Transparency and Communication

You cannot not communicate, said the philosopher and psychoanalyst Paul Watzlawick. Even without words, people communicate with others—whether they want to or not. Paul Watzlawick's theories have radically and profoundly changed our understanding of communication. At SAP's recent press conference announcing the SAP Business Data Cloud and the relaunch of SAP Business Suite, the question of what SAP is attempting to communicate came up again. What happened?

Something has happened again, as the fictional private detective Simon Brenner (Josef Hader) from cult crime novelist Wolf Haas would say. At an unofficial press conference, SAP tried to explain the need for a business data cloud and, in the process, announced a relaunch of the SAP Business Suite, with SAP Head of Communications Monika Schaller trying to explain in a roundabout way that this was of course not a maintenance release of the well-known SAP Business Suite 7 (ERP/ECC 6.0). A nice anecdote by the way: Wolf Haas lives and works in Vienna, where Monika Schaller is also from. However, any similarities in communication and language are purely coincidental. One might suspect similarities with another Austrian cult author: Thomas Bernhard, an Austrian novelist, playwright, poet, and polemicist.

In an average office room with an oversized SAP logo and very red, threatening flower decorations, SAP Executive Board member Muhammad Alam and SAP Head of Communications Monika Schaller met in a good-humored and informal atmosphere, both well-equipped with tablets and a glass of Coke. They were connected via video link: Irfan Khan, Chief Product Officer for SAP Data and Analytics, Philipp Herzig, SAP CTO, Michael Ameling, SAP EVP and Chief Product Officer for SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP), and Jan Gilg, Chief Revenue Officer America and SAP Business Suite.

There have been many revolutionary innovations at SAP. However, each time, a dignified and appropriate setting was chosen—similar to the way Apple currently celebrates important announcements in Palo Alto, California. In the past, SAP also invited journalists and analysts from around the world to the Kodak Theater in New York for important announcements, such as the SAP NetWeaver platform. Everyone knew it was something important!

There have already been many revolutionary innovations at SAP. Each time, however, a worthy and appropriate setting was chosen for the occasion - similar to the way Apple currently celebrates important announcements in Palo Alto, USA. In the past, SAP has also invited journalists and analysts from all over the world to the Kodak Theater in New York for important presentations such as the SAP NetWeaver platform. Everyone knew immediately that this was about something important!

Announcing one of the biggest innovations SAP has ever produced with a livestream from a random office (Christian Klein’s) seems strange and questionable. What is SAP attempting to communicate to analysts and journalists? Is this a secret message from SAP?