{"id":12089,"date":"2009-10-15T17:59:05","date_gmt":"2009-10-15T16:59:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sapweb20.com\/blog\/?p=633"},"modified":"2021-08-19T11:16:36","modified_gmt":"2021-08-19T09:16:36","slug":"saps-gravity-prototype-business-collaboration-using-google-wave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timoelliott.com\/blog\/2009\/10\/saps-gravity-prototype-business-collaboration-using-google-wave.html","title":{"rendered":"SAP\u2019s Gravity Prototype: Business Collaboration Using Google Wave"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"sap-gravity-banner\"<\/p>\n

Alexander Dreiling<\/a> of SAP Research in Brisbane, Australia, has posted on<\/a> a great prototype called Gravity that uses Google Wave to collaborate around business process.<\/p>\n

Gravity is a Google Wave \u201cgadget\u201d that can be added within the Google Wave client. It lets participants in a wave use the business process modeling functionality of SAP Business Process Management<\/a> collaboratively, in near-real time. David Cook<\/a> called it \u201cthe best business example of Google Wave, period!\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

The demo shows the result of a merger of a bank and an insurance company. They now need to restructure their business processes and capitalize quickly on cross-selling opportunities between banking and insurance, and a variety of different expertise across the new organization is needed to model the new process flows, both from business and IT.<\/p>\n

As they build the model, the additions from each modeler are color-coded, and the process is documented using the Google Wave tools. A Google \u201crobot\u201d is used to check the model for syntax, and the result is exported in industry-standard BPMN 2.0 XML.<\/p>\n

The prototype was featured at the SAP TechEd event in Phoenix this week, and one team at the Business Process Design Slam<\/a> event have posted on their experience of using the tool<\/a>, using it to automate business processes related to forming a virtual community-based power plant made up of resident’s personal solar wind generation.<\/p>\n

The idea is to describe a process that allows a homeowner or business to come online as a micro generator within a township and the various steps (human and automated) that are required. Sustainability gets better over time, the more neighborhoods choose to generate power from green sources to supply the very power this neighborhood consumes – and in pretty much the same timeframe. This also reduces the losses of transporting power over longer distances.\u00a0 Thus, power companies will more and more become brokers, and less actual suppliers of power.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2026you are in a contract with the ‘virtual power plant’ and you can either be within the parameters of the contract and receive the good rates, or go above your contracted power consumption and must pay additional fees. (This can be due to a couple of things, you have bad weather and do not produce enough power and now must consume power at a higher rate. Or for certain reasons you must consume more power than previously contracted, because you have guests in town and must run your a\/c on high). At this point, you can continue your contract, or go back and re-contract your plan. (Similar to a cell phone company where you can re-adjust your plan after several months of going over your minutes)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here\u2019s a glimpse of the process-building experience:<\/p>\n

\"Phoenix<\/a><\/p>\n

More on SAP and Gravity:<\/p>\n