Sapphire 2016: Sorry Folks

However, he also believes that there will be existing SAP customers who will continue to use ECC 6.0 very successfully for another ten years.

The future, however, is different: Both SAP Chief Technology Officer Bernd Leukert and Hasso Plattner demonstrated unequivocally in their respective keynotes that all the tools for a successful release upgrade are ready and waiting.

Hasso Plattner had a simulated switch from ERP/ECC 6.0 with modifications and add-ons on AnyDB to S/4 on Hana shown during his keynote.

Of course, there was not time to take a detailed look at the Z-functions written in-house, but the transport was done with almost ready SAP tools, so that a standard change could soon be possible without escalation.

To be fair, Hasso Plattner acknowledged that the process can also be more complex for larger customers with many modifications and add-ons. However, the SAP Supervisory Board Chairman ignored the real challenge:

According to SAP's definition, S/4 is not a legal successor to R/3 or ECC 6.0 and therefore SAP does not guarantee continuation and usability of all functions.

Technically, the SAP compatibility view helps, and as Plattner impressively demonstrated in Orlando, it can work well - but it doesn't have to. Legally, SAP is covered. And yes, 9,000 euros as a one-time flat rate for the conversion of the ECC licenses still have to be transferred to Walldorf.

AnyDB was not an issue in Orlando, although it was difficult to determine whether Oracle, IBM and Microsoft have capitulated to Hana or are just waiting and it is the calm before the storm.

Oracle does not reveal any strategy. From a purely technical point of view, a Hana port to Solaris and Sparc would be possible, for example - IBM has also achieved this for Power together with SAP. Hana on Power (HoP) has meanwhile been released not only for BW, but also for the SAP Business Suite - in other words, a Suite on Hana on Power!

At IBM, there are at least database adaptations for SAP BW - for DB2 Blu, the in-memory computing component of DB2. Microsoft appeared much more relaxed and open at Sapphire, as MS CEO Satya Nadella was on stage together with SAP CEO Bill McDermott.

In the works is a port of the MS SQL server to Linux and deeper integration of Fiori apps and Microsoft's app management.

The most important news is the Hana certification for Microsoft's Cloud Azure. In the meantime, Microsoft no longer seems to have any reservations.

The main thing is that at the end of the day everything is on Azure. Alegri implemented one of the first S/4 Hana projects in the Azure cloud.

The stalemate was clearly evident in Orlando: If the existing SAP customer opts for a Hana platform, the AnyDB provider must let him move in the direction of SAP.

Defensive customers - vis-à-vis SAP - can stay on ECC 6.0 and AnyDB at least until 2025. With the help of SAP partners and AnyDB providers, a successful best-of-breed approach may then be possible - but then the SAP problem of "indirect use" comes into play (NetWeaver Foundation for Third Party Applications).

Hasso Plattner explained it quite unequivocally in Orlando: It's going in the direction of Hana, because that sustainably reduces SAP's maintenance effort.

He emphasized the resulting higher agility, lower testing effort and significantly faster product cycles. This is demanded by customers and exemplified by the competition.

Those familiar with the scene and the financial analysts see a further increase in the contribution margin from Michael Kleinemeier's board division, Service and Support.

Hasso Plattner had only a "sorry folks" for the existing SAP customers who don't want to go down the path toward S/4 and Hana.

About 60 percent of the presentations were dedicated to S/4 and Hana. The rest consisted of visionary and conceptual topics such as Machine Learning, Knowledge Management, Digital Boardroom, Concour integration with MS-Outlook; this was also presented by Bill McDermott and Satya Nadella, but without mentioning Duet.

Bill McDermott's keynote speech didn't really spark off the audience - no wonder, given its two-hour length! By the end, many seats in the hall had already emptied. Bernd Leukert, SAP's Chief Technology Officer, appeared authentic as always.

Plattner was Plattner: without moderation and completely autonomous in interpretation and announcement. If you listened carefully, you could learn a lot that SAP's marketing-trained employees always like to keep quiet about.