SAP’s Bill McDermott: We Can’t Let Complexity Win!
TAKE NOTE(Insights into SAP solutions and EmergingTechnology)
At SAP’s SAPPHIRE NOW event in Orlando, Florida, SAP CEO Bill McDermott introduced a bold, new SAP to more than 25,000 in-person and 250,000 virtual attendees during his opening keynote. With a new mantra of “Run Simple,” SAP now has its sights set on eliminating “complexity sprawl” that has crept into the world’s IT and business processes
“SAP has a bold vision for the future of Business,” said McDermott. “A simpler world, simpler SAP and simpler customer experience.”
McDermott was quick to recognize naysayers who might claim SAP can’t possibly back the “Run Simple” claim because SAP itself is too complex. “That’s why there is a huge chip on my shoulder and on the shoulders on 67,000 employees,” said McDermott. “We can and we will fight complexity. We have been solving the most complex business problems for past 40 years.”
McDermott said complexity has bothered him since the early days of his corporate career. He highlighted to SAPPHIRE NOW attendees a few different studies that indicate complexity is only getting worse. “Maybe it’s just insidious and invisible but none of us can deny it’s everywhere.”
How does a company create 20 layers of complex management structures? McDermott believes managers create a lot of complexity. Every time a new product is introduced or acquisition brought into the fold a new layer is created, forcing companies into a “whack-a-mole” mentality when trying to manage all of the layers. “A big company should not be structured like an onion and it shouldn’t make you cry when you peel back each layer,” said McDermott.
McDermott ascertains that digital native consumers want their work processes to be just as user friendly as their consumer processes. If that’s the case, why is it harder to engage with employees than friends? Why is it harder to order a tablet at work than at home? Hasn’t decision making become too complex? “From PowerPoint slides to excel spread sheets and endless meetings that lead to nothing, how many of you want to stop playing office?” asked McDermott.
McDermott said the amount of data is doubling every day and expected to reach a staggering 40 zettabytes (40 trillion gigabytes) by 2020. Sprawling IT environments means valuable insight is trapped in silos; 72% goes to maintenance that doesn’t move the needle leaving less for innovation. “We can’t continue like this, we cant let complexity win.”
SAP customers Conagra and Nespresso aren’t letting complexity win. Conagra manages more than 100 different brands and uses SAP to remove complex layers and enable fast decision-making and real-time pricing on SAP HANA. As a result, Conagra saved millions, improved customer satisfaction and is growing faster than its competitors. Nespresso is also embracing the simple side. With hybris and SAP cloud, Nespresso is creating beautiful” mobile apps that are simple and intuitive, according to McDermott.
“We believe the future is not what you get from customers, but what you give to them.”
This story, “SAP CEO Bill McDermott: “We Can’t Let Complexity Win” was originally published at FORBES
UNDER DEVELOPMENT(Information for ABAP Developers)
Last month we examined the Code Inspector Framework, which should have given you a good foundation on the components of a Code Inspector inspection process. Lets look then this month on using the Code Inspector day to day to help us write better code.
This blog will focus on the code inspector prior to EhP2 for SAP NetWeaver 7.0 support package stack 12 (SAP Basis 7.02, SAP Kernel 7.20) and EhP3 for SAP NetWeaver 7.0 support package stack 5 (SAP Basis 7.31, SAP Kernel 7.20). The reason I bring this to your attention is because after the above, we now have a NEW solution for quality management called the ABAP TEST COCKPIT. The ABAP Test Cockpit is a new ABAP check toolset which allows you to run static checks and unit tests for your ABAP programs. In order to ensure a smooth migration and comparable check results throughout your company, the ABAP Test Cockpit is compatible with SAP’s Code Inspector. This means you can reuse your custom Code Inspector checks and variants in the ABAP Test Cockpit.
Back to our Blog…..
When you are working on a program, function module, or class, you typically call the ABAP Syntax Check directly from the editor iteratively as we code. But wouldn’t it also be nice to have the performance or security checks of the Code Inspector at your disposal while coding? As of Web AS 6.10, you can call the Code Inspector for the object you are working on from the menu of the ABAP Workbench (SE80), the ABAP Editor (SE38), the Function Builder (SE37), or the Class Builder (SE24). When called from these workbench transactions, the Code Inspector automatically applies the DEFAULT check variant to the examined objects and the inspection results are not persisted.
Q&A (Post your questions to Facebook or Twitter and get your Questions answered)
Q. I would like to rename a method of a Global class. I am concerned that by just renaming it, I won’t take into consideration all of the method calls pointing to this method and will of course cause many errors. Instead of guessing and searching all of the places where the name may appear, is there a simpler way to handle this?
A. OK, good question. Instead of guessing and searching all of the places where the name may appear, you can use theRefactoring Assistant to rename the method consistently in all places it’s used.
The Refactoring Assistant can be used for classes only in the source code-based Class Builder. You can switch to the source code-based Class Builder using the Source Code-Based button on the toolbar when you open the global class in the Class Builder. First, open the source code of the class in the Class Builder using Transaction SE24 to start the refactoring process. Then, position the cursor on the method definition that you want to rename, and start the Refactoring Assistant by choosing Refactoring => Rename as shown below.
The refactoring wizard opens, and you can step through the wizard using the Continue button. Type the new name for the method in the second step as shown below, and click the Continue button.
Now the method name is updated in the source code and also in all programs that use it after you finish the wizard. You can open the preview screen to see the list of changed objects by right-clicking at any place in the editor and selecting Refactoring => Display Overview from the context menu. The preview window appears, and you can navigate through the list to see the changes in the objects.