We are in the midst of one of the worst and the most complex crises the world has ever seen, with most organizations across industries being pushed to the brink. Which ones will survive, and – more importantly – make the most amazing comebacks? I believe it will be those that already chose to invest, and those that will further accelerate their investments in Digital Transformation, the core of SAP’s growth strategy to help get customers “back to (their) best”.
Clearly, COVID-19 changes the basic values and expectations of many people and the business environment of most companies in an unexpected way – and led the digital transformation of many companies. Many organizations have experienced more change in the last eight months than in the last eight years. My day-to-day job, for example, has become significantly “faster” with accelerated roadmaps and a strong investment shift.
Although we are all in the same boat, some companies seem to be able to show more endurance, adapt better and faster to the consequences of the pandemic. They are more resilient than others. What does that mean?
Resilience, the ability of people or things to recover quickly after something unpleasant, such as shock and injury, makes all the difference. According to a recent McKinsey report, “Genuine investments in resiliency may be an essential part of survival for many businesses, providing the cushion required by further setbacks that might be in store over the next year or two.”
In times of crisis there it is not unusual to reinvest in digital areas at an early stage. This is crucial to quickly learn from the external shock and be correctly positioned for the "setback".
However, if you compare COVID-19 with other major global events such as the global economic crisis or the financial crisis, it becomes clear that the degree of dependency and complexity exceeds anything known. These previous crises had one or two dimensions, the origin and scope of which can be narrowed down. The current pandemic has many dimensions to it (economic, social, public health, etc.), is highly complex and requires systems that can help us prepare for such "unknown unknowns".
What distinguishes resilient companies from others?
Three characteristics are significant and originally come from the definition of resilient complex IT-systems:
How can businesses create more resilience and get back to best? Here are a few examples of how SAP is moving the needle for its customers, employees and shareholders with maximum flexibility:
Meet our customers where they are
With a massive change to the industry in 2020, we require adapting to the new situation of our customers. Our virtual SAPPHIRE NOW 2020 successfully hosted more than 100,000 participants. SAP Digital Store sales increased 30% with 90% of SAP services delivered remotely. We’ve also significantly strengthened our partner ecosystem, offering more than 1,500+ SAP endorsed apps.
Further examples where we are providing flexible solutions are the SAP and Qualtrics platform, SAP ARIBA Discovery (that connects buyers and suppliers to quickly bridge the breaks in supply chains), and SAP for Me (our Customer Digital Engagement Platform, that masters data and commercial transactions).
Prepare employees for future setbacks
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