SAPPHIRENOW is overwhelming — like drinking from a streaming digital firehose. There are thousands of presentations to watch, hundreds of people to meet, and dozens of cups of coffee to consume in order to get through it all.
But if you have an few minutes free in your busy schedule (perhaps while you sip that first coffee of the day, before the presentations start?), you should check out the SAPPHIRENOW Showcase Demos.
One of the toughest things about digital transformation is that it’s not just about doing what you do today better, faster, and cheaper. It’s about rethinking your products, services, and even industry from scratch — and that can be hard.
Research Scientist George Westerman of MIT, who literally wrote the book on Digital Transformation, says that most organizations now some sort of digital initiatives in place — but few are doing it well, because they end up focusing too much on the technology, and not enough on the transformation.
The Showcase Demos can be a good antidote. They are of course all about new technology — but at the service of innovative, end-to-end opportunities. For business audiences, seeing is believing — having a concrete, end-to-end example to view and explore brings the future opportunities into sharper clarity than any number of fancy PowerPoint slides. And people with a more technical background can see how the various technologies can be integrated to make a real difference to the industry.
The Distributed Manufacturing Showcase is in the Partner Co-innovation campus. It is made up 6 interactive displays and galleries of 3D printed objects. It introduces the current and future possibilities of 3D printing, including the impact it will have on the manufacturing industry and supply chains. Supporting the launch of SAP’s Distributed Manufacturing solution, the Showcase shows how SAP will allow you to analyze your inventory, predict future needs and determine what to print, how you should print it and manage the required certification of your vendors.
The Digital Integration Showcase is in the Digital Business Services campus. It shows how SAP SuccessFactors, Concur, Hybris, Fieldglass solutions can be combined seamlessly with the rest of the SAP platform and ecosystem. Based on a hypothetical example, the Showcase shows how a live business, powered by SAP Leonardo, can jump on a social trend, delight their customers, and increase sales.
The Smart City Showcase is in the Industries campus. It brings together several Industry examples to show how SAP IoT solutions improve the lives of people around the world. It features a concept “smart” car that shows how connected vehicles will re-invent the commuting experience. Blockchain is used to manage the powering of electric vehicles, and IoT is used to enable cities to prepare for, and minimize, natural disasters.
The Intelligent Enterprise Showcase is in the Data, Analytics and Cloud platform campus. It highlights SAP’s Machine Learning vision. It tells the story of a “self-driving enterprise,” showing how Machine Learning solutions help a Fashion CEO define the right colors and styles for the next collection, help retailers target offers to individual shoppers and help re-invent the in-store retail experience.
The SAP Leonardo Experience is in the middle of the SAP Zone of the SAPPHIRE NOW Show Floor. It introduces the challenges that businesses face today and highlights how SAP Leonardo helps you turn “knowing” into “doing.” Demo stations include connected products, connected assets, connected fleet, connected infrastructure, connected markets, and connected people.
The SAP Leonardo VR Experience is in the center of the Show Floor. It tells the end to end story of a fictional sportswear manufacturer. Starting with a complete view of a customer’s information it shows how an organization can provide the right offer at the right time, to customize and 3D print a personalized product.