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SAP security issues continue to require close attention, as evidenced by the December 2024 Patch Day, which introduced 13 new and updated SAP Security Notes. December’s updates addressed vulnerabilities affecting SAP NetWeaver, SAP Web Dispatcher, and Adobe Document Services, among others. A standout contribution was the HotNews Note #3536965, which tackled multiple vulnerabilities in SAP […]
The post December 2024 Patch Day Addresses SAP Security Issues appeared first on InsideSAP.
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The 29th UN Climate Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, aimed to advance a new climate finance goal and inspire stronger national climate commitments. While progress was made, the private sector must now play a pivotal role in turning these ambitions into actionable outcomes. Central to this effort is the energy transition, one of the key economic growth drivers of our time.
The energy transition is creating a profound shift across industries and global economies. Amplified by technological innovation and intense competition, it is reshaping sectors and shifting economies toward renewable energy. This change is not only an environmental necessity but also a catalyst for economic growth, challenging the traditional dominance of fossil fuels. With capital investments increasingly directed toward renewable energy infrastructure, investors are aligning their priorities with sustainability, signaling that profitability and environmental stewardship can coexist. Yet, the ongoing prominence of oil and gas underlines the complexity and scale of this transition.
In parallel, the circular economy is gaining momentum as businesses address the dual challenges of material scarcity and carbon reduction. At COP29, there was significant discussion about how a circular approach focused on rethinking supply chains, redesigning products, and optimizing resources could reduce dependency on finite materials while driving sustainable economic growth. By adopting circular economy principles, businesses can minimize waste and keep valuable materials in circulation, contributing to a more resilient and sustainable future.
One of the central discussions at COP29 was the need for harmonizing global standards for carbon reduction and accounting. Foreign policy players, along with the private sector, stressed the importance of mobilizing finance for sustainable capitalism. In particular, there was a call for clearer and standardized reporting frameworks to simplify the process and ensure transparency. One critical area was the importance of accurate data collection for carbon markets and product-level carbon accounting, which can help businesses engage consumers and reduce emissions.
There are three ways technology plays a pivotal role in addressing some of these challenges:
Empowered by technology and guided by clear policies, businesses have a unique opportunity to bridge the gap between high-level climate commitments and actionable, on-the-ground strategies.
Central to this is aligning sustainability and financial priorities. Effective climate action demands collaboration between chief sustainability officers and chief financial officers, as climate change has evolved from an ethical and environmental issue to a pressing financial imperative.
To accelerate progress, we need globally harmonized policies, rigorous carbon accounting frameworks, and advanced technology solutions. By embedding AI-driven innovation, robust reporting standards, and actionable insights into business operations, we can ensure that COP events, such as COP29 in Baku, are remembered as turning points – not just discussions. While the challenges ahead are formidable, the opportunities for transformative action are even greater – and SAP is here to lead the way on a low-carbon, circular future.
The UN Climate Conference (COP29) in Baku aimed to advance a new climate finance goal and inspire stronger climate commitments. While progress was made, the private sector must play a pivotal role in turning ambitions into actionable outcomes. Central to this effort is the energy transition.
The urgency to work on renewed commitments has never been clearer than today. To accelerate progress, we need globally harmonized policies, rigorous carbon accounting frameworks, and advanced AI-driven technology solutions.
Find out how to accelerate climate action at COP29 in this video by Chief Sustainability and Commercial Officer at SAP, Sophia Mendelsohn, customer (E.ON), a youth delegate (We are Family Foundation) and SAP product experts.
Learn more around SAP Sustainability: https://sap.to/6059tNKEV
At SAP, we are committed to delivering transformative AI technologies that drive meaningful business impact. Today, at AWS re:Invent 2024, we’re thrilled to unveil the immediate availability of Amazon’s new foundation models (FMs) — Amazon Nova Micro, Amazon Nova Lite, and Amazon Nova Pro — through SAP’s generative AI hub, a capability of SAP AI Core, adding to existing access to Anthropic Claude and Amazon Titan models from Amazon Bedrock.
The generative AI hub enables enterprise customers to easily access a broad range of commercial and open-source large language models (LLMs) in a safe and secure environment. This milestone marks a new chapter in our long-standing partnership with AWS, combining SAP’s AI innovations and enterprise expertise with Amazon’s latest and most advanced AI capabilities and technology solutions to unlock powerful opportunities for businesses.
Amazon Nova joins a growing portfolio of top-tier commercial and open-source models available through the generative AI hub. By making the new Amazon Nova models publicly available simultaneously with their release on AWS, SAP helps ensure that customers can immediately leverage the latest innovations to build AI-driven solutions that harness the full business context in SAP data.
The Amazon Nova release includes three state-of-the-art understanding models that are available today, enabling businesses to choose the right model for their unique needs:
With these models now accessible through the generative AI hub, developers can efficiently leverage them alongside the extensive capabilities of SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) to build and scale AI-powered solutions that seamlessly work with SAP applications.
SAP’s generative AI hub helps simplify how businesses access and deploy advanced AI models. The Amazon Nova models, alongside other leading offerings, are available through a unified interface deeply integrated with SAP BTP. This helps ensure customers can automate workflows with precision, build multimodal AI solutions tailored to specific challenges, and fully utilize the business context embedded in SAP data.
By combining Amazon Nova models with SAP BTP services like workflow automation and vector databases, businesses can develop customized AI solutions that can scale effortlessly. For example, developers can create new skills for Joule, SAP’s AI copilot, leveraging Amazon Nova models and SAP HANA’s vector capabilities to process enterprise-specific data. This helps ensure AI outputs are not only accurate and relevant but also actionable, driving measurable results across operations.
The availability of Amazon Nova models on the generative AI hub marks a significant milestone in SAP’s long-standing collaboration with AWS. Together, we continue to address critical enterprise challenges such as data security, regulatory compliance, and scalability, ensuring businesses can confidently adopt AI solutions that deliver tangible value. This partnership underscores our shared vision of making advanced AI accessible and impactful for businesses worldwide, unlocking new levels of efficiency and innovation.
With access to Amazon Nova Micro, Amazon Nova Lite, and Amazon Nova Pro, SAP customers can reimagine their operations — automating workflows, enhancing insights, and driving complex decisions. We’re excited to see how our customers and partners leverage these capabilities to achieve impactful business outcomes.
Learn more about innovating with SAP Business AI and the new Nova models.
Uniphar is a leading healthcare and pharmaceutical services company based in Ireland. Piotr Wojdowski, Chief Enterprise Architect at Uniphar Group shares how SAP cloud technology allows them to innovate, attract top talent and reduce complexity.
Learn more: https://sap.to/6055tkFFN
Retail is transforming at lightning speed, shaped by AI, seamless shopping experiences, and sustainable practices. A new retail industry report from SAP delves into these shifts and reveals how savvy retailers can use AI to elevate personalization, adopt dynamic pricing to optimize profits, and turn returns into new revenue streams.
As consumers demand more convenience and accountability, retailers that are ready to integrate omnichannel flows and eco-friendly packaging will be primed to lead. So here are some hot takes from the report to stay ahead in the evolving retail game:
Retailers not using AI to meet customer expectations risk being left behind, as AI is not just a one-time tool but a transformative asset. While 61% of shoppers support more AI in retail, 40% believe most marketing emails lack relevance and 23% think retailers do not personalize content effectively. By adopting AI for personalization, 78% of marketers have increased customer engagement and 75% reported improved customer loyalty. The takeaway: Investing in AI-driven personalization not only meets customer demands but can significantly boost engagement and loyalty.
Seamless customer experiences across digital and physical channels are now the standard, with 80% of retailers syncing customer carts across platforms. By making returns easier, as 65% of retailers already do, businesses can enhance loyalty and encourage repeat purchases. The opportunity is clear: retailers that streamline omnichannel shopping can capture more customer loyalty; for newer brands, this is a strategic differentiator.
AI-driven dynamic pricing is becoming a game-changer in the retail space, allowing real-time price adjustments based on market conditions. AI-based pricing can increase revenue by 1.3% annually on average. Additionally, 67% of consumers want real-time stock updates and 31% find items are often out of stock, underscoring the need for predictive inventory management. Retailers that leverage AI for both pricing and stock visibility can enjoy enhanced profitability and meet customer expectations more reliably.
Returns — often seen as a hassle — present untapped revenue potential. By adopting strategic return incentives such as in-store bonuses, retailers can boost foot traffic and secondary sales. Thirty-three percent of U.S. shoppers intentionally over-purchase with plans to return some items. AI-led returns processing can reduce return rates by an average of 26%. Creative return programs, such as second-chance sales and re-commerce, offer a way to turn returns into customer loyalty and revenue opportunities rather than costs.
Upcoming regulations across the EU, U.K., and certain U.S. states mandate heightened recycling targets — 65% recycling by 2025 in the EU, for example — within the near- to mid-future. While many businesses are aware of the targets, they are not ready for them. As packaging solutions evolve, brands investing in eco-friendly packaging and reusable solutions can gain a competitive edge and connect with increasingly eco-conscious consumers. Retailers that see beyond short-term recycling and invest in sustainable, or even regenerative, packaging are positioning themselves for long-term success in an environmentally driven market.
As retail transforms, staying adaptable, data-driven, and customer-focused is essential. The SAP report reveals the winning strategies of top brands, from harnessing AI to reimagining returns and leading in sustainable packaging.
Explore the full report for actionable insights and strategies that can elevate your business — and catch these insights live at industry events like NRF, where retail’s future is on full display. Your blueprint for the next big move starts here.
Joerg Koesters is head of Consumer Industries Solutions Marketing at SAP.
At Microsoft Ignite, SAP and Microsoft are highlighting their collaborative vision to redefine workplace productivity through the seamless integration of SAP’s AI copilot, Joule, and Microsoft 365 Copilot.
First introduced at SAP Sapphire in 2024, this vision takes a significant leap forward as our companies expect to announce a limited preview of the integration by the end of the year.
This partnership bridges SAP and Microsoft 365 business applications to deliver a unified experience that maximizes productivity. With Joule and Microsoft 365 Copilot integrated, users will soon experience a world where they can perform tasks and surface insights from both systems through either copilot, eliminating the need to switch between applications. Imagine a future where the most-used SAP tasks can be accomplished directly from Microsoft 365 – and vice versa. This is the vision SAP and Microsoft are advancing.
The end goal of this integration is a seamless user experience where employees can access either Joule or Microsoft 365 Copilot to complete tasks and retrieve data across both SAP and Microsoft environments. This means that users in Microsoft 365 can rely on Copilot to pull SAP tasks and data through Joule, while those in SAP applications can leverage Joule to access Microsoft 365 information and workflows. This two-way integration allows employees to work in the environment most effective for the task at hand, helping to ensure they have everything they need to get their work done efficiently.
At Microsoft Ignite, attendees are experiencing demo previews that showcase the early stages of this integration. For example, within Microsoft Teams, users can harness the combined power of Copilot and Joule to review tasks across both SAP and Microsoft 365, engage in chats, exchange emails, check the delivery status on sales orders recorded in SAP S/4HANA, submit employee promotion requests to SAP SuccessFactors solutions, and more. These demonstrations provide a glimpse of how Joule and Microsoft 365 Copilot together can simplify complex workflows and empower users to manage tasks seamlessly across systems.
With Joule’s skills rapidly expanding to support SAP’s most-used tasks, this integration can unlock new productivity potential across both SAP and Microsoft environments. Imagine HR, finance, and supply chain professionals seamlessly accessing Microsoft 365 tools within their SAP workflows, while Microsoft users gain access to SAP’s powerful data and task automation. From onboarding employees in SAP SuccessFactors solutions to checking delivery statuses in SAP S/4HANA or scheduling meetings in Outlook, users can accomplish critical tasks directly within their chosen environment.
Together, Joule and Microsoft 365 Copilot set a new benchmark for cross-functional productivity, making it easier than ever to drive real-world business impact.
At Microsoft Ignite, we’re setting the stage for this integration’s next phase. With the expectation to announce a limited preview before the end of 2024, we are eager to showcase how Joule and Microsoft 365 Copilot will come together to empower users and redefine productivity across SAP and Microsoft 365 applications. Those interested in experiencing this groundbreaking integration firsthand can register their interest for the limited preview at aka.ms/CopilotJoule. Spots are limited; don’t miss this opportunity to explore how SAP and Microsoft are reshaping the workplace.
Brenda Bown is chief marketing officer for SAP Business AI at SAP.
Discover why “standing still” with your SAP system could cost you. Explore the risks of outdated systems and get to know SAP’s free tool, which helps assess these costs. Learn to quantify hidden expenses, from missed updates to increased maintenance, and understand why upgrading is essential for long-term success. Watch to explore the framework and calculation model created to guide customers at the end of mainstream maintenance. Find more https://events.sap.com/eur/costofstandingstill/en/home
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