Last week I attended SAPTechEd and the one word that epitomizes my time there is HANA. HANA was the focus of the show, whether discussing ERP and support for better access to operational data, to support business analytics, or to address big data challenges. The goal of using SAP's in-memory computing platform to help drive future business initiatives is obvious based on its high processing abilities (1.5 million rows per second). What is a nice change is the goal of doing so without disrupting current technology within the organization.

Because technology changes and recreates itself so often, there is a need for solutions to transform and meet the needs of organizations without having to reinvent the wheel every time upgrades or changes are made. Hardware additions, software tweaks, and the like make most upgrades or new implementations a hassle. The promise of HANA is that the front end remains the same while changing/adding to the platform. Obviously, from a technology standpoint this is not as seamless as it sounds, but the reality is that working towards a goal of being non-disruptive is a lofty one that can provide organizations with a lot of value down the road.

Two key areas that expand HANA's value to the market place are the integration of Sybase and open standards enabling data sources that are non-SAP to be accessed and stored:

1. Sybase: Between ASE, IQ, etc. Sybase has provided a lot of diversity and value by addressing diverse data needs from advanced analytics to real-time data processing. By integrating Sybase functionality into the HANA platform, organizations will be able to take advantage of a wider range of data warehousing, storage, and processing. 
2. Broader data access: In addition to increased functionality and integration of multiple suites, SAP discussed the goal of providing data support for non-SAP sources as well. Obviously, the fact that continued support for Sybase customers is important aside, expanding reach to non-SAP data sources means that SAP can target organizations that are not SAP shops as well as support their current customers more broadly.