SAP turns LatAm center into digital transformation hub
German software giant SAP has created a hub for the development of digital transformation solutions for Latin America enterprises based on its IoT/machine-learning 'Leonardo' portfolio, at its SAP Labs Latin America in the Brazilian city of São Leopoldo, Rio Grande do Sul state.
SAP Labs Latin America is one of the 19 innovation centers run by SAP worldwide and the only one focused on Latin America. SAP invested 100mn reais (US$32mn) in the São Leopoldo Lab between 2009 and 2013. The center has over 900 employees and the plan is to hire 600 more in the next two years.
The Leonardo initiative also falls under planned investments of 40mn reais (US$12.8mn) in SAP Labs Latin America over a period of five years, which were announced by SAP CEO Bill McDermott during a visit to Brazil in March.
The Leonardo portfolio was officially announced by SAP in May to embrace IoT, Machine Learning, Blockchain, Big Data, Data Analysis and SAP cloud application development.
Leonardo is SAP's main gamble to face global players like IBM and its Watson artificial intelligence platform and, at the local level, Brazilian software giant Totvs, which recently launched its Carol artificial intelligence system.
The launch takes place in parallel with others worldwide: SAP Leonardo centers were opened in New York and Paris, while Bangalore will also have one in a couple of weeks' time. Others are being mulled in Asia and Germany. For now, São Leopoldo will be the sole center for Latin America.
In Latin America, the chief target and main differentiator will be the development of solutions developed for agribusiness, SAP Labs president Dennison John told BNamericas and other reporters in São Leopoldo on Wednesday.
"We develop all of the innovations required for the Latin American market here, as well as all support for Latin American companies," he said, in reference to the SAP Lab LatAm. SAP has 37,000 customers in Latin America, 11,000 of which are in Brazil.
An IoT for agriculture developed in São Leopoldo - and which became a template for global implementation - also involved Stara, one of the largest Brazilian manufacturers of agricultural machinery.
Stara has already equipped its tractors with sensors and later developed a solution with SAP to integrate these sensors into the SAP Hana platform and into SAP ECC, allowing online and real-time monitoring of seeding, soil preparation, fertilization and soil correction, spraying and harvesting.
Another example of a unique IoT solution created in São Leopoldo which then went global was a smart care platform developed in partnership with São Paulo heart hospital Incor.
SAP Brasil sales VP Rui Botelho also said at the Leonardo presentation that a prototype of advanced IoT is being developed with a local mining company, which is not Vale, among others.
Luis Cesar Verdi, chief customer officer (CCO) for SAP Latin America, told BNamericas that eight contracts in the Leonardo portfolio have been signed in Latin America since May, three of which were in Brazil.
"SAP was one of the first players investing in networks. There is no other player in the market investing in networks like us. We go for a multi-vendor strategy, we don't use a vendor lock-in approach; we're a neutral player. And we're on top of data, betting on making infrastructure-as-a-service a commodity," said Tanja Rueckert, SAP IoT and digital supply chain head.
Rueckert said that the focus of Leonardo is "asset-heavy" industries such as oil and gas, chemicals, infrastructure, manufacturing and utilities.
The company plans to invest US$2bn in the platform in the coming years.
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