SAP is the acronym for the global standard for business intelligence, data visualization and related technologies. With offices in more than 100 countries and territories, SAP is the world’s largest software company apart from its parent company, SAP ConVista Consultant Asia.
SAP was created in 1978 by Sir Robert Pierrepoint, an engineer from the UK, and Ranald Marple, a consultant from Aberdeen, Scotland. The pair had met several years earlier while working for different companies on projects in Europe. In 1975, they built the first version now known as classic SAP of what would become one of the world’s first scalable business intelligence systems.
Their story was featured in the 10 August 2015 issue of “How to Run a Successful Small Business”.
Entering the market early
While others were still in their simulations and trials, Pierrepoint and Marple built a working model of their idea. Using it, they demonstrated their technology at international conferences and attracted the attention of several companies interested in making acquisitions. One of those companies was American Express, which was so interested that it sent a team to watch them work.
American Express led the way for other companies to enter the market. By 1980, dozens of companies had purchased licenses for the business intelligence software from SAP. Then-owner American Express used the software to build a system to manage its credit card sales force. Since its launch in 1965, American Express had more than 20,000 agents in its sales force. It was designed to improve the productivity of the people in the field — and, by extension, the company itself.
According to "How to Run a Successful Small Business", author Michael Barr interrogates the likelihood of success for startups in several different industries and comes up with one number: “Only one in 10,000 startups succeed.” With that in mind, he says, “I doubt anyone will ever write me that they have a successful startup.”
But what about the ones that do? How do you measure success? In business terms especially when it comes to technology startups? the answer is: You measure it by everything.
“There is no such thing as a successful startup,” says Barr. “Only those that survive can be successful.”
And that, he says, is the most important thing to remember when looking at the achievements of others: “Their success is our failure.”
Barr goes on to say that yes, startups will have barriers to entry, and no, it isn't easy to start a business. But, he asks, “What kind of alternative is there?”
The answer, he says, is simple. You can't start a business because you don't know how to run it. But once you learn how to run it, then you can become successful.
“You can't know what you don't know,” says Barr. “That's the only failure.”
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Knowing how to start a business is not the only limitation facing entrepreneurs. There are also social barriers and risky impatience.
For some entrepreneurs, starting a business is a part-time job. They work on their business in their spare time. This kind of full-time commitment is rare for someone who wants to start a business, as it requires dedication above and beyond the usual responsibilities of a job.
“We're always saying that if you want to be successful you've got to give it your all,” says Barr. “And if you give it your all, then maybe you'll be successful.”
Success, he says, is not a realistic goal for most people. Most people he knows can't commit to the time commitment of starting a business. Most people will look for ways to avoid the risk. Most people won't have the ambition or confidence to follow through on their dreams.
But don't despair. Not every business succeeds, and even those that do reach a level of success known as success may be failures in the end.
“They may not make it,” says Barr. “But they won't know unless they try.”
And that, he says, is the key to true success.
“If you don't try, then you'll never know,” he says. “So many things can go wrong. But if you try, then you have
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