First Take - Sapphire 2014 Day 1 Keynote - Top 3 Takeaways

So here are my top 3 takeaways from the keynote – enriched by impressions and answers from the press conference

• Simplicity comes back – The new mantra is all around simplicity. Always a good message as enterprises battle complexities. For SAP (and all enterprise software vendors) it’s not easy to create simplicity, as to make simplicity happen - a lot of complexity needs to be mastered behind the scenes. And when errors are made or leaks happen, that complexity gets exposed and it is never a pretty picture. But let’s give SAP credit for making it the new leitmotiv and watch through the next quarters as the simplicity message materializes. 

• Fiori blossoms without price tag - SAP (finally) turned the corner on the licensing. Barring more details, it sounds like maintenance paying customers will get Fiori for free, customers who have licensed Fiori will get a credit towards future purchases. It’s good to see SAP addressing the issue, which became probably quickly untenable. The question remains how SAP will be able to charge for innovation in the grey areas of integrating existing and new IP assets.

• Ariba gets a boost – The probably most impactful announcement (and the press release is not out) is SAP giving a boost to Ariba with a 30 day free offer to get suppliers on to the Ariba Network. A good move as Ariba is one of the hidden and highest potential assets for SAP and its customers. 

MyPOV – A good start for SAP’s Sapphire conference – though a slow start to the keynote. But then McDermott laid out the challenges for SAP ahead – simplicity. It is good to see that simplicity goes beyond products – but also the simplicity (and ease) to do business with SAP. Now we have to see what happens in the next days and next quarters where and what SAP will deliver and how.