As I have done with my other books, I am excerpting about 10% of the book for my blog readers. Previous excerpts have been from the case studies in the book. The next few will focus on historical trends presented in the book. Since SAP has raised the volume on its Run Simple message, let’s start with a section from book about its previous simplification initiatives
“ At the Sapphire Now conference in Orlando in June 2014, Dr. Plattner introduced the concept of “Simple Finance.” He called HANA “minimalist.”…The company changed its tagline from “Run like never before” to “Run simple.” Prof. Clayton Christensen, widely known for his theories on industry disruptions, joined Dr. Plattner on the stage as if to validate that SAP was truly serious this time about disrupting its past.”
“The repeated simplification talk brought snickers from some in the Sapphire Now audience. That’s because SAP executives have repeated the mantra for years, probably to atone for a statement attributed to Dr. Plattner in the 1990s:
“The more complex the better. We Germans would never
invent something as simple as Coca-Cola.”
Here is a sampling of the simplification-talk track record:
1998:
Dr. Plattner in a press release:
“Our EnjoySAP initiative is focused on simplifying the software and making it even more intuitive, so that it forms a natural complement to the user’s working environment.”
Late 1990s:
“There was a team called the Simplification Group, based in Palo Alto and part of SAP Labs. Their mandate was defining methods and documentation to reduce custom configuration in the field, thereby reducing implementation time.”
2002:
Dr. Plattner in InformationWeek:
“We still need to hide complexities.”
2006:
Bullets in an Agassi presentation at Sapphire:
Simplicity at the Core:
· Simplicity in Usage
· Simplicity in Ownership
· Simplicity in Deployment
2009:
Apotheker in The Local:
“The ultimate goal is making SAP products simpler and faster.”
2011:
McDermott in Forbes:
“I’ve tried to simplify everything. That’s the big thing I’ve done.”
2012:
Then-Co-CEO Jim Hagemann Snabe in Computerworld:
“We can simplify the pricing…We want a more solution oriented price list.”
2014:
Chief Marketing Officer Jonathan Becher in USA Today:
“We want to make the S in SAP stand for “simple”….We haven’t gotten there yet.”
Dr. Plattner in a blog post:
“Only with HANA, SAP found a way to really simplify the architecture dramatically.”
Tagline in SAP branding campaign launched in October 2014:
“What the world needs now is Simple”.
