Last updated on July 24th, 2015 at 04:36 pm
The 2015 SAPPHIRE NOW Annual Conference, sponsored by SAP, is in full swing in sunny Orlando, Florida. This event is billed as “the ultimate opportunity to maximize your SAP investment and find solutions to your most pressing business challenges.” It features face-to-face interactions with executives, industry thought leaders and experts, peers, and SAP partners.
Among the hundreds of sessions to take place on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are keynote addresses from SAP executives, including CEO Bill McDermott, who discussed today critical issues facing businesses of all sizes, including how to stay competitive in an age when it’s increasingly uncertain who the competition actually is. McDermott leads SAP’s 74,000 employees and a corporate ecosystem of more than two million people. Under his leadership, SAP unveiled its “Run Simple” strategy, which is designed to help small, medium and large businesses streamline and simplify for success.
On Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. Americas’ SAP Users’ Group CEO Geoff Scott will expound on what he calls the “network effect”— talking, listening and making connections with other people to boost inspiration and innovation. Scott, who has more than 20 years’ experience as a CIO and senior IT leader, led an SAP implementation team of over 100 people for TOMS shoes in 2012.
Scott will be followed by Super Bowl champion, Fox NFL Sunday analyst and Emmy Award-winning television host Michael Strahan, who will talk about making the improbable possible through connected living. Strahan’s journey from NFL Hall of Famer to Emmy winner was certainly improbable, but the connections he made in life allowed him to make the transition.
Top takeaways for #procurement from SAP CPO Marcell Vollmer’s #SAPPHIRENOW session: http://t.co/ghi0on9kuw pic.twitter.com/nVr86XtIwJ
— Ariba (@ariba) May 5, 2015
On Wednesday, “Run Simple” returns to the spotlight as SAP executive board member Bernd Leukert, who leads global development and product delivery, will open the day at 8:30 a.m. by presenting a vision for reimagining the promise at the heart of your business. Leukert, whose responsibilities include applications, cloud, analytics, mobile and database and technology, asserts the need to “get back to what you do best” in the face of ever-changing technology in the digital economy.
The “Run Simple” theme continues Wednesday when Steve Singh, another SAP global managing board member and CEO of Concur, will discuss connecting your business to the world, and the world to your business. How do business networks give you a competitive edge in delivering what you promise to your customers in today’s digital economy? By tapping into the power of networks, says Singh.
Thursday will feature a 10 a.m. keynote address from Professor Hasso Plattner, chairman of SAP’s supervisory board, who will speak about how SAP HANA enables the business of the future. Plattner’s presentation will feature conversations with Mike Crowe, chief information officer at the Colgate-Palmolive Company and Prof. Dr. Christof von Kalle, director of Translation Oncology at the National Center for Tumor Diseases in Heidelberg, Germany.
Additional presentations and educational sessions will occur throughout the week, and networking will take center stage at the ASUG Hub as well as at microforums and networking areas around the convention center. And speaking of center stage, this year’s SAPPHIRE NOW/ASUG conference will feature a live performance by award-winning singer and actress Jennifer Lopez, the first-ever female artist to have a #1 song and #1 movie at the same time.
SAP SAPPHIRE NOW/ASUG 2015 will be held at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, a short 15-minute ride from Orlando International Airport.
Note that SAP is a sponsor of B2B News Network
