From February 24th to 26th, almost all members of the SAP AppHaus Network to the annual global meeting in Walldorf.
At the opening, the network partners were welcomed by President Andre Bechtold, SAP Industries & Experiences. He emphasized the strategic importance of partners for SAP and its global customer base. These partners are pioneers of the user-centric approach to innovation, where solutions are tested and designed with and for customers using the latest SAP technologies such as SAP Business AI.
Openness, collaboration and storytelling at the forefront
Dennis Kecskemeti, Head of SAP Innovation Experience, Paul Saunders, Head of SAP Customer Outcome & Advocacy, and Andreas Wendel, Head of Innovation Experience Services, answered questions from Kathrin Tarnai-Sindl, moderator and Head of Customer Engagement Services for the MEE, EMEA and APAC regions, in a fireside chat.
All three guests brought a personal object that they associate with the SAP AppHaus in a very special way. Interestingly, two of the guests had brought their cell phones with them, but for very different reasons: one guest uses it to listen to audio books while traveling or commuting, while for the other it is a multifunctional device for making private calls and listening to music while traveling, among other things. The third guest brought a handball to remind everyone that processes only work smoothly through the interaction and collaboration of teams. They described the SAP AppHaus Network with the words storytelling, openness, creativity, multifunctionality and cooperation.
With the new integrated approach, the closer interaction between SAP AppHaus, SAP Experience Centers and services for joint innovation offers a consistent overall experience in a consistent context. In the SAP AppHaus, problems are formulated and objectives are set and pursued in a strategic manner and with a focus on the users. In the SAP Experience Centers, these goals are realized in tangible narratives for value creation and it is shown what possibilities SAP, SAP Business AI and the SAP Business Suite offer. And with collaborative innovation services, ideas are put into practice by testing, validating and scaling concrete solutions with customers and partners. Together, these three elements form a closed cycle – from the initial challenge through goal setting and collecting experience to the realization and development of benefits.
“Each service as part of SAP’s innovation concept is powerful in its own right. However, the full potential is only revealed through networking and cooperation. By bringing together SAP AppHaus, SAP Experience Centers and joint innovation, we are realigning the way we work with customers and partners. This is how ambition becomes trust and inspiration becomes sustainable success.”
Andreas Wendel, Head of SAP Innovation Experience Services
Members of the SAP AppHaus Network met in Walldorf
The event’s agenda included various working sessions and formats on the following topics: strategic orientation, exchange of experiences on customer projects, joint marketing measures, mergers and acquisitions, knowledge transfer and feedback on the latest opportunities for joint innovation. In addition, the participants were able to make contacts and excursions took place. After hours of exchange in discussions, working groups and sessions, a group of around 30 partner representatives visited the S.Factory, the S.Mart and the SAP Experience Center. A bowling competition, a scavenger hunt across the Walldorf campus and a quick look at the construction site of the future SAP AppHaus Walldorf rounded off the event so that the partners were fully informed about all new developments at SAP.
“At this year’s SAP AppHaus Network gathering, we focused on shaping our future collaboration model, further improving our methods for joint innovation together, and learning more about our various strategic needs and priorities. It is a very valuable experience to meet the representatives of the SAP AppHaus members in person and exchange ideas. And we must not forget that this year is about building bridges between our new sister innovation teams at SAP and the global partners of the SAP AppHaus Network.”
Svenja Müller, Customer Engagements MEE, EMEA and APAC and co-lead of the SAP AppHaus Network
The SAP AppHaus Network
For more than a decade, SAP AppHaus has worked closely with a growing network of more than 20 partners around the world. Several SAP AppHaus locations were created and the employees are fully familiar with SAP’s user-oriented innovation approach. All members work together to advance joint innovation projects with customers. To do this, they use the latest SAP technologies such as SAP Business AI, Joule and Agentic AI. The aim is to support all members promptly with train-the-trainer formats in order to test and design use cases in companies as part of customer workshops. Current examples of this are the SAP Learning Journey Designing Agentic Systems with a Human-Centered Approach and other formats, tools and methods included in the Innovation Toolkit for AI be offered.
In this way, all members of the SAP AppHaus Network can act as pioneers and experts in shared innovation. You accompany customers at every stage of their digital development and help them with it user-oriented innovation approach SAP to unlock concrete business benefits worldwide.
Imke Vierjahn is Communications Lead at SAP AppHaus.
