What's SAP? (retool.com)

Article summary

The article discusses the history and significance of SAP, a leading enterprise resource planning (ERP) software company. ERP software is used by companies to store and manage their core operational data, and SAP's software is designed to be extensible and integrated across multiple business processes. The article also touches on the challenges of implementing ERP systems, including high costs and risks. Today, SAP is a giant in the software industry, with a market cap of almost $150B and $25B in annual revenue.

Main themes

• ERP software
• SAP history
• Enterprise integration
• Software implementation
• UI design
• Industry trends

What commenters say

• SAP's UI is functional and dense, but slow and clunky, making it a love-hate experience for users.
• The design of software like SAP is often dictated by middle managers with no understanding of UI design principles, leading to poor user experiences.
• Aesthetics in software design are overemphasized, and functionality and efficiency should be the primary concerns.
• Beautiful visual design is not necessarily correlated with good functional design, and the latter is more important for software used in everyday work.
• The Bloomberg terminal's command-based UI is efficient and loved by users, despite being a designer's nightmare.
• Modern software design often prioritizes trends and aesthetics over usability and functionality, leading to frustrating user experiences.
• The importance of design in software lies in its ability to support and facilitate work, rather than just being visually pleasing.