Big Data and Digital Transformation

This article from Approyo CEO Chris Carter originally appeared in the Technology Headlines: https://www.thetechnologyheadlines.com/technology/big_data/Big-Data-and-the-Digital-Transformation/

Over the past two to three years, big data and digital transformation have become all the rage within organizations and IT departments around the world. This has led to a lot of confusion and myths in the marketplace. Let’s dig into some myths around Big Data and The Digital Transformation.

The first major myth is that every company has a digital transformation or a big data project in place. The truth is, not everyone has a need for digital transformation and even less have a need for big data and analytics. As you look out into the scope of these initiatives, companies are bypassing big data because of the lack of need within their organization. Companies might be utilizing applications and tools that feature some form of big data analytics, but as far as acquiring new tools, specifically for big data analytics, it’s just not happening.

As far as digital transformation projects, small companies with under a million in revenue per year, are already using some sort of tool or software, with features of digital transformation such as QuickBooks or Salesforce. These types of tools, already have the features and functionality, smaller companies need to succeed.

Another myth is that digital transformation is very difficult to implement within an organization. This really is not the case. As mentioned in our first myth, there are a lot of software tools available with various digital transformation and big data applications built into them out of the box. Many of these applications are available through a web browser or smart device, allowing every individual within the organization, the access and ability to transform their day-to-day activities with these software tools. That’s not to say digital transformation and big data initiatives are easy. This is an important fact to make sure your company understands. However, there are tools and applications out there that can make it easier. The hardest part is knowing what you want to analyze and accomplish. This is really where you start a big data analytics and digital transformation project.

Today, there are vast amounts of data everywhere. You can grab data from your website, apps, smartphones, smart devices in your home, your car and thousands of other devices. With all this information available to your company, it is important to figure out what data is the most valuable. That is the key for anyone working on a big data analytics project. Your business needs to know what data is most valuable, in order to make business decisions that will positively impact your company.

Valuable data is key. It can impact your business and bottom line in many ways. However, dirty data can make any digital transformation or big data project wasteful for you and your company. This is where most companies run into problems with big data projects. They get sidetracked by data that doesn’t have a positive impact on their business. When starting a big data and digital transformation project, your company needs to focus on what data is relevant in helping your business succeed.

The final area of big data, that has caused a lot of confusion in the marketplace, is how you are getting that data and using it. As part of a data transformation, you must make sure that you are compliant with the usage of that.

If you cannot be relied upon to do the right thing with your data, someone will step in to make sure that you are or you could have major legal ramifications like we are currently seeing with Facebook and Google. You need to make sure you have a controllable platform within your organization.

Big Data analytics and Digital Transformation will remain an important key to growing your business today and into the future. Your company needs to stay on the forefront of these trends, in order to succeed in the marketplace.

This article from Approyo CEO Chris Carter originally appeared in
the Technology Headlines: https://www.thetechnologyheadlines.com/technology/big_data/Big-Data-and-the-Digital-Transformation/

SAP Announces First Quarter 2019 Results

SAP Announced its first quarter results on www.sap.com. The results continue to show growth for SAP HANA and SAP S/4HANA. This growth mirrors Approyo's growth and accolades throughout 2019 and align with our vision as the premier SAP Platform as a service partner.

Business Performance - Financial Highlights First Quarter 2019
In the first quarter, new cloud bookings were up 32% (26% at constant currencies). Cloud revenue grew 45% year over year to €1.56 billion (IFRS), up 48% (non-IFRS) and 41% (non-IFRS at constant currencies). Software license revenue was up 4% year over year to €650 million (IFRS), up 4% (non-IFRS) and 1% (non-IFRS at constant currencies). New cloud and software order entry was up 17% (13% at constant currencies) year over year in the first quarter. Cloud and software revenue grew 16% year over year to €5.04 billion (IFRS), up 16% (non-IFRS) and 12% (non-IFRS at constant currencies). Total revenue grew 16% year over year to €6.09 billion (IFRS), up 16% (non-IFRS) and 12% (non-IFRS at constant currencies).

SAP’s rapidly expanding cloud business together with solid growth in support revenue continued to drive the share of more predictable revenue, which grew by one percentage point year-over-year to 72% in the first quarter.

As previously indicated, the IFRS operating profit in the first quarter was impacted by recognizing the expected cost of SAP’s 2019 restructuring (€886 million) as well as higher acquisition-related charges and share-based compensation primarily due to the Qualtrics acquisition.

This resulted in an IFRS operating loss of -€136 million (Q1 2018: operating profit of €1,025 million). In contrast, Non-IFRS profit was up 19% at €1,467 million (up 13% at constant currencies). Earnings per share were -€0.10 (IFRS) (Q1 2018: €0.59) and up 24% at €0.90 (non-IFRS). Operating cash flow for the first three months was €2.80 billion, up 9% year-over-year. Free cash flow increased 10% year-over-year to €2.37 billion. At the end of the first quarter, net liquidity was -€6.19 billion. Segment Performance First Quarter 2019

SAP’s three reportable segments “Applications, Technology & Services”, “Business Network” and “Customer and Experience Management” showed the following performance.

Applications, Technology & Services (AT&S)
In the first quarter, segment revenue in AT&S was up 12% to €4.99 billion year-over-year (up 9% at constant currencies).

SAP S/4HANA
SAP S/4HANA is at the core of the Intelligent Enterprise. With S/4HANA, customers automate more and more of their business processes
enabling employees to focus on higher-value tasks. It detects patterns, predicts outcomes and suggests actions empowering companies
across all industries to reinvent their business models for the digital economy.
This quarter, SAP S/4HANA Cloud was named as a Leader in The IDC MarketScape: Worldwide SaaS and Cloud-enabled Operational ERP

Applications 2019 Vendor Assessment. IDC recognizes SAP S/4HANA Cloud as an intelligent ERP that enables various business processes such as idea to design, procure to pay, plan to production, order to cash, offer to project, and core finance.

S/4HANA adoption grew to more than 10,900 customers, up 30% year over year. In the first quarter, over 40% of the additional S/4HANA
customers were net new.

View the complete Q1 results at: https://www.sap.com/docs/download/investors/2019/sap-2019-q1-statement.pdf

SAP Announces First Quarter 2019 Results

SAP Announced its first quarter results on www.sap.com. The results continue to show growth for SAP HANA and SAP S/4HANA. This growth mirrors Approyo's growth and accolades throughout 2019 and align with our vision as the premier SAP Platform as a service partner.

Business Performance - Financial Highlights First Quarter 2019
In the first quarter, new cloud bookings were up 32% (26% at constant currencies). Cloud revenue grew 45% year over year to €1.56 billion (IFRS), up 48% (non-IFRS) and 41% (non-IFRS at constant currencies). Software license revenue was up 4% year over year to €650 million (IFRS), up 4% (non-IFRS) and 1% (non-IFRS at constant currencies). New cloud and software order entry was up 17% (13% at constant currencies) year over year in the first quarter. Cloud and software revenue grew 16% year over year to €5.04 billion (IFRS), up 16% (non-IFRS) and 12% (non-IFRS at constant currencies). Total revenue grew 16% year over year to €6.09 billion (IFRS), up 16% (non-IFRS) and 12% (non-IFRS at constant currencies).

SAP’s rapidly expanding cloud business together with solid growth in support revenue continued to drive the share of more predictable revenue, which grew by one percentage point year-over-year to 72% in the first quarter.

As previously indicated, the IFRS operating profit in the first quarter was impacted by recognizing the expected cost of SAP’s 2019 restructuring (€886 million) as well as higher acquisition-related charges and share-based compensation primarily due to the Qualtrics acquisition.

This resulted in an IFRS operating loss of -€136 million (Q1 2018: operating profit of €1,025 million). In contrast, Non-IFRS profit was up 19% at €1,467 million (up 13% at constant currencies). Earnings per share were -€0.10 (IFRS) (Q1 2018: €0.59) and up 24% at €0.90 (non-IFRS). Operating cash flow for the first three months was €2.80 billion, up 9% year-over-year. Free cash flow increased 10% year-over-year to €2.37 billion. At the end of the first quarter, net liquidity was -€6.19 billion. Segment Performance First Quarter 2019

SAP’s three reportable segments “Applications, Technology & Services”, “Business Network” and “Customer and Experience Management” showed the following performance.

Applications, Technology & Services (AT&S)
In the first quarter, segment revenue in AT&S was up 12% to €4.99 billion year-over-year (up 9% at constant currencies).

SAP S/4HANA
SAP S/4HANA is at the core of the Intelligent Enterprise. With S/4HANA, customers automate more and more of their business processes
enabling employees to focus on higher-value tasks. It detects patterns, predicts outcomes and suggests actions empowering companies
across all industries to reinvent their business models for the digital economy.
This quarter, SAP S/4HANA Cloud was named as a Leader in The IDC MarketScape: Worldwide SaaS and Cloud-enabled Operational ERP

Applications 2019 Vendor Assessment. IDC recognizes SAP S/4HANA Cloud as an intelligent ERP that enables various business processes such as idea to design, procure to pay, plan to production, order to cash, offer to project, and core finance.

S/4HANA adoption grew to more than 10,900 customers, up 30% year over year. In the first quarter, over 40% of the additional S/4HANA
customers were net new.

View the complete Q1 results at: https://www.sap.com/docs/download/investors/2019/sap-2019-q1-statement.pdf

What to do at the 2019 SAP SAPPHIRE NOW and ASUG Annual Conference

The 2019 SAP SAPPHIRE NOW and ASUG Annual Conference is coming up in just a week away. You probably already started to fill out your agenda but we wanted to give you an idea about what our team is most looking forward to at SAP SAPPHIRE NOW.

Network with Experts
The adage “It’s not what you know, but who you know” has never been more important. Successful leaders rely on a strong network of experts, peers, and visionaries to create their success and grow. SAPPHIRE NOW and ASUG Annual Conference presents an unparalleled event to grow your network in just three short days. It’s an opportunity to join a true community of experts, share your story, and gain new knowledge to pave your path forward. To help you, SAP added new networking zones and digital opportunities where you can make new connections and carry conversations forward.

Plus our team will be at the event! Follow us on social media for updates throughout the event.

Great Keynote speakers
We profiled some of our favorite keynote speakers in a different blog post. In addition to those great speakers, SAPPHIRE NOW features many different experts on the show floor and in various other sessions talking about everything SAP. Take some time to check these out.

Visit Approyo the "Coolest"SAP SAPPHIRE NOW Party on Tuesday, May 7
Approyo and Worksoft invite you to join us for an evening of fun, appetizers, drinks and more during the 2019 SAP SAPPHIRE NOW conference.

You're invited to the Ice Bar in Orlando on Tuesday May 7, just a few short blocks away from the convention center.

Explore the show floor
One of our favorite activities is to explore the show floor. Our team doesn't ahve a booth this year but we will spend most of our time during the week on the show floor talking to the exhibitors and checking out some of the latest and greatest technology. Also check out some of our partners on the floor including Worksoft!

See LADY GAGA Live on Thursday, May 9, 2019
No explanation needed for this one! rammy and Golden Globe winner and Academy Award-nominated Lady Gaga is a one-of-a kind artist and performer. She has amassed an outstanding 33 million global album sales and 229 million in song consumption, making her one of the best-selling musicians of all time.

Gaga is also one of the biggest living forces in social media with over 60 million likes on Facebook, over 77 million followers on Twitter and over 31 million followers on Instagram.

Her fifth studio album “Joanne” was released in October 2016 and debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200, marking her 4th consecutive #1 album - the first female to do so in the 2010s. In 2015, Gaga starred in the fifth installment of the Ryan Murphy FX drama, “American Horror Story: Hotel.” The role earned her a 2016 Golden Globe award for Best Actress in a Mini-Series or TV Film. Gaga headlined the 2017 Pepsi Zero Sugar Super Bowl LI Half Time show. Her 13-minute solo performance amassed 117.5 million viewers. In September 2017, she released her Chris Moukarbel directed documentary “Lady Gaga: Five Foot Two” via Netflix.

Gaga most recently starred alongside Bradley Cooper in the Warner Brothers remake of the classic film, “A Star is Born,” released October 2018. Her performance so far has led her to a 2019 Golden Globe nomination and Critics’ Choice nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture. She won a Golden Globe for Best Original Song for “Shallow,” that she co-wrote and performed for the film, and has also received string of 2019 Grammy nominations including Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Pop Duo/Group performance and Best Song Written For Visual Media for “Shallow” as well.

Approyo expands team, adds Sean Gilmour as new CTO

​Approyo, a leading enterprise SAP HANA Solutions Provider headquartered in Milwaukee announces the addition of Sean Gilmour as CTO.

Mr. Gilmour joins Approyo with decades of expertise. Most recently he led the Global Applications and Big Data Practice for Dell EMC.

“I have been working on and around SAP for almost 7 years now, and wanted to take it to the next level,” says Sean Gilmour. “I believe Approyo to be one of the top SAP partners globally. I am thrilled to help them continue to grow and doing what I love, says Gilmour.

Gilmour resides in the San Francisco, CA area and will be working directly with our clients, partners and team to help grow the Approyo footprint in the United States and around the globe.

“I would personally like to welcome Sean to the team,” says Chris Carter, CEO of Approyo. “Having worked with and known him for many years, it is a pleasure to have an executive of his caliber and experience inside the organization as we continue to grow. His experience, knowledge, partnerships, as well as his level of technical expertise, are second to none in our SAP ecosystem, which will mean great growth,” says Carter.

Approyo Named to ChannelE2E Top 100 Vertical Market MSPs

Approyo has been named to After Nines Inc.’s ChannelE2E Top 100 Vertical Market MSPs list and research (http://www.channelE2E.com/top100) for 2019. The annual list and research identify and honor the top 100 managed services providers (MSPs) in healthcare, government, financial services, manufacturing, legal, not-for-profit and additional vertical markets.

The Top 100 Vertical Market MSPs rankings are based on ChannelE2E’s Q4 2018 and January 2019 readership survey, and ChannelE2E’s vertical market industry coverage. MSPs featured throughout the list and research leverage deep vertical market expertise to drive annual recurring revenues (ARR) in specific market segments.

This year’s research revealed several key MSP market trends. Among the Top 100 Vertical Market MSPs for 2019:

• Honorees generated a combined $699.1 million in vertical market annual recurring revenue (ARR) for 2018, up from $277.3 million in 2017. The surge involved organic growth combined with aggressive merger and acquisition (M&A) activity.
• Honorees are managing nearly one million devices.
• The most successful vertical market MSPs are zeroing in on financial services and healthcare, while manufacturing, legal and not-for-profit vertical activities are accelerating.

Approyo was ranked number 23 among the top vertical market MSPs in the Technology industry.

“It is honor to be recognized as a top Managed Service provider by ChannelE2E, says Chris Carter, CEO of Approyo. "This achievement continues to validate our success in the SAP and Cloud marketplace."

“After Nines Inc. congratulates Approyo on this year’s honor,” said Amy Katz, CEO of After Nines Inc. “Through a vertical market focus, top MSPs are generating stronger profit margins and increased customer loyalty, while increasingly attracting acquisition and investor interest from peer MSPs and private equity firms.”

Find the online list and associated report here: http://www.channelE2E.com/top100

Approyo to Showcase Growing SAP HANA and S/4HANA Expertise at the 2019 SAP SAPPHIRE NOW and ASUG Annual Conference

We are pleased to announce our full presence at the 2019 SAPPHIRE NOW and ASUG Annual Conference, the industry’s most important cloud and technology conference for SAP customers. The event takes place May 7th-9th at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando and is expected to draw more than 20,000 attendees.

As a leader in SAP managed services, migrations and hosting, Approyo will be attending the conference and hosting a networking event for attendees to consult with the company’s technology experts.

Key aspects of Approyo’s presence at this year’s show, include:

• SAPPHIRE NOW and ASUG Annual Conference – The Approyo team, including CEO Chris Carter will be on the show floor talking with experts will be hosting meetings with customers, partners and prospects to discuss SAP Platform as a service, SAP HANA and S/4HANA migrations, digital transformations, and technical managed services. 
• SAP Global Partner Summit – The Approyo team will be on hand for the SAP Global Partner Summit on Monday, May 6. The team will be meeting with partners from around the world, discussing SAP HANA and S/4HANA migrations. 
• Ice Bar Networking Event – Approyo and Worksoft are hosting an exclusive cocktail reception and networking event at Ice Bar Orlando from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Tuesday, May 7th.

“The SAP SAPPHIRE NOW and ASUG Conference is a great opportunity to meet with clients, partners and experts from all over the world to discuss the latest in SAP,” said Chris Carter, CEO at Approyo. “Over the past few years, our company has taken many positive growth steps and we have helped several companies migrate to SAP HANA and S/4HANA in the cloud, we look forward to sharing those experiences.”