With over a billion users globally accessing the web, we are witnessing one of the monumental transformations in the history of technology. In order to remain significant, we should be able to define the future and develop products that accentuate the need for the same. The purpose of real software is to simplify the lives of the people around us and make systems more efficient so that we can save time and money. As we scale, the inherent complexity of the systems and installations increases exponentially, making it tedious for the user at the end of the day. Today we don’t just have end users, we have empowered users. And in order to cater to their needs we require comprehensive understanding of both their wants and needs, and of how the customer feels about our solution offerings. This helps us get closer to our target customers and present solutions more relevant to them.
Now given the immense strength of knowledge and passion we hold here at SAP Labs India, I believe we are capable of becoming the Innovation hub for our company. And for this to be realized, innovation needs to be bottom- up and a day to day activity. We need to build on the system of enabling and conceptualizing ideas. We have in the past seen the power of synergizing communities, which we now have available for our teams in India. We should build on their power and look at the sustenance of our ideas and evolve them into the powerful concepts they can mature into. This is true innovation; with no start or end but an ongoing every day journey. It is not the lack of systems or platforms which is holding us back, but the sheer lack of inspiration, the tingling thought to challenge ourselves every day and making it a habit. We have umpteen numbers of events around innovation, but we are increasingly seeing a trend that everything settles down post those one-time occasions or events. We need to continue the momentum that we bring in for each of these events and carry it past them. Our Mars Orbiter Mission used the gravitational sphere of Moon, Earth and Mars to gain energy; I believe the same principle of using the events as accelerators; as opportunities to refuel ourselves and broaden our perspective, will help us deliver.
Innovation sets the right context of success but of course our real strength is our people. We have a strong enterprising community of employees. I believe each one of us should focus further on our talent development. This translates to embracing new technologies, ,learning new skills and more efficient ways of achieving results. The world around us is constantly changing. Your mobile is more powerful than the super computers of the 80’s and this has been made possible only by challenging ourselves and setting new boundary lines every time we cross them.
We have set out a clear vision for our labs. And to fulfill our dream, we need to have leaders who inspire; Leaders who encourage their people to see clearly our vision; Leaders who help build that customer connect.
I believe with this transformational leadership, each one of us should move towards establishing a trusted alliance with our customers. Our customers are the real reason why we come to work every day. Today across the industries we have enough proven studies to understand the importance of a strategic approach to collaborative innovation. We have now enough methods in hand to co-innovate with the customer on everything we do. We need to establish our key role with them in their business by constant yet strategic engagements with the CXOs of customers.
Today we are at a place where the industry will sit up and listen to what we have to say; to the solutions we have to offer. We have our legacy to talk of our strengths from the past. But in today’s age of changing technologies and market, we need to channel our strengths towards adaptability, simplicity; our pertinence. We need to reposition ourselves as the change masters of the future to show the world our strength, our market relevance in today’s modern times. And it is upon us to capitalize on the demands of this luxuriant digital age and put forth our rightful place in the customer’s success.
