Data Lab Dialogues

In a conversation with Kurt Holst from Databricks we learn how Databricks and SAP Data Management applications are a match made in heaven. With the launch of BDC, it is now possible to share data to the leading Data Engineering and AI ops tool on the market – Databricks. We discuss what Databricks is all about and specifically why it makes sense to use data where without copying it too much around. Kurt gives us examples of use cases and explain the zero-copy delta-sharing concept.

Kurt Holst, Solutions Architect, Databricks

Kurt is a seasoned data professional who collaborates with business and technical teams to deliver advanced AI/ML, ETL, and streaming solutions.

With over 20 years of experience in Data Science and Business Intelligence, Kurt specializes in transforming data into actionable insights through cutting-edge machine learning techniques.

He spent 8 years at SAP as a Principal Consultant in Professional Services, where he built enterprise solutions using SAP BusinessObjects, SAP HANA ML with Python/R, and SAP Predictive Maintenance.

Now a Solutions Architect at Databricks, Kurt has worked with the platform for 5 years—first as a customer, now in presales—designing and delivering mock-up solutions using Databricks AI & ML.

In addition, Kurt has worked one day a week as an external lecturer, teaching Data Warehousing and Data Mining. He is certified across Databricks and SAP and holds two master’s degrees and an engineering degree, bringing deep expertise in enterprise data and AI-driven transformation.

Thomas Madsen, SAP Technology explorer, SAP Denmark

Thomas Madsen is a seasoned Technology Enthusiast with 30+ years of diverse IT experience covering weather forecasting, newspaper production, telecommunication and since 2008 the SAP ecosystem. At SAP Thomas cover most technical aspects of an SAP landscape leveraging the experience gained as BI solution advisor, experience center lead and enterprise architect to help clients and partners understand where SAP is heading with the Business Technology Platform.

Useful Links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kurtholst/

In a conversation with Benjamin Houttuin we learn some details on the AWS / SAP partnership to provide SAP cloud services globally. We discuss the first steps with HANA workloads, followed by full SAP landscapes. With SAP’s launch of the business Technology Platform on hyperscalers we learn how AWS enable BTP, by providing the necessary infrastructure services to enable the business services offered in BTP. And in the last 3 years RISE projects are now implemented on AWS and soon to come S/4HANA public cloud (GROW). Benjamin further explains about sovereign cloud plans in Europe as well as new AI initiatives to further enable the SAP AI roadmap.

Benjamin Houttuin, Sr. Partner Solutions Architect SAP – Europe North at Amazon Web Service

With 19+ years of experience in SAP and more than 21 years in IT, Benjamin is a widely appreciated Architect in the SAP and AWS community. He is passionate about helping partners and customers achieve their business goals by leveraging the power and innovation of AWS cloud services and SAP applications. Benjamin is a certified SAP on AWS Specialist and a Professional AWS Solutions Architect, underlining his deep SAP and AWS proficiency. In addition to speaking at AWS and partner events, Benjamin is an active member and frequently asked speaker at SAP user groups such as the: Dutch VNSG, Finnish FINUG, and SAP Insider.

Thomas Madsen, SAP Technology explorer, SAP Denmark

Thomas Madsen is a seasoned Technology Enthusiast with 30+ years of diverse IT experience covering weather forecasting, newspaper production, telecommunication and since 2008 the SAP ecosystem. At SAP Thomas cover most technical aspects of an SAP landscape leveraging the experience gained as BI solution advisor, experience center lead and enterprise architect to help clients and partners understand where SAP is heading with the Business Technology Platform.

Useful Links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhouttuin/

Mik Risom Pedersen shares his experience with the Andel RISE roll-out. Andel is a large Danish utility company that has had multiple mergers and acquisitions in recent years, resulting in a very complex SAP landscape. The RISE project involved simplification of the landscape and a migration to SAP S/4HANA.

Mik Risom Pedersen

Solution Architect at Andel 

40 years IT experience with 24 years with SAP technology

Mainly in areas of Integration, ISU, PM, Finance and logistic

Now focusing on the IT transformation from ECC to S/4 and BTP and simplifying the SAP landscape and consolidating applications around SAP. 

Thomas Madsen, SAP Technology explorer, SAP Denmark

Thomas Madsen is a seasoned Technology Enthusiast with 30+ years of diverse IT experience covering weather forecasting, newspaper production, telecommunication and since 2008 the SAP ecosystem. At SAP Thomas cover most technical aspects of an SAP landscape leveraging the experience gained as BI solution advisor, experience center lead and enterprise architect to help clients and partners understand where SAP is heading with the Business Technology Platform.

Useful Links:

http://andel.dk

Mohan Kumar from SAP shares his perspective on the challenges facing organizations and professionals wishing to continuously innovate and adopt cutting edge technologies. Identifying your business capabilities, mapping out and optimizing your processes and execute on your visions require strong governance. We learn how The SAP Integrated Toolchain assist the enterprise architect and the business process owners in meeting the requirements of rapidly changing business environments.

Mohan Kumar

Mohan Kumar Jayarama is a seasoned executive with over 17 years of global experience delivering transformative outcomes across SAP Cloud, On-Premise solutions, and next-generation technologies. 

He has held pivotal leadership roles both within and outside SAP, driving strategic RISE initiatives and fostering successful C-level engagements.

As a trusted and respected expert in the SAP partner and customer community, Mohan is leading the Integrated Tool Chain initiative, In this role, he will oversee the harmonization and integration of SAP’s tool chain, ensuring seamless customer adoption and driving continuous innovation.

Thomas Madsen, SAP Technology explorer, SAP Denmark

Thomas Madsen is a seasoned Technology Enthusiast with 30+ years of diverse IT experience covering weather forecasting, newspaper production, telecommunication and since 2008 the SAP ecosystem. At SAP Thomas cover most technical aspects of an SAP landscape leveraging the experience gained as BI solution advisor, experience center lead and enterprise architect to help clients and partners understand where SAP is heading with the Business Technology Platform.

Useful Links:

https://sapvideo.cfapps.eu10-004.hana.ondemand.com/?entry_id=1_vybhypx6

In a conversation with Alina Yukhymenko from SAP, we learn the intricate details of building a business case to take your SAP workload to the cloud. In addition to the basics of hardware and migration cost, looking at opportunity costs and business value is also important, but indeed very hard numbers to calculate.

Alina Yukhymenko

Alina’s main role at SAP is Value Advisory. In this role Alina support customers all around Europe and across all industries. Alina is passionate about her job and absolutely loves to educate customers about the new SAP Cloud offering and its benefits. In her free time, she is passionate about investments and everything related to numbers.

Thomas Madsen, Technology explorer, SAP Denmark

Business Technology Platform Expert.

Karl Bergström, Enterprise Architect, SAP Denmark

In a conversation with Jacob Lund from NTTData, we explore the topic of composability. What is a composable IT architecture? Why should you aim for composable applications and how does SAP fit in? What can partners do to help clients make the best of their SAP applications and to build the right enterprise architecture.

Jacob Lund

Jacob Orup Lund has worked within the SAP space since 1997, initially within Finance (FI/CO), but for the past 20 years the focus has been on Data & Analytics. As a Senior Director with NTT Data Business Solutions, Jacob advises clients within all areas of Data & Analytics, but has a special focus on Data Fabric/Data Platform and on designing architectures and governance models for hybrid SAP and Non-SAP Data & Analytics environments.

Thomas Madsen, Technology explorer, SAP Denmark

Business Technology Platform Expert.

In a conversation with Simon Townson we explore the topic of composability. What is a composable IT architecture? Why should you aim for composable applications and how does SAP fit in?

Simon Townson

Simon is a Chief Enterprise Architect working with SAP products for close to 25 years.  Simon joined SAP in 2006 after several years for a major European systems integrator, working across many technologies including SAP, and specializing in asset management and Geographic Information Systems.

He was part of the original team that created the SAP Enterprise Architecture Framework and has been part of the evolution and growth of Enterprise Architecture for over 15 years.

His knowledge is backed up by many implementations including SAP ECC, Suite on HANA, S/4HANA and most recently cloud products, such as Business Technology Platform.

Simon has worked extensively across many industries including Consumer Goods, Retail, Travel and Transport, Utilities, and Public Sector. 

Simon holds many industry wide architecture relevant certifications including TOGAF 9, Cloud Architect, and mostly recently Cloud Certified Security Professional ; in addition to SAP specific certifications such as SAP LEAD Architect, SAP A200 Architect, and Certified SAP ERP Architect.

Thomas Madsen, Technology explorer, SAP Denmark

Business Technology Platform Expert.

Karl Bergström, Enterprise Architect, SAP Denmark

In a conversation with Fredrik Borlie we explore the topic of composability. What is a composable IT architecture? Why should you aim for composable applications and how does SAP fit in?

Fredrik Borlie

Fredrik was certified as Basis Admin in December 1998. And he has since then always worked with SAP technical areas.

Fredrik loves troubleshooting, and not just look for the symptom. He believe the best question is ”Why?”

Thomas Madsen, Technology explorer, SAP Denmark

Business Technology Platform Expert.

Karl Bergström, Enterprise Architect, SAP Denmark

In a conversation with Paul Wood and Robert Reuben we explore the ins and outs of archiving. Why does it matter, what’s the catch, how do you get started. As the amount of data increases and as workloads are moving to the cloud, archiving becomes ever more important. By ensuring that you only work on relevant data compute and storage costs can be reduced significantly. As SAP clients starts planning the upgrade from ECC to S/4HANA, reducing the data footprint can generate big savings. Up to 60% of the data volume can be archived prior to upgrade, making the upgrade simpler and the target landscape less expensive.

Paul Wood – Nordic Regional Lead with Proceed Group

With over two decades of experience in the Oracle and SAP marketplace, Paul’s professional journey has been marked by a steadfast commitment to delivering top-tier consultancy, guiding enterprises through the complexities of data management and optimisation. Paul’s expertise lies in creating tailored solutions that drive efficiency, innovation, and growth, ensuring that his clients are not just keeping pace, but setting the benchmarks within their industries.

Robert Reuben – Managing Director of Proceed Group

Robert is the Managing Director of Proceed Group, a leading SAP Consultancy in the UK renowned for its expertise in SAP data and document management, including areas like SAP archiving, GDPR compliance, and legacy data management for SAP and non-SAP systems. With a career spanning over 30 years in B2B IT, Robert brings a wealth of experience from both sales and technical leadership roles in SAP and IBM. He assumed his current position in February 2023, after initially joining Proceed as the Director of legacy data management, where he spearheaded the launch and promotion of the Proceed Cella solution.

Thomas Madsen, Technology explorer, SAP Denmark

Business Technology Platform Expert.

Karl Bergström, Enterprise Architect, SAP Denmark

In a conversation with Fredrik Borlie we learn how Polestar managed to make full use of the offerings of SAP RISE by re-defining SAP ERP upgrade governance. At Polestar it is no longer a negotiation between IT and business when and how often their IT landscape is upgraded. Changing the entire organization to adopt a true cloud mindset has allowed Polestar to achieve shorter and more frequent upgrades. Thus realizing benefits of new innovations more frequently and much earlier than through traditional upgrade schemes.

Merete Langseth

With over 6 years of experience in leading IT strategy and governance for major global corporations, Merete is passionate about enabling business growth and transformation through technology. As Head of the Office of the CIO at Topsoe, a world leader in catalysis and surface science, Merete is responsible for IT project portfolio management, budget management, C-suite reporting, and IT governance.
Merete also facilitate cross-functional initiatives
related to process optimization, simplification,
alignment, and external funding.

Hanne Wehnert

Hanne has more than 17 years proven experience in IT professional oriented Leadership, IT Partner, Change Management, SAP Program and Agile Project Management, Sourcing Supplier transformation in India, Process optimisation.

Thomas Madsen, Technology explorer, SAP Denmark

Business Technology Platform Expert.

Karl Bergström, Enterprise Architect, SAP Denmark

Enterprise Architect in the presale area. Focusing on S/4 HANA and The intelligent Enterprise.