Don’t Overlook the ‘Now’ in Your SAP Future
By Sam Sliman, President, Optimal Solutions Integration

 

Thematically, SAP set its sights on 2015 at this year’s SAPPHIRE NOW as it touted the potential of cloud computing, mobility and SAP’s in-memory technology. SAP was equally clear in communicating that the future for SAP customers starts now, as in with the technology decisions they make today.

As the pace of innovation quickens, striking a winning balance of the present and future benefits technology solutions deliver has never been more vital to success. Equally true -- given SAP’s innovation leadership and accelerated product delivery -- maintaining this correct balance requires SAP customers pay closer attention than perhaps ever before to the new technologies and solutions SAP brings to market.

As evidenced by SAP’s breakthrough in-memory computing technology, the gap between hype and here is markedly narrower than years past.

First demoed at SAPPHIRE 2010; officially dubbed SAP High-Performance Analytic Appliance (HANA) in December 2010; independently tested and validated running on IBM hardware in March 2011; and slated for general release in June 2011; SAP’s new in-memory software and hardware appliance generated tremendous excitement and interest at SAPPHIRE NOW 2011.

We’re not talking about hollow marketing hype here. During a recent post-earnings call, SAP Co-CEO Bill McDermott claimed that the current pipeline for SAP HANA is in the ‘triple digit millions’ and growing at a rate of ‘€10 million per week.’

SAP Co-CEO Snabe concurs, predicting that HANA revenue will have a 'major impact' on SAP revenues in 2011.

What's driving this in-memory immediacy and optimism? Proliferation of mobile devices. Migration to the cloud. Increasing demand for advanced BI & analytics – all of which benefit greatly from SAP HANA.

But most convincingly, SAP customers are successfully testing and using HANA today; the cost of HANA servers is less than 10% of the price tag for a traditional, large-scale disk system; and as if this weren’t enough, HANA outperforms these expensive systems by as much as 20x.

How best to satisfy immediate needs while laying the foundation for future gains is central to the guidance Optimal provides our SAP customers. It is also a question we constantly explore in our newsletters.

For a bit more Optimal perspective on the present and future impact of SAP’s in-memory technology and HANA strategy, read:

SAP’s Pragmatic Appliance Strategy
Analyze This – The SAP Way
In-Memory Technology and Enterprise Mobility
SAPPHIRE NOW’s Most Memorable First

With more than 100,000 in-person and virtual attendees, SAPPHIRE NOW 2011 ranks as the biggest conference in SAP history.

Optimal attended SAPPHIRE en masse, and for us, this year’s event was among the most exciting and productive ever. Thanks to all Optimal customers, partners, prospects and friends for attending our special events, booth demos and SAPPHIIRE breakout sessions featuring Optimal customers.

We’d also like to congratulate and give a special shout out to Optimal customer Network Services Company for winning the 2011 ASUG Impact Award, Large Enterprise.
For those who missed our demos, we’ll keep our SAPPHIRE Demo Schedule posted to the Optimal website.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you’d like to arrange a one-on-one showing.
And be sure to check out future Optimal newsletters for continued insight into HANA as well as other burgeoning, rapidly evolving areas of the SAP solutions and services landscape.