Wondering about the implications of SAP Business Suite on HANA?
The following video from SAP’s Global Press Event may answer some of your questions. Presenters included SAP co-founder and chairman Prof. Dr. Hasso Plattner and executive board member for Technology and Innovation Dr Vishal Sikka.
Timeline
[00:17] Are there now two releases of SAP Business Suite – one for HANA and 1 for traditional businesses? Thanks to the use of SQL, they generally run on the same code. Although some procedures have to be coded, all customers can use the latest release which runs on HANA.
[02: 34] How do current or prospective SAP Business Suite users know whether SAP Suite on HANA is the right product for them? They can get the support of design thinking engineers within the organization within 24 hours.
[03: 24] How enthusiastic are non-bleeding edge customers about HANA and where could you improve communication, roadmaps and clarity for them? Customers are already using HANA and are enthusiastic about it. The roadmap is already ahead of normal and there will be a clear indication for when ERPs, CRMs, supply chain and other pieces will become part of the platform. Most of this is already available.
[05:08] What are you doing to prepare customers for running database operations for their business on a HANA application? Existing applications will change radically without disruption. We will have the best global platform for customers’ mission critical systems and we are training partners and consultants to facilitate the process. We have also spent time on backup and recovery integration. Administrators can innovate on HANA as many of the previous processing requirements are not needed. Most operations are point and click.
[11:35] How will SAP’s relationship with database vendors change over time? With more than 40,000 customers running on DB2, Oracle and Microsoft, we work professionally with those providers.
[13:29] How will SAP work with customers to help them make the disruptive changes to business and technology they will need to get value from their investment? We will provide resources to bring customers’ code to the quality level of standard code. We have run an online curriculum for in memory database technology which ran for 15,000 students on the initial delivery. In addition, traditional code can be optimized for HANA without endangering business processes, especially with the power of design thinking. As part of that, we work with customers to rethink end-user interaction: all systems have to be more user-focused.
[19:32] What will you do to help customers understand and absorb what the technology will do? Education is the key. As well as the class, there are hundreds of videos on the HANA Academy and we have worked with developers. Technically, the on-ramp is small – 160 startups are already running efficiently with very little support.
[22:50] Does working with SAP students give insight into how people can think disruptively about HANA? Bringing people from different departments together for brainstorming sessions results in unbelievable creativity, even from older people, and the average performance of team members improves.
[26:10] Is the RAS for Business Suite and HANA for database migration or new installs? For both, though it is especially valuable for new customers of Business Suite on HANA customers. Data load into a HANA system from a non-SAP source (usually the most painful part of a project start) is now at least 20 times faster.
[28:47] What other incentives are there to help customers make the shift to HANA in terms of moving the ERP systems? Business value and convenience are the main drivers of adoption. We can bring one of 3,000 trained design thinkers into a business to help start the discussion. There is also a HANA charter program which will include special support and insight.