Simplicity as we know it today means eliminating everything but the essential so we can truly focus on what is important in life.
This same philosophy governs SAP, which aims to make life simpler and easier for its customers.
Of course, this is easier said than done.
In today’s world, there are many complications and distractions. Sometimes it is not easy to tell which are essential, and which are merely white noise.
This is what causes us to go over the top: to over spend,over stress, over think, over eat and over compensate. We multi-task and try to do so much with limited resources like time and money.
And then we wonder why despite doing “everything” we still encounter problems, as if our efforts are not enough.
This perennial and universal problem has likely given rise to approaches that take the focus away from “everything” to one thing that maters most at any given time.
SAP’s range of products and services now attempt to do away with factors that muddle our priorities and cause us to exert time and effort for…nothing.
For example, the entire philosophy of its enterprise resource planning is to unify and simplify even the most complex of operations. In the end, it boils down to having a single depository of information, and a single source of all reports on which to base management decisions.
SAP’s top management has a bold vision of what business would look lie. It’s bold because it is truly scary to think that we already have everything we need in a single stroke or single package. And yet we do.
“A simpler world, a simpler SAP, a simpler customer experience”, says CEO Bill McDermott
Thinking along these terms requires commitment, because it is very easy to slip back into our old patterns of cluttered thinking. So let’s commit today. Let’s keep it simple.