At SAPPHIRE Now Madrid, Vincent Santacroce of Poste Italiane stopped by the JD-OD studio to talk  about how Poste Itialiane was able use SAP’s mobile platform  to rollout out a last mile solution to postal workers in Italy.

As can be expected, there was some natural resistance to new technology from mail workers – Santacroce explains how that was overcome through close collaboration, and involving them in the rollout process.  He discusses how the 500 person pilot was eventually rolled out to 12,000 postal workers (and counting).

In any project of this magnitude there has to be an ROI. Santacroce was able to provide both “soft” and “hard” metrics, from increased job satisfaction to a 15 percent increase in first time delivery rates.  Santacroce also discusses Afaria ‘s capabilities and how it matched up with Poste Italiane’s requirements.

Show notes

0:30 Rollout strategy with postal workers

1:02 How did the postal workers respond?

1:51 From pilot to broader business case

2:40 Mobile impact on the daily lives of postal workers

3.33 Measuring the benefits on the ground – 15% improvement on mail delivery

4:48 How Afaria meets device management platform needs

In 2012, Hillarys Blinds made the move from Windows Mobile to SAP mobility and Android solutions. At SAPPHIRE Now Madrid, Julian Bond, chief communications and technology officer at Hillarys Blinds, dropped by the JD-OD studio to give us the inside view on what happened.

Bond discusses the phasing out of Windows Mobile and how, despite encountering a steep learning curve, the changeover to developing an in-house Android app has provided a strong platform for future development.

Developing in-house was a priority for Hillarys Blinds. Bonds explains how they identified internal mobile requirements and built on the SUP platform. Neglecting users in development is always a danger;  Bond shares the lessons learned.

Show notes

0:45 Hillarys Blinds’ mobility efforts date back to 2004

1:07 The motivations behind the new Android app

2:20 Feedback from the field on the new app

2:50 Challenges faced when developing for the Android platform

3:18 Security and device management issues

4:08 Advice for customers in the prototyping stage

Vaillant has been using SAP BW on HANA for about 6 months now and the results have been interesting to say the least. On the last day of SAPPHIRE NOW Madrid, we sat down with Mamun Natour, Head of SAP BI for Vaillant, and got his view of BW on HANA after go-live.

This was our most significant HANA customer interview to date for two reasons: Natour has had time to run the post-go-live numbers and truly assess the value. Also: this was the first BW on HANA customer story we have done where the BW on HANA system is running not in parallel, but as THE go-to BW system.

Some of the noteworthy figures he shared with us: from 12 servers to 3, from 35 hours to just 1 hour of report processing time, and 80 million euros to the good. Listen in on our conversation with to find out just what these numbers mean and how they were able to achieve them. We also got Natour to give his views on ERP on HANA, surely to be a big topic of SAP market conversation in 2013.

Show Notes

:42 Working with SAP BW on HANA – Has it delivered?

2:11 Key differences include simplified structure and easier administration

3:04 Infrastructure benefits: From 12 to 3 servers

3:38 Better analytics and reporting: From 2 days to 1 hour

4:47 Reducing working capital by millions

5:19 Would Natour recommend HANA to other potential users?

6:14 Thoughts on ERP on HANA – Does he see Valliant using it down the road?

It’s always worthwhile to talk to a customer that has gone live on new SAP products, in this case SAP Sales OnDemand. Even better when that customer can articulate why the product stood out and how the value was actually measured. We got both in this interview with Rolf Schumann, General Manager, Rieber.

While talking with Jon about Sales OnDemand versus other CRM tools, Schumann gets into some very interesting issues regarding CRM user adoption. For Schumann, ease of use trumps perfect functionality every time. He provides examples on how Rieber measured higher level of adoption and productivity by the sales team after go-live.

Show Notes

.56 Rieber’s business model: kitchen infrastructure

1.26 Rieber needs CRM tools that salespeople actually like to use

2.13 Why Rieber chose SAP Sales OnDemand

3.40 Easy adoption matters more than functionality

5.55 The actual value gained by adopting Sales OnDemand

7.20 What are the right measures for CRM success?

To get a customer view on enterprise mobility, we sat down with Tito Toivala of Sonera at SAPPHIRE Now Madrid. After Jon valiantly gets through some tricky pronunciations in the introduction, the guys dig into how Sonera’s telecommunications background has given the company an early start on mobility.

Tito talks about Sonera’s recent mobile projects and how they have measured the results in terms of increased productivity and end user adoption.  Tito advises SAP customers looking to get started with SAP mobility to identify processes that involve speed, huge transactions and broad employee needs. No conference interview would be complete without some banter, so Jon gets Tito to share his outlook for Windows 8 mobile.

Show Notes

0.43 Telia Sonera’s telecomm experience – a mobile advantage

1.28 Recent SAP mobile projects

2.15 How mobile apps improved business results

3.03 End user productivity – survey results

4.45 Advice to other SAP customers: start mobile small but “roll it out big”

7.05 Will windows 8 be successful?

When SAP acquired Sybase, one of the open questions was what would become of the active Sybase user group. To get a gut check on this, Dennis sat down in Las Vegas with Mike Harrold, Executive Director of the International sybase User Group (ISUG), Yakov Werde of eLearnIT. Werde, recently named an SAP Mentor, has been heavily involved in the PowerBuilder community and has been advocating for integration of PowerBuilder into the HANA and NetWeaver platforms.

Show Notes

1:10 Mikes’ reactions as a Sybase user at TechEd

2:36 Why PowerBuilder matters

4:50 How SAP is incorporating PowerBuilder into NetWeaver and HANA

6:40 Last words – what Sybase community members want from SAP

Graham Robinson and Josh Fletcher hoofed it all the way from Australia to attend SAP TechEd Las Vegas. Who better to offer an opinionated take on the show than these two guys? Dennis got them on the JD-OD interview set and here’s what he learned.

Show Notes

:45 Partying late at TechEd can be worse than jetlag

2:45 Graham’s first reactions – SAP’s new emphasis on UI

4:10 Keynote reactions and developer engagement: still a ways to go

5:19 Graham’s #1 concern for fellow ABAPpers

7:15 Josh’s reactions – Sybase, HANA, and combining database assets into the “real-time platform”

8:50 SAP’s BI tools – transparency on latest tools and development plans is a must

9:22 Final takeaways

18 months into the launch of ASUGnews.com, JD-OD talks with Courtney Bjorlin and Thomas Wailgum about their views on SAP and the SAP TechEd Las Vegas event. Since TechEd is full of happy technology talk, Jon asks Courtney and Thomas to dish on what SAP customers really think about HANA, NetWeaver, Cloud, and whatever else SAP is currently showcasing on the TechEd stage.

Show Notes

:43 Just how independent is ASUGnews.com?

1:43 What feedback do Thomas and Courtney get from ASUG members about HANA?

3:10 Putting SAP to the “customer sense test”

4:20 Why is Thomas obsessed with integration? Isn’t cloud sexy enough without digging into the plumbing?

6:22 Highlights from Las Vegas

Grabbing an impromptu time prior to Vishal Sikka’s closing keynote at the end of Sapphire Now Madrid, the JD-OD team shot a series of event wrap shoots with a changing cast of characters. What we have here are some edited highlights from the live stream, including Dennis Howlett’s first appearance on the live shoots.

In the first video (above), Jon talks to Leonardo De Araujo, Mrinal Wadhwa, and Dick Hirsch on SAP’s cloud strategy. Dick had a meeting to scoot off to so we dug into his reactions during the first shoot.

The next shoot subtracted Dick Hirsch and added Dennis Howlett. Dennis kicked it off with a view on SAP’s biggest problems and we moved into some additional ByDesign/cloud discussions:

Next up was a focus on HANA and the potential conflicts between the “HANA as database” and “HANA as platforom” strategies:

Finally, a quick look at one of the under-reported (but most hotly debated) issues at the show: what is SAP doing about its UI strategy, and will it be enough to drive user adoption in an era where user expectations on UI are going drastically higher?

And that’s the wrap from Sapphire Now Madrid. We plan to bring our Tricaster to future shows for more live streaming action, so look out.

One of the standout videos from JD-OD Sapphire Now Madrid was this freewheeling debate on SAP’s cloud strategy with analysts Brian Sommer and Esteban Kolsky. This recording was live streamed at the end of Wednesday, November 14 (AKA “strike day”).

Due to the strike, there were no keynotes on Wednesday morning. This discussion took place with one day (and one keynote) still to be heard. Brian and Esteban are never short of strong opinions and they uttered quite a few of them on this shoot.

For the day two wrap, Dennis was behind the controls and Jon on the set with Harald Reiter, Mrinal Wadhwa and Graham Robinson. With these strong personalities you know it was going to be an entertaining shoot. Here’s the edited version of the day 2 live stream.

Because it was strike day, there wasn’t a major event or keynote on Wednesday, November 14. But, the guys sounded off on meetings they attended involving SAP UI strategy and Business Suite on HANA. They also try to make sense of the confusing “SAP 360″ announcements. HANA startup talk and XS is also explored.

For Sapphire Now Madrid, JD-OD did live streamed daily wraps for each day of the conference. The recordings of these wraps have been posted on JD-OD in edited format. At the end of day one (Tuesday, November 12). Dennis was battling a nasty head cold and was behind the Tricaster controls (though he did make an appearance on the final conference wrap shoots Thursday).

For this taping, Jon was joined by JD-OD stalwart Harald Reiter, as well as Dick Hirsch and James Appleby. That’s right – James Appleby – John’s more mature older brother (sorry John, couldn’t resist) and the CEO of Bluefin Solutions.

During the shoot, the guys break down the McDermott and Snabe keynotes and kick around the questions they want answered during the week.

In what has become a SAPPHIRE Now tradition, Jon and Dick Hirsch commandeered an empty meeting room the day after the event. The goal? Make sense of SAP’s cloud direction.  The guys dig into SAP Business ByDesign and why partners at the show had serious questions.  Hirsch explains what he took from the event and what he thinks customers need to know from SAP about cloud going into TechEd season.

Editor’s note: this video was filmed several days prior to the news of SAP’s Ariba acquisition bid.

Show Notes

:44 Cloud messaging versus HANA messaging – do the two connect?

1:52 Dissecting the future of Business ByDesign

2:52 Why ByD “process integration” seems to be giving way to individual products

3:59 SAP’s  cloud direction: are apps winning out over PaaS?

4:52 Cloud integration is not trivial

5:31  Does cloud matter to SAP or is it “all HANA all the time”

6:49 Lars’ view of “loosely couple” versus cloud integration

7:25 Will SAP’s partners play a role in app development and integration?

8:28 Future of the NetWeaver Cloud

9:26 What do SAP’s customers need to hear next?

“Free SAP HANA developer licenses” – it’s a headline-worthy phrase. But what are the specifics? And what does SAP have to do next to make it easier for individuals (and partners) to develop apps? At SAPPHIRE Now 2012, the JD-OD team dug into those issues with Bernd-Uwe Pagel, SAP SVP, on-demand ecosystem.

Pagel confirms the key news (developers own their own IP, click-through licenses) but also expands upon how the model will work for trials, individual licenses, and a 2K Euro per year partner program – using mobile development as an example. Pagel also gives Jon a status on SAP apps store(s), and updates on plans for a unified online storefront.

Editor’s note: individual developers can get more info on building apps at developers.sap.com. Pagel also refers to the mobile development partner page, which is: sapmobileappspartnercenter.com.

Show Notes

:53 Free SAP developer licenses for HANA – IP issues resolved

1:53 Why SAP leadership changed the company’s risk profile to make this happen

2:37 Explaining the three tiers of involvement (trial, license, partner) – the mobile example

4:14 Is 2K Euros per year a fair price for mobile development partners?

4:37 What does SAP have to do next?

6:10 Pagel’s advice for individual SAP developers

7:05 An update on SAP’s online apps store offerings

SAPPHIRE Now may be a business-focused event, but the biggest news story might have been the free HANA developer licenses. For more background on the news, the JD-OD team caught up with Aiaz Kazi, Craig Cmehil, Juergen Schmerder and Thomas Grassl in two separate video shoots. In the Aiaz Kazi shoot (embedded above), Jon and John Appleby get the nutshell view on what these announcements mean for SAP developers. In the second shoot, Jon has a longer discussion with Craig, Juergen and Thomas that gives more context to the announcements and also covers what’s coming next for cloud, mobile and Gateway developers.

Editor’s note: developers interested in getting started should check out developers.sap.com

Show Notes, Video #1

 :30 HANA on the Amazon cloud – licenses are free, developers pay only Amazon

1:17 How easy it the sign up process for developers – really?

2:35 Developers matter in today’s IT:  “We’re going back to our developer roots”

Video #2:  More developer news and context

Show Notes, Video #2:

:30 Why does developer engagement matter to SAP now more than it has in the past?

1:50 How did the free HANA developer licenses come about?

2:40 “Low cost to develop HANA applications”

4:05 IP and liability issues – “solved”

5:20 What’s next? CodeJam

7:15 The CodeJam Tel Aviv event – engaging non-SAP developers with Gateway

8:00 What’s next with mobility, cloud, and Gateway