Earlier this week I attended the 2007 SAP Influencers Summit, since somebody apparently confused me with a Mover and Shaker from the Coffee Generation. That's what I wished I was; the conference was packed to the eyeballs with content, so much so that I think I should have had a partner or a methamphetamine IV. Either that, or the press and analysts portion should have been two days long instead of one.
I'm partly at fault for this, no doubt. I registered late, and decided it would be easiest if I worked a full day and then took a train from New York to Boston. Long story short, I didn't get into my room until about 11 pm, and the festivities started at 7 am the next morning. Ouch. No rest for the wicked, either; all the executive Q&A sessions were held in the press room, so there was no way to get away from the constant onslaught of information, whether to write it up or to tune out and maybe get a nap. No such luck this time; my noodle was pretty well baked by the end opf the day, and then I had a train to catch. It was delayed with signal problems, so I didn't get back to my own bed until 1 am Wednesday. Happy Birthday to Me. *zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz*
The conference itself, though overloaded, was very informative. SAP has got a working SOA platform (NetWeaver) upon which all of its new CRM products hang. I stress working because most other vendors seem to be hedging when it comes to going full-bore SOA. Either the middleware is still in development, or the package is "Web services enabled," which is like having an HD-ready TV but no tuner; nobody has committed to saying, "we're SOA now." SAP is there, and doing it, and calling it enterprise services instead of Web. There's a significant difference, to my way of thinking: Web services are disconnected things that plug into a framework via a browser; enterprise services build and serve your enterprise. Terminology is power.
Side note: SOA is a powerful way to build infrastructure and keep the things that work. I love the idea. I even understand it a little. But it's going to be a good while before even the best SOAs are widespread enough to cause change. And they will probably never be ubiquitous. I had a great chat with Bob Stutz, SAP's senior VP of the Product and Technology group, about this. Bob's very easy to talk to, accessible, and he knows his stuff. He's also spent enough time in the IT trenches to know that not everybody can do SOA, and that SOA doesn't mean prepackaged integrations and suites have no place.
CRM 2007 was on display and, though I wasn't able to catch any of the demos, I must say it looks very good. The SAP GUI is gone, replaced with a clean (even sparse) and manageable look. Everything is configurable to the user's preferences, subject to what the organization is willing to allow. They used an old concept that I thought had been discredited--CRM is innovation layered on top of ERP--but it makes sense in the SOA concept. Ironically, SAP is trying to get rid of three-letter acronyms as a way of describing a technology, but rather use it to describe a function within the overall enterprise.
Nobody would talk specifics about Business Objects, which ain't surprising. SAP says the new acquisition will bring in some new capabilities in user-centric, unstructured and ad-hoc applications, whatever that means. Looks like we'll have to wait for the movie.
It takes it effect until now. The positive way.
Posted by: monetary consulting | May 18, 2011 at 01:23 AM