Working with SAP customers on the cloud has been a rich learning and myth-busting experience in many ways. Contrary to popular belief, a number of SAP customers do have a strong affinity for deploying solutions via the cloud. So what are the insights from our first set of cloud customers on the Unvired Mobile Cloud?

1. Cloud is relevant and top of the mind for SAP customers

Many of them already use other solutions such as Salesforce, Workday, SuccessFactors, etc. and integrate these SAAS/cloud solutions to their SAP systems in a number of ways. A cloud-based delivery of the Unvired Mobile platform struck a chord with many of the CIO/CTO and IT heads that we spoke to. It is also a known fact that on-premise or hosted data centers running the dedicated SAP instances need to co-exist with the cloud-based platforms/solutions. A flexible approach to cloud deployment without disrupting existing landscapes is what customers want.

2. Security

Data security is of paramount importance to all customers SAP or otherwise. Business data is being unlocked and the safeguarding of that data, while it is put to innovative usages, needs to be the bedrock of any cloud platform. The heads of IT recognize that email on mobile is already putting sensitive data on the device and data from business systems like SAP is not new but only enhancing the amount of data on the device. Also, MDM solutions complement the security needs of the Mobile platforms.

Security in the mobile context can be Data on the cloud, data in transit and data on the device. The Unvired Mobile Cloud platform does not replicate the data from customer systems to the cloud. Data is held on the cloud in encrypted form only for as long as it is required to be delivered safely to the device. Data in transit is secured via standard HTTPS/SSL and data on the device is stored in encrypted databases.

3. Time to deploy, rapid change

Companies want to deploy mobile solutions rapidly and don’t want to wait. Reasons are many but the primary one is that deployments on mobile are in response (or to preempt) to business demands (like approvals on the Go, sales order creation etc) and are time sensitive. In many cases, deploying the solution a few months later means reduced business relevance. So solutions need to be rapidly deployed and be adaptable to rapid changes requested by business users.

4. ROI matters, no more POCs

Good old fashioned ROI still matters. Customers are hesitant to make huge investments in POCs with limited production relevance. Customers want quick and free trials with their own SAP systems and mobile devices eliminating the POCs. After the trial, customers are more interested in the iterative roll out of mobile processes and investing in shorter bursts as and when required. Customers want to see the bang for the buck quickly as unlike investments in SAP and other systems wherein the investment is depreciated over 10 to 15 years, mobile investments are for much shorter periods of 2 to 3 years. BYOD phenomenon, short device life and mobile manufacturer/telco driven periodic device refresh have driven the shorter shelf life in the mobile investments.

5. Pay as you go/scale as you go

This was by far a must have that many customers pointed out. Rarely do customers go for a big bang deployment of mobile users. Additional deployments requiring purchasing of (expensive) additional users are a dampener for larger mobile adoption. Also, significant churn in employees’ headcount due to challenging business circumstances means customers want to not just buy additional users but also return users. This new trend/requirement of return of users can be satisfied in a fair manner only by a true cloud solution with transparent pricing.

Note: This blog also appeared as a guest blog on Enterprise Mobile Strategies.