Tim Marman's Loosely Coupled

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• Left Las Vegas

  Unlike Cote and Craig , I was something less than impressed by the Las Vegas airport. We were there more than 2 hours early and still almost didn't make our flight. The WiFi doesn't mean as much to me now that I have EVDO, but even still it wouldn't have made much of a difference as we were sprinting to the gate. We decided to check luggage because of the ban on most toiletries, which in hindsight turned out to be a very poor decision. Then it took us another hour to get through security. There were two security entrances (one for gates A and B and one for gates C and D). At the A and B entrance, there were four (very long) lines that funneled into one before splitting up to the 6 different screening machines. All in all it was very inefficient. It just felt like this airport couldn't handle the traffic. I can only imagine what a nightmare it's like on a Sunday night. Either that, or like the casinos it's designed so you just can't leave. In fact, the whole trip home was a disaster. The... Posted Sep 16 2006, 02:05 PM by Tim with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Personal, SAPTechEd2006

• A Discussion with SAP's Shai Agassi

  On Tuesday, we had the opportunity for some Q&A with Shai Agassi . Shai is the President of the Product and Technology Group at SAP and one of the seven members of the SAP Executive Board. (And I'm glad I don't work for him, because he apparently likes to say no a lot - I'm glad I don't have to ask him for my vacation approvals and raises). When asked whether SAP was a technology or ecosystem company, Shai made it very clear that "SAP is an applications company". They are "a company that knows how to codify business practices". And yet, they are trying to transform somewhat to support the ecosystem. Shai used the analogy of tariffs to protect local manufacturers. Right now, those tariffs are in place, but once they are lifted the playing field is a little more level - and you have to actually be better. One of the points that really stood out for me was when Shai said they "have a lot more innovation than they share". I'll be honest, I never really thought of SAP as an innovative company... Posted Sep 16 2006, 01:43 PM by Tim with | with no comments Filed under: Technology, SAPTechEd2006, Enterprise

• The SAP Developer Network (SDN)

  In my last post about the SAP ecosystem , Mark Yolton mentioned in comments that I neglected to mention the SAP Developer Network (SDN). Part of the reason I didn't discuss it further there is that I felt it deserved a post of its own. I spent most of today walking around the SDN Clubhouse, talking with members in the community and listening to some demos. As I said earlier, the SAP community - and enterprise developers in general - is a smaller community than, say, Microsoft developers. As such, their goal is deeper, not broader, involvement. It all starts with the enthusiasm of Mark Finnern and Craig Cmehil . Mark said that his challenge initially was trying to build the SDN community. Since then, the community has taken a life of its own and he now describes himself as the "community listener". I'll tell you this much - Mark and Craig's enthusiasm is contagious. Perhaps the best evidence is Edwin Harpino, an SDN member in Indonesia who earned over 20,000 points... Posted Sep 14 2006, 05:51 PM by Tim with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: Technology, SAPTechEd2006, Enterprise

• Alleged Bias in the SAP Blogger's Corner

  Scoble reports on accusations that the SAP TechEd bloggers are biased . Judy says SAP is confusing bloggers with journalists . At its TechEd event today, SAP made a big point of inviting bloggers to its press and analyst conference . . . [which] were all from companies in SAP’s developer network and included Robert Scoble, now at Podtech. She apparently made this inference because "the bloggers in the pack stuck to softball questions . . . and left the tougher questions to the journalist." Charlie sets the record straight . It has nothing to do with being "part of SAP’s ecosystem and therefore not impartial." The irony, perhaps, is that the reason I haven't asked any "hard" questions is because I'm not part of the ecosystem. In fact, i was discussing this exact issue with Mike last night. Neither of us are really that entrenched in the enterprise software world and neither of us are particular familiar with SAP. Both of us appreciate the access and exposure we've gotten despite not being... Posted Sep 13 2006, 03:49 PM by Tim with | with no comments Filed under: SAPTechEd2006, Blogging, Enterprise

• Building an ecosystem around SAP

  One of the things Microsoft really gets is how to build a platform, innovating and yet carving out real spaces for their ISVs to play in. Part of this is community involvement, and part of this is the ability to let go of some control. SAP is trying to do the same thing. We had a chance to meet with Zia Yusuf, Aiaz Kazi, and Mark Yolton today to discuss some of the challenges with building their platform ecosystem. As Zia put it, "it is not a platform until the people say it's a platform." Their strategy revolves around three primary concepts: Adoption, Co-innovation, and Monetization. One of the interesting issues brought up by Michael was around the IP rights. Zia acknowledged that this was a complicated and critical issue, but said it's important to look at different stakeholders and different processes. ISVs building software to be sold on the xApps Hub retain their rights and simply sell through this "glorified directory". In the Enterprise Services Community, where SAP works with... Posted Sep 13 2006, 02:43 PM by Tim with | with 9 comment(s) Filed under: Technology, SAPTechEd2006, Enterprise

• SAP TechEd Blogger's Corner

  The other guys in the Blogger's Corner are posting great coverage on SAP TechEd as well. Michael Cote Mark Crofton Ismael Ghalimi Mike Masnick Niel Robertson Charlie Wood All of our posts are being tagged as SAPTechEd2006 . Posted Sep 12 2006, 05:31 PM by Tim with | with no comments Filed under: SAPTechEd2006, Enterprise

• Enterprise Search with SAP Argo

  The second important announcement made in today's keynote is SAP Argo. By exploiting knowledge of existing relationships, Argo unlocks deep enterprise search that goes beyond text search in documents and web pages. Argo is also aware of roles and entitlements of the individual, a limitation I've seen in many of the other enterprise search systems. Argo's competitive advantage is that, compared to Google, it already understands your relational data model and the deep semantics between these elements. Argo is available for download today on SDN. It will be be available commercially next year with the price point not yet announced. Posted Sep 12 2006, 02:29 PM by Tim with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Technology, SAPTechEd2006, Enterprise

• myERP 2005 as Business Process Platform

  The key message from Shai Agassi's keynote the roadmap for myERP 2005, defined by simplicity and innovation. Shai discussed the challenge of a CIO who needs to innovate quarterly but only wants to touch the infrastructure once every five years (on a Saturday, no less). The solution is to deliver a stable core with incremental updates available as enhancement packages . This will allow companies to innovate on business demands rather than technical ones, deploying updates as they need them instead of trying to absorb major changes in the platform. The stable core will be myERP 2005, their business process platform released in June. As Peter Graf put it, we want to solidify the foundation so we can focus on move the standards up the stack, shifting from technical standards to higher-level standards built around business processes. Enhancement Packages will allow innovation to be delivered by SAP itself, partners, and customers. SAP will release the first Enhancement Pack in December 2006... Posted Sep 12 2006, 02:26 PM by Tim with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Technology, SAPTechEd2006

• SAP TechEd Keynote

  There were three key announcements made in Shai Agassi's keynote today. myERP 2005 as Business Process Platform Enterprise Search with SAP Argo Discovery and Composition More to come. Posted Sep 12 2006, 02:07 PM by Tim with | with no comments Filed under: Technology, SAPTechEd2006, Enterprise

• I'm at SAP TechEd in Vegas

  I'm in Las Vegas this week for the SAP TechEd '06 in their Blogger's Corner. If you're here, drop me a line and we'll grab a drink or something. Posted Sep 11 2006, 02:44 PM by Tim with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Technology, SAPTechEd2006, Enterprise