Articles

UKISUG CONNECT 2021 – S/4HANA, RISE and customer relationships

Despite the travel disruption caused by Storm Arwen and the Omicron variant, it was fantastic to see so many people from across the SAP community come together at UKISUG CONNECT last week. It has been a long and challenging two years. But from listening to many of the customer sessions during the conference it’s clear that organisations haven’t stood still when it comes to their usage of SAP.

Oracle’s move to vertically-focussed sales teams

At the turn of Oracle’s financial year in June, they restructured a large number of their sales teams to be more industry-focussed. This could be because Oracle is already experiencing more success in settings where vertical expertise is important - they are listed at #6 in the Cloud Wars ranking but have reached #3 in Industry Cloud rankings.

RIP Systems Integrators, long live Value Creators!

In a piece from 2019 entitled RIP System Integrators, Paul Esherwood asked the rhetorical question — can systems integrators re-invent themselves as quickly as the technology changes that they put in place for customers of major IT vendors?

Workday vs. ServiceNow: The Big Shift

Every decade there’s a major shift in enterprise software. In the 1970s companies bought integrated financial systems; in the 1980s and 1990s it was ERP; now it’s a wild west of tools for digital customer experiences, digital employee experiences, and AI-enabled automation

Can a new entrant change the game in the experience economy?

Getting the band back together is not always a prudent idea. How many times have we seen legends reform in their twilight years only to undo their previous good work and rewrite their legacy with a failed attempt at making it again?

Fruitful ERP relies on successful automation

In operational real life, SAP users are constantly torn between the need to perform the mundane and time-consuming day-to-day tasks (required just to maintain performance on a highly complex system) and the growing pressure exerted by management to innovate. Most...

The key HR solutions enterprises need to consider

Technology has kept many businesses running throughout the rollercoaster ride that has made up the last 16 or so months. Technology has helped employees stay productive and connected regardless of their working locations.

Oracle’s modernised partner network

Historically ERP vendors sold licences and left their partners to worry about the success, or otherwise, of the implementation thereof. In the old world, when projects took years to complete and value was an immeasurable notion, the relationship between vendor,...

SAP champions the ‘human-centric, data-driven’ workforce

OpenText gets pumped for SAP RISE

Information management company OpenText used its (virtual) engagement at SAP’s Sapphire NOW conference to detail its latest wares. The company’s data management tools are offered as SAP Solution Extensions to complement the RISE with SAP package; they are designed to drive organisations...

ServiceNow to quadruple Dublin footprint

ServiceNow has announced the expansion of its Dublin office where it will create 300 jobs over the next three years as part of its EMEA growth plans.

Red Bull Racing chooses Oracle to accelerate Formula 1 data

Red Bull Racing, the four-time Formula 1 world champion team, has selected Oracle as its official cloud infrastructure partner.

Chris Pope: Digital Workflows

ServiceNow is the digital workflow organisation that has been around for 15 years but has recently seen a huge rise in uptake for its services and has been catapulted into the media headlines following the arrival...

UiPath raises $750m at staggering $35bn valuation

Robotic process automation (RPA) platform UiPath has announced it has closed a $750m series F funding round at a staggering post-money valuation of $35bn...

IBP is key to post COVID supply chains

While organisations need more visibility, modelling and planning than ever before, what are...

It’s no longer a two-horse race

As the post-modern ERP market matures there’s more choice than ever and the opportunities for ERP buyers could not be better. It used to be said that no-one ever got sacked for choosing Oracle or SAP...

What future for on premise?

As a journalist, I find myself at the same crossroads as many CIOs; I know cloud technologies – whether applications or infrastructure – are complete game changers. I understand that AI-infused ERP systems...

All change at SAP and good news for ServiceNow

In a shock announcement Bill McDermott said that he would not be renewing his contract with SAP and would stand down as CEO. Jennifer Morgan and Christian Klein, both SAP executive board members, were appointed as co-CEOs following McDermott’s departure. Morgan is based in the US and comes from a sales background and was previously president for the cloud business while Klein is based in Germany and comes from a product background, previously holding the CTO role.

Angela Mazza Teufer rejoins Oracle to lead ERP business across Europe

Angela Mazza Teufer is Oracle’s beacon for enterprise applications and cloud across Europe. After a long career at rival, SAP, she rejoined Oracle just nine months ago with a mandate to grow the cloud business across Europe. Paul Esherwood spoke exclusively to the new SVP at OpenWorld and posed a series of questions which are reported below...

The future of business is experience

In his first media interview since taking the helm of the UK & Ireland operation, Jens Amail spoke exclusively to ERP Today about life at SAP, its purpose-led mission to create a better world...