Summary: Executive Briefing

"Challenges and Rewards of Driving Innovation: Taking the Thought Leadership Approach"

TUESDAY, MAY 13, 2003

By Prof. Dr. Lutz Heuser, Vice President and Chief Development Architect, SAP Corporate Research, SAP AG

Click Here to view the presentation .pdf (7.82Mbs)
(Adobe Acrobat Reader is needed to view the documents above)

****************************

In a shifting economy when many enterprises lean towards tried-and-true solutions, business progress is attained through pushing innovation forward, even in a time of uncertainty. Dr. Lutz Heuser's Executive Briefing addressed how to optimize and extend business processes utilizing innovative technologies.

Dr. Heuser, Vice President and Chief Development Architect of SAP Corporate Research, will conduct an Executive Briefing illustrating how processes for IT innovation can be supported by business-driven technology research. His briefing illuminated key areas of research-driven innovation being conducted at SAP worldwide, looking at optimizing existing business processes through, for example, Adaptive Supply Chain Networks and Smart Vending, as well as identifying new business processes arenas which enterprise-level applications can support, such as Homeland Security.

As a producer of IT solutions, to become a trusted innovator you have to identify the right technology along with the most excited early adopters to experiment and place a first product in the market with certainty - all in a timely fashion. Rising to this challenge reaps great rewards: gaining momentum and market share. Dr. Heuser addressed SAP Corporate Research's approaches to these challenges, outlining specific areas of innovation.

As Smart Items business-enabling technologies like RFID and ad hoc sensor networks are gaining momentum, SAP will sponsor a series of briefings and working groups specifically designed to identify and leverage new enterprise business opportunities across industry sectors.

Dr. Heuser will specifically addressed SAP's Smart Vending initiative. The ability to connect machine data sources, better known as Smart Items, to SAP systems is becoming an important topic for SAP customers as the number of devices with the ability to collect and distribute data grows. SAP is embracing the evolution of Smart Items and their information. By allowing SAP customers to incorporate data from diverse sources, customers can optimize existing business processes that improve the bottom line. The SAP Smart Vending initiative is one such example. By collecting and exchanging data with vending machines in the field, customers will be able to reduce logistics costs while promoting sales. Together with its partners, SAP Corporate Research is setting up a vending demo center that allows interested parties to evaluate the ROI opportunities at a minimal risk.

top