76-city SAP World Tour comes to Johannesburg

SAP Africa will host the 2006 SAP World Tour at Gallagher Estate, Midrand, on Wednesday 16 August 2006 - as part of a 76-city global roadshow sponsored by Intel Corporation and aimed at addressing the business demands of midsize companies.

SAP World Tours provide a rare opportunity for SAP customers, business partners and SAP executives to learn firsthand - through peer interaction, thought leadership presentations, product demos and industry and IT-specific breakout tracks - how SAP software drives innovation and enables more efficient business processes.

This year's South African event is focused on the challenges confronting the mid-sized companies that typify the South African economy - with an emphasis on helping organisations increase customer satisfaction, enhance user productivity, fuel profitable growth, optimise IT infrastructure and speed time to value.

Keynote speakers will include Nils Herzberg, chief operating officer (COO) products and technology group, SAP AG, and Gerhard Spoor, vice-president product and service introduction, SAP AG. World explorer, Andres Delgado, will talk about the values that motivate him in his quest for excellence.

SAP Africa chief executive, Claas Kuehnemann, says the SAP World Tour is a crucial bridge at the boundary between the evolution of IT and the development of new business models.

"Companies of all sizes face similar business needs and IT challenges. Everyone wants to know how to innovate, streamline their internal operations, develop customer intimacy and synchronise value chains - in order to be more efficient and maintain a competitive advantage.

"But there are very few forums in which one can discuss these issues objectively with one's peers in the industry and, at the same time, get the focused attention and pick the brains of global specialists in the areas of most interest to your particular company or sector.

"Based on the format used at SAP's annual international SAPPHIRE customer conference, local SAP World Tour events allow just that sort of interaction and exchange of ideas in a regional context, maximising their relevance to country attendees."

Launched in early June, the SAP World Tour has so far been attended by more than 3 000 customers and prospects in countries such as Germany, Slovenia and Saudi Arabia. A total of 30 000 people will have attended by the end of 2006.

This year's event also includes the SAP NetWeaver Technology Tour, targeted at more technical audiences and brings together SAP technology experts and thought leaders to the worldwide developer community. The South African event will be held at SAP Africa's offices in Woodmead, Sandton, on Thursday, 17 August.

It is aimed at members of the SAP Developer Network (SDN), showcasing innovative ideas shaping the enterprise application industry and introducing the latest developments in SAP technology. Attendees will learn about the SAP NetWeaver platform and enterprise services orientated architecture (SOA) - and can gain the information and tools they need to enable business process innovation.

As a global sponsor, Intel will provide attendees with insight into upcoming projects, as well as recent successes with Intel and SAP customers.