My Sapphire / TechEd Madrid Bucket List: Things I’d like to accomplish before I depart – for my trip home

I’ll be attending the upcoming Sapphire / TechEd in Madrid as a SAP Mentor and  as a member of SAP’s Blogger’s Program. Usually, these two associations provide excellent opportunities to gain interesting insights – either via conversations with senior executives or meetings with customers.

Still, I’m creating a personal bucket list for the event – knowing that I’ll never be able to accomplish everything – there just isn’t enough time and I do need my sleep.  The list is eclectic and focused on different aspects of SAP’s Cloud Strategy.

1.  Details about HANA Cloud

At the TechEd in LasVegas, the HANA Cloud was introduced by Vishal Sikka during his keynote.  There weren’t many details about this new strategy, so I’m hoping for more information in Madrid.

2. Integration as a Service

SAP’s Integration as a Service (based on NetWeaver Cloud) plays a critical role in SAP’s future cloud strategy. Yet, there are very few details about what SAP is really going to offer in this area and the associated roadmap.  I’ve seen a few general slides but I’m still missing information on its architecture, pricing, etc.

3.      AppDesigner

During keynote in Las Vegas, Sam Yen demonstrated the NetWeaver Cloud-based AppDesigner which is a tool to quickly create applications.

[SOURCE]

I’d like to see a demo of the tool to better understand where it fits into SAP’s Cloud Strategy.

4.      HANA XS

SAP HANA Extended Application Services has a short name, XS.  XS is an application server / web server that runs inside the SAP HANA appliance. XS hosts a JavaScript container. Thus, when building applications using XS, a developer would work with html5, server-side JavaScript, and SqlScript. [SOURCE]

There was a series of excellent blogs (Native HANA apps, language containers and HANA Cloud: Part 1 of 2 from Michael Bechauf,  Architecture Alternatives for Transactional HANA Applications – An Overview from Thorsten Franz,  etc concerning HANA XS ) I’d like to understand the environment better. Thomas Jung has two sessions about HANA XS: CD100 SAP HANA – Application Services and CD163 SAP HANA – Application Services Basics. Maybe, I can attend one or the other.

5.      River Development Language (RDL) in HANA XS

The River Development Language (RDL) development environment is a set of Eclipse tools that allows you to visually model application data, create database views of SAP HANA, and code business logic using a unique real-time compiler. The views are then exposed as services, which can be tested using open data protocol (OData) with a representational state transfer (REST) client simulator. [SOURCE]

I know that there is a usability session in Madrid about the use of RDL in HANA but I’m going to try and find someone to give me a demo. I’m curious to see what remains of the language as it has transitioned from the old River platform to HANA.

6.      ID Service Roadmap

I’ve always emphasized the importance of the SAP ID Service and its central role in NetWeaver Cloud. I hope to chat with Martin Raepple and maybe catch his session SIS104 Identity Service from SAP – Identity Provider for the Cloud.

7.      SAP NetWeaver Cloud Labs

This dedicated channel to co-innovate on ideas extending SAP NetWeaver Cloud was announced in Las Vegas and already has some exciting projects planned. Lars Karg isn’t going to be in Madrid so I’ll be bugging Matthias Steiner for more information on their plans.

8.      Financials OnDemand

I recently blogged about Financials OnDemand – “The first honeycomb in the hive: Understanding the positioning of Financials OnDemand” and I hope to meet up with their team to better understand the service-oriented architecture that plays a central fundament of this new offering.

9.      OnDemand Solutions vs HANA Cloud

Recently, I’ve become aware that there is a definite distinction between SAP OnDemand solutions (Success Factors, LoB On Demand applications, etc) and SAP’s OnDemand Platforms (NetWeaver Cloud and the HANA Cloud). I’ll be exploring this topic in various conversations to better understand how the two fit together and how SAP’s broader Cloud strategy deals with the quite different ecosystems and different  business requirements. 

10.  NetWeaver Cloud Roadmap

I’ll be talking to the NetWeaver Cloud team to get a better idea of their roadmap and to get information regarding their progress in attracting developers to the platform.

11.  NetWeaver Cloud Partners

I’d like to head out to the show floor to talk to partners who are currently developing on NetWeaver Cloud or who are planning to do so. I’ll be curious to hear about their experience with the platform.  

12.  SAPUI5 Roadmap especially regarding visualization

I’ve been reading a lot about SAPUI5 and I think it will play a central role in SAP’s future Cloud Strategy – especially for mobile applications. I’m especially interested in how visualizations will work with SAPUI5. I’m hoping to see a few demos and get some details on Visual Analytic Language (VAL).

13.  See some demos of SAP solutions based on NetWeaver Cloud

Lately, there have been some really cool and innovative solutions that were based on NetWeaver Cloud  –for example,  SAP Connected Vehicle Package, Powered by the SAP for Automotive Cloud, SAP for Utilities Cloud EV Readiness Package and SAP Precision Retailing. I’d like get demos of these solutions and try and figure of how much of their magic is based on the platform itself (and thus available to others) and how much of it is custom development.

14.  Global Business Incubator

All three solutions that I just mentioned originated in SAP’s Global Business Incubator. I’m really impressed by the type of solutions originating from this organization and I’m going to try and track down someone who can provide me more details on how they select projects and their impressions of NetWeaver Cloud.