Published December 1, 2016 by Stephan Finsterbusch, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ.net)

SAP has developed a solution that records and analyzes football penalties. So far, the company has focused primarily on business with other companies. The new app provides data on goalkeepers, strikers, goals and missed penalties. The German national soccer team is one of the most prominent customers of SAP analysis tools.

—

The new app will most likely attract more customers than other offerings in the SAP Digital store. In doing so, Jonathan Becher, SAP Chief Digital Officer, is making new paths for the company, writes FAZ.net. SAP Digital primarily provides small solutions for analytics, helps designers put up new websites and supports software architects in creating virtual reality applications.

Click here to read the full article (original in German)

Published November 2016 by The Agency Review

The opportunity afforded by Drew Neisser’s The CMO’s Periodic Table is a terrific one, as it gives us, in more or less their own words, not just the central stories and case studies of the marketing leaders of literally dozens of companies large and small; It also gives us an insight into how these leaders think, and how that differs and doesn’t differ from the dozens of other executives in precisely the same shoes. Compiled by Neisser, CEO and founder of Renegade Marketing and publisher of SocialMediaExplorer.com, these 64 interviews are arranged not by industry, category or discipline, but around a sort of marketing “periodic table” that Neisser has devised. By arranging them this way, Neisser is able to mix and match them, explain their “elemental” importance, and turn the collection from simply a random compendium of conversations into a really valuable tool for understanding the state of marketing today.

—

Jonathan Becher, SAP’s current CDO and previous CMO, is one of the 64 marketing leaders interviewed for this book. He is quoted as saying: “For all good business leaders, there comes a day when you realize, ‘What got us here won’t get us where we need to go.’”

Click here to read the full book review. Or click here for information on The CMO’s Periodic Table: A Renegade’s Guide to Marketing.

By Katie Kelly Bell, Forbes, November 22, 2016

Most of us know the obvious—weekends are busier than weekdays at any Disney theme park, and the week between Christmas and New Year’s is considered to be a sugar-induced holiday haze of teeming masses and long lines. Surprisingly, according to new data gathered by SAP Digital Consumer Insight, Sundays in the summer are the quietest at the park and Thanksgiving week is actually busier than the week after Christmas. You’ll also generally find more people at the parks mid-week during the summer months than on the weekends.

—

According to Jonathan Becher, head of SAP Digital and chief digital officer, the information was “gathered from research conducted using the new SAP Digital Consumer Insight data service which unlocks demographic information based on anonymized and aggregated mobile data.” These SAP tools capture mobile moments in and around specific locations. Essentially, by looking at mobile phone and device usage in specific areas, they were able to determine how busy the parks were at any given time.

Click here to read the full article

Keynote presentation delivered by Jonathan Becher at SAP Forum Bucharest in October 2016

The digital revolution starts from the bottom up. The biggest challenge in adopting and integrating new digital technologies is culture. The reason is that any transformation must be adopted primarily by people of all departments. Organizational culture is what brings success – if the technology is fuel, culture is the engine.

—

“Culture can not be dictated from above,” says Becher. “It is one of the reasons why our current environment is called a digital revolution. Revolutions start from small, individual contributions, which then create a groundswell of change.”

Click here to view the video.

Published October 23, 2016 by Telegrafonline (Romania)

The local [Romanian] subsidiary of German manufacturer of business software solutions SAP, established 14 years ago, is one of the most dynamic branches in terms of revenue growth and staff. Jonathan Becher, Chief Digital Officer and head of SAP Digital at SAP delivered a keynote address at the recent SAP Forum Romania, speaking about digital transformation and SAP’s presence in Romania.

—

“Romania is a small market for SAP if we refer to countries like the U.S. and Germany – the two largest markets for SAP, but is one of the markets with the fastest growth rates,” said Jonathan Becher.

Click here to read the full article (in Romanian)

Published October 16, 2016 by Ziarul Financiar (Romania)

Jonathan Becher, Chief Digital Officer and Head of SAP Digital, delivered the keynote address at the SAP Forum Romania in October

—

Click here to read the full article (in Romanian)

Published October 5, 2016 by Revista Biz online (Romania)

Jonathan Becher, SAP Chief Digital Officer, says that culture is one of the biggest challenges in the adoption of new digital technologies.

—

“Organization’s culture is what brings success – if technology is the fuel that drives progress, then culture is the engine. Culture, however, cannot be dictated from above,” Becher told Romania’s ‘Revista Biz’. He added that the term “digital revolution” is apt because revolutions start from small individual contributions that then lay the groundwork for change. “Digital transformation may manifest much quicker in areas such as media or finance as opposed to administration, construction and agriculture. But I think that the digital revolution is here and every company in every industry will be affected. Even companies that believe that they are already digital must continue to evolve in order to keep up with new waves of digitization.”

Click here to read the full article (original in Romanian).

Published September 26, 2016 by Agora.com (Romania)

Global Survey Leaders 2020 *, recently launched by SAP, the world-leading supplier of business software solutions and technology, along with Oxford Economics, shows that only 16% of participating companies have implemented strategies of leadership adapted to the digital economy strategies that have able to lead the digital transformation throughout the company to improve its performance and to have more engaged employees.

—

Business transformation to the digital economy is the theme of the 11th edition of the event SAP Forum, which will meet on October 13 in Bucharest, including representatives of the private and the public sectors. Among the topics to be discussed at this year’s forum include the digitization of business processes, transforming the shopping experience of consumers, the development of a workforce, digital new business models, etc. The special guest of the event is Jonathan Becher, SAP Chief Digital Officer, who has overseen the SAP Digital division since 2014, implementing a new digital strategy for the company globally, and extending SAP business in new directions.

Click here to read the full article (original in Romanian).

Presentation delivered by Jonathan Becher at Frost & Sullivan’s Growth Innovation & Leadership Event, September 2016

—

Disruption is not just for start-ups and new ventures; it’s an opportunity for everyone to transform.  But transformation requires substantive change, including switching from incremental improvements to exponential thinking.  The acceleration of digital/connected technologies change consumer needs, expectations, and behaviors.  In this presentation, Jonathan Becher provided insight into the practical realities of driving digital transformation at a large successful multi-national company.

Click here to view the video.

Published September 5, 2016 by WirtschaftsWoche

Many companies bring a chief digital officer (CDO) on board to advance digitization – and then let them perish. What do they need to do to help them be successful? In Germany, the number of companies with a chief digital officer is steadily increasing. According to reports, approximately two percent of German companies with 500 or more employees have a CDO; seven percent of such companies in the U.S. have a chief digital officer; and in Europe overall, 13 percent.

—

Digital transformation is a major challenge for all companies. How can a chief digital officer help? What makes a CDO successful, like, for example, these seven CDOs, including Jonathan Becher, Chief Digital Officer at SAP and Johann Jungwirth at Volkswagen.

Click here to read the full article (original in German).