Much of the SAP-related news this week focused on SAP's competitors and the wider enterprise software market.

Its high marks in CRM going forward were contrasted with questions about Oracle's CRM strategy, as I covered in Monday's Today in SAP blog post at SAPexperts. Oracle's overall strategy brought concerns from customers, according to a survey I looked at on Tuesday. 

Meanwhile, SAP poached a key HR hire from Autodesk, and even the latest coverage of the company's sustainability program suggested that SAP's sustainability push correlated with employee engagement and business benefits.

And as if that weren't enough, NetSuite's CEO had some pointed comments about his company's ability to move across industries and segments better than his counterparts at SAP and Oracle. It all emphasizes that -- of course -- to understand what's up with SAP, it's good to keep an eye on what it's competition is up to, too.

For more about those stories, as well as links to dozens more, check out each of my Today in SAP posts below, including a key sentence or two from each. Below that, you'll see some of the other content we've posted at SAPexperts, including blogs that are free to everyone as well as subscriber-only content across different SAP focus areas.

Monday: How SAP Can Turn the Corner in CRM

By incorporating the elements that SAP has been emphasizing in development -- in-memory, social, cloud, analytics -- into CRM, the company seems to have breathed life into the product.

Tuesday: Oracle's Fusion-Focused Strategy Leaves Customers Underwhelmed, Confused

Sounds like 2013 could bring a bit of an all-or-nothing situation for Oracle -- either the market jumps in to Fusion or bails on Oracle altogether.

Wednesday: SAP Hires Former Autodesk Employee to Global Talent Role

Also of note: EMEA is one of SAP's foremost focus points in terms of growth areas, so having somebody with experience and expertise in that area is certainly a selling point.

Thursday: NetSuite's CEO Confident in Battle vs. SAP and Oracle

Nelson's argument is essentially that as cloud computing grows in reliability and is more widely adopted, it will be easier for NetSuite to be adopted by bigger companies than it will be for SAP or Oracle to be adopted by smaller companies.

Friday: Sustainability Program Is Popular with SAP Employees

Perhaps there is more of a focus to hire sustainability-friendly employees. Whatever it is, SAP is doing something right when it comes to sustainability, and the company is seeing benefits.

Here's some of what's new at SAPexperts this week:

Venki Krishnamoorthy: I'll Be at HR 2013 [Blog]

SAP and SuccessFactors -- an Overview [HR subscribers]

Hacking HANA to Give It a PHP Frontend [Blog]

Effectively Manage Scrap in Your Production Processes [SCM subscribers]

Demand Planning on Trial [Blog]

Configure User Statuses to Increase Compliance Control of Production Orders [SCM subscribers]

Refresh the Look of the Master Data in Cost Center Accounting with a New Business Function [Financials subscribers]

Checklist to Define Design Details for a WebI Corporate Reporting Template [BI subscribers]

Best Practices to Develop and Manage a Corporate Reporting Template [BI subscribers]

Survey Reveals Lack of Board-Level Activity in Risk Management at Some Organizations [Blog]

Assign Trading Data and Characteristics to a Batch Using Its ASN [IT subscribers]

Automatically Create New Batch Numbers for Inbound Deliveries in SAP ERP [IT subscribers]

Mobile Transformation Starts with Assessment: Skills and Training Requirements [IT, Project Management subscribers]

Make a Compelling Business Case for Mobility in Your Organization [IT, Project Management subscribers]

A Table of Use Cases for Supply Chain Mobile Applications [SCM subscribers]

Chart Shows Types of Useful Productivity Applications for Supply Chain Professionals [SCM subscribers]

Well This Is Awkward for the QA Department... [Blog]

HANA Put to Music [Blog]

A Few Answers to Some SAP BPC Questions [Blog]

SuccessFactors reinforced its cool image within SAP in releasing pictures of its new office. BusinessInsider provided a gallery of images, which I covered in my Today in SAP blog post on SAPexperts Tuesday.

The office features a lot of modern ideas promoting wellness -- an emphasis on exercise and healthy eating, more open spaces, more plants and natural lighting. But it also reflects SAP's efforts to drastically revamp its image over the last few years. 

Long thought of as an emotionless behemoth, SAP sought to be more personal in recent years. Its new CEOs -- especially Bill McDermott, a salesman's salesman -- hit the press tour virtually year round to keep SAP in the business conversation. It released a new logo with a modern color scheme and gradient. It started throwing itself into the conversation about the biggest buzz words in the industry: cloud, in-memory, mobile, and analytics.

One of the major facets of this image facelift was the acquisition of SuccessFactors, the HR cloud vendor with sleek marketing and an energetic chief executive in Lars Dalgaard. Unlike most acquisitions where SAP completely absorbs the company, its identity, and its brand, SAP continues to leverage SuccessFactors, keeping the brand alive and Dalgaard visible. And it sounds like with the investment made in this building, SAP is hoping to keep the vibe within the company a distinct, progressive one as well. And with SAP's increased efforts with sustainability and in the community, it's a symbol that the big company is trying to harness some of SuccessFactors' ideals and tendencies.

Here are the stories I covered in this week's Today in SAP blog posts at SAPexperts:

Monday: SAP Announces Sustainability Results from 2012

You'll also notice that in 2011 SAP had increased renewable energy by just 2%, so jumping by 20% this year reflects a sincere effort.

Tuesday: Inside SuccessFactors' New Digs

It fits SuccessFactors' general vibe, which has been a sleek, modern one. Out with closed-in offices and dank vending machines; in with food trucks and glass-walled meeting spaces.

Wednesday: [...]

Thursday: On User Input and Product Development

How much stock should you put in users' opinions? How do you weigh the ideas of a select group of product developers versus survey results, or social media commentary?

Friday: Dell Joins the HANA Fray

Also interesting: the only region other than the US to have systems available is EMEA.

Here's a selection of new content posted to SAPexperts this week:

SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence Corporate Template Demo [BI subcribers]

Get Started with Modeling and Reporting in SAP HANA [IT subscribers]

An SAPexperts Financials Advisor Offers His View on SAP ERP's Future on HANA [Blog]

Create and Activate a Substitution Rule for Your Company Code for FI Line Items [Financials subscribers]

Open an Additional Field for FI Substitution [Financials subscribers]

Use Document Types for Budget Availability Control in SAP PS [Financials subscribers]

BlackBerry 10 Officially Released, Some Useful Features for SAP Users [Blog]

Simplify the Process for Creating BW Monthly Inventory Reports [BI subscribers]

Seamlessly Configure Request Mitigation Policy Rules in SAP Access Control 10.0 [GRC subscribers]

Accelerated Finance and Controlling in SAP ERP with SAP HANA [Financials subscribers]

Deliveries Across China in 24 Hours [Blog]

Build a Report Using SAP BPC 10.0's EPM Add-In Functionality [Financials subscribers]

HR Tip #8 -- Calibration Grid in SAP ERP HCM Talent Management [Blog]

The major story of this week in SAP was the company's earnings report, which drew commentary all over the board. Some found the negative elements, like reduced margins. Some touted the significant growth, including that in new areas like cloud, in addition to the impact HANA made. Others pointed out, as I covered in Wednesday's Today in SAP blog post at SAPexperts, that SAP made signficant internal investment, to the tune of nearly 10,000 new employees, and that was clouding some of the numbers.

The important thing to remember, of course, is this is merely a snapshot. SAP has so many items in motion right now, all of which appear to be facing some degree of success. We won't know for sure what degree of success the company will reach; the only thing we do know is that making grand statements one way or another is a little dangerous at this stage.

This time next year? Then we might have a different story. And I'm not just fence straddling -- I'm merely pointing out that SAP is in a pretty unique point in its history. It's unlikely that SAP will be facing the sweeping changes in 2013 that it did in 2012. Most industry observers seem to believe the acquisition push is over, at least for major, strategic acquisitions. A change in overall strategy is unlikely; what's more likely is a doubling down on HANA, cloud, and mobile pitches. Where we are right now, after the announcement of the Business Suite on HANA, is the culmination of many, many actions (and even more dollars) invested by SAP to move the company and its customers in a new direction. Now it is simply looking to execute.

If in January 2014 SAP is having wild success, it's probably fair to expect more of it. If there are struggles, it's probably fair to assume that some changes need to be made, or there was an error along the way. But in January 2013, there is still a long way to go.

Here's what I covered in this week's Today in SAP blog posts at SAPexperts:

Monday: SAP Is Named to the CRM Watchlist

So what's the future of SAP CRM? The company certainly isn't abandoning it. It rolled out CRM on HANA before it put the Business Suite on HANA. As with other initiatives, SAP is banking on HANA providing a major impact on SAP CRM users.

Tuesday: SAP Pitches Itself as a Cloud Company

Call it aspirational marketing. Sure, the cloud isn't SAP's major selling point -- yet. It's working to get there, and it wants the public to know.

Wednesday: SAP Provides Some Clarity Regarding 2012 Numbers

There are times when businesses need to invest heavily in themselves, and this appears to be one of those times for SAP. It made strategic acquisitions, streamlined its product offerings, and now has to deliver.

Thursday: SAP Continues Its Sustainability March

SAP has always had its eye on the social side of sustainability -- funding new entrepreneurial areas, creating new jobs, and fueling new markets.

Friday: Where Does India Stand in the Current SAP World?

There will be plenty of development opportunities -- SAP has been catering developers more than ever lately -- and maintenance certainly isn't going away. It's just about knowing what to develop and what to maintain.

Here are some of the new pieces at SAPexperts this week:

Manage Large Contracts with Ease Using Lean Distribution [CRM subscribers]

HR Tip #7 -- Configuring TREX for Talent Management [Blog]

How to Create a Custom Metric to Monitor Email and Fax Transmissions [Solution Manager subscribers]

A Sample SAP HANA Risk Matrix [IT, BI, and Project Management subscribers]

A Systematic Approach to Evaluating SAP HANA [IT, BI, and Project Management subscribers]

Two AlertEnterprise Applications Earn Status as SAP-Endorsed Business Solutions [Blog]

Develop a Strong Talent Pipeline Using SuccessFactors Recruiting Marketing [HR subscribers]

Beware of the Pitfalls of Transaction MR11 [SCM and Financials subscribers]

Billboard's Top 10 HANA-Themed Classic Rock Songs [Blog]

After all the excitement about SAP putting the Business Suite on HANA last week, this week was more of a downer. The German economy's problems, combined with SAP's Q4 financial reports, made for a rough week for SAP's stock price and reputation. The stock dropped about $5 a share from where it started the week, trading for just over $77 a pop at the time of this writing. 

I was initially surprised by the stark drop, crediting it mostly to the German economy in my Today in SAP post on Tuesday. I am a stock market amateur however, and as I read more and more stories on Wednesday, it looked like the drop had more to do with SAP than it did Germany (in fact, as you'll see in the Wednesday post, other analysts blamed SAP's performance in the Americas). 

Time will tell (of course) whether this will be a sustained drop, or merely a bump in the road. Most analysts had positive things to say about the Business Suite/HANA development, so you'd have to think that that (and the alleged record pipeline SAP has built for HANA) will lead to better performance in the future. Either way, SAP has a call scheduled for next week to pore over some of the details of the report; perhaps some light will be shed then.

Take a look at this week's Today in SAP blog posts at SAPexperts:

Monday: SAP's Biggest PR Black Eye Was Quietly Settled

Kanaracus also notes that Marin County is to received $3.9 million in damages -- a far cry from what they were seeking -- and that a gag order prevents any side from discussing the deal.

Tuesday: The German Economy Is Affecting SAP's Stock Price

I'm no stock expert by any means, but my reaction to this is that SAP's drop is more influenced by the issues with the German market than its own underperformance. Missing operating profit by 0.04 billion euros isn't the end of the world -- I certainly wouldn't equate it with a five percent stock drop.

Wednesday: Is SAP's American Struggle the Cause of Underwhelming Financials?

Is Oracle just defending its turf well? Will HANA be the key to SAP getting its foot more in the door in the Americas?

Thursday: SAP Releases a New Rapid Deployment Solution for EHS

It shouldn't surprise you to see SAP roll out an RDS in a somewhat niche area like EHS. It's a good way for SAP to keep customers' interest in that space.

Friday: A Nota Fiscal Case Study

As your company looks to comply with the constantly changing legislation in Latin America, ensure you understand the support issues you are experiencing during both production and upgrades.

And here's some of what's new at SAPexperts this week:

Spotlight: Ensure Security During an Implementation of an SAP Application [GRC subscribers]

Sample Talent Review Meeting Agenda [HR subscribers]

Moving Average Price: Learn How It Functions in Project Stock and Figure Out How to Explain the Unexplainable [SCM, Financials subscribers]

How SAP Solution Manager Affects Your EHP 5 Upgrade [Solution Manager subscribers]

Bringing ccBPM-Based Integration Processes to SAP NetWeaver PO: Why Automation Doesn't Work [IT subscribers]

HR Tip #6: Renovated Learner Portal [Blog]

Online HANA Chat Highlights: Pricing, Business Suite vs. HANA Cloud, and Replacing BW [Blog]

Podcast: Understanding Moving Average Price in SAP MM [Blog]

SAP Business Suite on SAP HANA: Weighing the Impact on Finance Teams [Blog]

Michael Debevec [Blog]

Podcast: Nathan Williams on How ITSM Fits into the Picture with 7.1 [Blog]

HR Tips Blog Questions -- Problems with My SAP E-Recruiting Implementation [Blog]

It's been a long time coming, but SAP -- in the faces of Hasso Plattner and Vishal Sikka -- finally announced that SAP Business Suite is available to be run on top of SAP HANA.

Reaction has been all over the place, as I covered in my Today in SAP blog at SAPexperts this morning. Industry whiz Dennis Howlett at ZDNet noted that his estimate was about 2/3 approval, 1/3 skepticism; I found a more positive vibe when monitoring the #SAPonHANA hashtag, as well as my own Twitter following, during the press event.

Positive or negative, this move was both and obvious and necessary one from SAP's perspective. It doesn't make any sense for SAP to have put so much effort and so many resources into HANA and not have it be the backbone of the company's efforts. Whether SAP is able to convince customers about the total cost of ownership gains by switching to SAP hardware is another question -- and one we will likely see answered, in at least a preliminary way, at some of the conferences this spring. I'd expect it to be a major topic at the SAPinsider BI 2013 and Admin 2013 conferences (co-located) as well as, of course, SAPPHIRE. 

What does it all mean for you as an SAP professional? It's probably too early to be sure, but the proliferation of HANA is likely to touch most, if not all, SAP careers. Keep yourself up to date on HANA information and keep your finger on the pulse of how HANA could affect you.

Here are my SAPexperts Today in SAP blog posts from this week:

Monday: 2013 -- The Year of China?

However, if SAP really believes China is the absolute key to hitting its ambitious revenue goals, surely the company will put as much focus on that relationship as possible.

Tuesday: The Hidden Benefits of SAP NetWeaver Business Client

Certainly simplification of technology is always welcome. It also fits with SAP's goal of reaching a wider audience, but it's interesting to see them, in this case, applying it to their current user base.

Wednesday: Oliver Bussmann on the Future of IT

It's really hard for me to picture a business world that doesn't involve the keyboard. Of course, there was one before computers took off. If there are no keyboards, how do we communicate to the device? Does Siri get significantly (and I mean significantly) better?

Thursday: SAP and the Voice of the Customer

If you have C-level buy-in, something will happen. If you don't, the program is probably going nowhere.

Friday: The Industry Reacts to the Business Suite on HANA

SAP was smart to move in the trajectory it did. It's been barking about the importance of the developer community and providing an unprecedented (at least in my experience) amount of training to get people involved early on. Now that the technology is ready, they are hoping there will be an infrastructure of SIs and developers to help adoption along the way.

And here's some of the new content from SAPexperts this week:

HR Tip #5: SAP Learning Solutions -- Unable to View Course Appraisals [Blog]

The Ultra-Modern Man Makes a "Game-Changing" Move [Blog]

Following the Debut of Business Suite on HANA, Oracle Must Be Saying, "Hey, Wha' Happened?" [Blog]

SAP Announces Availability of the Business Suite on HANA [Blog]

A Simple Approach to Banking [Blog]

Mobile Mayhem [Blog]

New Horizons [Blog]

The VAT Rate Changes: A Checklist [Financials subscribers]

Leading Practices for Securing Mobile Applications [IT subscribers]

Rapidly Prototype Mobile Applications That Engage Users and Drive Value [IT subscribers]

Build Your Enterprise Mobile Strategy in an Environment of Constant Change [IT subscribers]