In planning my agenda for SAPPHIRE NOW, it occurred to me that Bon Jovi is the perfect choice for the celebration event. Why? Both SAP and Bon Jovi are decades-old global brands with millions of customers. And, both have had to adapt quickly to changing market conditions. Let’s examine the details.
| SAP | Bon Jovi | |
| History | Founded in 1972 by five entrepreneurs, formerly of IBM. | Founded in 1984 by five musicians from New Jersey. |
| Early success | Sold accounting software (eventually R/1) and reached 40 reference customers within three years. | Second album went gold. Third album, Slippery When Wet (1986) sold more than 12 million copies. |
| Global presence | Offices in 130 countries. | Played in 53 countries. |
| Market share | #1 or #2 in most markets served. | Consistent #1 albums and Top Ten hits over three decades |
| Customer count | 253,500 customers. Many customers have purchased more than one solution from SAP. This includes millions of business users that rely on SAP to make their businesses (and lives) run better. | Sold over 130 million albums. Performed more than 2,900 concerts for over 37.5 million fans. This number certainly includes counting customers more than once. (Disclosure: I have 20 Bon Jovi albums on my iPod.) |
| Customer demographics | Serves 25 distinct industries. Expanded beyond core IT customer base into several major lines of business. Introduced new, intuitive products to appeal to millennials. | Retained traditional fans from the late 1980s who grew up with the band. Cultivated a new generation of fans in the early 2000s. Cross genre collaborations expanded market. Now appealing to the children of the original fans. |
| Agility | Successfully migrated from mainframe to client-server to Web. Now delivering Cloud solutions and leading the industry towards in-memory computing. Constantly reinventing technology to remain relevant. | Started in “hair metal”, transitioned to mainstream rock. Has produced rock anthems, ballads, pop hits, and even a country hit and numerous collaborations with new bands. Constantly reinventing sound to remain relevant. |
The parallels go beyond the “organization.” Let’s look at the leadership. Both SAP’s Bill McDermott and Jon Bon Jovi share several characteristics.
| Bill McDermott  | Jon Bon Jovi  | |
| Humble roots | Started career running a deli | Son of two U.S. Marines |
| Strong work ethic (a bit of an understatement in both cases) | Yes | Yes |
| Vision | Transition SAP to be the cloud company powered by SAP HANA | Remain relevant to the American and global music scene |
| Passion for what they do | Watch the keynote | Watch the concert |
| Leadership development | Rotates executives and actively cultivates young leaders | Encouraged band members to pursue solo projects to develop as artists |
| Bias towards (intelligent) risk taking, both personally and professionally | Enters new markets, acquires companies in strategic industries, does not back down from challenge | Started band, produced solo material, movie scores, acted in movies, tries different sounds, owned arena football team |
| Dedicated to giving back to the community | Active in social causes in and around Philadelphia area, notably Children’s Aid Society, but many others | Active in social causes in and around Philadelphia area, notably Habitat for Humanity, but many others |
| Outside of work | Family, friends, sports | Family, friends, sports, music |
Looking at the live and online attendance of SAPPHIRE NOW, and the number of keynotes CEO Bill McDermott has delivered, I think it’s safe for him too to state “I’ve seen a million faces, and I’ve rocked them all.”
Looking forward to Wednesday night in Orlando. Hope to see you there.
peter.spielvogel
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