Apple and SAP Announce New Enterprise Partnership

[Jakexb]

I really don't get the negativity here. They're making a huge effort to give iOS a serious footprint in the business world. That is an entire new market that buys things completely independently of the "cool factor", which is notoriously fickle That's a big step towards diversifying the customer base while keeping a small list of products.

Pushing Apple products in:
health/medical (researchkit, carekit, Health, future Watch updates),
education (ConnectEd, classroom management),
business (IBM, SAP)

These are entirely separate areas that require fairly different approaches. They would be crazy not to pursue all relevant markets.

 

[Braderunner]

My god, I thought this was "Mac"Rumours, not TrollCentral... The amount of uneducated BS vitriol being spewed here lately is mind-numbing...

This is a big deal, as SAP is widely used by multiple organizations of varying sizes, including IBM. A partnership here can only propel the iOS platform in enterprise to even more expansive heights than it already is, and also help to accelerate iPad adoption in enterprise.

The only BS here is the trash being spewed by those sitting behind their keyboards pretending to be some kind of cyber columnist or warrior against the vile of Tim Cook, pathetic.

Thanks for clearing things up. What would we do without you.

 

[Razeus]

Tim Cook is definately running this company like a typical executive. Enterprise, share buybacks for no reason. The list goes on.

 

[icehockey77]

I believe SAP was already maintaining a lot of Apple's retail apps as well as shipping and receiving systems.

 

[Mr. Dee]

Next it will be Oracle, then Microsoft, then Sales Force, then Work Day. Its good for Apple because Enterprise partners such as these will lead to new opportunities for growth. Apple must decide though, which is more important, consumers or businesses. Not every company can do both, even Microsoft realize this as they are slowly moving away from consumer focused on the Enterprise. Lets hope the strong interest in Enterprise growth does not come at the cost of ease of use and quality on the consumer front.

 

[canny]

Tim Cook is unforgivably boring, and this story is the proof. Listen to him speak - it's like he's had a lobotomy. He gets excited by selling watch bands. All he's done in his career is look after the warehouses of Compaq, IBM, and Apple - and then they gave him the top job. I'm sure Steve Jobs only meant for him to be an interim leader. His slow-talking, methodical brain might be suitable for operations, but not for making the right decisions for a whole company. Apple will go into a long decline with this moron at the helm.

All he does is polish products that Jobs willed into existence. That's not a long term plan. Other companies are forward-looking, investing in the latest developments in technology - AI, robots etc. Tim Cook just gives billions to people like Dr Dre. He has turned Apple into a sleepy, dull company. There is no hunger for innovation.

The depth of Tim Cook's mediocrity is almost hard to believe. He's been in his role almost 5(!) years. What new software and hardware have we seen? The Photos app is something a small indie developer could be proud of maybe. The Watch is hardly must-have, and Apple Music is an embarrassment. And this is from a multi-billion company! Compare that to the five years before Cook took over.

Time for Tim to go.

 

[skinned66]

I've used SAP. They design software with I guess powerful features, with interfaces sprouting millions of buttons. The experience is terribly ordinary. Hmmm, what to make of this.

Have you tried deploying/administrating it? Fun times, fun times. I wouldn't even wish it on Carl Icahn.

 

[Jimiaq]

"Apple Sap - the refreshingly energetic drink you didn't know you needed!"
Or
"Apple Sap Upgrade Program - when you've had your iMac for more than 6 years and it starts oozing..."

Apple today announced a new partnership with SAP to "revolutionize" the mobile work experience for its enterprise customers by combining native iPhone and iPad apps with the SAP HANA Cloud Platform. Under the partnership, Apple and SAP will create a new software development kit and training academy to help developers and enterprise customers create tailored business-focused iOS apps.

The new SAP HANA Cloud Platform SDK will be developed exclusively for iOS and will give enterprise customers simple tools for "quickly and efficiently" building apps for iPhone and iPad based on the SAP HANA Cloud Platform. According to the press release, the native apps will provide access to core data and business processes on SAP HANA while also taking advantage of Apple hardware features like Touch ID, Location Services, and Notifications.

Under the partnership, a new SAP Fiori iOS design language will be created, and SAP will also develop a suite of native iOS apps for "critical business operations" built on Apple's Swift programming language.

Article Link: Apple and SAP Announce New Enterprise Partnership

 

[2457282]

I have not seen the partnership with IBM go very far (at least there hasn't been any rumors ). Let's see if anything comes of this partnership.

 

[skinned66]

Vitriolic post bemoaning vitriol

On topic: It's good to see Apple trying to make enterprise a viable part of it's growth strategy for the future. It's especially encouraging for iPads since that category needs a boost like no other in Apple's stable. Hopefully, this enterprise push isn't a day late/dollar short.

I am so stealing that graphic.

 

[ChrisCW11]

I thought Apple wanted to revolutionize enterprise with IBM and the iPad Pro?

 

[2457282]

I'm super excited about this. I'm an SAP IT Analyst so having my favorite company collaborate with a platform I use every day is an fascinating prospect.

I have not worked with SAP in a long while, but I remember all the comments in the code being in German - really hard to work with.

Business objects used to be a good tool but once bought by SAP seems to be SAP only. I have to be honest that I primarily work with Oracle's PeopleSoft with most of my businesses.

What is your experience working with the code?

 

[satchmo]

Next it will be Oracle, then Microsoft, then Sales Force, then Work Day. Its good for Apple because Enterprise partners such as these will lead to new opportunities for growth. Apple must decide though, which is more important, consumers or businesses. Not every company can do both, even Microsoft realize this as they are slowly moving away from consumer focused on the Enterprise. Lets hope the strong interest in Enterprise growth does not come at the cost of ease of use and quality on the consumer front.

These were my thoughts as well. Is Apple being smart and diversifying it's reach, or is it unfocussed and misguided.
Is there a big picture strategy in play? Or as you implied, they become what Microsoft once was.

 

[Glassed Silver]

My god, I thought this was "Mac"Rumours, not TrollCentral... The amount of uneducated BS vitriol being spewed here lately is mind-numbing...

This is a big deal, as SAP is widely used by multiple organizations of varying sizes, including IBM. A partnership here can only propel the iOS platform in enterprise to even more expansive heights than it already is, and also help to accelerate iPad adoption in enterprise.

The only BS here is the trash being spewed by those sitting behind their keyboards pretending to be some kind of cyber columnist or warrior against the vile of Tim Cook, pathetic.

As a long-standing MacRumors cynic who likes to drink the Apple Kool Aid only in spare doses at least ever since I came to realize how much Apple has changed for the worse I'm not happy to be right with so many things and other people on here becoming more criticizing of Apple almost on a monthly basis, however, you're absolutely right!

There's absolutely nothing bad with this deal and will help both companies become not only strong partners, but also ACTUALLY DELIVER HELPFUL TOOLS to business customers.

This is a big deal and mind you, especially in a world of BYOD a key-factor to success for Apple.
This might boost sales considerably in the business world.

As I said: I love being a criticizing *******, I hate being right when I'm cynic, but I can't spot anything bad in this news.

Glassed Silver:mac

 

[mjturner]

I believe SAP was already maintaining a lot of Apple's retail apps as well as shipping and receiving systems.

Indeed, AFAIK a large portion of the app store backend is at least partially handled by SAP systems (running on AIX if I'm not mistaken). If you search for jobs at Apple you'll often see backoffice positions for people with SAP experience.

 

[AFEPPL]

SAP is heavily used by Apple, All your iTunes and App store purchases come from an SAP system, its an integral part of apples LOB and supply chain management. Apple have also invested into the newer HANA systems (HANA is an in memory DB that can process billions of records of data in seconds) mainly for investment management. The direction SAP are going and have been is IoT and digital. Many of the easy to consume dashboards are aimed at the iPad like experience so it makes sense. But its also an olive branch from SAP to get apple to move over some of their older SAP systems to HANA too. I'm guessing this is being rushed through as a big announcement will be made in two weeks time with another large vendor.

IBM are an SAP partner from consulting point of view, but they also compete at many other levels.
I cant say any more...

 

[Makosuke]

Maybe for the smaller scale use of SAP or Mac centric shops.
For most enterprise level, MS is the platform driver and SAP is set to run on it.

That's the thing, though: Even in enterprise, what's the penetration of Windows Phone? Probably similar to Blackberry--a rounding error. iPhones account for something like 80% of US corporate phones--it's by far the dominant enterprise handheld platform.

It doesn't matter--at all--that SAP is oriented around Microsoft as the server/workstation platform. Mobile is a different game, and Microsoft's mobile position is nonexistent, while Apple's is extremely strong at the enterprise level. SAP can and most certainly will do things with iOS while using a MS backend.

Do you think IBM is expecting Macs to be the server or desktop platform paired with any of the business-centric iOS apps they're building?

On an unrelated note, it's funny when I read something like this or the IBM announcement, and think "Ooh, that's a really big company." And then I realize that while SAP is indeed a huge company, Apple is ten times larger in everything but workforce, which is still twice as large. As someone who's been following Apple since the 80s, I still catch myself forgetting, occasionally, just how huge the company is now.

 

[AFEPPL]

SAP has never been "oriented around Microsoft as the server/workstation platform", its 180deg the opposite.

 

[TallManNY]

Next it will be Oracle, then Microsoft, then Sales Force, then Work Day. Its good for Apple because Enterprise partners such as these will lead to new opportunities for growth. Apple must decide though, which is more important, consumers or businesses. Not every company can do both, even Microsoft realize this as they are slowly moving away from consumer focused on the Enterprise. Lets hope the strong interest in Enterprise growth does not come at the cost of ease of use and quality on the consumer front.

I think this is part of the process of iOS becoming the leading OS. Simple OS with good hardware is what people want. Employees come to work with user interface knowledge from their phones and then can use the enterprise software more efficiently. That is a win for the company. If the existing enterprise software providers don't adapt, some new company will come in and program for iOS and steal business over time.

 

[Rogifan]

I thought Apple wanted to revolutionize enterprise with IBM and the iPad Pro?

Do IBM and SAP overlap in terms of customers served or do they serve different needs?

 

[TallManNY]

That's the thing, though: Even in enterprise, what's the penetration of Windows Phone? Probably similar to Blackberry--a rounding error. iPhones account for something like 80% of US corporate phones--it's by far the dominant enterprise handheld platform.

I think iPhone sales may account for 80% of current US corporate phone purchases or maybe it is just planned future purchases. But there are still millions of blackberry phones in use in the corporate world. I don't think Windows Phones ever got close to where Blackberry was and still is. And if you care about security, I'm not sure how you can go with Android from most manufacturers because I'm not sure if most OEMs commit to doing security updates promptly or for the long run (like will they support a phone for two or three years? I just don't know.)

 

[AFEPPL]

SAP is everywhere, so yes theres an overlap.. but they only compete on a few areas.
IBM are mostly around transformation/consulting now. They still have P series (for now) but they are fundamentally in the software game more than hardware.

Releasing a SDK opens up HCP to developers to go and create feature rich apps other than SAP having to do it all. its just simple scale and economics.

 

[JM]

Vitriolic post bemoaning vitriol

On topic: It's good to see Apple trying to make enterprise a viable part of it's growth strategy for the future. It's especially encouraging for iPads since that category needs a boost like no other in Apple's stable. Hopefully, this enterprise push isn't a day late/dollar short.

Grey Pot waving and pointing at Grey steaming kettle? I don't understand...

 

[69Mustang]

Grey Pot waving and pointing at Grey steaming kettle? I don't understand...

That's only 1 of their 50 shades. Black is the 50th

 

[mrhick01]

Tim Cook is unforgivably boring, and this story is the proof. Listen to him speak - it's like he's had a lobotomy. He gets excited by selling watch bands. All he's done in his career is look after the warehouses of Compaq, IBM, and Apple - and then they gave him the top job. I'm sure Steve Jobs only meant for him to be an interim leader. His slow-talking, methodical brain might be suitable for operations, but not for making the right decisions for a whole company. Apple will go into a long decline with this moron at the helm.

All he does is polish products that Jobs willed into existence. That's not a long term plan. Other companies are forward-looking, investing in the latest developments in technology - AI, robots etc. Tim Cook just gives billions to people like Dr Dre. He has turned Apple into a sleepy, dull company. There is no hunger for innovation.

The depth of Tim Cook's mediocrity is almost hard to believe. He's been in his role almost 5(!) years. What new software and hardware have we seen? The Photos app is something a small indie developer could be proud of maybe. The Watch is hardly must-have, and Apple Music is an embarrassment. And this is from a multi-billion company! Compare that to the five years before Cook took over.

Time for Tim to go.

Two questions. The first is: Why is Tim Cook constantly being demerited for Not Being Steve Jobs?

The second is who is qualified to take his place?