ESC students visited SAP, the market leader in enterprise application software. Read through Joe Russomanno’s feedback, ESC semester student from The College of New Jersey.
As soon as I entered the main building I could immediately see I was in a modern business environment where employees got to enjoy various resources, opportunities and a unique workplace. Walking through the building, I noticed open offices with tables instead of cubicles that gave employees an open environment similar to what I had read about in business articles chronicling the changes in the business world. Accompanied with the sizable amount of employees in casual attire, I felt I was in a relaxed environment that (in my opinion) stimulates employees through high job satisfaction. Seeing this organizational style in practice furthered my interest in the company, as well as my interest in finding a potential job that will emulate SAP’s relaxed environment.
The first major part of the SAP excursion was a presentation on SAP’s history. I quickly learned about the beginnings of the company and the exponential growth of data collection and processing that took place in such a short period of time. The culmination of which led to a video showing SAP’s potential for improving logistics and daily life just by the quick exchange of data. Afterwards, I learned about the extensive systems at work during an event at the well-known, SAP-Arena. I was surprised to learn that for a single soccer game, SAP systems would actively report and adjust logistics for things such as inbound car traffic, human traffic, weather, expected sales, and more to enhance the fan experience. It was clear that the SAP arena was not just a regular sponsored sport arena, but an ongoing project focused on optimizing the customer experience.
The second part of the excursion was getting to learn about 3D printing and both AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality) machinery at the SAP D-shop. While I had already known about 3D printing, I was still intrigued when learning more on the subject. Moreover, I was particularly enthralled with the AR/VR technology. Once I put on the headset, I was completely blown away and immersed by what I was able to see and do from using my index finger as a cursor, to turning the room into an alien shooting videogame. Additionally, the room was fixed with cameras that tracked my position which only furthered the emersion of the VR. I can only imagine what kind of changes will come from this technology in the near future.
Overall, I think that the European Study Center gave me a useful, career oriented, opportunity that I am glad I took advantage of. The excursion furthered my knowledge of digital business and gave me a better grasp of the type of job I want to get out of college and the job I want in the following years. If I were asked to promote this excursion, I would say that it provides an invaluable look at truly innovative, global company that will inspire business students to raise their expectations of what modern business is, and improve their beliefs on how they can innovate wherever they end up working.
Source: Heidelberg
