The inspiration for Business Suite 7
A different germ for change
Earlier today, at the Business Suite 7 (BS7) announcement, I speculated that SAP took some great performance and enhancement technology from its Business ByDesign (BBD) product line and related architecture and incorporated those into the new BS7 suite.
In a meeting with some of the Enterprise Irregulars, Leo Apotheker, Co-CEO of SAP AG, corrected this perception. SAP’s inspiration for shortening enhancement and upgrade timeframes and associated costs came from interviews with ‘hundreds and thousands of Enterprise customers’. SAP determined that Enhancement Packs and a Solution Manager would be the key to more rapidly rolling out new capabilities faster and cheaper.
An earlier meeting with a global CIO confirmed the much shortened timeframes and costs possible with these new BS7 capabilities. This CIO verified that 1-3 month timeframes for new enhancement rollouts are indeed possible. Some functions though (e.g., data conversion, data quality, change management, etc.) may drag out rollout timeframes.
Leo did indicate that more news on BBD would be forthcoming later this year.