Another out-of-sync edition of TWIS before I return to my usual Monday schedule next week. Looks like I’ve timed it well to come out just after SAP’s Q4 2010 earnings report. Sorry, I meant to say “SAP, the double-digit growth company”.

As videos or images seem to become a kind-of permanent TWIS feature, let me give you my favourite video of last week.

“We will even mop your executive brows”.

OK, let’s get cracking.

• I’ve mentioned the Q4 earnings report already, so here’s the link to the official SAP documentation. As was to be expected, the Co-CEOs emphasised the continued strong performance from an operational perspective. Let’s bring in some other voices at this point: Gartner’s Thomas Otter praises the field org and Walldorf’s bold product strategy. As Michael Kroker of german Wirtschaftswoche (english here) describes, SAP is keen to “tick off” the TomorrowNow dispute, albeit potentially further legal steps, and move on. Another interesting fact that I would like to add is that co-CEO Snabe confidently announced that SAP reckons it will have 1000 Business ByDesign (BYD) customers by the end of 2011. There was also a poor post from silicon.de on the results, which uses Switzerland as an example and criticises SAP’s lack of strategy, which I can’t quite follow.
• Dennis Howlett sees a fresh approach for SAP customers in ASUGnews’s appointment of Courtney Bjorlin and Thomas Wailgum.
• Sexiness and Workflow don’t match, you think? Jon Reed and Thorsten Franz will prove you wrong.
• Jim Spath blogs from the ASUG’s Annual Volunteer Meeting in Chicago.
• Interesting post by Panorama Consulting on system customisations, which seems to argue against a vendor-driven trend to less bespoke solutions and more best-practice.
• and finally a very much stockmarket-led analysis on SAP’s current situation by Forbes.com

stand on the scene like a Tweet machine

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I’m trying to gradually gnaw my way back into a Monday rhythm, so a Thursday edition this week, Wednesday the week after and then back in Monday mode. That’s the plan.

Thanks to @monkchips, I’ve come across this set of brilliant IBM marketing slides from 35 years ago. One example is here (it actually looks very much like Pixelbase office):

Let have a look at my picks, shall we?

• SAP Me Sideways with some comments on his employer’s rollout of SAP to other sites. The sort of delays he is talking about are the norm, BUT it very often also depends on the customer and his willingness to communicate, push back and scrutinise the SI’s plans.
• John Moy from Down Under got me very interested in jQuery Mobile with his recent SDN blog”SAP jQuery Mobile web app with HTML5 concepts and Native device features”. It’s on my list of “interesting skills to pick up”. Excellent stuff this is.
• Want to nominate the next SAP Mentor? Oh, go on!
• more shopping: SAP is in the process of acquiring disclosure management solutions developed by Germany-based Cundus. Interesting to see that SAP again specifies items of the deal (“… intellectual property, customer contracts and certain employees.”).
• Manager-Magazin reports that SAP aims to increase its operating margin to 35% within the next 5 years. (english version is here)
• Why don’t we see more tests and analysis such as this? “How good are analytical tools by SAP?” A report by Computerwoche.de on a Reporting tool test by T-Systems Germany. (english version here)
• Computerwoche seemed to have opened the SAP News cage – yet another interesting story here. This time it’s an interview with Senior VP John Wookey (english version here). But we all know that Jon Reed interviewed Wookey already in an interview published earlier this month… listen to it here.
• always worthwhile reading: Dennis Howlett’s summary on SAP’s (early) announcements on Q4 earnings.
• Smartplanet.com reports on SAP’s test project to roll out electric cars to 450 employees as a fleet car replacement.

Twitter snippets…

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Hello everyone and welcome to the first edition of TWIS in 2011. This week’s edition is a bit of a catch-up going all the way back to early December so excuse some posts and tweets that are older than a week (they’re still worthwhile mentioning here, you know!). Buckle up, here we go…

• after 14 years this is Thomas Wailgum’s last post for CIO.com, talking about Forrester’s bold outlook for Business IT in 2020. “The IT status quo will collapse (…)”. Fair enough, but surely we’ll still have Microsoft Sharepoint (aka “The Document Nirvana”). I’d like to wish Thomas all the best for his next career step and would also like to thank him for all his great posts. TWIS won’t be the same without his CIO.com musings.
• SAP is buying security software and other assets from its swiss partner SECUDE. The deal encompasses SECUDE’s Secure Sign On and Enterprise Signle Sign On solutions, which will be rolled out to all customers free of charge later this year in a basic version. CIO’s Chris Kanaracus writes that SAP is trying to introduce its own offerings in a market that is also inhabited by Oracle. While I think it’s a good move in terms of product offering and (external) innovation, the bigger question obviously is how secure offerings have been thus far.
• in another IP-related move, SAP and Intellectual Ventures reach an agreement to give the Walldorf concern access to more than 30,000 intellectual property assets.
• wonderful post by Vinnie Mirchandani on “Commercialization” in the coming decade. I really like the last two paragraphs about going back to IT’s roots.
• SAP’s Matthias Steiner writes about the first edition of the “SAP Mentors Quarterly” magazine, a great new addition to the vast output SAP Mentor’s produce.
• Short and sharp. James Governor on what you should do in 2011: “Work On Stuff That Matters. Ignore Everybody. Get Excited and Make Things.“
• A year would not end properly without Blag’s annual SDN blog picks. So here’s his list for 2010.
• Silicon.de with an interesting outlook on the (german) SAP Freelance market in 2011. (english version here)
• and: let’s start 2011 with another takeover post. This time from Seeking Alpha.

Horses may have bolted on some of those tweets. I’ll post them anyway.

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This edition of TWiS is actually put together while I’m watching SAP Mentor Monday, a special edition for the unveiling of Hugh MacLeod’s “Freaking (Fucking) Amazing” picture in a SAP main meeting area in Palo Alto.

In other news, we’ve obviously still had some fallout from the SAP/Oracle TomorrowNow case. Are these two items linked? Maybe they are… maybe the ruling -despite whether SAP appeals or not- will spur them on to be even more “freaking amazing”. I’m getting carried away.

• It certainly was the week of the SAP/Oracle roundups. Some a more worthwhile read than others. I won’t talk about the latter, so let’s start with CIO’s Thomas Wailgum, who writes: “Justice is supposed to be blind, but public opinion certainly isn’t. While SAP might have more likeability than does Oracle, it doesn’t absolve SAP executives from paying for their sins.“.
• I also liked Thomas Otter’s shakespearean take on the TomorrowNow ruling: “Coming out of this, I’d hope that software developers think a little bit more about intellectual property and IT law generally.“
• an interesting Computerwoche article by PAC’s Tobias Ortwein nudges the topic a little more towards the difference between US and continental european IP culture (english version here).
• Seeking Alpha’s Dennis Byron continues his SAP bish-bash-bosh and drowns a few SAP follower kittens by aiming at Shai Agassi, but praises him for his work re the Netweaver platform. Huh.
• Dennis Howlett spotted a reinvigoration of the maintenance topic during his visit at the SAP UK & Ireland user group.
• RedMonk’s James Governor with an excellent piece on openness, HTML5, news firewalls and the power of developers. He links to Apple Enterprise page and its strange statement (which always puzzled me) and -most of all- he mentions “Die Zeit”, my favourite Online and Print paper.
• oh, and did you know, “River is out and available”. Ethan Jewett’s comment says it all…
• Silicon.de’s take on Snabe speech during SAP UK&I conference in Manchester: “Fun in less than 7 minutes”. Yes, he’s still talking SAP (english translation here).

If I can tweet it there, I’ll tweet it – anywhere…

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Welcome back to my SAP News roundup. In a way I’m glad I missed my usual Monday deadline for TWiS this week, as it means I’m able to include one of THE SAP news headlines of the year. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

• SAP-Oracle TommorowNow lawsuit: the jury has spoken and it’s not looking good for SAP, who will be forced to pay its rival Oracle $1.3bn in compensation for Intellectual Propoerty (IP) theft – should the ruling be upheld. There are people far wiser and more knowledgeable in this area than me, so let’s see what Ray Wang, Dennis Howlett and maybe even a researcher interviewed by Digital Daily have to say about this: “You have to bet Oracle will be reminding customers they’re choosing between thought leaders and intellectual property thieves–and what that indicates more broadly about how SAP does business.” – what a travesty it would be should Oracle really use the judgement that way. (Something tells me they will !).
• Also: Germany’s Computerwoche with a first post-judgement article this morning (english translation here)
• Dennis also posted a great SAP UK & Ireland User Group Mentor-related post, mentioning the SAP Mentor booth, which seems to have been a great success. John Appleby also chimed in with a great headline: SAP Mentors: What, that bunch of weirdos?
• Eric Kimberling writes about ERP Failure and learning lessons from it, specifically the Dorset Council reports.

What’s been happening in Twitter valley?

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[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/jamesfarrar/status/4976063486627840″] nb: Dennis was asking his Twitter followers for a hairdresser recommendation in London

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Dear TWIS fellowhip, after last week’s news extravaganzza, this week’s edition is a little short and sharper…

• CIO’s Chris Kanaracus writes: Lumber Liquidators blames it’s weak recent quarterly results to a complex SAP implementation.
• “It’s the BI, stupid!”, Thomas Wailgum reports on an MIT / IBM study which shows that the corporate gut feel still rules.
• Digital Daily seems to enjoy Bill McDermott’s in-court apology to Oracle.

hey, you, Twitterverse!

• monkchips: seeing a lot of moves by major tech companies lately that clearly demonstrate one thing- developers are indeed the new kingmakers
• RenaldWittwer: Just talked with a customer about Java. There is lot of fear about the license policy of Oracle. No investment in Java projects anymore!
• @jonerp Only SAP technology strategists can give the #kissofdeath, architects & everyone else go for “loose coupling” @jpenninkhof
• mspork: SAP’s internal microblogging service (identi.ca) is quickly becoming the “feedback” button for IT
• jonerp: Turns out Leo is in Japan – Reuters:http://dlvr.it/8L1Wm #subpeonamadness