Category Archives: SAP

Database, ERP, Kaz Nishihata, News & Analysis, SAP, Steve Nola

NTT Data, DiData partner on SAP cloud migration

NTT Data and Dimension Data are helping enterprises move their SAP software into the cloud

NTT Data and Dimension Data are helping enterprises move their SAP software into the cloud

NTT Data and Dimension Data announced a partnership this week that will see the two firms jointly offer cloud migration services for SAP application users.

As part of the deal Dimension Data will host SAP Cloud and SAP HANA instances in 16 of its cloud datacentres globally, with NTT Data offering up its implementation, migration and application management services.

The companies said the partnership will enable them to offer clients complete SAP lifecycle management for workloads, which they said are increasingly being shifted into the cloud (even bulkier ERP workloads).

“Many of our clients tell us that they’re ready for the next chapter in cloud, which is moving production applications to a consumption based infrastructure. Until recently, clients found that self-service provisioning is complete, while self-service management of applications in the cloud remains challenging,” explained Steve Nola, Dimension Data’s group executive – ITaaS.

“That’s why Dimension Data is providing software and hands-on attention that will provide our enterprises with the confidence to move their SAP licenses to the Dimension Data cloud,” Nola said.

Kaz Nishihata, executive vice president, global business, NTT DATA said: “NTT DATA will manage the implementation of SAP with fully customized configurations, leverage well-established and automated cloud migration processes, and manage the ongoing services using our proprietary tools to improve service quality and manage costs. Combined with Dimension Data’s robust cloud platform, we can offer clients the mission-critical service levels required for today’s SAP environments.”

To its credit SAP has worked to make more recent versions of its software both more modular and more cloud-friendly in terms of architecture, but moving SAP applications into the cloud isn’t a particularly easy job given the bulkiness of their suites – and enterprises seem ready to take cues from service providers on how to get the job done.

Last year Colt and Virtustream struck a very similar partnership, the two companies now working together to migrate enterprises to SAP’s cloud platform and SAP HANA, with the former providing the service management and cloud infrastructure and the latter providing SAP-optimised microvirtualisation and cloud management tools.

Internet of Things, News & Analysis, Paul Wellman, SAP, SAP HANA, Steve Lucas, Vendor

SAP reveals HANA Cloud for Internet of Things

SAP is launching an IoT-centric version of its HANA cloud service

SAP is launching an IoT-centric version of the HANA Cloud platform

SAP this week pulled the curtain of a version of its HANA cloud platform tailored specifically to Internet of Things applications.

The company said the private cloud service, based on its in-memory compute platform HANA, will provide the foundation for its IoT application services – analytics, telematics, its connected car services and manufacturing offerings.

SAP hasn’t commented on whether it will open up the platform for non-SAP applications. But the company said the move means it now offers an end-to-end spectrum of IoT services.

“SAP is helping customers reimagine their business with the most comprehensive portfolio of Internet of Things solutions from core business operations to the edge of the network,” said Steve Lucas, president, platform solutions, SAP.

“With the launch of SAP HANA Cloud Platform for the Internet of Things, our customers and partners now have the ability to connect anything to any app or business process in their company and business network. This will achieve operational excellence and deliver new customer experiences, products and services,” Lucas said.

As a sweetener the company will throw in free and unlimited access (for a limited time) to SAP SQL Anywhere, the SAP’s embeddable database for IoT devices, when customers sign up to use the HANA Cloud IoT service.

Siemens and Tennant are already running production deployments on the platform.

Paul Wellman, chief information officer at Tennant said: “Using SAP HANA, Tennant is able to differentiate its solutions and remain competitive in the cleaning equipment business. Now our customers can measure usage across their fleet to drive operational consistency, track machines to better manage assets and leverage this business intelligence to achieve significant cost savings.”

SAP has moved to strengthen its position among IoT incumbents over the past six months, and the company  is no stranger to data management and processing within the context of ERP, telematics and M2M.

The German software giant recently joined the Industrial Internet Consortium, an Internet of Things-focused membership group of telcos, research institutes and technology manufacturers focused on developing interoperability standards and common architectures to bridge smart devices, machines, mobile devices and the data they create. It also recently signed a deal with Deutsche Telekom’s enterprise IT-focused subsidiary T-Systems to build a cloud-based IoT platform for the connected car and logistics sectors.

IoT-World-banner-small

Cardiff Council, Cormac Watters, HANA, News & Analysis, Ross Maude, SAP

Cardiff Council moves customer services onto SAP cloud

Cardiff Council is aligning its IT strategy with a shift towards self-service government

Cardiff Council is aligning its IT strategy with a shift towards self-service government

The City of Cardiff Council is moving onto SAP’s customer service cloud in a bid to streamline customer service operations and deliver budget savings, the organisations announced this week.

The three-year project will see Cardiff Council work with SAP to move onto its customer services cloud, which is powered by the company’s in-memory compute platform HANA.

The Council’s goal is to create a digital self-service portal that will enable residents to interact online with municipal services, which will significantly reduce administrative costs according to the Council.

“The public service mandate of ‘do more with less’ is not going away, but for us, it’s an opportunity to bring our thriving city into the digital age in a way that will bring us long-term financial savings” said Ross Maude, senior enterprise architect at Cardiff Council.

Indeed the Council is facing £124m in budget cuts over the next three years, and to deliver those savings without impacting the services delivered to residents the Council is looking to increase automation – which is where cloud services comes into play.

“The services we provide are important for everyone from the elderly, to university students and public sector workers, and ensuring we’re still able to maintain the level and quality of service we have today despite our financial pressures is crucial. Our relationship with SAP means that together we’re able to implement an integrated cloud-based solution that brings all of our systems together allows us to focus on the growing needs of Cardiff residents,” Maude added.

Cormac Watters, managing director, SAP UK and Ireland said: For local authorities like Cardiff Council, finding ways to minimise costs is their number one priority. Coupled with a young, digitally-advanced demographic, the Council has taken a bold approach to meet today’s and tomorrow’s challenges”

“It will also support the delivery of new digital services geared to the highly-connected user, providing greater choice, more self-service options, better access and flexibility, resulting in improved user adoption and unlocking cost savings at every turn. This is essential at a time when budgets are under substantial pressure,” Watters said.

ERP, NetSuite, News & Analysis, Oracle, SAP, Scott Scherr, Software as a service, Ultimate Software, Zach Nelson

Ultimate Software, NetSuite link HCM and ERP clouds

Ultimate Software and NetSuite are integrating their HCM and ERP services

Ultimate Software and NetSuite are integrating their HCM and ERP services

Ultimate Software, a provider of cloud-based human capital management services has inked a deal with NetSuite, a vendor of ERP cloud services, which will see the two companies integrate their software.

The two companies will integrate the UltiPro HCM solution and NetSuite’s ERP suite, which will enable joint customers to manage a broader chunk of their business lifecycles –financials, supply chain, CRM, payroll, HR, and talent management.

“By connecting UltiPro’s rich HR, talent, and payroll capabilities to NetSuite’s suite of ERP applications, Ultimate and NetSuite offer businesses the ability to manage their entire spectrum of business technology needs through two of the most trusted cloud vendors in the world—while enjoying industry-leading functionality, scalability, and configurability—without requiring point solutions for different business applications,” said Scott Scherr, chief executive officer of Ultimate.

“Not only are both our solutions leaders in cloud business technology, but our commitment to culture and service to customers is highly aligned.  We’re excited to bring this partnership to the market,” Scherr said.

Zach Nelson, chief executive officer of NetSuite said: “The combination of Ultimate’s robust HCM functionality together with NetSuite’s system of record for core operational processes provides our customers with a tightly integrated solution to run the core aspects of their business.”

The move suggests cloud ERP vendors are looking to double down on beating the large incumbents at their own game. The SAPs and Oracles of the world have long found that combining ERP and HR platforms make them more attractive to some large enterprises, so any move to bring end-to-end integration of these services in the cloud space will likely be welcome news to born-in-the-cloud firms that are also keen on de-risking their supply chains with multiple vendors.

Anise Asia, Asia Pacific, News & Analysis, SAP, Simon Aspinall, Suhaimee Abu Hassan, Vendor, Virtustream

Anise Asia taps Virtustream to help serve up SAP cloud software to SMEs

Anise Asia is working with Virtustream to deliver SAP applications to SMEs

Anise Asia is working with Virtustream to deliver SAP applications to SMEs

Malaysia-based cloud service provider Anise Asia has selected Virtustream to help the company offer SAP Business One software via the cloud to SMEs.

The partnership will see Anise Asia deploy Virtustream’s micro-VM technology in a bid to help it scale and bill for SAP cloud services, which will be aimed primarily at Malaysian SMEs.

“With SAP Business One Cloud, we answered our clients’ call for an ERP solution that was quick to deploy and easy to run and maintain. By moving those solutions into the cloud, we are addressing their demand for more flexibility, security and cost savings,” said Suhaimee Abu Hassan, founder and chief executive officer of Anise Asia.

“Virtustream is a trusted partner with vast SAP application and managed services expertise, and SAP certification that enables us to provide our customers with the best and most comprehensive set of services available in the market,” he said.

Virtustream said the move will help expand the reach of its cloud and software services, as well as its professional services unit.

“This is a strategic move for both companies,” said Simon Aspinall, president of service provider business, Virtustream. “Together, Anise Asia and Virtustream are able to address the growing demand for enterprise-class cloud services in the ASEAN market.”

Bernard Chiang, managing director of SAP Malaysia said: “Our partners are an extension of the SAP network and, quite often with their local knowledge and expertise, play the critical role of fulfilling the ‘last mile’ of implementation.”

Larry Ellison, Marc Benioff, Mark Hurd, News & Analysis, Oracle, Salesforce, SAP

Oracle hits out at Salesforce as cloud revenue grows

Larry Ellison said the company's cloud revenue will eclipse Salesforce's revenue this year

Larry Ellison said the company’s cloud revenue will eclipse Salesforce’s revenue this year

Oracle reported SaaS and PaaS revenues of $375m for the third quarter 2015, up 33 per cent from the previous year, with the company’s cloud services now growing at a quicker rate than those offered by Salesforce according to Oracle chief technology officer Larry Ellison.

While Oracle reported strong growth in its cloud services segment, the company’s overall revenues, however, remained flat at $9.3bn, with a 2 per cent decline in hardware systems revenue (to $1.3bn) and operating income down 5 per cent to $3.4bn.

Nevertheless, the company’s executives were quite pleased with the results.

“In Q3, we sold nearly $200 million of new SaaS and PaaS business as measured in annual recurring revenue,” said Oracle chief executive officer Mark Hurd.

“In Q4, we expect to sell over $300 million of new SaaS and PaaS annual recurring revenue. That means we have a real chance to sell more SaaS and PaaS new business this coming quarter than any other cloud services provider. I think our hyper-growth in the cloud comes as a big surprise to a lot of people,” Hurd said.

Ellison was less inclined to mince words in a call with press and analysts this week, calling out one of its biggest direct competitors in the CRM space – Salesforce.

“Oracle now has a cloud revenue run rate of well over $2 billion a year. We’re already the world’s second-largest SaaS and PaaS company. On our last quarterly conference call, I predicted that in our fiscal year 2016 Oracle would likely sell more SaaS and PaaS new business than Salesforce.com. Well, I was way too cautious.”

“I now believe that Oracle will sell more new SaaS and PaaS business than Salesforce.com in this current calendar year, 2015,” he said.

This kind of rhetoric isn’t uncommon among the awkward yet symbiotic trio, SAP, Oracle and Salesforce, which to some extent have come to epitomise the dynamic between the large slower moving incumbent and the smaller but rapidly growing new kid on the block.

Last month Salesforce, which is led by ex-Oracle executive Marc Benioff, announced a record fourth quarter with full fiscal year 2015 revenue hitting $5.37bn. In a call with press and analysts to discuss the results Salesforce vice chairman and president Keith Block said it achieved those results “right in SAP’s backyard.”

AWS, Birst, Jay Larson, News & Analysis, SAP

Birst scores $65m to grow cloud analytics

Birst has secured $65m to grow its cloud-based analytics platform globally

Birst has secured $65m to grow its cloud-based analytics platform globally

BI and analytics provider Birst has secured $65m in its latest round of funding which the firm said would be used to fuel sales and marketing efforts globally.

The latest funding round brings the total amount secured by the company to $156m.

“We’ve seen an explosion in data volumes, data sources, and end-user demand in the analytics market. Organizations need speed, end-user self-service and robust data governance from their next-generation business intelligence platform. That’s exactly what we deliver at Birst,” said Jay Larson, chief executive officer of Birst.

Doug Leone, partner at Sequoia Capital, one of Birst’s investors, said the business intelligence market is going through a massive transformation at the moment.

“The BI market is going through a major transition as the legacy suppliers continue to decline. The race for next-generation leadership in BI and analytics is going to be won by the supplier that offers world-class technology, great business leadership, and a proven capability to focus on today’s needs versus those from a decade ago,” Leone said.

Birst’s strategy seems to be in line with where enterprises are headed. According to the BCN Annual Industry Survey, which polled over 700 senior IT decision makers globally, about two thirds of enterprises plan to use cloud-based analytics platforms over the next 18 months.

Last year Birst moved to bolster its presence in Europe and the UK, launching a version of its solution hosted in AWS’s Ireland datacentre, and expanding its UK team. It also struck a deal with SAP to make Birst’s analytics platform available on HANA.

Cisco, Deloit, Deutsche Telekom, Ferri Abolhassan, Huawei, News & Analysis, SAP, SuccessFactors, T-Systems, Telco Cloud

Deutsche Telekom announces flurry of cloud partnerships with SAP, Salesforce, Cisco, Huawei

Deutsche Telekom announced a slew of cloud partnerships this week

Deutsche Telekom announced a slew of cloud partnerships this week

Deutsche Telekom announced a number of cloud-focused partnerships with Salesforce, SAP, Huawei and Cisco at CeBIT this week.

T-Systems, the telco’s enterprise-focused subsidiary, worked with Salesforce to develop a Customer Experience platform for the automotive sector, which the companies said would connect dealers, workshops, vehicles and customers more closely via an interactive showroom on customers’ mobile phones.

Additionally, the company said it is working closely with consulting giant Deloitte to advise European clients on how to implement the cloud-based CRM platform.

It is also making SAP SuccessFactors available to corporate customers, and next month the company plans to implement the cloud-based human resources management platform internally to serve the company’s 220,000 employees.

Lastly, the firm announced an update to its September 2014 deal with Cisco to become an Intercloud partner. T-Systems is currently installing Cisco’s OpenStack-based infrastructure in datacentre in Biere, near Magdeburg, and said the first Software-as-a-Service product, a managed hotspot for small and medium-sized business, will be available in the second quarter of 2015.

Cisco is one of a number of DT’s partners when it comes to cloud infrastructure. This week the German telco also signed a global framework agreement with Huawei that will see the latter provide IT infrastructure and private cloud solutions to T-Systems.

The telco is aggressively moving forward with plans to expand its reach in the cloud sector. Ferri Abolhassan, director of the IT division at T-Systems, described the partnerships as “a systematic step on the part of T-Systems to consolidate its technology leadership in all matters cloud in Europe, and to expand globally.”

Big Data, Mobile, Mobile device, Mobile network operator, SAP, SAP HANA

SAP Pilots Service to Unlock Value of Mobile Data

SAP today announced the SAP Consumer Insight 365 mobile service, a pilot initiative of a new cloud-based offering aiming to unlock the value of big data. The service will be powered by the SAP HANA platform and will allow enterprises to gain insight from the analysis of massive amounts of aggregated and anonymized consumer data residing in operator networks in real time. This market intelligence will ultimately allow brands to strengthen relationships with consumers through more targeted and context-specific marketing efforts.

“The rise of the always connected mobile world is creating a new source of data that has the potential to provide deeper insight into consumer behavior,” according to Guy Rolfe , global mobile practice leader at Kantar Mobile. ”The challenge is that this data is on a scale not seen before, therefore any service that can address this will create a new empirical data source that will not only complement existing research methodologies, but will also enable brands to better connect to consumers.”

There are more mobile devices in the world than there are people. The proliferation of mobile devices has significantly changed the way people communicate, live and engage with each other at work and in their personal lives. As more consumers get connected around the world through mobile devices, smartphones and the Internet, all of these interactions create massive amounts of data. The sheer volume and scale of this data has made analysis difficult.

With SAP Consumer Insight 365, data from operator networks will be analyzed through advanced analytics providing population level insight as well as high-definition detail through an intuitive Web portal, without drilling down into user-specific information. All mobile network operator data will be stored discreetly and individually partitioned within a global network of SAP data centers.

 

 

Gartner, IBM, Magic Quadrant, McKesson, Medecision, Research, SAP

Cloud Research — Recent Reports

IDC Health Insights Releases MarketScape Report on Top U.S. Care Management Vendors for Healthcare Payers

IDC Health Insights released a new MarketScape report that evaluates the top nine U.S. Care Management vendors for healthcare payers. The comprehensive study, IDC MarketScape: U.S. Care Management 2012 Vendor Assessment for Healthcare Payers (Doc #HI235803), evaluates the post-reform era market landscape and profiles the following vendors: Casenet, Inc., Click4care, Inc., DST Health Solutions, Landacorp, IkaSystems, Medecision, McKesson, TriZetto, and ZeOmega.

The IDC Health Insights report found the care management market will be a highly volatile and evolving market through at least 2015. As vendors position for new opportunities in the post-reform era, there will be an unprecedented expansion of functionality and services. Key solution investments include embedded and integrated analytics, provider and consumer engagement strategies and technologies, real time triggers and alerts, integration of clinical data, and multi-platform channel delivery including cloud and iPad initiatives.

Digital River’s New White Paper Helps Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Address Complex Global Recycling and Copyright Regulations

Digital River released its latest white paper, Regulatory Fee Management: Navigating the Complex World of Global Compliance. The white paper offers consumer electronics (CE) manufacturers insights into the complicated recycling and copyright regulations that govern the manufacture, use and end-of-life handling of electronics and electric devices. The paper also helps manufacturers weigh some of the important considerations that go into building and maintaining a successful compliance management solution. A complimentary copy of the white paper is available for free download.

Gartner on SAP Implementation: Accenture in Leaders Quadrant

Accenture has been positioned in the “Leaders” quadrant in Gartner Inc.’s recently published “Magic Quadrant for SAP Implementation Service Providers, North America.”

Gartner assessed 20 of the leading service providers for the Magic Quadrant, which focused on the implementation services of SAP solutions for each company across consulting, system integration and implementation in North America.

Research and Markets: Mobile Content Market – Size, Share, Trends And Forecasts 2011 – 2017

“Mobile Content Market – Global And U.S. Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Trends And Forecasts 2011 – 2017”

The mobile content industry comprises of mobile games, mobile music and mobile video. In the overall mobile content industry, mobile games were the largest market segment with a revenue share of 53.3% in 2011. The segment will further consolidate its position with 61.7% market share in 2017. The global mobile games market was worth USD 3.5 billion in 2011 and is expected to reach USD 11.4 billion in 2017 with a CAGR of 21.9% from 2011 to 2017.

Research and Markets: Cloud Messaging Market Trends, 2011-2014

This report presents the results of a detailed research program into preferences and plans for cloud-based messaging and related capabilities among North American organizations over the period 2011-2014. It focuses on various types of cloud messaging-related capabilities, including complete messaging services, messaging security services and archiving services, among others.

“Cloud Messaging Market Trends, 2011-2014”

Storage Gets Smarter with Release of IBM Tivoli Storage Productivity Center 5.1

Delivering on its vision of integrating hardware and software product lines to improve efficiencies wherever possible across its solutions portfolio, IBM announced several new features and capabilities for its already industry-leading Tivoli Storage Productivity Center (TPC) product line. A new GUI interface, additional NAS and cloud support, enhanced reporting, tiering optimization along with simplified packaging and pricing are welcome additions. With the release and general availability of TPC 5.1, EMA believes IBM has made significant strides in fulfilling its promise to simplify storage resource management and lower the total cost of storage.

http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/764x6s/storage_gets_smart

Latency Will Make or Break the Cloud Economy

The holy grail of having anywhere, anytime access to services in the cloud is becoming a reality. Ubiquitous broadband, both fixed and mobile, will be the enabler of this transformation in the way we use computing resources. This report examines why latency rather than bandwidth dominates the user experience, and what opportunities this presents for operators to differentiate themselves.

http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/8m82lm/latency_will_make