Digital platforms — In the fast lane with SAP HANA [Part 3]

As in swimming, there are also a number of internationally successful competitors in the cloud industry. SAP is one of the newcomers here. But what makes the cloud platform from SAP so special? To what extent does SAP differ, especially through »HANA«, from the other cloud providers? After all, SAP HANA is the basis of all cloud products from SAP and THE unique selling proposition among cloud providers.

Clouds on the horizon

In the second part of the new series »Digital Platforms,« we clarified what digital platforms are, how they work, and what you need to consider before introducing your own platform. In the third part, we now want to explain why SAP, with their HANA platform, is up to the challenges of big data and customer engagement.

There was interesting news from the TechEd in Barcelona. At the SAP user conference, innovations for their own cloud platform were presented. Among them, the »SAP Cloud Platform Open Connectors«, which supplements the in-house cloud platform integration and thus enables users to integrate over 150 third-party applications into their business processes. In addition, the head of innovation, Jürgen Müller, joins the board of directors, placing the topic directly at the management level of the German software group.

SAP HANA — The Michael Phelps of databases?

In the second part of the new series »Digital Platforms,« we clarified what digital platforms are, how they work, and what you need to consider before introducing your own platform. In the third part, we now want to explain why SAP, with their HANA platform, is up to the challenges of big data and customer engagement.

There was interesting news from the TechEd in Barcelona. At the SAP user conference, innovations for their own cloud platform were presented. Among them, the »SAP Cloud Platform Open Connectors«, which supplements the in-house cloud platform integration and thus enables users to integrate over 150 third-party applications into their business processes. In addition, the head of innovation, Jürgen Müller, joins the board of directors, placing the topic directly at the management level of the German software group.

Dismantling of data silos with SAP HANA

An extraordinary example of the beneficial use of the SAP HANA platform and the associated dissolution of data silos can be found at the Berlin Charité Hospital.

Usually, health and patient data are only available in an unorderly format. If a decision has to be taken for or against a certain form of therapy, this data can not be used. With SAP, it’s different. The software manufacturer centralises the patient data of more than 15,000 people in the HANA platform. This gives doctors the opportunity to compare patients and their clinical picture, a form of treatment, and treatment success. The insights and coherences gained from this are forward-looking and exemplary for a new form of care. And not just to record medical success, but also economic ones.

Efficient use of therapies also reduces the overall healthcare costs of each patient. But e-health is, as before, a very controversial topic.

In addition to the application example at the Berlin Charité, there are also other use cases from various industries. By using the in-memory database, for example, the retailer Nongfu Spring significantly reduced its transport costs. The transport routes were simply optimised.

Create digital customer relationships

Business-related applications such as ERP, CRM, or even e-commerce solutions can be used on the SAP Cloud Platform. The SAP C/4HANA platform consists of a multitude of different systems covering all imaginable applications in e-commerce. These include marketing, sales, and services. In doing so, the customer becomes the focus of all business processes. As shown in the figure below, the SAP C/4HANA platform includes the SAP Marketing Cloud, the SAP Commerce Cloud, the SAP Service Cloud, the SAP Customer Data Cloud, and the SAP Sales Cloud.

Source: dotSource GmbH

Through the acquisition of Hybris, the Gigya and CallidusCloud solutions are also part of the aforementioned platform. Not to forget the in-house developed AI, Leonardo, and the various business intelligence solutions.

Speaking of platforms

If you would like to know more about trends and developments in digital transformation, you will find answers in the current Handelskraft Trend Book »Moving Towards Digital Excellence«.

From covering digital customer experiences to what is happening in the platform economy, we cover it all. Also in the trend book: Digital Business Facts & Figures – Including but not limited to: Internet usage, consumer behaviour, marketplaces, payment methods, and technologies.

This guide with all the important facts and figures are available here for free to download.