Top 5 take-aways from SAP TechEd 2017

SAP TechEd...Boldly go where no enterprise has gone before. 

We had a full team from EPI-USE Labs attending SAP® TechEd this year (along with about 6,000 others) and we all geeked out. Most geeky of all was the Star Trek theme of the SAP TechEd Keynote delivered by Björn Goerke, SAP Chief Technology Officer and President SAP Cloud Platform. Björn kicked off the conference with an inspirational keynote relating the Star Trek theme with the digital transformation journey happening at companies around the world. Captain Kirk (played by Goerke) got right into character, and took the crowd through space focusing on Machine learning, blockchain, digital assistants, neural networks, and IoT. There was a big announcement during the keynote, which is my first takeaway.

Missed the keynote? You can watch the replay here.

1. Big Unveiling: SAP Data Hub
   

   The big announcement was the new SAP Data Hub.  SAP Data Hub is one platform where numerous data sources are integrated into one and can be shared and connected side-by-side, enabling better data governance across the data landscape. It essentially allows you to monitor, organize and connect all of your systems. SAP Data Hub sits on top of SAP HANA®, SAP Vora® and third-party big data sources such as Hadoop® and S3 and can be operated on-premise, in the cloud or in hybrid environments. 
   

    

   Many of our clients struggle with managing all of the data between multiple systems, platforms and data sources. It’s challenging and complex to connect these data sources. I like how Andrew Brust at ZDNet compares public transportation in New York City, and navigating through the NYC subway system and PATH, which connects Manhattan to a few small cities in New Jersey, to navigating multiple data sources across IT landscapes. Integrating and navigating these different paths and arriving at a final destination using subway, trains and paths throughout NYC is complicated, not so different from integrating multiple, complex databases … which is what SAP Data Hub will now streamline.                                                                                                                                                                                     
   
2. SAP and Mendix join forces: SAP to resell Mendix as SAP Cloud Platform Rapid Application Development

   At SAP TechEd, Mendix announced a global reseller agreement with SAP, in which SAP will resell and support the Mendix platform under the name SAP® Cloud Platform Rapid Application Development by Mendix. Through this new partnership, enterprises can build custom applications on their SAP systems much faster than traditional development approaches allow, without a single line of code. It’s now possible for SAP customers to connect to SAP systems and deploy into production in minutes.

   Most companies are struggling to keep pace with new apps. Mendix was chosen because they are a market leader in low-code app development.
   

    

    

   Nolan Ramsey of EPI-USE America, a Mendix partner, explains why someone might want to use Mendix: “Rapid Application Development (RAD) tools like Mendix are on the rise because as businesses begin their journey into digital transformation, they realize that the agility necessary to respond to rapidly changing competition and value perceptions require focused teams that combine business leadership and IT to design and deploy solutions just as rapidly.” In addition, the cost to design, develop, and deploy a custom, in-house Fiori app is much higher than a Mendix app.                                                                                                                                                                               
3. SAP HANA
   

   The big buzz (as usual) was S/4HANA®. Most people are thinking about migrating to SAP HANA or S/4HANA, are in the process of migrating, or are researching what their options are for the future.

   Bhaskar Rapelli, Senior Solutions Architect at EPI-USE Labs, is currently working with one of our clients on an S/4HANA migration and he attended the SAP HANA administration workshop session at SAP TechEd to get the latest news. He said the highlights were the following:

   • SAP will no longer be supporting HANA studio.
   • SAP is only supporting HANA cockpit for HANA administrative activities.
   • The HANA cockpit is separately licensed.
   
   

   There were many sessions in the SAP HANA track, including sessions on day-to-day administration and maintenance, configurations in S/4HANA, S/4HANA migration prep, key lessons from S/4HANA implementation and more.
   
   

   If you’re looking to learn more about S/4HANA, check out this webinar we did recently on SAP S/4HANA and migration strategies you can implement to boost your SAP systems into the future the smart way, ensuring quality and reducing costs. Moving your SAP Business Suite to HANA is already a large and costly project. Cutting-edge technology, built to meet the demands of the modern digital economy, is costly. Can you make a bold step to S/4HANA and still ensure your costs are controlled and your business systems' integrity is maintained? This webinar answers these questions and more.
   
   
4. On-demand and consistent data
   

   We had multiple attendees come to our booth looking for ways to get more consistent and accurate data in their SAP landscape. Some of the common challenges that we heard over and over were reproducing production issues in non-production systems, data refreshes, incomplete test data and data security.
   
   

   Our team was eager to show attendees what we could do with our on-demand data copy solution, DSM Object Sync™, such as cutting production support costs, reducing time spent recreating production issues by 90%, lowering risks and costs associated with support packs and upgrades, and scrambling sensitive data - to name a few.           Here’s our team at the booth.

5. Fun Walk/Run                
   There were nearly 400 participants in this year’s Diane Davis Memorial Fun Walk/Run on Wednesday, September 27th. Shown here is Bhaskar Rapelli who joined in and raised money for this important cause! The National Center for Women & Information Technology is a non-profit community of more than 900 universities, companies, and non-profits working together to increase the meaningful participation of girls and women in computing.

6. Bonus takeaway: Last but not least - the ROVA Selfie Drone

   We gave away 3 ROVA Selfie Drones at our booth. Look at this thing fly!
   
   

   Last day at #SAPTechEd! We still have one more Rova selfie drone to give away, stop by booth 714 to win! pic.twitter.com/bpbOlMamCG

   — EPI-USE Labs (@EPIUSELabs) September 28, 2017

   Don’t miss our EPI-USE Labs team at SAP TechEd in Barcelona, November 14-16, 2017!