make inroads in the on-premise world as well. Adding in-memory technology will not only make it faster. We will also see different solutions we did not dare to dream of.

6. Collaboration

Collaboration is not a new concept, and this ‘people’ quotient remains integral to enduring success for any company. However, we have seen an explosion in ‘next generation’ technology to enable enhanced collaboration, and our current application of these tools only scratches the surface.

There are many facets to collaboration, especially when you factor cloud computing into the mix. New technologies, as well as major changes in the way we work and collaborate (virtual offices and teams), opens up a Pandora’s box of opportunities as well as questions –

What is the most efficient way to apply these new next generation tools to the real world work place?
Will this tool add real value, or just noise?
How will we collaborate and interact 5 or10 years from today?

I think we will need to harness interconnectivity and collaboration to increase customer intimacy and operational execution of teams striving for a common goal. So connecting an organization in a customer- focused business network is a very powerful concept.

My work with co-innovation partners as well as a very interesting study by Google on collaboration and the cloud, pointed to some interesting developments, trends and findings for collaborating in a cloud environment.

81% correlation between collaboration and innovation

A Google funded study found that companies that collaborate are more innovative: 81% more likely. Now there’s a compelling argument! Collaboration taps into creative synergies, and a faster learning curve.

Bring in expertise / collaboration partners early in the process

Sound familiar? Did I hear co-innovation? To me this is personal, not a trend but something I believe in, and work on every single day. The benefits: Early collaboration with partners builds a trusted relationship, and a long-term one. Insights and feedback are invaluable tools to help us create a better product and user experience. Product enhancements are great, but we need to be careful about installing value-added upgrades, and not just follow the latest trends. Close work with our end users offers that perspective. The co-innovation program really highlights SAP’s commitment to collaboration every step of the way. A key ingredient to successful co-innovation is finding the right partner. You need to find customers who are first of all willing to participate and contribute. In addition they need to be content rich, have a broad knowledge base and good understanding of all sides of the business.

Importance of the ecosystem

An ecosystem makes a platform stronger. To create a vibrant ecosystem, you need to provide a lot of meaningful content as well as context, and integration to a larger system of records. In my opinion, a great platform should provide strong interfaces, ease of consumption, and offer excellent connectivity.

Social networks/ social analytics

Next generation analytics will include social networks, sentiment and contextual analysis. “Social intelligence’ is a standard feature of our new on demand solutions. Our co innovation customers are also interested in opportunities to mash up with sources on the internet.

So far so good with a look into the crystal ball, hiope you enjoyed it. Let me know your thoughts… and also watch out for my next blog where I will be discussing some areas in more detail - titled “The Role of Cloud in Enterprises”.

On Demand Line of Business (3) - Customer concerns that cloud overall appeal of on-demand

Sven Denecken — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 11:05:34 GMT

(Editions of this series: On Demand Line of Business (1) What are end users seeking from their Line of Business cloud solution? – On Demand Line of Business (2) What do customers already love about cloud solutions? - 3 )

Feedback the co-innovation team has received from our customers shows that while on-demand solutions offer some extremely attractive benefits (like cost savings, and significantly shorter implementation times), certain issues cloud its overall appeal. This blog reviews some of the concerns our customers have shared with us, and our thoughts on the issue.

1. Lack of Customization:

Customers are concerned about sacrificing custom features when they opt for a more standard system. We get a lot of feedback where customers weigh cost ratios against standardization. Customers are always going to have to trade off between the benefits of cost and a faster implementation cycle, and the ability to include hundreds of custom configurations. An on-demand system forces a customer to evaluate and prioritize. Incorporating endless features may sound appealing on paper, but upon closer analysis, does one really need such a vast array of options? How many of those tailor-made features will actually be used?

Customers are beginning to accept that total flexibility is not always the best solution, and are more willing to accept a degree of standardization. We have been observing a trend toward standardization in both on demand as well as on premise systems and did respond with a on demand offering as well as pre-packaged solutions with rapid deployment times – even based on a cloud infrastructure.

2. Infrastructure limitations:

Companies continue to fear that infrastructure could impose constraints when the system resides on the cloud. The two big concerns lie in the area of security (Is my data and information secure at every level?) and orchestration (how will my on-demand system work with what I already have in place?).

SAP has mastered security. Decades of implementing massive systems with the highest possible security features, have given us the expertise and a rock solid track record in creating secure solutions.

Orchestration is another cornerstone of an SAP system. Our on demand and on premise systems are designed to work together. A company can sign up for an on demand solution, and it would be easy for them to integrate it with a larger on premise system he has decided on – by himself or our eco-system that supports us here. The integration with an SAP system is seamless, as the architectural blue prints of both systems have the same origin. Often this advantage is not in the focus of line of business areas, even if the know the need for enterprise data – cloud providers sometimes underplay the effort and the related costs, see also:

3. Integration:

The common concern raised here is what unforeseen costs might come up, should the need arise for integration of systems down the road. Will today’s savings be outweighed by tomorrow’s integration costs?

There is truth to this concern, as there are often high costs with integrating systems after the fact. Line of business and IT departments should sit at the table together, looking at the lifecycle of a combined solution – systems of engagement combined with systems of record.

At SAP, we take integration into account right from the start. Our systems are designed to fit together. We integrate based on our shared architectural blueprint and take that worry away from the end user, bringing IT and line of business closer together. Our ability to integrate systems is one of the big differentiators for us. Watch out for some of the next blogs on what more.

While on the topic of integration, we frequently get asked about the feasibility of a complete cloud solution. At SAP, we believe that a hybrid scenario, or co-existence between what has already been invested in by the customer (mostly on-premise), and what can be procured through software as a service over the internet (on-demand), will continue for the foreseeable future.

While a system like Business ByDesign is certainly capable of handling the requirements of even large corporation – take the subsidiary play, fusing the system of engagement with the system of records will offer our customers the best of both worlds. Many customers have come to rely on the unique features and benefits cloud based systems have been able to provide.

Others continue to have qualms about whether the benefits outweigh the costs or risks of adoption. While trade offs are a fact of life, at the end of the day a customer has to closely evaluate all options because not all on demand systems are created equal.

On Demand Line of Business (2) What do customers already love about cloud solutions?

Sven Denecken — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 04:03:44 GMT

(Editions of this series: On Demand Line of Business (1) What are end users seeking from their Line of Business cloud solution? - 2 - On Demand Line of Business (3) - Customer concerns that cloud overall appeal of on-demand)

What do customers already love about cloud solutions?

End users already appreciate and enjoy the multitude of advantages that cloud solutions have to offer. The co-innovation team has been working to better understand every aspect of user experiences, reactions and requirements. We found unanimous agreement regarding the top benefits end users already see in cloud solutions.

So, what are the favorite features of a Line of Business (L0B) On-Demand solution?

1. Dedicated End-Customer interfacing components

End users concur that end-customer interfacing components, and the overall user experience are far superior with LOB on-demand systems. This is where the rubber hits the road, and the benefits become crystal clear. The overall appearance of the User Interface (UI) is better, and the user experience (UX) is vastly enhanced. We would even argue the later is far more important, then: Factors that feed into the overall ‘user experience’ are:
·         The appeal of the product,
·         Speed of use and information transfer, and
·         Customization: whether the system is tailored to deliver the processes the end user needs to access
·         Process integrity: does the experience have and end-to-end completeness or just cover part of the process

Users believe that cloud solutions provide at least the first 2 marked benefits when it comes to customer interfacing components. On the later 2 some of the exiting solutions on the market place fall short, especially as this perception needs to be consistent across devices like for example computer/laptop, mobile, PDA, tablet.

2. Scalability

Customers find value in being able to purchase solutions for their line of business on an as-needed basis as opposed to investing in larger chunks.

3. Innovation speed

End users benefit from getting their systems updated on a more frequent basis (quarterly vs. annual updates). Having access to the latest and greatest solutions, content and information is an undeniable advantage.

4. User experiences

The enhancement in user experiences that a cloud based solution can deliver is incredible. User experiences are superior for many reasons:
·         They are designed for the end user, as opposed to purely being designed with a process in mind.
·         They are designed to support collaborative processes
·         They are designed for intuitive devices.
·         The design is in keeping with current leaps in device advancements. It’s hard to build ugly software on an tablet device!
·         Every LOB on-demand system comes standard with mobility built in.

Bottom line, our end users are mobile workers, and want their technology to be portable, available on all the devices they carry, and accessible from anywhere at any time. Mobility is a key component of our thought process from day one. Every product is designed to work with the device offerings that create value to an end user. This stands in stark contrast to some of our competitors, where screen images are often years old. Expectations are on modern, current, contemporary.

An example of a customer interfacing solution for mobile devices is the following Travel Expense Management Application:

Creating expense reports, and tracking countless expenses is time consuming and annoying. The road warrior customers seek quick and accurate reimbursement for their significant travel expenses, but are often too time strapped to deal with organizing the multitude of scattered expenses incurred.
They want a system that is quick, accurate and can streamline this annoying yet important process. Today most systems involved remembering every expense incurred, saving all receipts, and sitting in front of a computer to compile expense reports.
A modern Travel Expense Management application is created for a mobile device, so that reports can be created on the fly. It integrates all relevant sources of data (calendar, credit card data) to create reports. Where needed, receipts can be submitted instantly by taking a photo your smart device and emailing it in on the spot.
The end user can conduct all transactions using a mobile device while they are on the road. However, all the data you send in is connected to the larger system. The work is done behind the scene and at no added inconvenience to the user. The user is secure in the knowledge that they are plugged in, and that their information will reach the larger system of records.
The process begins at the point of travel, and ends when reimbursement has been received. Only then the true end-to-end process is complete, when the money reaches your bank account.

This application needs to provide a very elegant solution to the annoyance of creating an expense report.

·         Solution is end to end,
·         Expenses are clocked and recorded in real time or near real time,
·         User interface is tailored to individual needs while providing process integrity,
·         It is designed for devices that a user would be carrying around in any case. No need for any additional paraphernalia,
·         Provides complete connectivity between a mobile device and the larger system of records,
·        Is easy to use and takes place seamlessly behind the scene.

Applications such as this take into account features that end users already love about cloud, on demand, mobility - and incorporate features and solutions that they have requested for us to provide. Innovating with the needs of the end user in mind, results in the creation of products and solutions that delivers real business value end to end, with an enhanced user experience.

On Demand Line of Business (1) What are end users seeking from their Line of Business cloud solution?

Sven Denecken — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 11:18:50 GMT

(Edition On Demand Line of Business (2) What do customers already love about cloud solutions? - On Demand Line of Business (3) - Customer concerns that cloud overall appeal of on-demand of this series)

What are end users seeking from their Line of Business cloud solution?
The on-demand Line of Business co innovation team has one person in mind – the end user. SAP has traditionally operated through the IT department; however for this product offering (on-demand Line of Business applications), we want to reach the end user directly. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the end users ‘wish list’, we spent countless hours in conversation with current and potential customers, soliciting feedback and gleaning customer insights.

Thus the information here is based not on personal opinion, but on in-depth customer feedback. Customers look into cloud solutions for many reasons – operating expenses vs. capital investment, quicker and easier ramp up time etc; but what value proposition does a line of business seek from an on-demand solution? Simply put we are looking to understand, “what will it take to put the end user on cloud nine?”

1. Faster consumption of innovation on all devices:
End users want their information faster, and they want it on all the devices they use daily. They want their systems to fit into their increasingly mobile lifestyle: an office is no longer a confined to a physical location, instead consists of a few key devices carried around on your hip or small wallet. Degrees of mobility and device preference vary by industry and function – so we as the suppliers of solutions are challenged with providing the latest and greatest applications for all the favorite devices of our present day mobile worker.

2. Reduced complexity:
End users want systems designed around their needs, but do not want to trade off between customization and complexity. They want a system that is tailored to meet all their needs, as well as reduced complexity to their user experience.

3. Ability to leverage existing data:
The focus for our end user is to get their job done, and to find the best possible solution for their own process. They want to be connected, and to leverage the existing data/ information and experiences in company wide systems. Again, connectivity without any additional complexity – innovation synchronized between their solution and corporate systems.

4. Better experiences:
Users are looking for their system and solution to provide a better user experience – improved appearance and user interfaces, greater speed of information transfer and consistency across various applications.

5. Integrity/ Process integrity:
Your end user wants to ensure process integrity, but once again does not want to pay the price of additional work or added complexity to their primary process. They want their solution to be connected to other solutions, most often to the Enterprise Resource Planning system.

6. Ability to support the collaborative nature of business:
It is extremely important for every line of business solution to support the collaborative nature of the end users job. For example, a sales person’s job involves extensive collaboration. If you are in sales, you run a project with the end goal of closing a deal. In that timeframe you will need to collaborate with people inside your organization, outside your company, with project partners, and with a myriad of constituents within the customer organization. You will need to reach out to many people (the best people to close the deal, your social networks), and you will need to conduct research / gather information from the systems at hand. Information gathering is becoming increasingly complex and time consuming with the avalanche of feed mechanisms. End users are looking for greater efficiency and accuracy with regard to collecting information from diverse and scattered sources. They need their solution to be a valuable tool in cutting through the clutter, to gather and distribute the most relevant information in a timely and simplified manner. To be connected to the system of records that holds the information of truth is key.

7. Business Value:
Will the solution deliver me value added business insights compared to what I currently use? Users need the information in context to the process they are influencing, not tools and lists of lists.

8. Compliance and Stability:
Users want to be able to access information at all times, want no limitations from connectivity issues, and want to minimize (eliminate) all possible risks.

On-demand systems are very appealing due to their flexibility and cost effectiveness, but for a solution to truly be embraced, it needs to be able to incorporate and address all the needs of the end user. Connecting the systems of engagement and systems of records is the perfect start. The shift in thinking though comes from looking into how a solution is consumed by the user, as opposed to delivering a system to meet the needs of a department or larger entity within an organization.

MarketTrends@ERP (3) Leadership in time of a crisis

Sven Denecken — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 02:39:44 GMT

Editions of this series: MarketTrends@ERP (1) Market trends and expectations from users - MarketTrends@ERP (2) Market trends and optimization of processes - 3

Looking back some weeks of heavy interaction with customers and partners which same as we all, are facing tough economic times - this is what found my interest and wanted to share with you.

Key findings

We can see that companies will trim their budgets in economic tough times for sure. They might slow hiring plans, perhaps extend the use of their assets, maybe slow down projects and shift upgrade plans.

But feedback also shows that companies will not postpone strategic business initiatives like:

investments in business intelligence and performance management software to support decision making - insight
Product innovation and development in high-tech and other industries that compete with short product lifecycles - innovate
Anything that helps companies to imprive and standarize processes, as well as better manage risk in a global business - efficiency

Leading global experts, like Bain & Company, suggest the top 5 strategies to weather the current economic conditions are:

1. Slash operating expenses

2. Improve cash flow & liquidity

3. Optimize working capital & debt

4. Act now on efficiency initiatives

5. Focus on customer retention

Source: Bain & Company, 2008

But how to develop the insights to this priorities? We did hear mainly two main tasks:

Companies should capitalize and analyze existing data to identify new improvement opportunities

For example: Watch your cash - Install a tight cash management system, reduce and postpone spending and focus on cash inflow. Have a weekly report on your cash position and the mid term development based on expected payments and receipts.

Companies should leverage detailed understanding of business processes to qualify opportunities

For example: Start working capital initiatives - a lot of companies have poor processes to monitor their working capital. So it comes as no surprise that the potential savings from optimizing a company’s working capital can be substantial.

To optimize business processes, business best practise plays a crutial role. So the recommendations we did hear where mainly around:

Leverage operational expertise to identify breaks in workflows and processes
Identify outdated processes, bottlenecks, redundancies and manual steps
Take the 80/20 approach and develop a short list of initiatives

During these tough times, many companies will focus on cutting costs, but the best companies will also look to gain competitive advantage for the long term. With the economic and energy issues going hand in hand, one opportunity is to use the energy and environmental crisis to your advantage.

While it certainly makes sense to control IT spending in a downturn, equally important is taking a long view on technology investments. Recessions are often a very good time to undertake infrastructure updates, process improvements, and application deployments. Technology buyers have maximum purchasing power in a down economy, internal and external resources are more readily available, and the implementation process can often be a catalyst for the kinds of new ideas and innovative business models that lead companies out of recessions.

Another crisp description we could see in the attached document for the 6 priorities for today´s economic climate

Manage cash

Liquidity management becomes an integral part of an organization’s core processes. The ability to reduce leverage and increase cash flow through working capital practices enables organizations to support long-term cash needs.

Run lean operations

You can reduce internal costs by improving employee productivity and streamlining operations. A deeper look into your operating model through crossenterprise visibility can result in significant savings.

Drive compliance activities

Ready your organization now to support the next wave of regulations that the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), and others will bring.

Get closer to your best customers

Segment customers by risk, size, and value so that you can optimize sales potential by offering targeted, value-based pricing.

Reatin your top talent

Create programs to retain top talent and to build a team that can help your company achieve its five-year growth objectives. As others reduce capacity, be opportunistic and leverage this unique opportunity to recruit the right team.

Protect and nurture your brand

In tough times, retaining profitable customers and reaching out to new ones requires greater innovation and dedication. This can be done through new products, services, and strategic acquisitions.

http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/go/portal/prtroot/docs/library/uuid/a0ca7566-b2a3-2b10-f790-a440782261ac

Downturns are an opportunity to refocus energy and efforts. While they bring uncertainty, they also offer the chance to put some of the more tactical building blocks in place to meet the overall, longer term goals of the business.

Thanks to the contributors and let me know your thoughts and watch out for the next blog.

MarketTrends@ERP (2) Market trends and optimization of processes

Sven Denecken — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:50:41 GMT

Editions of this series: MarketTrends@ERP (1) Market trends and expectations from users - 2

Blog number (2) Market trends and optimization of processes would like to concentrate on the impact of business processes at companies and two main trends derived from there – end-to-end processes and shared services. Read what we have gathered looking around and feel free to provide your thoughts.

Business process impact

Business processes impact business performance, so far so clear. But how can companies differentiate through business processes from competition and by this create unique business value?

Consistently, leaders across all industry sectors are characterized by their continuous process innovation and an ability to remove inefficiencies from core business processes. It is much about winning enterprises know how to orchestrate business processes and achieving internal transparency - to meet customer needs and collaborate more effectively with all stakeholders, internally as well as externally.

In a fast-changing world where business process efficiency and effectiveness are tightly correlated to business success, companies need a core enterprise resource planning (ERP) foundation that goes beyond simple support for generic transactions. Companies are looking for robust functionality specific to the industry specific challenges, while supporting the flexibility and scalability required to respond to rapid change as business grows. At the same time, it must be intuitive enough for end users to master and powerful enough to leverage enterprise information so that all business users can make informed decisions that are aligned with corporate strategy.

Business is most effective when it remains flexible towards enabling transformation opportunities, and when it can serve customers and markets in the way they prefer, without sacrificing process integrity and business control. Enabling end-to-end processes that cut across usual system and organizational boundaries as well as operating for example from a central, shared services-enabled platform helps to project the value of world-class administrative, analytic, and operational systems into all parts of an organization.

End-to-end processes

Companies are facing a tough business environment in which the rate of change is accelerating and stakeholder involvement gets complex. In this situation, it is essential that businesses drive both competitive advantage and efficiencies. Means companies will need to adapt faster to create competitive advantage through increased flexibility and to drive efficiencies through integrated processes.

The most powerful end-to-end industry business processes are those that are highly relevant for a selected group of “Line of business” (LOB) – being the key influencers and accountable for business processes and respective software support.

End-to-end processes are important to help companies to achieve strategic business objectives and they span the boundaries of traditional applications as well as they run across organizational boundaries. We do see the most forward looking companies emphasizing Business Processes rather than software applications for silos.

From application centric to value centric

It was important to see that the selection of the right industry processes positions companies to exploit a clear market advantage. Diverse point solutions that may be competitive in markets such as CRM, HR, and PLM cannot provide seamless integration across multiple applications to execute end-to- end industry processes. Extended end-to-end scenario spanning multiple line of business, which historically still are typical best-of-breed application silos, is the primary objective this companies are striving for to achieve optimization and differentiation.

Shared Services

Business Process Outsourcing helps organizations remain focused on their key objectives, and enables them to preserve important resources for the maximization of core strengths and competencies. By leveraging the services of organizations that are optimized and dedicated to excellence in specific areas of key business processes, the balance of corporate resources can be brought to bear on creating real business value.

Formerly mainly driven by cost savings, centralized service delivery is now seen by many executives as an effective enabler of professionalism and management focus to support global expansion, market intimacy and compliance. Today, the forces of globalization and dependence on business networks challenge executives to consider different ways to serve customers, attract talent, run operations and drive innovation. Best-in-class general & administrative (G&A) processes, delivered also by shared service centers or specialized BPO providers, provide business leaders with the ability to focus on their core business, and their customers. These also serve as powerful examples of how an ERP system can contribute decisively in achieving business excellence.

Organizations are turning to shared services in a drive for consistency, improved quality, consolidation, technology enablement, labor cost savings and business value. The move to shared services also supports the increasingly popular concept that processes can operate more effectively when it is organized and managed according to its two primary responsibilities – transactional and strategic.

Despite this, some organizations have failed to realize the promised cost and service benefits of this approach. In such cases, processes have not been simplified, the technology has not worked or has not been implemented properly, and the people in charge have not been able to adopt the skills necessary to meet the new requirements of the organization.

An ERP-system needs to provide a solid transactional backbone for shared services when deployed on a single instance. In addition, alternative deployments are a good option for offering shared services for multiple, nonintegrated systems.

Examples today mostly span from HR to Finance, enabling for example automation of inter-company processing and invoice management, improvements in the provisioning of financial self-services through access to finance data by non-finance users and tight integration of ERP Financials to the interaction center supported by an Customer Relationship Management application. The combination of call-center functionality helps customers, vendors, and internal stakeholders request information and conduct activities, and support the shared service center in efforts to become more efficient.

Shared Services turn to business process automation

End-to-end processes and shared services coupled with innovative deployment options (see Enhancement packages concept) can create unique and exceptional value for companies of all sizes. An ERP system needs to support this ongoing transformation, enabling companies to connect business with partners, suppliers, and customers more effectively.

What we hear so far as feedback from the market, there are 3 areas the discussion goes along with: cost savings by standardizing core processes; achieve risk reduction and compliance by ensuring compliance assessment build in; quality improvements through harmonized data across the company and business insights. The most successful companies consider these critical areas and also derive positive changes for their business, needless to say that this deserves guidance to all internal and external stakeholders and transparency build in.

Thanks to the contributors and let me know your thoughts and watch out for the next blog MarketTrends@ERP (3) Market trends and business insights.

MarketTrends@ERP (1) Market trends and expectations from users

Sven Denecken — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 03:14:16 GMT

Editions of this series: 1 - MarketTrends@ERP (2) Market trends and optimization of processes

ERP is a widely known category in our marketplace. Thus the definition could be very broad. This series of blogs would like to outline our view of this category and its further development. Even more it should help to discuss and get feedback on market trends around ERP and incubate a vital dialogue with the community.

Blog number (1) Market trends and expectations from users would like to concentrate on one of the main areas where we have been collecting feedback with the respective impact we do see on our ERP category.

Market trends and expectations from customers

Usually ERP is known for traditional strengths like high integrity and scalable processes, which is the basis that companies rely their business on. Addressing the need for company wide business information and clear processes across different stakeholders that enable control, tracking and monitoring.

Traditional Strengths of ERP:

Scalability
Security
Global requirements
Industry-specific capabilities
High integrity, end-to-end business process support

Simplifying the way to deliver innovation by Enhancement package strategy (innovation "on-demand" ) we now also see growing demand from the market around what we would call use-centric ERP.

Speaking with many customers and asking for the main trends that they see to influence ERP solutions, we do hear about the following topics as of importance.

New Expectations of Users:

Easy to deploy, low TCO
Innovate on demand
Exception based management
Personalization
Process of “me”

I would not go so far and position Web 2.0 "enablement" with this, watch out for a blog on this from my colleagues around future at ERP. But we do see a lot of attention around ease of deployment and innovation on-demand. Here the enhancement package concept has helped a lot to change the way customers consume innovation.

Building on this, one of the main values being faster consumption of new innovation (up to once a year), customers would like to personalize their ERP system to a larger degree and define and deploy personalized processes much easier and faster.

Visualizing the trends we see that will influence ERP solutions:

Our path forward: use-centric ERP

As a result we will need to see ERP as a collection of end-to-end industry processes with a strong focus on easy consumption, with:

harmonized UI and native user experience (device specific)
embedded analytics and embedded search,
continued SOA enablement

ERP needs to improve where possible, but on top of that we do the need to make ERP more accessible to more people in organizations. It’s about distributing the access to more users – enabling more collaboration across the entire business – and making the software more manageable to change and address business needs.

Let me know your thoughts and watch out for the next blog MarketTrends@ERP (2) Market trends and optimization of processes.

sven.denecken

Needed to share this here, very powerful: #SuccessFactors Partners on #SAP Acquisition

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