Software AG Demonstrates a Digital Business Platform At CeBIT

Software AG believes that the Digital Business Platform (DBP) is the foundation for the digital transformation and that having DBP in many organizations facilitates Industry 4.0. Because a good DBP supports agile, flexible, fast and differentiating processes, systems etc, DBPs are likely to be at the core of most organizations digital efforts and will assist digital transformations in a big way. A DBP supports innovation via your own staff; not an application or stack vendor. This was presented eloquently by CEO Karl-Heinz Streibich and further proven by the financial success of Software AG recently. All the numbers were up nicely.

Eric Duffaut, Chief Customer Officer, proceeded to challenge the crowd of customers prospects and the press to "Disrupt Yourself Before Someone Else Does It" He went on to make the point that co-innovation with customers was the key inventing digital futures within the known and the unknown. Since I also agree that that a DBP is a must, I had no quarrel with Software AG. In fact a great DBP will help the digital transformation with it's ability to quickly try options and alter solutions until they deliver. I saw some initial successes with customers and some very nice demos of what could be done at various stations in the show floor.

The story was told to Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany, and she smartly asked if a DBP would enable German & other European companies to cooperate better and the answer was yes. She also pushed back and asked if she wanted to buy an iron on Google, would a DBP drive her to Bosch (a German provider). The answer was a qualified "yes" if Bosch used the DBP to enhance her customer experience in the past building loyalty.

Going around the Software AG booth stations I found a goodly number of compelling digital examples of digital promise demonstrated visually and in an experiential way. Below was a disruptive approach to creating new replacement teeth using a milling machine, CAD drawings, human mouth scans and process to create a cross organization (Industry 4.0 Solution) for dental patients (This was a proof of concept demo). 

There was a demo of vibration & temperature detection in the transportation industry that might indicate cargo damage. 

There was a retail floor map with cell phones mapped by department and customer type for the pushing of offers. This also was a demo. 

There was a demo of ALPHABET that showed how to manage risk across your digital transformation efforts while linking with architectural impacts.

                            

These were just of a sample few that caught my eye out of a myriad of others. Needless to say, the booth was loaded with people checking things out. 

Net; Net:

Software AG is the first vendor claiming to be a Digital Business Platform. There are other vendors with potential to move in the DBP direction, if they chose to do so. Time will tell if others do and if DBPs can consistently deliver great digital experiences and support solid digital transformation efforts. I'm betting on it and I expect Software AG to deliver some more great stories down the road.