SAP has a new mantra: Live Business. Today at the SapphireNow 2016 conference in Orlando, Florida SAP launched the new Live Business campaign – the next step in the evolution of Run Simple.
Run Live is the key message for SAPPHIRE NOW this year and is highlighted on the show floor by the five pillars of the Live Business story: digital core, future of work, digital customer experience, supply networks and internet of things.
Over the past five years, SAP has built a portfolio of products and services around its HANA in-memory technology that will enable enterprise customers to manage their digital transformation from vulnerable traditional businesses operating on old information, into nimble digital businesses capable of competing in the digital economy.
A key part of this transition is the need to make decisions and operate businesses “in the moment” using current data, not old out-of-date information that may be hours, days or even weeks old.
Among the SAP customers that have already made the transition to Live Businesses are entertainment and sports giants including Cirque du Soleil, FC Bayern Munchen, the WTA and NHL, healthcare organizations, transport pioneers like Sabre, and manufacturers and retailers like Under Armour and Burberry.
But how is Live Business different from real-time computing? When enterprises run in real-time, they have access to massive amounts of data generated by internal systems and from external sources including partners and third parties. When they run live, they are able to interpret and act upon this data in an instant.
Living in the (business) moment enables an organization to respond to unexpected shifts in consumer demand, new competitive threats and potentially disruptive events including natural disasters.
As Bill McDermott, SAP's chief executive, has said: “From customer experiences to workforces and supply chains, a Live Business predicts the future instead of reporting the past. It means totally agile business processes and the ability to mass customize everything for every single consumer.
“It means connecting every colleague and asset to a single, intelligent and totally digital core system – one that can anticipate, simulate, and innovate new opportunities on the fly.”
Given these benefits, why isn’t every company already running live? Traditional enterprise software is hamstrung by the technical constraints of the past such as siloed data stores, batch processing and the inability to act on data at a speed.
Even accessing data has been difficult and typically required a IT expert to generate a report that was out of date by the time it arrived on a business leader’s desk.
In contrast, an innovative digital core like SAP S/4HANA, is fully connected to customers, suppliers and employees; it delivers unified data in real-time and enables intelligent decision making with predictive analytical tools.
Live Business represents SAP’s perspective on digital transformation but it is much more than a new advertising slogan. Live Business represents SAP’s vision of a seamless digital business that enables our customers to sense, respond, learn, adapt, and predict to create value in the moment and Run Simple.
“When you Run Live, you Run Simple. And when you Run Simple, you win.”
