Artificial Intelligence

SAPPHIRE NOW Conference 2017: Three Breakthrough SAP Innovations!

Every year, enterprise software solutions giant SAP gathers together people from around the world to its SAPPHIRE NOW conference 2017 in Orlando, Florida. At the event, business leaders, customers, prospects and other decision-makers meet and discuss the technological solutions of today and tomorrow. This event was a opportunity to obtain an overview of SAP innovations and industry trends.

Digital transformation is driving businesses to establish themselves to a greater degree in the digital economy. Today, it is no longer a secret that technologies and business lines must be brought together. For instance, when it comes to sales, customer experience is one of the primary methods by which businesses distinguish themselves from their competitors. But customers have never been as well informed as they are today. Irrespective of the size of businesses and the sector in which they operate, one of their main concerns remains the daunting task of continuously keeping up with new developments and adopting omnichannel strategies while offering a unique customer experience.

But which technological initiatives should businesses adopt in light of their needs? And how will these solutions disrupt and redefine their way of doing things moving forward?

Many interesting innovations were once again presented this year. We provide below an overview of three such innovations that particularly captured our attention:

 

Facilitating Collaborative Creation through Design Thinking

First things first – what is Design Thinking?

Design Thinking can be defined as a management model that advocates for a collaborative work style. A business that adopts Design Thinking will not have its departments collaborate in an isolated manner but will instead aim to promote collective intelligence. How? The answer is to combine the analytical skills of some teams (e.g. engineers) with the more intuitive skills of others (e.g. marketing or creative professionals) to the greatest extent possible.

Understanding its use

Experience is increasingly dominating the economy. In the coming years, Design Thinking will change the way that businesses improve products in addition to their general approach to technology. It allows employees and consumers to converge at the very core of their experience.

Design Thinking is implemented as part of a global strategy. It no longer means simply identifying where a problem is found and resolving it in an isolated manner, but instead consists of addressing the problem from the very start of one’s reflection up to the final integration of the solution.

 

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: SAP Leonardo

Intelligently connecting people, things and businesses. If we do it right, you can care more and do more for your customers. And one key to do this right is data.” (Bill McDermott, CEO of SAP)

 

With its new Leonardo solution, SAP offers its clients a simple way to use emerging technologies including artificial intelligence, machine learning, advanced analysis and blockchain.

In so doing, SAP does not only wishes to accompany its clients as they find solutions, but now aims to address all of their business needs. It will be possible for businesses to connect smart devices with employees, products, infrastructures and markets to optimize their strategic and financial performance.

This offer seems promising for optimizing and transforming the bond among people, objects and technologies.

 

SAP Cloud Platform

According to a CEFRIO report on the subject of digital innovation, 68% of businesses in Quebec have presently adopted a cloud solution.[1] This figure is not to be frowned upon, as it appears only to be increasing. With their simplicity, accessibility and availability, cloud technologies offer a wide range of advantages to businesses by allowing them, among other things, to generate savings and to better control their costs associated with information technology and infrastructure.

SAP is a major player in the field due to the flexibility of its solutions. The agile environment offered through this type of platform allows businesses to develop, operate and instantly connect their applications with the help of data centres.

Together with Design Thinking, the SAP Cloud Platform could position itself as an interesting solution for responding to the niche business needs of organizations.

The innovations presented at the SAPPHIRE NOW conference 2017 are, and will continue to be over the coming years, major drivers for the improvement of business strategy, whether it is regarding the internal or external concerns of businesses, particularly with respect to optimizing customer experience.

For a business to benefit the most from its current technological environment and from potential process optimization solutions, it must have proper control over the available tools and products in addition to following market trends regarding digital transformation. To learn more, read Talsom. And for more information concerning the SAP innovations presented at the event, visit the Facebook page for SAPPHIRE NOW.

 

 

[1] Talsom’s 2017 Technology Radar.

 

Published on 11.04.2018