Developer & Community: Ready to Go

[grassl]

We are in the final stretch preparing for SAP TechEd 2018, kicking off next week in Las Vegas. For many folks inside SAP, it is the biggest event of the year because that’s when they need to be prepared to show and explain how SAP software and other technologies work. Of course, these product demonstrations also require that the latest releases and updates are available, so preparations for the event begin months before – and keep us busy right up to the start of (and during!) the shows.

 

As if SAP TechEd didn’t keep the Developer & Community Relations team busy enough, we’ve also been investing time in our online presence. If you’ve been watching the Developer Center and the SAP Community closely, you’ve probably seen some updates, and, yes, this means that even as we got ready for SAP TechEd 2018, Developer Relations, Community, and IT also spent many months keeping busy to make these updates happen.

So, what is the status on all these updates? For both the Developer Center (https://developers.sap.com) and the SAP Community (https://sap.com/community.html), we targeted the release to show you the direction we are heading, in regards to experience and functionality targeting audience needs. I’m very proud of what the team has achieved -- and even prouder that we made some hard choices in architecture and functionality focus, which will allow us to continuously release further updates.

 

For the SAP Community, you can read more about the updates in the new "What's new" section. In summation, however, our goals with this update were highlighting more of the community content through the new homepage, getting focused community topics going again, and enriching the Q&A functionality. We have of course more items in the works (blogs and reputation are not forgotten), but I will only write about them when they are delivered.

 

In addition to the SAP Community changes, the Developer Center got a bigger overhaul. We have now the dedicated URL of developers.sap.com, creating a destination that developers can associate with the information and content they are looking for. Also, you will see a lot of functionality which enables you to stay on top and you don’t need to restart and search again when you come back. You can keep track of your Tutorial progress, know which software you have downloaded, bookmark pages, and more.

 

For some of the updates, you can also see that we are looking to connect functionality between developers and the community. For example, you can complete Tutorial Missions in the Developer Center and earn badges showing up in your profile.

 

So, what’s next? First if you are joining us at SAP TechEd, stop by the Developer Garage and the Community Lounge. You will see how we use our online channels at SAP TechEd and integrate them with the activities in our area of the show floor, such as the App Space. There are some really cool integrations embedded which will allow you to continue with the learnings you started at SAP TechEd when you are back home -- or to share these learnings with your colleagues.

 

If you’ll be at SAP TechEd, I look forward to seeing you. And if I don’t see you there, I look forward to seeing you in the Developer Center or in the SAP Community.