Share your #HANAStory and Win

If you’ve ever attended the SAPPHIRE NOW conference, you know that it’s a blast.  Keynote presentations, show floor exhibits, a private concert, networking events…SAP’s yearly tech conference doesn’t disappoint.

If you’d like to attend for free this May, I’m about to share an exciting opportunity.

If you are an employee of an SAP customer using the SAP HANA platform or SAP HANA Cloud Platform, enter to win the SAP HANA Innovation Award in 2016 by sharing your #HANAStory. The winning prize includes free passes to the 2016 SAPPHIRE NOW conference.

In addition to the SAPPHIRE NOW passes, competition winners will also receive up to US$5,000 to donate to charity, a trophy, recognition at the SAP HANA Innovation Award ceremony, and ample publicity.

Here’s how the competition works:

There are four categories under which your organization can fall.  Three finalists will be selected from each category, making four winners in total.

Categories include:

• Analytics Wizard: organizations that deliver real-time analytics to empower their company’s workforce and customers
• Digital Trailblazer: organizations who harness Big Data or the Internet of Things for breakthrough results
• Process Simplifier: organizations operating business-critical processes in real time
• Next-Generation Apps: organizations that are building innovative apps using SAP HANA or SAP HANA Cloud Platform

If you’re in need of inspiration, click to browse the 2015 and 2014 winners.

Next, you’ll need to complete the entry form and:

1. Select a category.
2. Craft a title for your entry.
3. Provide a description of your company, business and technical challenges, and how your organization is using SAP HANA to innovate in its industry.
4. Share how your company is positively impacting or empowering people.
5. Provide three business or social key performance indicators that were achieved (qualitative and quantitative).
6. Provide three technical key performance indicators (for example, data size compression rate, performance acceleration rate, hardware configuration, number of users for a live system, and so on).

Timeline:

• Entry Submission: From now until March 2, 2016, submit your #HANAStory. Be sure to explain how your company is using SAP HANA to make the world run better and improve people’s lives.
• Judging: Project submissions will be reviewed by a panel of judges from March 21 through April 1. The three entries with the highest score per category will be named finalists. Find out more about the judges.
• Public Voting: From April 7 to April 21, the public will select the winners. Promote your entry by tagging #HANAStory on all social media.  The more votes you receive, the more likely you will be to win.
• Winners Announced: Winners will be announced at the SAPPHIRE NOW conference in Orlando Florida, running from May 17 to May 19, 2016.

Prizes:

Charitable donations will be awarded to all category finalists.

• Third place finalist: $1,000 donation to charity
• Second place finalist: $2,000 donation to charity
• First place winners: $5,000 donation to charity

Overall, there will be up to $32,000 in charitable donations. Charities include UNHCR, Fundacion Capital, and The Acumen Fund.

New SCN Mission: Get Ready for the 2016 SAP HANA Innovation Award

Show your SCN colleagues that you’re ready for the contest by participating in the new SCN mission, “Get Ready for the 2016 SAP HANA Innovation Award.”

By reading this blog, you’ve already started the mission.  To earn your first mission badge, you’ll need to bookmark this blog post and share it via your social channels. 

The next mission badge will be earned when you enter the SAP HANA Innovation Award and submit a nomination. You can do that here.

Later, the mission will continue with badges awarded for voting on your favorite award nominations and for progressing through the competition.  More mission details will be released after the SAP HANA Innovation Award nomination period (ending on March 2, 2016).  

NEW ADDITION TO THIS BLOG:

Continue the SCN Mission: Get Ready for the 2016 SAP HANA Innovation Award

Let your colleagues know that you voted for your favorite #HANAStory by continuing your participation in the 2016 SAP HANA Innovation Award missions.

Click here to be directed to the page where you can vote for your favorite finalist in each of the four categories. By voting for a SAP HANA Innovation Award finalist in each category, you will achieve the next badge in the mission. 

The finalists in each category will win the “2016 SAP HANA Innovation Award Finalist” mission and the winners in each category will win the final badge, the “2016 SAP HANA Innovation Award Winner”. If your organization is a finalist, be sure to encourage your peers to vote for your entry. 

Be sure to tag #HANAStory when you join the conversation on social media and follow me @CMDonato.

For more on the 2016 SAP HANA Innovation Award, visit the award Website.