By Freya Purnell
SAP AG has announced that it will not be holding its SAPPHIRE NOW conference in Madrid in 2013, instead focusing its efforts on “dedicated customer-centric events” for customers and partner in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
SAP plans to expand existing SAP Forum events and schedule additional SAP Forums in key markets, with programs and content to be customised to the needs of local and regional customers and partners.
In a statement, SAP said “a regionally focused events strategy will be more relevant and easier to participate in for SAP customers, more geographically relevant for SAP partners and more supportive of individual SAP market units”.
Chief executive of the UK and Ireland SAP User Group, Craig Dale, said it was a shame that SAP had pulled back from the major European SAPPHIRE event, but said that in recent years the cost of travelling to and attending the event had become more difficult for users to bear, with many instead looking to UK-based events. He said SAP co-CEO Jim Hagemann Snabe had committed to attending the UK & Ireland User Group conference at the end of the year instead.
