SAP Cloud overview

[former_member20208]

Hi all,

The whiteboard below shows my personal interpretation of how the SAP Cloud portfolio is shaping up, to support innovation (doing new things), but not at the expense of integration (with existing things). I'd be very interested to get some feedback on it.

-Maarten

[pushkar_ranjan]

I would rename the Innovation - Integration axis to User centric - Technology centric

All the things we do are innovative, be it in the end user domain or the technology domain.

Thanks,

Pushkar

[former_member20208]

Hi Push,

I think your "user centric - technology centric" is the same as my "Bus. - IT", but this is the other axis of the graph, and besides, would you really say that BYD is technology centric?

I see what you mean though. I think people define the "innovation - integration" as a black-and-white, either-or kind of thing, but what I mean is more "focus on innovation - focus on integration". "Focus on innovation" means building a new (type of) application, often for a specific part of the business, e.g. Supplier Infonet, procurement, or Sales OnDemand, which is really different from a traditional SFA system. "Focus on integration" doesn't necessarily mean that the application is not innovative, but that it's more about making an existing (type of) application fit into an existing landscape. For example, BYD is very innovative in many ways, but at its core, it's an ERP system, which a company can use to integrate its subsidiaries better with its headquarters, i.e. "business integration". And PI/DS OD are also innovative, but their sole purpose is to integrate other applications with each other.

Interestingly, each quadrant or corner of the diagram needs its opposite corner to be truly successful. Applications in the "business innovation" corner, need to be integrated with tools in the "IT integration" corner, whereas applications in the "business integration" corner, i.e. BYD, need to come equipped with "technical innovation" tools, such as an SDK.

As I'm writing this, I'm thinking this might all be a bit too conceptual, but you can leave out the 2x2 framework if you like, and just focus on the centre part, with SaaS, PaaS and B2B, which I still find a very useful distinction, and one which everyone will recognise.

However, with or without the framework, I personally believe that INNOVATION and INTEGRATION are still the keys to a successful cloud strategy, be it for a vendor, like SAP, or a customer. I might even add a 3rd "I" to the mix, which would be IMPLEMENTATION. After all, solutions which are easy to build/extend (i.e. innovate) and integrate (e.g. in a hybrid scenario), are also easier to implement (although there are also other factors, like ease of configuration, personalisation and use).

-Maarten