October 14th, 2008
SAP's EcoHub, here's the rub
SAP has created a marketplace for its own and partner solutions called EcoHub. Pre-sales are handled by SAP, with content created by the partners. Comments can be left but there are a number of questions about how this operates. The good news is that SAP spent time with users from the SAP Mentor community at TechEd Berlin to get immediate feedback. Zia Yusuf, EVP for its platform ecosystem said: “I think you’ll see EcoHub in a kind of permanent beta - it will develop over time - this is really the first iteration.” Currently on the agenda:
- There is no current link to a ‘business card’ so readers have no direct means of telling whether a person is providing a genuinely objective or valuable opinion.
- The rating system is a simple ’star’ system. For many, this will be seen as too simplistic.
- It is unclear how comments might be used in a marketing context. Leaving comments is one thing but the use to which they are put is another. For instance, I would not like to think that comments were being used out of context or as part of blanket marketing programs.
EcoHub is a step in a fresh direction for SAP which has been perceived as a company that doesn’t sell products that are ‘not made here.’
Dennis Howlett has been providing comment and analysis on enterprise software since 1991. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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