All roads lead to Rome

He was at an SAP presentation in Vienna, where SAP Data Hub was presented. But the real problem lies elsewhere: First, SAP Data Hub is not a new product; second, the added value of this product in a functioning infrastructure with NetWeaver XI and MDM has not yet been verified; and third, just a few weeks ago Adobe, Microsoft, and SAP presented yet another new concept for creating Data Hub-like, flexible data processing pipelines.

It may be true that all roads lead to Rome - but it is clear that SAP's existing customers are currently overwhelmed by disruptive innovations.

If you take a cue from Professor Clayton M. Christensen of Harvard Business School and his classic book "The Innovator ́s Dilemma," leading corporations like SAP should keep their hands off disruptive innovations anyway - that's only for startups.

Nevertheless, according to SAP's statement, there is again a new version of the Data Hub, which is supposed to be a "complete solution for orchestrating data processing". Whether this extended path to "Rome", among many others, will really bring the digital transformation forward among SAP's existing customers is doubtful.

It would be helpful to consolidate all Exchange infrastructure and data hub efforts as well as MDM (Master Data Management) solutions. But that is a completely different path that SAP still has to find.