SAP CLOUD
Nis Boy Naeve , VP of Platform Adoption Enablement , describes how SAP has continued to deliver customers the services they need in a rapidly evolving market
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f 2020 proved anything it ’ s that everything can change , fast . As businesses attempt to settle into the ‘ new normal ’, or at least equip themselves to weather further disruption in a more manageable way , many will be looking to tech leaders to demonstrate the way forward .
German multinational software company SAP has continually proven itself to be an essential enterprise partner and always one step ahead of the curve throughout its almost 50 years in operation . To find out how it has been maintaining its trademark brand of customer-focused innovation during one of the most difficult periods in recent history , we spoke to Nis Boy Naeve , Vice President of Platform Adoption Enablement and former Chief Product Owner , SAP User Interfaces .
Describing the role of his team as “ helping SAP ’ s customers adopt our Business Technology Platform in a very specific environment ,” Naeve is able to offer a very informed opinion on the topic of change . A trained physicist , he joined SAP over 25 years ago as a Developer and steadily gained experience from a range of projects , such as those relating to HR , “ understanding how you can help run a business with programmes and digitalisation .” Eventually , Naeve began to learn more about the “ other side ”, namely how people actually interact with technologies themselves ( user experience and user interface or UX and UI ). “ In my current role , we actually connect business technology platform services and other technical services and create business value out of that . In physics you learn how the world runs . With SAP you help the world run better ,” he states .
The amount of change that SAP itself has undergone in the time since Naeve joined in 1995 seems emblematic of broader sector trends . For one thing , the company ’ s staff count has increased from around 6,000 employees to over 100,000 worldwide . For another , its digital transformation has unfolded before his eyes : from large ‘ classical ’ PCs with tube monitors that took up entire desks to smartphones and most recently the cloud . Alongside all of this tech transformation has been a culture shift that emphasises Experience , “[ which ] has become absolutely key . One of the things I ’ m most proud of is that SAP has been working out this business user experience strategy in collaboration with our customers . We get access to the end users and really
“ In physics you learn how the world runs . With SAP you help the world run better ”
NIS BOY NAEVE CHIEF PRODUCT OFFICER AND VP , SAP
162 April 2021