Pfungwa Serima, SAP Africa

The largest SAP customerrun conference in South Africa, Saphila 2012, is taking place at Sun City, from 28 to 31 October and promises an insightful and interactive experience for attendees, says SAP.

Content at Saphila 2012, hosted by SAP and the African SAP User Group, will focus on five key areas –
cloud, mobile, applications, technology database and analytics.

The hosts say with more than 100 sessions, spanning two days, everything from business intelligence and cloud to big data and analytics will be covered. At this year’s conference, some 66 white papers will be presented by local and international customers and partners, showcasing SAP technology that is working successfully in Africa and across the globe, they add.

The theme for 2012 is: “The Moment is Now” and will focus on customer-driven education in order to facilitate knowledge sharing and foster an environment of innovation. The upcoming conference has an African focus – showcasing the business potential and entrepreneurial spirit of the continent.

SAP Africa and the African SAP User Group recently took to Twitter to discuss some of the themes and topics that will be addressed at the upcoming conference. During the Saphila 2012 “tweetup”, Alvin Paules, chief technology architect at SAP SA, said the event demonstrates SAP’s commitment to South Africa and the African continent.

“Sub-Saharan Africa is ripe with opportunity with some of the fastest growing markets in the world,” tweeted CEO of SAP Africa, Pfungwa Serima. “We at SAP focus on people, development, talent acquisition and leadership.”

According to SAP, the conference offers “a unique platform for attendees to see their business from all angles providing invaluable knowledge sharing and networking opportunities for SAP customers, partners, business team members and industry experts”.

For the first time, the Saphila conference will also feature training courses on SAP’s in-memory database technology, HANA. This technology has the ability to analyse big data 100 000 times faster than traditional databases, giving companies the power to rapidly react to change, the software company notes. This technology will be showcased at Saphila. Training courses will feature e-learning, manuals and certification and will be facilitated by industry experts.

“Having a look at the agenda you can see that the topics are on par with what is happening at the large international conferences I’ve attended. All those I have spoken to have said to me that Saphila is a must attend and not just for the parties. I am really excited about getting to know the larger SAP community, comparing war stories on implementations and forming new friendships!” says Clint Vosloo, owner of BI in the Box and speaker at the upcoming conference.

SAP anticipates the largest-ever turnout this year with an estimated 1 300 delegates expected to attend. For more information visit www.saphila2012.co.za.