New book: SAP Nation
As my book, SAP Nation, launches (Amazon Kindle link) many in this Community will hear and read the media coverage. Pat Flanders of SCN and several SAP Mentors encouraged me to do a post here introducing the book. I am sensitive to the fact that this Community is not a place to pitch products, so will keep this short
The book traces the meteoric growth of SAP and is a nice walk down memory lane for anyone who has been around SAP. It is generous to executives like Dr. Hasso Plattner, Dr. Henning Kagermann, Leo Apotheker and Bill McDermott who have made SAP a global powerhouse.
The book also traces the growth of the economy around SAP to the point where it is almost as big as the GDP of Ireland. The book raises alarms SAP customers have spent over $ 1 trillion since the recession, when cloud, mobile and other trends and front office innovation opportunities would suggest a significant slowdown in back office IT investment.
The good news is SAP has recognized the need to tackle the complexity around its products and as its “Run Simple” initiative gathers momentum, the book provides a detailed inventory of areas of inefficiencies that could be tackled.
The book is also “voice of the SAP customer”. I profile conversations with over 30 C level executives. Many are customers who have started their own simplification efforts. They showcase 12 customer strategies – some are investing in HANA, some are changing outsourcing models, others are consolidating instances, and still others are ring fencing SAP with cloud solutions. Similarly, I included perspectives from several market analysts, user groups and SAP Mentors. Please feel free to download the book’s Preface and Table and Contents here to get some more context to the book background and approach.
I believe (of course, I am biased) it is a balanced book with lots of divergent and historical perspectives. I expect, similarly, a widely divergent reaction from the Community and look forward to your feedback as people read the book.
The link above is to the Amazon.com site where the eBook price is US $ 9.99. Depending on where you live, you may find it easier to go to regional Amazon sites like .de or .in, where the book prices may be more favorable to you.
In the meantime, I sincerely appreciate the open spirit in which Pat and the Mentors invited me to contribute this column. Here’s wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season!
Hi Vinnie,
Thank you for working with the team of moderators and mentors prior to posting this blog. I found the most interesting content to be at the link to the excerpts.
I had no idea that " “SAP Nation” now approaches the GDP of Ireland in size".
Kind regards,
Jeanne
Thanks, Jeanne and apologize you had to go to the link for the preface excerpt. I tried to attach to this post but SCN does not appear to allow PDFs and the converted TIF was too large to post here.
I started reading SAP Nation this weekend and I am really enjoying it for the breadth of perspectives. Even those of us who have been working in SAP for many years in multiple roles have opinions formed primarly on own experiences, so no matter if you are an SAP customer, consultant, SAP employee past or present, or industry analyst, I think that you are bound to find some opinions and insights from an angle that is new to you and which might challenge some your own beliefs. Thanks, Vinnie, for the breadth and depth of your research. I think many people will find SAP Nation to be a valuable addition to their SAP library.
Gretchen
Thanks Gretchen, I did interview a 360 degree range of SAP stakeholders for the book. While analysts and Mentors do speak out here and in other social networks, customer executives can be a bit elusive. So, I was really pleased, interviews and perspectives of over 30 C level execs are included in book - half the book's content. Enjoy the rest of the book!
Do you plan to release this book in formats other than Kindle?
Michael, printed in softcover in a couple of weeks and for bulk (25+ copies) in hardback in January
eBooks, maybe iBook and Nook down the line but not right away. I polled readers around world and got overwhelming request for Kindle because even those that do not have the device have downloaded the Kindle app on their PC or mobile devices.
BTW, a side note to European readers.
Amazon sent a note this week advising that as of Jan 1, 2015 new VAT rules will add 20+% to prices of digital media like eBooks in many countries.
So, add some of those to your Christmas shopping basket!