SAP Africa has announced plans to establish the first AppHaus in
Cape-Town, South Africa. According
to the Chief Operation Officer at SAP Africa, Tracy Bolton the customer-facing
AppHaus represents the next step in SAP’s evolution of innovating with
customers by putting human experience first.
“Our goal is to make innovation real and help our customers
transform into intelligent enterprises. This is done by applying our human-centered
approach to innovation, leveraging the power of SAP technologies, including SAP
Business Technology Platform, and fostering a culture of innovation,” he said.
The
SAP AppHaus Network is a community of SAP partners that are united in the
belief that innovation requires a creative environment, a multi-disciplinary
team of designers, domain experts, design thinking coaches, and enterprise
architects, and a human-centered approach to ensure innovation meets real-world
needs.
“Companies
need innovation to transform and sustain their business, but innovation needs
more than just technology,” says Bolton. “Culture is often cited as a major
hurdle for digital transformation and innovation within organizations. The SAP AppHaus concept offers a framework
for companies to establish a culture of innovation, focusing on the five key
enablers – People, Process, Place, Leadership, and Technology.”
The
first AppHaus was established in 2014. Today, the network consists of 22
locations across the globe, five SAP locations, and 17 partner-driven locations,
with Cape Town set to become the home for an eighteenth partner – as the first
on the African continent later this year.
The
Design Thinking approach has gained mainstream prominence over the past few
years as more companies recognize the value design plays in innovation and
business growth. A McKinsey study found that businesses that embrace design generate 32% more revenue and drive 56% higher shareholder returns on average.
SAP
is currently engaging with a shortlist of potential partners for the Cape Town
AppHaus.
