5 Things that Amazed Me About SAP

They say time really flies when you are having fun. It’s hard to believe it’s been 100 days since I joined SAP as Chief Design Officer, and it has been a fast and furious onboarding to the world's largest provider of enterprise application software.

During my first week at SAP, I was fortunate to attend a leadership offsite where I met the executive leadership team across SAP and got to learn about our business and product strategies. A week later, I was thrilled to interact with customers and partners at SAP Sapphire, our premier customer and user conference, and see a lot of the product strategies in action.

The heartbeat of SAP is its people, and I got to experience this firsthand as I met with the 1000+ design community across the globe. I will share some of my learnings around design and design practice at SAP in a subsequent article, but today I wanted to share a glimpse into what drew me to SAP in the first place, and what makes me excited about its future. After all, what is life without that wow factor?

1.    Not just empty talk—sustainability really is at the core of SAP’s purpose

Given that our mission is to help the world run better and improve people's lives, the climate crisis is understandably top of mind for SAP. We are showing up with bold commitments to sustainability, including a target of net-zero along the SAP value chain in line with a 1.5°C future in 2030—20 years earlier than originally targeted.

I was excited to learn that we have many things to be proud about here when it comes to sustainability. We have top scores in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) and Carbon Disclosure Project, a Terra Carta Seal, a Sustainability Office and a new Chief Sustainability Officer in place. We are also contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, being transparent in ESG reporting, energy and environmental management, and social responsibility. In addition to pursuing our own targets, we are also encouraging customers to become more sustainable at scale with a portfolio of groundbreaking sustainability solutions such as the SAP Cloud for Sustainable Enterprises, SAP Responsible Design and Production, SAP Product Footprint Management, and more. Unlike many companies in the market, SAP is talking the talk and walking the walk on sustainability, and that’s something to be impressed about.

2.    We’re investing in our diverse workforce, and already seeing the results

Employees are the core of SAP’s success, and we take commitment to the well-being of our people seriously. Our employee engagement index is at 83%, with 79% of SAP employees also holding SAP shares. Thanks to our ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion, SAP was ranked 9 out of 400 on Forbes’ annual ranking of America’s Best Employers for Women in 2022. This ranking is based on employee feedback on criteria such as working conditions, diversity, and how likely they’d be to recommend their employer to others. We also have a thriving Autism at Work program across 17 countries, and actively foster workplace and product inclusive practices.

3.    We’re product leaders across industries

When it comes to our product portfolio, it feels great to be leaders across the board. SAP Ariba was rated #1 by Supply Chain Digital on their top 10 list of procurement software providers driving innovation and affirmed as the market share leader in the procurement application space in the recently published IDC Worldwide Procurement Applications Market Shares report. SAP Concur was named a top-rated expense management software by TrustRadius based on user feedback. IDC also named SAP SuccessFactors as a leader in the MarketScape for Worldwide Modern Talent Acquisition. SAP S/4HANA Cloud was named a leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Cloud ERP for Service-Centric Enterprises. It was also named a leader in the new IDC MarketScape for U.S. BI and Analytics platforms, as well as a leader in the 2022 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Commerce for the eighth consecutive year—the only vendor to remain in the leader's quadrant for the entire lifespan of this Magic Quadrant. There is a lot to be proud about and build upon, especially with stellar product leaders such as Muhammad Alam, Meg Bear, Dr. Philipp Herzig, Ritu Bhargava, Jan Gilg, Irfan Khan, and many more.

4.    Our innovative leadership curriculum is paving the way for emerging talents

I recently learned about a new multi-dimensional, six-month immersive program from the SAP Engineering Academy led by Ferose V R in a state-of-the-art location in the Bay Area. The Academy empowers SAP’s global engineering workforce to be future-ready and contribute to a better world using the transformative power of technology, business, and humanities. This dynamic leadership program was recently profiled by Harvard Business Review for a case study on effectively teaching soft skills, such as empathy and anti-cynicism. I cannot wait to partner with Ferose and introduce immersive Design programs to the academy as well.

I’m also excited about a new technical rotational program called SAP Next Talent (SNT) in the US West Coast offices under the executive sponsorship of Anamarie Huerta Franc, where recent graduate developers, data scientists, and designers are hired to participate in an 18-month program, rotating across various business, industry, and technology teams. This is a great approach to hire, nurture, and build the next generation of makers and leaders.

5.    Innovation is part of SAP’s DNA

SAP is made up of innovators and has a strong framework for co-innovation with customers, entrepreneurs, and even our own workforce thanks to programs such as SAP.io and SAP Ventures. There are also great examples of thought leadership and strategic foresight, like the Carbon Data Network from the SAP Innovation Center Network, which combines the diligence and foresight of research with the speed and ambition of a startup with emerging technologies.

The great folks across the 22 SAP AppHaus locations with award-winning process frameworks and tools are also a testament to how we are enabling a mature co-creation and co-innovation practice with customers and partners based on concrete business problems.

When it comes to product innovation across SAP, there are so many things to be excited about, it’s hard not to leave things out. Let’s start with emerging technology—many enterprise companies have attempted, or are looking into, the effective use of augmented reality and robotics but have often failed at striking the right balance between user needs, context of use, and the sweet spot of technology. SAP is taking a serious leap forward with next-level warehouse automation and an expanded partnership with Apple, helping improve supply chain performance through SAP Warehouse Robotics. SAP’s native mobile experience is also paving the way for our users to achieve a more inclusive, efficient, sustainable, and intelligent way of working from anywhere. And finally, last but definitely not least, did you know Coldplay’s “Music of The Spheres World Tour” mobile app was developed by SAP using SAP technology? You won’t want to miss this impressive and immersive mobile app experience.  

So there you have it, my 5 big first impressions about SAP as an incoming leader. For some, 100 days may feel like a long time, but there is still so much left to learn about this company which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. As I look into what the next few months, and years will bring, I am honored and excited that the SAP Board members Christian Klein, Thomas Saueressig, Julia White, Scott Russell, Sabine Bendiek, Luka Mucic, Juergen Mueller have entrusted and empowered me to be a part of this journey, and are partnering with me to pave the way forward with human centered experiences and innovations.

#sap #sapdesign #futureofbusiness #lifeatsap #design

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Arin Bhowmick (@arinbhowmick) is Chief Design Officer at SAP, based in San Francisco, California. The above article is personal and does not necessarily represent SAP’s positions, strategies or opinions.