SAP SE isn’t making any bones about its ambition to grow even bigger than it already is. The enterprise software maker has a very bulky collection of products at a time when simplified information technology is all the rage. Can it reshape its message for the instant-gratification crowd?

“SAP wants to be one of the top 10 world’s most valuable brands — like Apple, Google, Coca-Cola, who are all customers of SAP’s and who all sell products that we can interact with …,” said Lisa Martin (@LuccaZara), co-host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio.

For 46 years, the company has catered to a multitude of industries. Naturally, it’s gathered some baggage in that time; its aim now is to stitch all the pieces together for a “360-degree view of the customer,” according to Martin. 

Martin broke down SAP’s market position with guest host Keith Townsend (@CTOAdvisor), principal at The CTO Advisor, during the SAP Sapphire Now event in Orlando, Florida. They discussed SAP’s evolving vision of the intelligent enterprise and people-centric enterprise resource planning. (* Disclosure below.)

360 customer view and high ERP IQ

What is SAP’s idea of the intelligent enterprise? Essentially, it proceeds from the notion that digital transformation is now table stakes, Martin explained. A true 360 view of the customer comes about through connecting the demand and supply chain and enabling a “fourth-generation customer experience.”

Ecosystem engagement is bustling for SAP with deeply engaged communities around the S/4Hana business suite and the Leonardo intelligent technology bundle. The participation is “enabling their customers to be able to learn at the same time as they’re learning from their customers,” Martin added.

SAP is veering more and more into intelligence tech to be “the ERP solution that you can talk to, that you can ask a question of — not just business questions …,” according to Townsend. Whether SAP can make its massive portfolio into a simple story for all customers remains uncertain, he added.

“It’s easier said than done to simplify the message,” Townsend said. “You can help simplify the message by throwing those products in categories, Salesforce, which product you lead with … ,” he said. “But 300 products is still 300 products.”

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the SAP Sapphire Now event. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for SAP Sapphire Now. Neither NetApp Inc., the event sponsor, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SAP SE