In an effort to build analyticstools that are faster and more industry specific than ever, SAP AG on Tuesdayunveiled 10 new real-time SAP BusinessObjects-based applications geared towardfinance, consumer products, retail, government, health care andtelecommunications workers.
Speaking at the Fall 2010 DEMOConference in Santa Clara, Calif., SAP co-CEO Bill McDermott laid outhis vision for bringing real-time analytics data to corporate level executivesand line of business managers. The middle managers who have “crunched numbers”and delivered reports back to these executives will soon become obsolete underthe company’s new strategy.
For McDermott, it’s all aboutreal-time data at your fingertips, as he stressed the ability for SAP’s newBusinessObjects apps to get hundreds of millions of records delivered to aniPad or other mobile device in a fraction of a second.
As part of the launch, SAPreleased two risk apps geared toward helping banks manage risk reporting andbudget forecasting, a pair of apps to help health care firms streamlineplanning and ensure quality management, and an on-shelf availability app aimedat retailers.
The company also released appscovering customer analysis and retention for telecom firms, readinessassessment for defence and security companies, planning and consolidation forpublic sector organizations, sales analysis for retail firms, and tradepromotion effectiveness for consumer products organizations.
Keith Costello, executivevice-president and general manager of business analytics solutions at SAP, saidall of the apps will work perfectly in non-SAP shops. “These tools allow us tobring SAP to a whole new set of business users,” he added.
The new industry targeted appswere also designed to be installed quickly and are built with an extensivereference architecture that allows customers to add new reports and features asthey wish.
In addition to the industryverticals SAP has addressed with this first launch, the company promised to expandinto new industries with specialized BusinessObjects apps.
Tom Peck, senior vice-presidentand CIO at Levi Strauss & Co., was excited about the launch and SAP’s intentionto continue developing industry specific analytics tools that operate in realtime.
“Business intelligence is notnew, but the speed of retail is new,” he said. Customers have become very savvyin recent years, Peck said, as many engage in social shopping and mobilecommerce.
“The information they have attheir fingertips is tremendous,” he said. “Our consumers are agile, so we needto be as agile.”
The goal at Levi’s is to shrinkthe data reporting cycle, put that data into the hands of decision makersquickly through mobile devices, and ultimately, make better decisions. The nextbig challenge, Peck said, is for business leaders to get on-board and buy-in tothis new philosophy.
“We need to stop bringingPowerPoint, stop bringing spreadsheets and set a good example at the top,” hesaid.
