Working with SAP customers on the cloud has been a rich
learning and myth busting experience in many ways. Contrary to popular belief, a number of SAP
customers do have a strong affinity for deploying solutions via the cloud. So what are the insights from our first set
of cloud customers?
1. Cloud is relevant and top of the mind for SAP
customers
Many of them already use other solutions such as Salesforce,
Workday, Successfactors, etc. and integrate these SAAS / cloud solutions to
their SAP systems in a number of ways. A
cloud based delivery of the mobile platform struck a chord with many of
the CIO/CTO and IT heads that we spoke to.
It is also a known fact that on-premise or hosted data centers running
the dedicated SAP instances need to co-exist with the cloud based platforms /
solutions. A flexible approach to cloud
deployment without disrupting existing landscapes is what customers want.
2. Security
Data security is of paramount importance to all customers. Business data is being
unlocked and the safe guarding of that data while it is put to innovative
usages needs to be the bedrock of any cloud platform. The heads of IT recognize that email on
mobile is already putting sensitive data on the device and data from business
systems like SAP is not new, but only enhancing the amount of data on the
device. Also MDM solutions complement
the security needs of the mobile platforms.
Security in the mobile context can be: Data on the cloud,
data in transit and data on the device.
The mobile platform does not need to replicate the data from
customer systems to the cloud. Data is
held on the cloud in encrypted form only for as long as it is required to be
delivered safely to the device. Data in
transit is secured via standard HTTPS/SSL and data on the device is stored in
encrypted databases.
3. Time to deploy, rapid change
Companies want to deploy mobile solutions rapidly and they don’t
want to wait. Reasons are many but the
primary one is that deployments on mobile devices are in response (or to preempt) to
business demands (like approvals on the Go, sales order creation etc) and are
time sensitive. In many cases, deploying
the solution a few months later means reduced business relevance. So solutions need to be rapidly deployed and
be adaptable to rapid changes requested by business users.
4. ROI matters, no more POCs
Good old fashioned ROI still matters. Customers are hesitant
to make huge investments into POCs with limited production relevance. Customers
want quick and free trials with their own SAP systems and mobile devices
eliminating the POCs. After the trial, customers are more interested in
iterative roll out of mobile processes and investing in shorter bursts as and
when required. Customers want to see
bang for the buck quickly as unlike investments in SAP and other systems
wherein the investment is depreciated over 10 to 15 years. Mobile investments
are for much shorter periods of 2 to 3 years.
BYOD phenomenon, short device life and mobile manufacturer / telco
driven periodic device refresh have driven the shorter shelf life in the mobile
investments.
5. Pay as you go / scale as you go
This is a preference for many customers. Rarely do we find that customers want to go for a big
bang deployment of mobile solutions.
Additional deployments, requiring purchasing of (expensive) additional
users, are a dampener for larger mobile adoption. Also significant churn in employees’ headcount
due to challenging business circumstances means customers want to not just buy
additional users but also return users.
This new trend / requirement of return of users is done much easier in a cloud environment.
Author: Srini Subramanian, Chief Technology Officer at Unvired, Inc. srinivasan.subramanian@unvired.com
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Kevin Benedict, Mobile Industry Analyst, Mobile Strategy Consultant and SAP Mentor Alumnus
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Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility analyst, consultant and blogger. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.
