The UK parliament is hung, my throat is sore and Sapphire Frankfurt is only a week away. Let’s see what got stuck in my dragnet of SAP News:

• ZDNet’s Dennis Howlett with a piece on SAP’s new initiative “Innojagd” (INNOvation + JAGD, german for “hunt”), which is lead by Craig Cmehil. I’m planning to have a chat with Craig about Innojagd in Frankfurt next week. In separate items in FT Deutschland (english translation) and Germany’s Computerwoche, co-CEO Snabe talks (english translation here) about a lower proportion of R&D costs on the revenue. This is due to SAP’s ongoing internal restructuring, which is expected to be completed by summer 2010. The coming  months will show whether Snabe’s statement will have an impact on Innojagd or not.
• SAP Mentor head Mark Finnern announces new SAP Mentors (incl 4 new Mentorettes!).
• SAP Mentor Thorsten Franz with a SDN blog post on tooling changes within the Composition Environment and their strategical impact.
• lining up the ducks: short Plattner video putting in-memory back on the agenda for Sapphire (as if we didn’t know that 😉
• Cory Coley-Christakos talks about SAP Education: From Evolution to Revolution and talks amongst other things about “evolutionary” steps from the old classroom model to online presence. If this means that SAP will abolish the classical classroom model entirely then I’m not sure if that’s a move into the right direction.

and what had the Twitterverse to say for itself?

• qmacro: How many people in #ERP who talk about #SOA really know what it is?
• jspath55: SAP Go Live check refers to Note # 1347084, as in “The requested SAP Note is either in reworking or is released internally only”. #FAIL
• esjewett: @jspath55 Why would SAP refer to a note that it’s customers can access? Clearly you ask too much 😉 (nb. in reply to jspath55)
• vlvl: A customer here explainig how using “Process Runner” they can enable using excel as the frontend instead of SAP. Hmmm… #ISUG2010
• rhirsch: Like the fact that SAP is adding another “analyst” (@skemsley ) to @SAPMentors – another sign of the increasing importance of “openness”
• sappro: Plattner is going to talk about In mem databases again at Sapphire,> C’mon that has been being discussed for 2 years now, let’s move on
• blich: @vlvl @pixelbase @rhirsch @dahowlett with #innojagd #evilplans and all other cool stuff, #EcoHub grows impact. Not a competition.

It’s been the week when SAP announced its quarterly (Q1) results, so let’s get straight down to the nitty gritty, the numbers and figures, the fact & fiction.

• SAP announced its Q1 2010 results (guess you saw that one coming!). Obviously there have been several views and opinions about this. JP Morgan upgraded the SAP share and was rather bullish, Informationweek is a little bit more to my liking, talking about Snabe’s  same-old, same-old SaaS “mantra” during the result call. Interestingly enough, the latter then link to Global CIO’s interview with McDermott, which hails McDermott as the one who gives SAP a new image and perspective. Germany’s Silicon.de sees troubles over low investments fade away as SAP reports double digit growth (in german) for english translation click here. Let’s round this off with 2 more distinctive insights: Helmut Guembel is cautiously hissing the recovery flag, saying it looks as if “customers are glad to get back to their old agendas”. Guembel also sets his sights and hopes towards Sapphire, where he expects a “new vision – one that is meaty”. ZDNet’s Dennis Howlett sees the growth and decline as a bit of a “mixed bag” and specifically points out the 18% decline in training revenue. Dennis is also in eager anticipation for Sapphire 2010.
• after all these figures something a little more light-hearted: CIO’s Thomas Wailgum with the “Top 10 Rejected Marketing Slogans” for Sun & Oracle.
• what a difference 11 weeks can make (can they?): Global CIO’s Bob Evans sees SAP “to have made significant progress” with its turnaround. Wow.
• Computerwoche writes “Bye Bye R/3” in its article (english version here) about the shrinking number of R/3 installation base (19%). Interestingly, Computerwoche tried to establish if these remaining, predominantly SME based installs would be interested in 3rd party maintenance once an SAP Netweaver/ERP upgrade had gone live. However, since a large number of these SMEs are lead or closely-linked to larger concerns, there will most likely be a someone else to pick up the bill.
• The next big thing in enterprise software –according to Leo Apotheker on CIO.com- is inter-company process optimization. Is it just me or do we hear more from the ex-SAP CEO now that he is with SCM Vendor GT Nexus?
• Mark Finnern talks Rugby shirts in this interview with the leader of the SAP Mentor initiative on ERPExecutive.com

and nothing from the Twitterverse this week…

Well, in many respects its been an interesting week for me (more about it further down), but it was also the week when SAP told the world that they would acquire Technidata. Plenty to talk about, so lets get stuck into this week’s “SAP Souffle”:

• SAP announced that they’re going to buy German Partner Technidata, a specialist in Product Safety, Health and Environment Solutions. I guess Greenmonk can really claim they were on the money when back in March 2008 it reckoned that “SAP should really buy Technidata so that it can move forward more quickly in this space” (nb carbon accounting solutions). James Governor also saw something like this coming in 2007.
• Vijay Vijayasankar once again was on fire this week when he posted his great blog on “South beach diet didn’t work for me and neither did Agile development” (so much for a modest title). Great post with some great comments. I tend to agree with Vijay to some degree. To me, Agile is a little bit of “old wine in new bottles”, but old wines can taste good, too.
• I liked Thomas Wailgum’s “why is the CFO still boss of IT?” – this still is far too common and his statistics prove it.
• as mentioned above, this week 5 SAP Mentors (Dennis Howlett, Jon Reed, Leonardo de Araujo, Martin Gilett and myself) published a White Paper on SDN with regards to the current state of SAP Certification (“The Certification 5 Report“). The response couldn’t have been more resounding. Read Dennis SDN post here, ZDNet’s Larry Dignan comments in his blog, Pixelbase had a (pimping) write-up, Michael Douane had a pop (“SAP Certification Ruckus”) – and let not forget the 33 comments (so far) on SDN!
• Jon Reed’s podcast with Eric Brown on ByDesign is a good one. Make sure it’s coming to an iPod near you soon!
• good old SAPMeSideways is back with the “same old, same old“
• great interview on German TV with SAP co-founder Dietmar Hopp (link here – but make sure you skip to chapter 2. Chapter 1 is with D. Hasselhoff!)

take it away, Twitter!

• se38: @jspath55 Never run a changing system 😉
• esjewett: SAP removed the WebDynPro runtime from Visual Composer in Ehp2? Didn’t know that was coming 🙁
• sapteched: @MGILLET Thanks for the breaking news on SAP #certificationfrom Cert5 @dahowlett @jonerp @pixelbase@Leonardo_Araujo
• jonerp: @twailgum yeah it’s rough when you do a particularly witty Tweet and it doesn’t make the cut with @pixelbase! >> please scroll down to find my price list

It’s been the week when the Icelandic Ash tried to muddy my view of SAP Land. However I have been victorious! And to keep it topical: What’s this week’s fall-out?

• The Var Guy evaluates SAP’s EcoHub in a short blog post, naming it (just like SAP) an application store. Apparently the ill-named EcoHub offers over 500 different solutions. I wonder if people who get so excited about it have ever dived any deeper into any of those 500 offerings? You would expect you get some nitty gritty apps to install (it is called an “app store” after all!), but most of the time when you click on the “Demo” button, you’re presented with a contact form. If you’re interested in any pricing details you’re referred to your “local SAP representative”. So in what way is EcoHub different from any fluffy showcase event? If you call something an “App Store” then put some “butter to the fish” (that’s a german saying).
• SAP Dr Angelika Dammann as new Executive Board Member
• excellent SDN blog post by SAP’s Thomas Weiss on “
• Eric Kimberling weights in with a good SAP vs Oracle article. I wish he would spill more beans, but I guess he doesn’t want to give away the crown jewels. 😉
• former SAP CEO Leo Apotheker joins US software firm GT Nexus
• CIO with some interesting insights into SAP Enhancement Packs & upgrades. It gets a bit general towards the end though. Jon Reed weighs in with some good points
• Despite “restructuring”: SAP promises “5000 Developer jobs are safe” (translated via WiWo & Google Translate)
• Silicon.de interviews Vishal Sikka. Here is the english Google Translate version

and here’s a pick from Twitter

koehntopp: I love the smell of Walldorf in the morning

vlvl: RT @Capgemini_SAP: The SAP Community Network saved me 7 hours of work today. Simply brilliant experience

koehntopp: @vlvl the question is: what did they bill the customer? 😉 #scn (nb. in response to @vlvl’s retweet!)

dahowlett: RT @vendorprisey: good. SAP appoints an HR professional to the board. < and an outsider so no taint

dbmoore: RT @SAPinsider: Did you know that 77% of SAP’s customers are #SMEs? <<Depends on your definition of small and medium …

MarkYolton: RT @thevarguy: The VAR Guy: EcoHub: SAP’s App Store Attracts Partners <hot

tbroek: Just got an email from #sapphire now that my agile SAP session didn’t get selected 🙁 “It is unable to use”. Agile still not that important?

Okay folks the easter bunny managed to prevent me from posting last week’s news, so this week you get a whole-lotta-SAP-Land-goodness more:

• he does it again: SAP’s Craig Cmehil once again puts himself under the strain of a 24h Friday Morning Report Marathon. This year -like last- he managed to raise $$$$ for Doctors Without Borders. He’s got an amazing line-up of people on his show this time!
• Dennis Howlett has done it again: with his “six questions for SAP Management” he puts forward some incovenient points to the boys at the helm.
• Jon Reed and the Enterprise Geeks do it again: “Finding geeks and keeping them happy” gives you a little insight into the world of a programmer, geek, nerd <insert any other explentives here>.
• Andy Klee says what’s wrong with SAP-related LinkedIn Groups and suggests how to use them properly
• fellow Mentor Vijay Vijaysankar with a daring blog on “Women Geeks and their Troubles“. Someone’s not too afraid to pick up a very hot potato…
• there’s also been some inspired and passionate debating going on my recent blog entitled “SAP from the Apple tree“. OK, it’s a shameless plug, but I don’t care.

and what did I spot in Twitterland?

• SAPPHIRENOW:  Bill in Orlando, Jim in Frankfurt.
• vlvl: Realizing that Santana will play in SAPPHIRE Orlando and Duran Duran in SAPPHIRE Frankfurt, I’m rethinking going to Orlando. #80srule
• jonerp: RT @pixelbase @jonerp @vlvl let’s hope that Snabe and McDermott are not the “Union of the snake” 😉 >>> classic SAP Tweet of the week (in reply to @vlvl)
• jspath55: RT @ccmehil About 2 hrs until go live with the 24 Hour Marathon! [more like 2 seconds to go now!]

It’s spring and as we all know it’s the time when SAP rises. Let’s see…

• According to Forrester there is an uncertain future for SAP’s Netweaver
• Dennis Howlett hits home many birds in one go with his post about SAP’s wasted passion. “What they’re all missing is a discussion around how SAP harnesses the passion of the Caroline’s of this world. Work on that and things could change dramatically.“
• The Economist with a great piece on IT leaders. We think the Jobs/Schmidt spat is new, but a look into corporate history reveals that it’s always been like that. It’s all egos and pissing contests.
• Rimini Street strikes back – and sues Oracle
• Sapience writes about the determination of SAP’s Business By Design (BBD)
• Thomas Otter on why “Usability doesn’t mean UI”. I like it how Thomas is on the same page with developers and analysts when it comes to what REALLY matters in business application development (and why it shouldn’t be more like Facebook).

Tweet, tweet

• tbroek: Is SAP going the same way as Philips (video 2000) a decade ago? Great products and solutions but not able to sell them?
• yojibee: RT @Tech_Women: New blog post: The New Face of Geek Chic  by @ITSinsider#ALD10 << featuring me <blush>