Apple and SAP Announce New Enterprise Partnership

[dk001]

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.

Not exactly. I do SAP in a validated GXP environment - we seriously looked at mobile and the amount of work to get what the business needed at that level via iOS (looking at iPads originally) was a no sell. Even looked at this for non-US regional models. SAP didn't have a decent usable answer (2014-2015). All my current development is based on Windows environment. The reports and transaction outputs/inputs don't scale and custom work was cost prohibitive - having to build twice to present the same info. Regional or Global models it just wasn't worth it.
I would love to see something decent come out of this partnership.

Disclaimer: I live in a global manufacturing and procurement world in SAP that is heavily regulated.

 

[tw1ll]

Good grief they are all at it now. From the PR...."We’re proud to take this special partnership between Apple and SAP to a groundbreaking new place,” said Bill McDermott, CEO of SAP. “In giving people an agile and intuitive business experience, we empower them to know more, care more and do more"". This is absolute gobbledegook. It beggars belief that these people are paid so much. What SPECIFICALLY are you going to do that is so amazing? It seems these days anyone can get away with criminally incompetent behaviour if you say "sorry" and CEOs can get away with being brainless as long as they use the word "groundbreaking". All pi** and wind the lot of them.

 

[Wiesenlooser]

I'm worried. Apple is not a business company, it is a consumer company. Having to much emphasis on b2b makes you complacent, because it is an entirely different business.

Here it is not about who makes the best products, but who makes the best contracts. You are not as eager to innovate because of the fact that it is about Long term relationships and standardization.

This is what dragged down Microsoft (having to support all kind of legacy stuff). What made apple apple is its willingness and ability to cut away old strings that they felt were keeping them back. It's much harder to do that with business contracts and clients.

 

[ChristianVirtual]

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.
....
What is your experience working with the code?

Was never a problem for me as a German native; WERKS, BUKRS, ... Very clear ; comments in code or error messages, too
Still today some colleagues comming asking for translation when SAP fall back to mother tounge. In cases we even have seen trilingual messages (DE, EN, JA)

 

[PotatoLeekSoup]

SAP is a big daddy company. I haven't used their software/interface, and people here say it's crud. So maybe this is a chance for them to improve on that. This sounds good overall.

 

[ChristianVirtual]

The day when
1) MS Exel on the iPad can make real pivot tables, good filtering and controls
2) SAPGUI is officially running native on iPad

I can ditch my laptop ...

 

[brendu]

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.

I'm sure Jobs picked him for a good reason and you have no idea what you're talking about and couldn't do anywhere near as good a job as him. You're trying to compare the past five years to the five most influential years in the company's 40 year history. Yeah that's fair... Who would you suggest replace him?

 

[El Hikaru]

I don't know much about the enterprise adaptions, but I am hoping my company expand bring your own devise reimbursement to iPad, so that I can have my company buying a cellular iPad for me.

 

[EricTheHalfBee]

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.

Can't upvote this enough, so the next best thing it to quote it just to make sure it's visible to the page 2-x trolls as well.

I guess people already upset that iOS is, by far, the most dominant mobile OS in corporate/enterprise use just can't stand the fact that Apple has secured yet ANOTHER major business deal with a company like SAP.

 

[elmaco]

First partnering with IBM and now SAP. Cook is to Apple what Ballmer was to Microsoft. This is not going to end well.

 

[Makosuke]

Not exactly. I do SAP in a validated GXP environment - we seriously looked at mobile and the amount of work to get what the business needed at that level via iOS (looking at iPads originally) was a no sell. Even looked at this for non-US regional models. SAP didn't have a decent usable answer (2014-2015). All my current development is based on Windows environment. The reports and transaction outputs/inputs don't scale and custom work was cost prohibitive - having to build twice to present the same info. Regional or Global models it just wasn't worth it.

What you're saying seems to be backing up what I'm saying, though. SAP not having a usable iOS tool but working on Windows is a good reason for an enterprise to buy a Surface over an iPad, but unless SAP has working Windows Phone (or Android, or even Blackberry) tools, it also means that SAP just doesn't work well on any phone.

Do they? Does SAP have Windows Phone or other non-iOS handheld platform tools? Not a rhetorical question, I don't use it and maybe they do.

But if not, it would stand to reason to want to build good tools for whatever the most popular phone platform among your users is, which in the US for enterprise is unquestionably iPhone. And even if they do, given the relative popularity of iPhone it's still to their advantage to have good iOS tools, since it means that either people don't have to carry two phones (a personal iPhone and a corporate Windows Phone for SAP use) or they can not be stuck with an unpopular, poorly-adopted phone platform.

At the very least, there are no technical hurdles to having a completely MS-based backend and desktop platform with a robust iOS-based mobile platform regardless of scale. It's just a matter of having tools that connect well.

If this does work out, it could certainly make for a big selling point for iPads at the corporate level, as well.

 

[caskin8a]

Apple. Seriously.

Remember who you are. You are the intersection of technology and liberal arts designed to make hearts sing. You create experiences and enrich lives, pushing the world forward for the betterment of humanity.

You are not a massive corporate hell bent on being in every single market, making deals with the likes of IMB and now SAP just to chase "growth" and "share price". The actual f**k?

Go back to being the "best" phone not outwardly desperately chasing down the dream of being "every" phone.

 

[mlody]

Magical / "Revolutionize" and AAPL drops further - now under $93/share. Cook is looking like he is running on empty - his BS is not flying with anyone other than Cook Kool Aid drinkers.

As much as I like Apple, I am glad that their stock is dropping. It is about the time that Apple starts shi..ting in their pants. Apple way or no way is getting tiering. Hopefully the stock continues to drop and perhaps this will be a wake up call for Apple to start listening to people.

 

[Tiger8]

SAP needed this, they are getting stiff competition from Salesforce, Microsoft, and Oracle , all of whom are direct competitors.

Companies like IBM, Deloitte, and Accenture benefit from such partnerships

 

[Tech198]

Anytime i see the word "cloud" and "Apple" mentioned anywhere that only means trouble..

I don't think i wanna know the outcome of "critical information" in Apple's iClould.... Until they build their own i won't feel better.

 

[Tiger8]

Apple. Seriously.

Remember who you are. You are the intersection of technology and liberal arts designed to make hearts sing. You create experiences and enrich lives, pushing the world forward for the betterment of humanity.

You are not a massive corporate hell bent on being in every single market, making deals with the likes of IMB and now SAP just to chase "growth" and "share price". The actual f**k?

Go back to being the "best" phone not outwardly desperately chasing down the dream of being "every" phone.

Apple has a serious gap area in corporate enterprise; if successful, such partnerships could allow people to do actual work on Apple devices , beyond tweeting and excel

 

[Apple Corps]

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.

Hey Mr. Newbie - those turned off by Cook and his underperforming team have made a number of excellent points. Your lack of understanding, or life / investor experience, or your affection towards Timmy do not make those who post otherwise a troll.

Perhaps you could educate us and even add some insight as to the dismal performance of AAPL for most of Cook's 5 years as CEO.

How has the partnership with IBM propelled the stock since it was announced almost two years ago? SAP is not the issue - Apple appears to be throwing stuff against the wall, but not much is sticking.

 

[JM]

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

Oh, I get it now. It's a S&M thing.

Why is Apple into bondage now?

 

[Soccertess]

SAP has likely realized that they need the likes of Apple to clean up their software

Easy to make that claim. What do you expect? Today's technology is amazing, and there's a lot more going on than we consumers/users see.

I agree, it makes sense for SAP to clean up there software. I personally hate SAP interface.

I think OSX is still awesome, but I think iOS, Siri, and the Apple watch (and OS) are sub par. Guess we will agree to disagree, but I am really thinking of an android as I think they have today's amazing tech now. But I really hope Apple proves me wrong in sept!

 

[navier]

My company uses SAP.

As an engineer I have to report the hours I am working in projects in SAP, and I must say, I hate it. It's by far the worst piece of software that I have to deal with (horrible UI, extremelly unintuitive, slow, it doesn't adjust the contents of the windows and tables to the size of the window neither automatically nor at will, so I can't take advantage of my 30" display and see a a full week at once, or be able to select the Projects I am working on on the 20+ item list which only shows 4 or 5 at a time!... worst user experience ever has seen the light)

I know it's the ultimate tool for Beancounters. It's 0 and 1 p0rn0graphy for them.

Someone at Apple must be really excited about this news.

 

[recoil80]

SAPPLE....sounds promising.

Sounds better than IBMAPPLE

By the way if they want to be more appealing to enterprise customers they ought to improve their Mail app. It is ok for the average user, but once you have lots of folders and accounts it is not really convenient.

 

[Agent OrangeZ]

I am an aerospace machinist and the company I work for uses SAP to track all sorts of stuff. It is powerful software with a horrendous user interface. Hopefully their iOS applications will get a nice flat Apple-like interface.

 

[69Mustang]

Oh, I get it now. It's a S&M thing.

Why is Apple into bondage now?

China requested it.

 

[nickgri]

Glad to hear SAP is now worth using-in the old days I would have said anyone would be a sap to use it, as it was horrible did not work, and if rules or permissions were in place it would take an act of congress to change it. Nice to hear it's actually working. Hopefully they use Apples' designs to make it user friendly and nice to look at as well as being functional.

 

[AFEPPL]

None of the above is true... its alway been worth using hence why they are number one and everyone else was swept away. Permissions were all part of the governance and the granularity PFCG went down to was a testament again to its design and flexibility. If you couldnt do what you "wanted" it was because someone else didnt want you to do it!