In today’s software-driven information technology industry, strategic partnerships that run from the data center to the edge of the network are critical in helping to ensure products and services deploy on time and operate in the most efficient manner. Tackling security blind spots and other potential pitfalls of industry collaboration, SAP SE leverages its partner ecosystem to extend the perks of on-premises data centers in a hybrid cloud package to enterprise clients.

Two partners in particular, Cisco Systems Inc. and CenturyLink Inc, play a major role in helping SAP get its product to the customer, according to Margaret Anderson (pictured), senior vice president, SAP Hana Enterprise Cloud Team, at SAP SE.

“We need partners that can be the backbone inside the cloud, because the cloud is supported by equipment, machinery, systems, all sorts of things that we don’t really want the customer to worry about. We want the customer to consume the services. We want them to run their business,” Anderson said.

Anderson spoke with John Furrier (@furrier), host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile live-streaming studio, live from SiliconANGLE’s Palo Alto, California, Studio, about SAP’s strategic partnerships and the importance of ensuring that businesses have confidence in SAP’s platform and infrastructure. They also discussed events from this week’s SAP Sapphire Now event in Orlando, Florida. (* Disclosure below.)

Anderson spoke about SAP’s strategic partnerships and how they work together to provide the most value to the customer, and how important it is to ensure that customer has confidence in the platform and infrastructure.

Customer confidence is high priority

Because the competition for cloud market share is high, it is important that SAP’s partners perform to expectation and keep their part of the platform up and running at all times, as well as make sure the customer knows this and is confident enough in the platform to use it without worry, Anderson explained.

It is also critical that proper security protocols be in place and active at all times, she added. The last thing businesses need is to have hackers steal their data and sell it to a rival company.

“Today, security is really important for our customers. They want to know [if we] can we comply with the rules for data sovereignty in various countries around the world,” Anderson said. “And they want to know if our partners, if we choose one to work with us, can also do that for them.”

Even though many SAP customers are moving away from owning their own data centers, instead are migrating to the cloud, they still want to know “what’s under the hood” and whether or not their vendors can provide a cloud environment similar to the on-premise data center they are used to.

So SAP, as well as partners Cisco and CenturyLink, need to provide answers to the customer about their piece of the platform and then work together to ensure the customer has confidence it will perform to expectations, Anderson explained.

“It’s the combination of the engine and the people that make the success in the cloud,” she said.

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

Photo: SiliconANGLE