We recently some saw big news from SAP, in the form a new partnership announced with IBM. The two companies have worked together for some time in various guises, with this announcement specifically centred on a new joint cloud offering. SAP and IBM are planning to bring together what they call ‘complementary’ technologies; this includes IBM’s cognitive capabilities, cloud and power systems, with SAP’s HANA software and cloud platform.
The ultimate aim of the collaboration is to modernise their systems for ‘the digital economy’, in order to attract more businesses from enterprises that are planning digital transformation initiatives. According to SAP, the partnership is designed to help companies take advantage of the “amazing opportunities of the digital economy”.
Digital transformation and the digital economy are buzzwords that are becoming increasingly common. This is because factors such as the need to provide excellent customer experiences, and to support the changing ways in which employees work, are taxing organisations. There are increasing demands on businesses to offer digital experiences of high quality to both internal and external customers, or lose out to competitors.
Numerous disruptive forces are causing such upheaval; not only the growth in cloud computing and the continued advances in mobile technology, but also the increased influence of consumers and their expectations. This all means that many businesses are embarking on digital transformation projects. However, it’s important to remember that all businesses are different, and will not undergo their digital transformation at the same pace.
For SAP users, the need to build a business case for implementing new innovations is high on the list of priorities. Take cloud, for example, which has the potential to improve business efficiency and productivity. While many businesses are keen to adopt cloud, complex migrations can hold them back. Any innovation or transformation must be taken at the appropriate speed for each individual business.
Our own advice to organisations undertaking a digital transformation project is to set a pace the business is comfortable with, and to explore all resources available to them. To support this, we have a number of events planned where User Group members can learn more about particular topics and discuss transformation with their peers. So in the coming months, we’re holding a Cloud Symposium in May, and an IoT, Cloud and Mobile Symposium in June.
To learn more about the events and webinars run by the User Group, visit our events calendar.
