After three years of collaborating virtually, SAP AppHaus Network partners from around the world came together in person at SAP AppHaus Heidelberg in June 2022 to share ideas and best practices and test new innovation methods.
What wine corresponds to which persona? At the SAP AppHaus Network meetup, the partners didn’t just learn about the latest developments in SAP software and innovation, they also learned a thing or two about wine. Coming off an intensive first day, the participants were treated to a special program highlight: a light-hearted wine tasting in which they were able to continue networking in a more informal atmosphere. Here they learned, for example, that the “Spaetburgunder” (pinot noir) best embodied the traits of SAP Business Technology Platform: high quality, reliable, versatile, and scalable.
Developing Innovative Solutions Together
Currently spanning five SAP AppHaus locations and 17 locations run by partners, the SAP AppHaus Network initiative continues to grow worldwide, united by a common goal: to make innovative solutions for SAP Business Technology Platform a reality while keeping the primary focus on the end user. To that end, all SAP AppHaus members follow SAP’s human-centered approach to innovation.
Purely virtual collaboration was the name of the game for most over the last three years, and it was no different for this global network. And although collaboration proved quite successful despite the physical distance, the growing number of members and the need to truly “identify” with the network eventually made meeting in person a necessity. Together, they wanted to work hand in hand on the strategy for the future – true to SAP’s vision to help the world run better and improve people’s lives.
Birgit Fien-Schmalzbauer, global head of SAP AppHaus Network, was overjoyed to welcome delegations from almost all global SAP AppHaus Network members to SAP AppHaus Heidelberg: “We worked very hard in preparing this meetup, developed the content together, and worked on three new workshop formats that were tested by all partners for future rollout to our customers. As a result, we were really able to make the most of these three days with all the participants. Our goal was to create lasting value for the entire SAP AppHaus Network, intensify our relationships, and start new initiatives.”
Teamwork as the Deciding Factor
In her keynote, SAP T&I Chief Operating Officer Anja Schneider gave the attendees a strategy overview of SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) – the technological foundation for the intelligent, sustainable enterprise. “Close collaboration with our partners is crucial to realizing the full potential of SAP BTP and ensuring our customers’ success,” she emphasized before going on to present the concept of repeatable and actionable use cases.
Helping her make the abstract more tangible was wine enthusiast Edda Mann, program manager in SAP’s use case factory initiative. Mann offered every participant a wine tasting and explained, through analogy, why an “Oberkircher Collection O Rosé,” for instance, was the perfect example of a business-relevant use case on SAP BTP. For not only was the wine in question a best seller, it’s also a best adopter! A further highlight of the event was Glenn Gonzalez, CTO, SAP Germany, with his visionary take on SAP’s sustainable solutions and the vital role the company plays when it comes to sustainability in the global context.
Looking back, Andreas Hauser, senior vice president of SAP AppHaus Network, sums up the event: “Thanks to the meetup, our joint work with SAP customers and our global innovation activities with SAP Business Technology Platform have evolved to an entirely new level. Parts of the new workshop formats we evaluated for the areas of sustainability, innovation, and communication have already been incorporated into the publicly available innovation toolkit. And I am particularly pleased that network partners have now entered into some collaboration projects between themselves as well.”
