This blog follows on from the one I wrote at SAPPHIRE in May 2012 where SAP laid out their vision for the future, now 40 years old they had a guess at what it would be like in another 40 years.
This is a series of blogs that looks at each of the 5 pillars that SAP want to dominate in (App, Database and Technology, Analytics, Mobility and Cloud).
This one focuses on what to do in the Apps space.
So the core bit of applications is the Business Suite, so we will need to look at this, but we also need to consider the impact of the cloud and mobile as apps crosses over into these pillars as well.
So what would I do if I owned Business Suite ?
- Keep Current - Do you know your enhancement packages - what hidden features exist here ?
- Gateway - Could you put lip stick on the pig ?
- Automate - Are you doing all you could to automate your processes ? Are you getting the most from Process Orchestration
- Integrate - The world is real time - are all your systems real time ? How do you do integration ? Worth looking again
- Optimise - Are you using the system the right way ? Is the data clean ? As you go real time, expose your core to you customers and partners (See Cloud and Mobile), what work-rounds are going to break ? Also figure out where the system doesn't fit too well and understand why...this should inform you in any renewal strategy you might have.
- Prepare for HANA by looking at parts of your system that need acceleration or you don’t use because they are too slow (e.g. CO-PA) - all these bits are being accelerated by SAP - some can be bought in slices (HANA CO-PA accelerator), so will get faster when the Suite is setup to run on HANA - Wouldn't that be cool all that complexity AND fast 🙂
So that keeps the core in tip top shape and you could choose to sweat this asset.....or you could see how you could take it mobile (see mobile blog) or you could see how you could start to exploit the cloud apps.
Could Business ByDesign (Sell, Buy, Make, Money) work for you better than Business Suite in some parts of your organisation (or all). The same question is pretty much true for all the cloud based apps - SuccessFactors, Ariba....perhaps others 🙂
Finally could you be building some apps your self with SAP NetWeaver Cloud / SAP Mobility Platform or buying 3rd party apps from the SAP Store ?
Hopefully that has given you plenty to think about.
I cover more about Database and Technology, Analytics, Mobility and Cloud in these other blogs.
