The success of bitcoin has prompted technology companies from around the world to look into ways its underlying code can be adapted to new commercial use cases. SAP, a major German software company founded in the 1970s by a group of IBM engineers, is no exception. For much of the past year, the Weinheim-based firm has been exploring a range of applications for the emerging technology in the areas of finance, payments, supply chain management and more.
But like other companies doing this kind of exploration, SAP isn’t certain that a future for blockchains is in the cards. Rather, interviews with representatives from the firm suggest that it’s simply responding to both a rising tide of client interest as well as broader enthusiasm from market incumbents and startups.
In a new interview with CoinDesk, Gross struck an optimistic tone, explaining how SAP is approaching its early-stage testing from the perspective of client engagement and overall impact on how the global company operates.
At the same time, the company is seeking to plot its own course, according to Gross, who said that a driving factor behind SAP’s process is the ability for the company to "do it ourselves".
He told CoinDesk: "You can only understand these types of applications when you start doing things yourself." It’s an ongoing experiment that the company says has begun to bear fruit.
A previously reported partnership between distributed ledger tech startup Ripple and Alberta-based ATB Financial saw the completion of a cross-border payment trial for which Ripple worked with SAP to build a proof-of-concept.
Using that application, CA$1,000 was transferred from ATB to ReiseBank , headquartered in Frankfurt. Use cases across sectors
Gross, who has worked for SAP since the early 2000s, cited supply chain management , trade finance and payments as major areas of interest for SAP, though he […]
