The digital age is changing the significance of information technology entirely. Now, IT is what makes the difference between the success or failure of a new business model. Software AG's new Digital Business Platform delivers everything customers need to succeed in the digital world. The Digital Business Platform helps companies develop a new kind of application—called “adaptive” applications. Software AG CFO Dr. Wolfram Jost explains how.

Questions:

1. Dr. Jost, you unveiled the Digital Business Platform in October. Can you describe what it's all about?

Digitization is effecting radical changes in all organizations, and conventional applications cannot keep pace. By choosing the name "Digital Business Platform" we are clearly communicating that Software AG delivers exactly what digital enterprises need: a new kind of middleware. Our integrated product portfolio enables companies to develop new and flexible—or adaptive—apps.

2. Why do digital enterprises need this new kind of application?

IT is what makes the difference in a digital enterprise. In other words, a digital enterprise's business is its IT. Companies that can provide their customers with tailored information, products and services anytime and anywhere and those that can effectively merge the world of business processes with the world of machines and things, have a distinct edge. The standard applications of the last 10 to 20 years no longer make the grade. They weren't intended to. Their purpose was to standardize and integrate back-end business processes. But they weren't designed to adapt quickly or to support innovation. The digital enterprise has to stand out from the competition with innovation and rapid change processes. It therefore needs applications that can adapt continuously and quickly. These adaptive applications are built to change, not to last. They lend digital enterprises the agility necessary to differentiate from competitors. These applications cannot be bought off the shelf.

3. So does this mean that a new kind of application infrastructure is necessary? How is that revolutionary?

With standard applications, the application, and therefore the application logic, was the primary focus. The underlying infrastructure was secondary. That's why standard applications are so difficult to adapt to individual needs. The revolutionary thing about the application infrastructure we are offering with the Digital Business Platform is that development of applications is now based on the infrastructure. The answer to the old question: to buy or to build? is now: buy AND build! Customers buy the platform and build the applications themselves according to their individual requirements. So the adaptive application is a product of co-innovation between the software maker and customer.

4. So is the Digital Business Platform essentially a development platform?

Basically it is. But it includes many sophisticated out-of-the-box services, like an in-memory database, a CEP engine, an integration engine, a process engine, etc. And customers provide the content that will differentiate them from their competitors. Any department that engages in customer-facing interaction—marketing, sales, support, eCommerce—can employ the Digital Business Platform to quickly create highly customized yet lightweight applications.

5. What functionality does the Digital Business Platform deliver and which Software AG products play a part?

The Digital Business Platform cannot be defined based on functionality, because it incorporates both conceptualization and technology alike. Its conceptual innovation will certainly occupy us for the next three to five years, during which time we will add new technologies on an ongoing basis. The Digital Business Platform consists of five levels of core components, which are all currently our own products: The first level is for modeling business and IT transformation; the second level is where data management takes place; the third is the integration level; the fourth is for process and program logic; and the fifth level is for data analytics, which serve as a basis for business decisions.

6. What products play a role in the platform?

We unveiled new releases for our entire product portfolio at our international customer conference in New Orleans in October. All of them are incorporated in the Digital Business Platform. They formed the conceptual and technological foundation for our introduction of the Digital Business Platform. Customers are already able to build adaptive applications with the Digital Business Platform. From now on we will continually expand and enhance the Digital Business Platform with further technologies.

7. What are the next milestones?

Our most important milestone was Innovation World 2014. We have blazed a trail in the market for ourselves with the Digital Business Platform. The Digital Business Platform is our answer to the question: What will lead Software AG into the future. The conceptual strategy is more important here than which functionality and features will be added. We are the first to launch a Digital Business Platform. And Gartner and Forrester have recognized us as a thought leader. We are sure that the trend of digital business—the connection of the real world with the Internet and business processes—will sustain us for many years.

8. Taking a glimpse into the future... What role will application structure and middleware play in digital enterprises? Will it be similar to the significance ERP systems have had for the last 10-15 years?

Yes it will. In the wake of standard and ERP software, a wave of innovation is occurring that is taking the opposite direction: no longer standardization, but flexibility, speed and agility. The focus is on customers. They will provide content for applications that will set them apart from the competition. There is no software vendor in the world that can do that for them. One could think of it like this: Our Digital Business Platform is like an aircraft carrier. We provide the application infrastructure as a platform for applications. There's basically no way to stop this type of aircraft carrier after it has gotten going.

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