SAPPHIRE NOW keynote: Chasing zero, with eye on the future of business
SAP is chasing zero with the world’s biggest business network, and innovations to drive digital transformation, sustainability, and equality.
Many businesses are finding it difficult to keep pace with rapidly changing technology, but we learned quickly in 2020 that organizations which invested in digital business processes had the edge in adapting to constant disruption.
“Digital transformation is here to stay and you really need to adopt it.” – Mickey Rizza, Program Vice President, Enterprise Applications and Digital Commerce, IDC.
This sentiment is a constant theme during the SAPPHIRE NOW IT track sessions. To gain additional insight I brought together several thought leaders to discuss trending topics, including data privacy and people transformation. (You can watch the replay of the SAPPHIRE NOW After Party event HERE.)
Here are some of the key takeaways.
IT: Become an agent of change
As employees and employers alike scrambled to build virtual work environments in offices, kitchens, and sheds across the world, we also saw the profound importance of data privacy and security. Digital transformation and moving to the cloud have become the imperative for IT organizations.
“Just having the technology alone is not enough. You need to transform your people as well.” – Helen Yu
“Improve input data quality and employee satisfaction. That’s a digital transformation win win!” – Timo Elliot
“I believe developers will morph into data scientists gradually.” – Sarbjeet Johal
As a result, the average CIO’s job description now likely includes the following responsibilities:
- Responding to the ever-changing needs of business users and leadership
- Providing a healthy balance between investing in innovation and maintaining legacy systems and business continuity
- Supporting and staying current on ever-accelerating technology innovations
- Complying with increasing regulation to safeguard, manage, store, and access employee and customer data
- Finding platforms that can integrate legacy and new cloud solutions and moving legacy systems to the cloud
- Helping the business measure and manage its environmental impact
Teaming for success
Not surprisingly, many CIOs don’t know where to begin with this full plate, but a technology partner can help. The right partner can deliver what you need to face disruption head-on and guide you along your transformation journey.
” The external data marketplace is very exciting. Combining internal and external knowledge flow is absolutely key.” – Sally Eaves
“Third-party data is the next big thing. Having your internal data is great but adding in external data points is extremely valuable.” – Ronald van Loon
https://twitter.com/timoelliott/status/1401850718542348290?s=20
Creating an intelligent enterprise
Watch a recording of our SAPPHIRE NOW conference session, “Drive Toward the Intelligent Enterprise with Digital Transformation,” to explore these top trends impacting IT organizations today. Learn how you can deliver real business value with:
- Integrated, enterprise cloud solutions
- A business-centric platform
- Connected business networks and embedded intelligence
- RISE with SAP
During the session, SAP CTO and executive board member Juergen Mueller and his fellow executive board member Thomas Saueressig explained how the newest innovations can help make your job easier.
SAP partner SUSE explored how you can get the most out of your investments in technology. And SAP partner Wipro spoke about how you can harness the power of intelligent technologies.
Other highlights of the Americas session include:
- Executives from Thulium and SAP talked to the San Jose Sharks ice hockey team and electric vehicle company Electric Last Mile Solutions about how the two organizations are using cloud technology to deliver more to customers
- Trend-spotter Mickey North Rizza of IDC provided some valuable reference points for the second half of 2021, including how digital resilience is key
- Power company AES described how its partnership with SAP, including SAP Services and Support, is helping it become a truly intelligent enterprise
- Food company Alicorp and utility company Border States Electric revealed how SAP software helps them keep the essentials flowing
And in EMEA, highlights of the session include:
- A roundtable including Vestas Wind Systems and family-owned conglomerate Kanoo Group explored why leading companies see digital transformation as a necessity
- Executives from Thulium and SAP delved into IT trends in the EMEA region
- Food and beverages company Almarai talked about its experience of completing a digital transformation remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic
- Multiutility company Farys and global cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp spoke about the huge power of bringing data together