My thoughts on ASUG Pre conference Seminar – “Enterprise Architecture – SAP Roadmaps, innovation & Value”

In my previous blog I talked about the details of the ASUG Pre-conference seminar : Enterprise Architecture -SAP Roadmaps, innovation & value. 

 After the day’s session and speaker networking reception, I headed back to the hotel room.  It was lot of information to be comprehended in a single day. So I wanted to connect the missing pieces before they evaporated from my short term memory.

Key takeaway’s from the session were in-line with the session topic –

• SAP Roadmaps [www.service.sap.com/roadmap] – highlight the solutions available today, planned innovations and future directions of the entire SAP portfolio of solutions
• SAP Innovation in the areas of In-Memory (HANA,Project Insight, Project Gateway), In-Cloud (Business by Design, Carbon Impact, SAP Streamwork) & In-Mobility (mobile applications Sybase)
• SAP Netweaver 7.3 – will continue to be the foundation of SAP Applications and details on planned innovations in BPM, PI, BI-BO, MDM,UI Technologies

This in short was the crux of 9 hrs of information overdose. But where does this leave me – did I get what I wanted from the session, did it meet my session objectives, was the session worth it?

Impression from the session

• The session provided good information on SAP’s roadmap for Enterprise Architects to start with. There was lot of ground to becover in so much little time. So the topics were covered at a 30,000 ft level and left the audience with key words that they should have explored in the next few days. 

• I felt that an Enterprise Architect with 1-2years of SAP background would have figured out the information provided in the session. He/She could have obtained the information provided during 3-4hrs Technology Roadmap session by attending individual TechEd Sessions but perhaps would have taken a little bit longer. The pre-conference seminar provided the same information but with the luxury of not having to move in & out of sessions. I still feel that part of 3-4 hrs Technology Roadmap session time could have been used in a better by discussing TOGAF, SAP-Enterprise Architecture Framework (SAP-EAF) & how they can be applied to SAP landscapes. Few customer case studies on how they applied SAP-EAF and the benefit they go out of it (Focus on Customer Success stories) 

• Based on my observation and experience, this session (EA – SAP Roadmaps, Innovation & Value) is not for people who are looking for Information on TOGAF, SAP EAF & want to apply TOGAF principles to SAP-EAF or want to know how to become an Enterprise architect. There were other POD’s and Expert sessions such as “Enterprise Architecture as a Career“, TechEd sessions PMC302: Value-Based Management: An SAP Framework for Creating,Realizing, and Measuring Value, PMC232: Enterprise Architecture in the RealWorld: Best Practices catering to such needs. I am impressed with the POD session by Prof. Dr.Mark von Rosing that addressed these topics. 

• SAP’s Technology Strategy session by Kaj vande loo was very good. Wish we had more time to dive deep into other SAPinnovation topics. I wish, he could provide more content in the form of podcast or Webex or weblog or ASUG can release the final version of Technology Strategy Overview document to the SCN community. 

• Kudos to SAP Imagineering team for their wonderful live demo’s. But I think it will take few years for some of these technologies to be widely accepted by companies. 

• Overall the session Enterprise Architecture -SAP Roadmaps, innovation & Value met its objectives if not exceeding them.I am happy with the time & money spent on the session. It definitely provided a jump start for my TechEd experience.

 What’s next?

• Register at ASUG – Enterprise Architecture – SIG and go through the document archives & podcasts on Enterprise Architecture
• Understand TOGAF and then apply the principlesof TOGAF to SAP-EAF
• Dig into the architecture documents at my organization, Identify the gaps in existing architecture (missing Business Architecture or Information systems architecture or Technology architecture) and try to apply TOGAF & SAP-EAF principles for the same. This is not going to be 1-2week effort but a constant on-going effort for the next several months and hope to reach out to the community for help.
• Attend ASUG webinar on- Strategies and Components for SAP ‘s Next Generation Solution Architecture -Nov 10, 2010

Image Courtesy: EA 01 PreConference Day Agenda