We handed over our work on the gas utility implementation project to the support team on Friday. (There is a follow-up phase in the works). It’s been 18 months, my engagement there! In the mean time – back at the SAP ranch – there has been major new software upgrades and new product offerings of SAP’s business software. So I have a lot to catch up on. Can the old dog learn new tricks? Well, the dog should at least try.
SAP’s business software applications are moving to the cloud*, with a new interface that can be deployed across desktops as well as mobile devices. SAP has an enormous installed base of its business software around the world, and the company is working very hard to make it easier for businesses to migrate their data and applications that reside on-site, on their own infrastructure, into the cloud. The value proposition is that the cost of ownership will be lower, system upgrades will be quicker, cheaper and less painful, and the users will be happier with desktop or mobile ‘apps’ much more tailored to their requirements. And so SAP is encouraging its implementation partners and consultants to get up to speed, by offering training based on the principle of ‘Massive Open Online Courses’ (MOOC). Everything is on-line, and participants look at videos and do exercises, and submit assignments on-line.
*Cloud computing is a general term for several kinds of internet-based computing that provides shared processing resources and data to computers and other devices on demand (from Wikipedia).
P.S. Donald Trump beat Marco Rubio in his home state of Florida by a wide margin, and Rubio dropped out as a result. John Kasich won in his home state of Ohio, keeping his hopes for the nomination alive (barely). The Republican race is now down to three : Trump, John Kasich and Ted Cruz. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton won all five of her primaries over Bernie Sanders, albeit with slim margins in Missouri and in Illinois.