For a number of years now, SAP offered a vast range of its TechEd sessions in a recorded format, so keen consultants can review sessions or visit those sessions post-TechEd which they were not able to attend during the convention.

SAP now however changed the delivery format of its virtual TechEd sessions from a DVD delivery to a internet-based format. Whilst at first this sounds great, I am not sure how SAP can claim that “Virtual SAP TechEd ’06 lets you learn anytime, anywhere.“, which is clearly untrue, as you need an internet connection for it.

In addition, in the site’s FAQ it says: “SAP TechEd ’06 (…) full-conference registrants who paid for a full conference pass receive access to Virtual SAP TechEd ’06 until Dec 31, 2007 as part of the conference registration package“. So this means you will not be able to review the sessions beyond that date (so can they claim anytime?).

Whilst fortunately all this comes at a slightly cheaper price, it remains a dissapointing service that is of a lesser overall quality than the old DVD-based deliveries. Registrants for the convention in Europe pay £1600+ (flight not included) to visit TechEd for 3 days – they can expect more for their money.

[UPDATE] Amir Blich of SAP responded to my post on SDN as follows:

Thanks for your feedback.
I just released a blog discussing the PAZ program. You can find references to some of your remarks there.

There are always pros and cons when changing delivery channels and I understand you found the DVD sets valuable, but I hope you can find additional value in the online format.

As for the time limitation, before the end of the year, a new TechEd conference will reveal new and updated content. If you attend TechEd regularly, you should have uninterrupted access to the latest TechEd content. If not, as you state, all the latest content is available to you at a reasonable cost.

Let us know of additional ways to enhance the value of PAZ

Regards,
Amir.

As Amir quite rightly says, there are always pros and cons about moves such as this. I just tend to disagree on this one. For this purpose, introducing the PAZ must save SAP some money when compared to a DVD delivery. The community will have to see if this is being reflected in attendance fees. Follow the rest of the SDN thread here.