ERP systems debuted in the early 70’s with a new software product called Systemanalyse  und Programmentwicklung, or simply SAP.   Since that time, ERP systems continued to evolve and adapt in ways that no one imagined 40 years ago.  Senior leadership in corporations that utilize sophisticated management tools like SAP, will be faced with critical, expensive and potentially life-changing decisions…soon.  Decisions like – should we upgrade, should we add Human Capital Management, should we leverage in-memory computing, or how can we benefit from SAP hosting?  All these decisions will move us closer to a virtual, cybernetic real-world. 

Well CIOs and CEOs can take heart; the big-picture of ERP technology is clearly visible to anyone paying attention.  ERP systems are getting bigger, faster and more intelligent…we know that.  This means that enterprise resource planning systems will be here for a long time, most likely well past 2057, and will continue to play a huge role far into the future.   So, continued investment in ERP systems is not a matter of if, but when and how much will it cost.  

The even better news is that the cost of ERP is likely to be coming down.  According to Jon Reed, an independent analyst and SAP Mentor: 

“outdated pricing models (such as ERP maintenance agreements) and ERP’s slow pace of innovation are going to be two critical areas for the vendor community in the near future.”   

According to an article in CIO Magazine written ‘way’ back in November 2009 called The Future of ERP, Thomas Wailgum talks about the inevitable change in ERP with the advent of cloud computing:

“…as enthusiasm for traditional, on-premise, expensive and complicated software deployments wanes even further, web-based software options hosted in either public or private clouds will become even more attractive for companies big and small that are looking for low costs and easily consumed apps.”

Since we are barreling headlong toward a  ‘brave new virtual world’, maybe it is worth taking a quick moment to reflect on what awakened our drive to use technology in virtually (gotta love that word) everything we do. 

Perhaps the drive began in 1839 when Thomas Edison was able to harness electricity adequately enough to build and illuminate a practical light bulb.   His bulb burned for over 13 hours!   Maybe the technology urge was started by Luigi Galvani who, in the late 1700’s, figured out that you could stimulate a frog’s muscle with a weak electric charge and the muscle would twitch (a Galvanic muscle response).  The very first seed may even have been planted in 1600 when William Gilbert raised interest in a new science he called ‘electrica’ with his experimentation on electricity and magnetism.   That happened 412 years ago!  

Obviously, the trend in technology is to grow and grow and grow…inevitably becoming so strategic, so useful and knowledgeable in fields like financial services, healthcare or manufacturing that we cannot live without it.  In a scholarly paper, Computing for the future of the planet, co-authored by Andy Hopper, University of Cambridge and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, he says:

“Computing provides the opportunity for an unbounded upside. If everyone can shift their activities to a virtual world then there is huge potential for growth and innovation whilst reducing environmental impact.”

That’s the main point! With SAP or any other ERP system, the goal is to virtualize everything and use our physical efforts only when we cannot accomplish the same results in the virtual world…using technology.  With technology as our ally, we don’t have to waste our energy (physical, emotional or mental) on things that can be done better, faster and cheaper by a computer.  

So let us turn our attention to SAP and look at some scenarios of how our world, using ERP systems, is being transformed into a virtual landscape.  

Currently SAP is positioned as the backbone for all computing applications within a given organization, whether those applications are SAP branded or non-SAP applications.  Any software that ‘bolts on’, integrates with or leverages core SAP modules could become a node or spur connecting to a vast SAP backbone.   If this trend continues, it is possible that we will see a single instance of SAP for a single organization, no matter how large or complex that organization might be.  This single instance could, in theory, run every system within the organization and even within the entire supply chain of that organization.  To further boggle our imaginations, this single instance could even be an SAP cloud. We certainly aren’t there yet, but SAP is positioned to support this scenario when the time is right.   This same scenario applies to any large ERP system, such as Oracle, JD Edwards, etc.  

To move ahead a few more small steps, the trend in ERP is evolving towards mobile computing.  The idea of sitting at a desk and operating a computer, even a small laptop, is becoming old school (many will say it is already old school).   To conduct business in a virtual world, the dream is to perform any function, anywhere in the universe, no matter what time of day, or what else you might be doing at that moment; and to perform that function at the highest possible level.  Oh yes, when you do whatever it is you want to do virtually, it will be done…immediately.   

Although it seems as if we are always standing right at the pinnacle of the technology curve, truth is each one of us is simply climbing up a fascinating and picturesque technological mountainside with the summit still much above our heads…in the clouds. 

John has been in the field of Information Technology since 1981when he co-founded one of the first PC-based software development and consulting companies in the Midwest.  Since then, John has been involved with technology in various capacities as a senior consultant, project manager, sales person, business development manager, and a vice president.   John is currently the Southeast SAP Sales Director for Secure-24 and has been in this capacity with Secure-24 since 2009.  

 “Germans live with a haunting fear that we might fail. That attitude is a clear disadvantage.” 

I don’t think the innate fear of failure that Herr Hopp refers to is unique to Germans and I’m not sure it is a disadvantage.  But I do agree that fear can stop people from trying new things or venturing beyond their own horizons.  Fear of failing is why we seek help and more often than not we find excellent help in the form of technology. 

If Dietmar Hopp and his gang were haunted by the fear of failing, they kept it in check.

To illustrate this point, let’s consider the events of 40 years ago, in 1972.  Dietmar Hopp along with former IBM employees Hans Werner Hector, Klaus Tschira, Claus Wellenreuther and Hasso Plattner created a small company headquartered in Weinheim, Germany called Systemanalyse und Programmentwicklung ("System Analysis and Program Development") or simply SAP.    With one customer, Imperial Chemical Industries, and a handful of employees these entrepreneurs went on to transform the corporate world.  And, if Dietmar Hopp is telling us the truth, fear of failure was with this group of Germans every step of the way.

Failure wasn’t in the cards for fledgling SAP.   In BusinessWeek (European Edition) an article was published back in November of 1997 (15 years ago) called Silicon Valley on the Rhine.   This excerpt exemplifies the impact SAP was having and would continue to have on the world.  

“Indeed, enterprise applications are emerging as a corporation’s most strategic asset – possibly more so than any software sold by Microsoft.  ‘Microsoft’s applications are trivial compared to SAP’s’, says management guru Michael Hammer.   ‘If all of Microsoft’s applications got wiped out, we would have to type our documents manually.  But if SAP’s applications were to disappear, the worldwide industrial complex would grind to a halt.’ ” 

Consider what made SAP unique and appealing from the very beginning.   First, the mainframe was king of the technology landscape and was constantly searching for new and better software programs to run.   SAP R/1 was the first mainframe program to move toward ‘real time’ data processing.  The co-founders believed that real-time data processing could bring complex organizations closer to true business intelligence, and they were right.    Second, the five leaders at SAP were also committed to collaborate and co-create software solutions with their customers, which is a practice SAP continues up to the present time. 

Jumping forward a few years to 1981, R/2 became stable and was ready to offer to the marketplace.   Twelve years after that in 1993, R/3 was ready for commercialization, sale and distribution.   Then in 1996 The Coca Cola Company, the world’s largest manufacturer of soft drinks, decided to implement SAP R/3.  This decision by Coca Cola accelerated SAP’s acceptance in the US and countries outside of Western Europe.  Incidentally, this is actually when I first encountered SAP and began working with R/3 at Coca Cola on something called the Infinity Project. 

For those of you not familiar with R/3 or the latest version called ECC, let me take you through a very quick scenario of how SAP works.

Let’s use the example of processing a sales order through a global shoe manufacturing company.   An incoming sale triggers a chain reaction of events throughout the enterprise.   First a sales rep receives an order for 1000 shoes from a Portuguese retailer.  The rep logs into their SAP system back at the company headquarters to check on pricing and any discounts the retailer in Portugal might be entitled to.   During this process, SAP’s inventory module checks the available stock of shoes and notifies the rep that half the order can be filled immediately from their Portuguese warehouse.  The other shoes will be delivered in ten days direct from the factory in Taiwan. 

The next step is that SAP’s manufacturing module schedules the production run of 500 shoes in the Taiwan factory and alerts the warehouse manager in Portugal to ship the shoes he already has in stock to the retailer.  An invoice gets printed up in Portuguese.   Of course manpower will be needed to fill this order, but when SAP’s HR module identifies a shortage of workers scheduled to process the order in Taiwan, the personnel manager is alerted so she can arrange for temporary workers. 

To keep ahead of future orders, SAP’s materials management module notices that this order put the company below their minimum stocking threshold for shoelaces and automatically prepares a purchase order in Mandarin. 

Based on data from SAP’s forecasting and financial modules, the CEO sees that sales for these particular shoes are trending up in Europe, but trending down in the United States.   He decides to beef up his inventory in the Taiwan manufacturing plant since that is where the shoes are made for the European market, while reducing the number of those particular shoes manufactured in the US. 

Today SAP is still marching forward and adding to its storehouse of enterprise enhancing systems.   SAP is leading the way with their Big Data advancements, mobility, and SAP cloud computing. 

There are many characteristics that are common to mankind and computers, but following the lead set by Dietmar Hopp, perhaps the most significant difference is that men feel fear; computers do not.   Could it be that fear drives men to create machines, computers and software?   

Clearly, machines of all types provide competitive advantages in business, help humans endure the whims of Mother Nature, and even enhance the propagation of our species.  Human beings are endowed with the ability to fear and I believe that ‘fear of failure’ is possibly the most important sensation we humans feel and that sensation drives us to survive and prosper.   Just look at SAP!

John Ripma has been in the field of Information Technology since 1981when he co-founded one of the first PC-based software development and consulting companies in the Midwest. Since then, John has been involved with technology in various capacities as a senior consultant, project manager, sales person, business development manager, and a vice president. John is currently the Southeast SAP Sales Director for Secure-24 and has been in this capacity with Secure-24 since 2009.

When I heard that line it struck me how very true it is, but more notably, how very sad it is.   I’ve carried that quote around in my head now for some time, wondering if I could ever use it in conversation or writing.   Of course it applies to personal relationships, but it can also apply to situations in sports, business, and even technology.  

Before I open up the technology ‘can of worms’, please give me a moment to expand a bit more on this quote, now that I’ve finally found a way to work it into a blog, and I think you’ll see where I’m headed.  

Besides being a sad commentary on human relationships in general, this quote might also explain one of the subtle aspects of self confidence.   Think about it, if someone has a certain ‘swagger and confidence’ that we see in celebrities such as Donald Trump or Larry Ellison, they also seem not to care as much as normal people.  They seem to be stronger and less vulnerable than the rest of us, and maybe they are.   Typically, those with this noticeable swagger and confidence are listened to, sought after, and even heeded. 

Whether they earned the respect and adulation of the others or not, it is hard to say, but it is clear that some people have ‘it’ and most people don’t.  I suggest that this swagger and confidence comes, in part, from not caring nearly as much about people as about achieving objectives.  This single-minded emphasis on meeting their goals and their needs by pushing away anyone that is blocking their path is the hallmark of the ‘successful’ techno-bully.  

You can probably think of people in your life that strut and sashay around when they enter a room.  There is an astonishing glow of self assurance that surrounds them.  They are cool and aloof.   People stop to watch them; they don’t stop to watch other people. 

The type of individuals I’m speaking about are living beyond the ordinary realm of self confidence that normal people earned as a result of achieving some success in life and overcoming obstacles.    The type of abnormal persons at which I’m pointing my finger are living in a world they are creating marked by intimidation, aggression and bullying.    I believe these types of people are living out that quote from Ghosts of Girlfriends Past and exerting their “I couldn’t care less” attitude to control people and protect themselves.    

So what can this line of reasoning possibly have to do with ERP software, Disaster Recovery,  Information Technology outsourcing or other aspects of SAP cloud computing?   Some people, certainly not all who are heavily invested in technology, wield their special knowledge or skill like a wicked sorcerer wields a magic wand.  These types of individuals look down their noses at people who, in their not-so-humble opinion, are technically inferior.  

To illustrate my point, let’s look at an example of a man that almost everyone knows about, Steven Jobs.  With all due respect for the deceased, Mr. Jobs did leave behind a fabulous legacy of innovation and commercial success at Apple Computer, but he also left a lot of wounded people who didn’t measure up to his standards, and he made sure they knew it.    

Let’s see what The New York Times wrote about Mr. Jobs.  “By the early 80's, Mr. Jobs was widely hated at Apple. Senior management had to endure his temper tantrums. He created resentment among employees by turning some into stars and insulting others, often reducing them to tears.  Mr. Jobs himself would frequently cry after fights with fellow executives".

Sounds like a great leader don’t you think?   Ironically the type of drive and ambition Steven Jobs displayed is sought after and rewarded in corporate environments, especially technology.   Why, because of what Steven Jobs and people like him have accomplished or at least received credit for accomplishing.   Obviously, Steven Jobs did start and run a very successful company, but if we were suddenly given the ability to identify the key building blocks that totally shaped Apple Computer into what it is today, would one of the primary building blocks be a wild, ill-tempered, vulgar and mean spirited leader?   Possibly, but maybe Apple Computer was successful in spite of Steven Jobs.  Perhaps Apple’s success is do to the hundreds of employees that put up with Jobs’ crap and moved the company forward, building a strong organization made up of capable people, refined processes and relevant products.  

Conceivably the tremendous effort that took place behind the scenes was where the real magic at Apple Computer was materializing.  Those dedicated workers that simply did excellent work because they needed a job and understood that they formed the backbone of Apple Computer, not Steven Jobs.  Jobs might have been the visionary, but the people who worked for him made it happen.   I wonder if he appreciated their labors.  I wonder if Mr. Jobs realized that most of these employees felt they needed to don a helmet and flack jacket to enter his ‘god-like’ presence?

As my old boss used to say, ‘it takes all kinds to make a world’.  How true that is.  Steven Jobs did have a place in this world and without his outrageous personality and fanatical outlook on life, it is possible that Apple Computer would never have achieved the heights of commercial greatness that it attained.   I cannot confirm or deny that position, but I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that Steven Jobs was his own worst enemy and did as much tearing down as he did building up.  

So what do we do when a techno-bully takes aim at us?   They’re out there, sitting in cubes and offices throughout corporate America, lying in wait for someone to stumble into the burrow and say the wrong thing or ask the wrong question.   You might even know someone like that yourself.  Often the person is quite knowledgeable, articulate and educated, and they are issued a license to be a pain-in-the-ass because he or she is in possession of some special knowledge or experience that is necessary to run the business.   So how do we deal with them, because it is unlikely that they are going to change?    

I suggest the following approach.  First, before you enter their world be as prepared as possible; try to learn something about their technical subject area as it applies to your situation.  Then, when you darken their doorstep, cordially state exactly what you want/need in as few words as possible, don’t chit chat.  They will listen to you and probably ask you a question or two to demonstrate how thorough and intelligent they are.   Play their game and answer their questions as best you can, but don’t offer any extraneous information; they might use incidental data as collateral to make you feel inadequate later in the conversation. 

Also, do not guess at any answers or make assumptions.  If you don’t know something just say, ‘I don’t know’ and let that statement stand on its own.  You can always find the answer later.  Be careful not to talk too much, they might let you jabber on and on about some subject just to lure you deeper into their trap and then they will clobber you with your own misinformation.   

Finally, if you get some useful information back from them it won’t come without a price.  That price could be a jab at how poorly things are run, how inadequate the support staff is, or it might be aimed at you personally.  Whatever slings and arrows are sent your way, don’t pay much attention to them, focus more on the useful content you did receive and then restate it back to them to confirm your understanding.  Then thank them for their time and valuable expertise and walk away.

John Ripma has been in the field of Information Technology since 1981when he co-founded one of the first PC-based software development and consulting companies in the Midwest. Since then, John has been involved with technology in various capacities as a senior consultant, project manager, sales person, business development manager, and a vice president. John is currently the Southeast SAP Sales Director for Secure-24 and has been in this capacity with Secure-24 since 2009.

The iron triangle is best understood with an example.  Let’s say you want to build a new piece of software that will solve world hunger and most likely usher in an era of global peace.  Now that you have this phenomenal idea, you can’t wait to roll it out and start selling it to nations on all 5 continents.   So, to get rolling you take your specs to a great software developer and inform her that you need the production version of this app in your hands fast, it has to be cheap, and it has to be good.    She looks at you and says, “fast, cheap AND good . . . sorry buster, you can have only two of those three requirements.”    Welcome to the absolute world of the iron triangle.  

I’m sure you know what I’m talking about.  And, as a responsible IT professional you are probably guided in your technology decisions by this immutable law, right?

Let’s get practical.  Let’s move from the world of applied philosophy to the world of ‘you know what’ happens.   As we noted earlier, gravity is for real, nothing we can do to change that.   On the other hand, we try to bend and shape some laws (e.g. the iron triangle) to suit our needs, goals, and dreams.   To highlight a familiar example, do you remember from U.S. history the time when land was given to the citizens of our growing country if they would leave their homes back east and move west to the frontier.   The pioneers were promised a tract of land the day they arrived (fast), it was free (cheap), and it was tillable (good).  I think we know how things turned out for most of the early pioneers; they got two of the three points on the iron triangle – fast and cheap.  But, the land was either covered with huge trees, it was open prairie that was hard as a rock, or it was on a mountainside that actually was a rock.  Add a few hostile Native Americans who weren’t in any mood to give up their lands, and the deal was not quite as ‘good’ as the brochure promised.    

All that said, the pioneers still went west, they worked hard, sacrificed and over the course of many years they met with some success.   So the lure of ‘fast, cheap and good’ works on some levels, like to attract pioneers.   In reality it takes lots of time and lots of patience to reach a stated goal.  Unfortunately lots of time and lots of patience are never planned for in the beginning.  The iron triangle is a demanding mistress, and she will be obeyed.

In technology we have an enormous problem with the iron triangle.   How often have you heard about the next BIG thing that will change our world forever and make life worth living?    Well, we have just such a big thing sitting on our doorstep right now.   It’s called in-memory computing.    SAP has an in-memory product called HANA, that could be part of an SAP hosting environment, Oracle has one called Exalytics.  I suppose there are other companies working on their own flavor of in-memory computing too.   But for now let’s look at HANA and Exalytics.   Notice I did not say HANA versus Exalitics; I don’t think we know enough about either product yet to pursue that line of thought.

To help you understand what in-memory computing is, I selected an excerpt from an article out of the online publication – The Times of India, dated September 21, 2011. 

Computers typically store data on the hard disk, and when you want to perform a task, it pulls out the relevant data and applications from the computer's hard disk and processes everything in the main memory, which is where computations happen.

With the emergence of multi-core processors and the sharp decline in prices of processors and memory, German business software maker SAP developed a technology that made it possible for even large enterprises to dispense with hard disks and store and perform all operations on the main memory. It boosted performance enormously compared to systems based on retrieving data from hard drives.

Now back to my main point, both HANA and Exaltyics are messing with the absolute integrity of the iron triangle.  So far HANA is staying away from the ‘cheap’ point on the triangle, but Exalytics is hitting all the tips on the iron triangle.   Here is an excerpt from an Oracle press release: 

“…customers can expect to reduce the complexity and cost of their IT infrastructure with Oracle Exalytics. Offering dramatically faster analytics performance, Oracle Exalytics enables our clients to gain deep and immediate insight across all key areas...”  –  Senior Practice Director, Oracle Partner

SAP is not far behind Oracle with its claims that could test the veracity of the iron triangle, see the example below:

“HANA is not an experimental thing, we got lucky and we found something and it runs things 10, 100, 1,000 times faster. HANA is a platform and is on the way to become the foundation for most of our applications, whether they’re on-premise or in the cloud.”  – Hasso Plattner, Chairman SAP

Larry Ellison, not to be outdone, tried to position Oracle as the clear leader when he introduced Exalytics at Oracle’s OpenWorld:

"We're determined to deliver best-of-breed in every aspect of our computing architecture," Ellison said unveiling Exalytics.  "We're in the business of catching up with IBM in the microprocessor business. If we don't pass them we'll be very, very close.  Overall we move data around a hundred times faster than anyone else [veiled reference to SAP] in the business.”  – Larry Ellison, CEO Oracle.

In-memory computing is probably leading the way to major breakthroughs in computing speed, but how long will it take to realize the vision championed by the titans of technology?  How much blood, sweat and tears will be spilled before in-memory computing lives up to the hype and hysteria that Mr. Ellison and Mr. Plattner are encouraging?  Is it possible that in-memory computing is just the latest fast, cheap and good technological thingamabob to lure the adventurous and restless among us out to the frontier?    Probably, but metaphorically speaking, there will be many wagon-train wrecks along the way and that is to be expected.  

Who will bear the brunt of the problems and disappointment that botched in-memory computing projects leave in their wake?   It will probably be the worker bee, the guy or gal who is handed this extraordinary piece of technology and told…’make it happen’.   But when it doesn’t happen, or it takes too long, or it costs too much, or it doesn’t perform as expected…remember the iron triangle…it cannot be bent or shaped to suit our needs.