Event Information
Join the SAP Community Call – CTO Q&A
You are invited to a Q&A session with me, SAP’s CTO Juergen Mueller
I would like to hear directly from you about your needs and expectations related to our SAP technology strategy. As we continue to evolve our strategy, I’m really interested to hear firsthand what your expectations are, the situations that you are currently facing, and what you expect in the future from our products and technology.
I will speak about the latest updates on the Business Technology Platform, SAP HANA and SAP HANA Cloud, SAP Analytics Cloud, SAP Cloud Platform and our intelligent technologies. I am also looking forward to talking about the COVID-19 tracing app that we, together with partners, are building in Germany using open source technology.
Join me on June 9th from 3:30 PM CET to 4:30 PM CET for an SAP Community Call where I will share with you an update on our current technology strategy and a preview of what to expect at this year’s virtual SAPPHIRE NOW. I may also take the opportunity to show you a short demo of what we are working on for SAPPHIRE. We’ll then open it up for a Q&A where I’ll be happy to take your questions.
Register – https://sap-se.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_XOWHhnLaS6-CWzADnschhg
Please feel free to start posting your questions in the comments section below so I can address as many questions as possible during the call.
I look forward to having a great conversation with you.
Hi,
want to know more about SAP intelligent enterprise and how the Data Science and machine learning is going to be the part of this journey.
thanks,
shivam
Dear Juergen,
last week the CTO of a SAP Partner reached out to me with the following topics regarding SAP Cloud Application Programming Model (CAP), CDS and SAP CP with this questions:
- What will reach the customer in the foreseeable future?
- Do you think that you will be able to make money with it soon?
- Will there be projects soon or do you think it will take years?
I've given the following answer:
Basically, I see SAP on the right path to finally put side-by-side extensibility on a solid foundation with CAP and the SAP Cloud SDK. Unfortunately, the end-to-end scenarios that I've implemented for Node.JS and Java (Currently not working) still show spots that need improvement. For example, the use of destinations purely with CAP differs from that of the Cloud SDK. But with native support for events with enterprise messaging, interesting scenarios become possible. Another missing part is support for OData V4 as a client.
If SAP now manages to scale down the price for SAP HANA in the SAP CP Cloud Foundry (list currently at least 1130 €), CAP would already have good chances on the SAP CP. The improvements presented by Daniel Hutzel and Sebastian Van Syckel at re>≡CAP to access databases only as another service and the prototype of the PostgreSQL driver gives hope that a deployment of CAP Apps will soon be possible also on other platforms. For authentication, I've already implemented a PoC using Azure AD B2C together with Volker Buzek. Being more open regarding other platforms can only be a benefit for SAP as it will broaden the userbase. And if you want to have an easy integration to SAP Systems, then SAP CP with the SAP Cloud Connector is the best choice when Principal Propagation is required.
The option to develop on one and the same CAP Codeline for SAP CP and SAP HANA XSA on premise has great potential for me. I can for example host a CAP applicaiton on my own HANA Express Edition. For the external access I use an Apache reverse proxy. In order to run the same CAP code on the SAP Cloud Platform CF Trial, you only need this MTA deployment extension: cf.mtaext that is specified as a deployment parameter. Unfortunately, SAP HANA XSA seems to be no priority at SAP anymore. CAP provides new live to XSA but for services like the Fiori Launchpad Sites I don't see any investment. So for example the Layered Repository (LREP) which would be needed to gain full functionality of SAP Fiori Elements applications isn't supported in HANA XSA.
In the short term, CAP is interesting for customers who are developing HANA native or can already use SAP CP Cloud Foundry with HANA. With the outlook to get support for additional databases and authentication methods, CAP could really have a great future. This future might be even brighter if CAP is Open Sourced completely. That can be the initiator of an even bigger community than just the SAP Ecosystem.
Hope that you can add your 2 Cents in the discussion tomorrow.
Best regards
Gregor
I fully agree with you Gregor Wolf and would like to add the following comments:
I am using CAP for almost a year now with a strong focus on client projects on CF but also for custom web applications outside its core environment (CF + HANA). Having a history in web development, I’ve seen some cool web frameworks over time (e.g. Ruby on Rails) and I would definitely put CAP in the top tier of this list. It still has some rough edges and a lack of documentation, but the chosen design principles, the architecture and especially the developer experience are exceptionally good! I can hardly think of a better framework to roll out an application service layer this fast and efficient.
But for all the praise, I do not fully understand the strategy behind CAP as a product. In the documentation it is stated, that CAP has zero lock-in on technology. As of now, this is not true and the framework is bound to SAP HANA as a database for productive usage. This is working well for big companies, but I also talked to some smaller companies, some wanting to build CAP powered OData services for internal processes, some having ideas for business apps, but did not use CAP because of the heavy HANA price tag. Instead they started building their apps and services with other frameworks and technologies.
I totally understand that SAP has a strong focus on its own technologies for CAP, but with well designed adapter interfaces for databases (protocols, etc.), others (meaning we as a community) could potentially support SAP in creating a framework, that would not only show its strength within the SAP world, but could potentially be a a strong contender for general business web app and service development.
So, in addition to the questions of Gregor Wolf, I would like to add:
Unfortunately John Patterson will not be able to join the call as he lives in Australia, but he posted this questions on Twitter:
Regarding ODI my question is:
What is the status of ODI? Beside some press releases and articles nothing concrete can be found right now.
Thanks for your detailed comment Gregor Wolf !
I would also like to hear about future of onPremise HANA development as I do not see any Roadmap and new updates from onPremise XSA.. CAP model works for onPremise as well but no proper guidelines and push from SAP how it can be used for onPremise HANA development. Also agree with you comment regarding Fiori Launchpad sites and Fiori elements support for HANA XSA.
Regards,
Tarun
Hello dear Juergen,
I would like to share these two questions:
1 – The SAP Cloud Platform Product Roadmap (May/2020) has some references to investments in “low-code tools” under the topic “Development Efficiency”. In which low-code/no-code tools and technologies SAP will invest for the foreseeable future?
2 – What do you suggest software developers working in the SAP ecosystem as consultants, partners, and customers should prioritize when designing their own learning journeys to stay relevant in the future, especially given that low-code tools can have a significant impact on future skills and demand?
Thanks a lot for sharing your vision with the SAP Community.
Douglas
A lesson learned for SAP CAP https://www.forbes.com/sites/ewanspence/2020/06/08/apple-iphone-legacy-history-psion-palm-opportunity-jailbreak/#28a2209a40be
Hi Juergen,
SAP is a leader in integrated enterprise business process applications. But for non-integrated enterprise applications and unstructured processes, this is not the case. With the shift to the cloud, specialized cloud vendors like Workday, Shopify, Blackline can integrate with SAP but also replace SAP functionality by their software and use SAP in the backend as an integrated platform. Also, office applications like Microsoft Office 365 and GSuite, collaboration platforms like MS Teams, Slack, and low-code platforms like Appian, Microsoft Power Platform, Out-Systems, Neptune, and Mendex, can become the frontend of enterprise processes. Developed can take place in other languages running on different cloud platforms using SAP as a backend and access it through APIs, which can be replaced. And in almost all new technology areas AI, RPA, Cloud Storage, Speech, Integration, Collaboration, and UI technology, SAP has intense competitions of multiple other vendors like Google, Microsoft, IBM, Amazon, and others, and I think, but maybe I wrong, SAP does not have enough competitive advantages outside the SAP domain.
So my questions to you are:
Regards,
Robert Eijpe