We’re less than three weeks away from the SAPPHIRE NOW and ASUG Annual Conference, one of the industry’s most innovative cloud and business technology events, so it’s time to plan your agenda.
With three days of programming and over 1,000 sessions, you may not know where to start. As the content strategy lead for the event, I have the pleasure of working with experts from across SAP to build a great program for all our attendees. Here are some of the sessions we’re most looking forward to. Use them as a preview, and start planning using the full session catalog.
If it’s your first time at SAPPHIRE NOW…
Top pick: First-Timers at SAPPHIRE NOW MeetUp
Save it to your agenda
- When: Tuesday, June 5, 11:00 a.m. – 11:40 a.m.
- Where: SAP MeetUp Spot
The general session keynotes are a can’t-miss. Following SAP CEO Bill McDermott’s keynote on Tuesday, stop by the SAP MeetUp Spot for an overview of the event and a chance to ask us any burning questions.
If you have 20 minutes to understand SAP’s vision of next-generation ERP…
Top pick: Explore the Real Advantages of a Public Cloud ERP Like SAP S/4HANA Cloud
Save it to your agenda
- Speaker: Franck Cohen, President, Cloud ERP
- When: Wednesday, June 6, 12:30 p.m. – 12:50 p.m.
- Where: Best-Run Theater
As one of the pioneers of ERP, we hold ourselves to high standards when it comes to building the most intelligent digital core. Attend this keynote to see how SAP S/4HANA Cloud makes next-gen business processes possible.
If you need to figure out what to do with blockchain…
Top pick: Create Business Processes of the Future for Your Intelligent Enterprise
Save it to your agenda
- Speaker: Artiona Bogo, Blockchain Business Development Manager
- When: Wednesday, June 6, 2:00 p.m. – 2:40 p.m.
- Where: SAP Leonardo and Future Technologies LE523
Attend this interactive session to learn how to apply design thinking to understand key blockchain value drivers. Hear about cross-industry use cases for SAP Leonardo Blockchain technical capabilities and emerging technologies that drive innovation.
If you want to bring a new way of thinking to your organization…
Top pick: Board the Starship Enterprise Innovation
Save it to your agenda
- Speaker: Ann Rosenberg, SVP, Head of Global SAP Next-Gen, A Purpose-Driven Innovation Community
- When: Tuesday, June 5, 1:00 p.m. – 1:40 p.m.
- Where: SAP Leonardo and Future Technologies LE523
Use science fiction thinking to boldly envision your intelligent enterprise and create disruptive innovation. Picture your intelligent enterprise empowered with machine language, artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, robotics, drones, the IoT, and cloud technology. See a future when the UN Global Goals are realized.
If you need the best data foundation for an intelligent enterprise…
Top Pick: Connect, Govern, and Manage Data Across the Intelligent Enterprise
Save it to your agenda
- Speakers: Greg McStravick, President, Database and Data Management at SAP, and Dan Exley, Technology Evangelist, Healthcare Spatialytics, A CyberTech Company
- When: Tuesday, June 5, 3:00 p.m. – 3:20 p.m.
- Where: Best-Run Theater
Manage transactional and analytics data for everything from tactical data marts to the largest data lakes. Learn how SAP HANA Data Management Suite delivers secure, governed data for the enterprise. Lower lock-in risks and complexity through freedom of movement of data and queries spanning local and multicloud data sources.
If you’re representing a small- or medium-sized business and want to meet other SME leaders…
Top pick: Innovate to Grow and Become a Best-Run SME Business
Save it to your agenda
- Speakers: Rodolpho Cardenuto, President, Global Partner Organization, joined by speakers from Topcon Corp. and Franka Emika GmbH
- When: Tuesday, June 5, 2:00 p.m. – 2:40 p.m.
- Where: Theater District: Theater 3
SAPPHIRE NOW is not just for large enterprises. Stop by this panel and other SME sessions planned for businesses with 1,500 or fewer employees. Following the panel discussion, stop by the Q&A room to meet the panelists and other SME leaders.
If you need to reinvent your front office…
Top pick: Join the Customer Experience Revolution
Save it to your agenda
- Speakers: Alex Atzberger, President, SAP Hybris
- When: Tuesday, June 5th, 1:30 p.m. – 1:50 p.m.
- Where: Best-Run Theater
Explore the changing relationship between customers and brands. Alex is joined by speakers from NetApp, Gigya, and CallidusCloud to share SAP’s vision for transforming marketing, sales, commerce, and service to build trusted brand relationships and innovate next-generation customer experiences. Stop by the Marketing, Sales, and Service MeetUp following Alex’s keynote for casual networking and conversation.
If you need guidance from SAP on how to move to the cloud…
Top pick: Ask the Expert: Move to the Cloud Quickly and Securely
Save it to your agenda
- When: Ongoing
- Where: Expert Bar in the Services and Support Area
Stop by the new Expert Bar in the Services and Support area for direct guidance on how to move to the cloud. Ask the experts during these expert-to-customer group discussion sessions that can be scheduled during show-floor hours.
If you need to make sense of all that data…
Top pick: Make Your End-to-End Data Orchestration Processes More Efficient
Save it to your agenda
- Speakers: Andreas Wesselmann, SVP, Product and Innovation, Big Data
- When: Tuesday, June 5, 1:00 p.m. – 1:20 p.m.
- Where: Platform PL 402
Check out this demo session on SAP Data Hub and learn how to process data where it is located and avoid expensive data movements. Existing data and processes can be managed, shared, and distributed across the enterprise with seamless, unified, and enterprise-ready monitoring and landscape management capabilities.
If you’re interested in how the world’s best software companies run their IT organizations…
Top pick: Stay Nimble for Customers by Becoming an Agile Business in the Cloud
Save it to your agenda
- Speakers: Thomas Saueressig, CIO, SAP,and Mike Taylor, General Manager, Enterprise Application Services at Microsoft
- When: Thursday, June 7, 11:30 a.m. – 11:50 a.m.
- Where: Theater District: Theater 5
Hear two IT leaders discuss how they manage their IT stacks and have helped transform their businesses into agile and digital enterprises using SAP S/4HANA as their digital core.
If you need to recruit top talent and drive diversity and inclusion…
Top pick: Appreciate the Benefits of Neurodiversity
Save it to your agenda
- Speakers: Anka Wittenberg, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at SAP, joined by Megan Paterson of Kinaxis and Mike Waldron of American Airlines
- When: Thursday, June 6, 2:00 p.m. – 2:50 p.m.
- Where: Theater District: Theater 3
Learn how it’s possible to dispel assumptions and inspire change by including people with autism in the workplace. Hear how much SAP, Kinaxis, and American Airlines have learned about themselves and the numerous benefits they have achieved, including customer satisfaction, by doing just that.
If it’s Thursday afternoon and you have time for one more session…
Top pick: Discover How Bayer Is Transforming Clinical Trials with Wearable Technology
Save it to your agenda
- Speakers: Frank Kramer, Director, Biomarker Expert, Cardiovascular Diseases, Bayer AG
- When: Thursday, June 7, 4:00 p.m. – 4:40 p.m.
- Where: Platform PL403
Don’t head back to your hotel room too soon. It doesn’t matter how excited you are to see Justin Timberlake, there’s still time for one more thought-provoking session on how SAP and Bayer are evolving healthcare analytics and research to improve patient care.
I hope this provides some focus as to the depth and breadth of what we have to offer at SAPPHIRE NOW and ASUG Annual conference, as well as help you plan your three days with us in Orlando.
Jon Christman leads content strategy for SAPPHIRE NOW at SAP.
