SAP watchers may be wondering what’s going on in Madrid next month, as events that have traditionally been separate – SAP TechEd and SAPPHIRE NOW – will be held concurrently. To get to the bottom of the event plan, we spoke with Jonathan Becher, Chief Marketing Officer at SAP.

No, SAP is not combining the two events into one, Becher says. “Both events keep the essence of what they are and appeal primarily to different audiences,” he says. TechEd will still appeal to those looking for technical information and SAPPHIRE NOW to those who want to learn more about how SAP addresses their business issues.

But holding the events concurrently enables SAP to target the “cross-pollination” point between the two audiences, such as the CIO who understands the business argument behind a solution but wants to learn more about technical implementation. It also fits well with the longstanding desire to get IT more closely engaged with the business side of the house, to help drive business initiatives.

“There are places the two groups can co-mingle,” Becher says, such as at the keynote addresses. The first will feature a more business-oriented keynote from SAP co-CEO Jim Hagemann Snabe while the second will be more technology oriented, featuring Dr. Vishal Sikka, a member of the SAP Executive Board who heads SAP’s technology and innovation areas.

More products drive more events

SAP SAPPHIRE NOW was traditionally held in May in Orlando, Fla. Historically, SAPPHIRE NOW was the event at which SAP would announce its most important new products, lay out roadmaps and “tell the world what we’re up to next,” Becher says.

But as the pace of SAP product introductions has accelerated, the company has more stories to tell, so it saw a need to add an additional SAPPHIRE NOW event halfway through the year to do just that. “As innovations hit the market more frequently, you can’t just show up once a year at SAPPHIRE,” he says. Is Madrid the beginning of even more frequent SAPPHIRE NOW events? SAP isn’t saying – yet. But in terms of combining SAPPHIRE NOW and TechEd in the future, SAP is also combining the two events November 15-17 in China for a Mandarin-speaking audience, and, as Becher reports, “If it works, we’ll do it again.”

Going virtual once more

As with the Orlando event last spring, SAP will stream keynotes live as well as select breakout sessions to a virtual audience around the globe. Similarly, it will include SAPPHIRE NOW content in world tours that are happening at the same time as the Madrid event, including one in Toronto, and others during the Beijing event. There will also be five or more additional connected events although the final venues were still being settled as of press time.

Those on site in Madrid will find the events physically located in separate halls but connected by a common spine, so attendees can easily get from one to the other.

SAPPHIRE NOW will see a different setup from Orlando, with four campuses:

• Business Analytics: an umbrella category encompassing business intelligence; information management; governance, risk and compliance; and, for the first time this year, warehousing and storage of data.

• Mobility: this campus will focus heavily on devices and new applications from both SAP and third parties. SAP has promised a “Powerpoint-free” experience to those who visit the mobility campus.

• Run Better: showcasing the SAP promise of integration, this campus will show how different vertical industries and lines of business can take advantage of advances in cloud computing, in-memory technology, mobility and more.

• Technology Innovation: this will be the bridge between SAPPHIRE NOW and TechEd, with half of the content more technically oriented, showcasing technology such as NetWeaver and HANA, and half more business-oriented. Attendees will have plenty of opportunity to sit down and play with technologies such as HANA, Becher says, with experts available to help on both a scheduled and ad-hoc basis.

As for TechEd, Becher gave us a sneak preview without divulging the breaking news that would get him (and us) in trouble: attendees can expect to hear more about SAP Business Suite support for Sybase ASE, virtualization management, the intersection of mobility and cloud (as well as other aspects of SAP’s cloud strategy), and how SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse will play with HANA.

SAPPHIRE NOW and TechEd in one location is one more example of the blurring of lines between “geeks and suits.” Companies that have aligned business and IT tend to report favorable results. Will the same hold true at a trade show? In a couple weeks, we’ll know.

Jon Reed contributed to this article. Photo by SAP Mentor co-herder Aslan.

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