Every time there is a shift in UI technology , the questions is back to large enterprise systems such as SAP as to how to optimize the user interface for large number of screens (transactions). This question was as there when SAP moved from R2 to R3 , from thick client to web interface and gets even more prominent as the consumers move to tablets and smart phones with ever increasing form factors and mobile operating systems.
The new in-memory database HANA is a solid foundation for mobility in terms of finger touch speed needed to satisfy mobile consumers as well as native HTML 5 support. But speed is only one side of a multi-dimensional puzzle. SAP business suite has some 57000 transactions , each with multiple possible screens. Add to this ever increasing number of industry solutions with their own set of customized screens for industry specific usage. I am not suggesting that all these transactions are in use or need to have a mobile interface but even if we take a small percentage, we are looking at thousands of screens to be optimized for tablets, phablets and smart phones . Obviously , its not possible for SAP alone to do this on its own.
The good news is , SAP has a large developers community who are more than willing to contribute if only SAP could provide a market place such as Apple Appstore , for developers to sell their work and consumers to easily discover and consume the relevant UI interfaces. This is not only important for converting the existing screens but also to bake in the design thinking and competition into a totally new user interface for mobile world supported by speed of HANA.
The new in-memory database HANA is a solid foundation for mobility in terms of finger touch speed needed to satisfy mobile consumers as well as native HTML 5 support. But speed is only one side of a multi-dimensional puzzle. SAP business suite has some 57000 transactions , each with multiple possible screens. Add to this ever increasing number of industry solutions with their own set of customized screens for industry specific usage. I am not suggesting that all these transactions are in use or need to have a mobile interface but even if we take a small percentage, we are looking at thousands of screens to be optimized for tablets, phablets and smart phones . Obviously , its not possible for SAP alone to do this on its own.
The good news is , SAP has a large developers community who are more than willing to contribute if only SAP could provide a market place such as Apple Appstore , for developers to sell their work and consumers to easily discover and consume the relevant UI interfaces. This is not only important for converting the existing screens but also to bake in the design thinking and competition into a totally new user interface for mobile world supported by speed of HANA.