The Best-Run Businesses Run SAP

On October 2, 2011, Larry Ellison announced the latest in his “Exa” parade, called Oracle Exalytics. Here is my take on the announcement and why it is nothing more than the proverbial “old wine in new wineskins” (actually, very expensive hardware wineskins):

First, some context. In September 2010, during the Oracle earnings call, it was stated that SAP’s move into building an in-memory database (SAP HANA) was SAP’s biggest mistake, and Oracle vowed it would beat SAP to market with an in-memory database appliance. SAP was first to market in November 2010, shipping SAP HANA, a state-of-the-art, in-memory analytic appliance, with innovative analytic capability to handle today’s “Big Data” problems in real-time. (more…)

In his moving poem “The Layers”, the great American poet Stan Kunitz wrote, “Live in the layers, not on the litter”.  A wise sentiment to help drive the renewal of enterprise landscapes, especially at a time when we keep seeing re-assembly and re-packaging of existing layers into new bundles, that seem to promise lower-cost integrated systems, but in fact add to the clutter that already exists in enterprise landscapes, at a time when we must, and we can, help enterprises achieve massive simplification, renewal, and true real-time performance and scale, without disruption.

Over the last 24 hours, many many of you have asked me to comment on Exalytics. (more…)

SAP today announced two new solutions built on SAP HANA, the company’s in-memory computing platform. SAP Smart Meter Analytics software powered by SAP HANA and SAP COPA Accelerator software were developed by SAP product and design teams working in close collaboration with customers, using design-thinking principles. Read the press release.

SAP today announced that Nongfu Spring Co., Ltd., the largest  producer of bottled water in China, has deployed the SAP HANA platform to solve its big data challenges. On August 20, 2011, Nongfu Spring successfully went live on the largest customer implementation of SAP HANA in China. The company joins the growing list of customers that have recently purchased or are in the process of implementing SAP HANA.

• Read the press release.
• Watch a video on Nongfu Spring on the Experience SAP HANA community.

SAP today announced the general availability of SAP HANA appliance software to customers globally, heralding a new generation of analytics, business applications and IT simplification with SAP in-memory computing technology. First conceived last spring, SAP HANA was delivered to select customers in November 2010 and today is made generally available as promised. SAP HANA is one of the fastest growing sales pipelines for new products in SAP’s history.

• Read the press release.
• Watch customer testimonial videos.
• Learn more about SAP in-memory computing technology.
• Read a blog post from Bob Evans, “The Top 10 Reasons SAP HANA Is Disrupting Larry Ellison’s Grand Plans.”

SAP today announced the appointment of Dr. Christoph Kollatz to executive vice president, SAP HANA, in the Technology and Innovation Platform Board Area, effective June 6, 2011. His primary focus will be on SAP In-Memory Appliance software (SAP HANA), a breakthrough innovation from SAP. The demand for SAP HANA has rapidly increased since it was first announced just a few months ago.  Kollatz joins to meet this demand and to rapidly scale and drive the widespread adoption and implementation of SAP HANA. Read the press release.

Twenty six years ago Jim Gray defined the “five-minute rule,” which demonstrated that any data that was touched with a frequency of five minutes or less could more cost effectively be stored in memory vs. disk. That was back when main memory cost over $5,000 dollars per GB. Today it is under one penny. (more…)

SAP continues to execute on its vision to deliver a new reality for enterprise software by introducing a new solution based on the foundation of SAP In-Memory Computing technology. The SAP ERP rapid-deployment solution for operational reporting with SAP In-Memory Appliance software (SAP HANA) will provide companies with a real-time view of key insights from the enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution. Read the newsbyte.

Just one year after heralding the breakthrough potential of in-memory computing, SAP today reveals some of the pioneering customer successes that are driving the technology’s adoption worldwide. Enabling instant access to and analysis of massive amounts of information, SAP In-Memory Computing technology helps companies identify and act on new opportunities, better manage their business networks and develop smarter, more dynamic planning processes. Read the press release.