The global market has evolved, data is the next business model and it is now consumer-to-business... the consumer rules. That is the message from software enterprise SAP to international business leaders at the company's Sapphire Now Conference underway in Ohio, Florida.

In his keynote address, Bill McDermott, CEO of SAP, explained the relevance of the company's cloud platform, S/4Hana offering and analysis tools.

McDermott said that every business today is in a state of transformation to compete within a digital economy. "Digitisation has affected all businesses, all industries... it is not just about products, it is about services, ease of consumption and value."

Emphasising the company's overall strategy to 'run simple', McDermott said that a simple venture today is data-driven and seamless ...data is the foundation of every digital enterprise. "The digital divide is now the data divide."

McDermott also referred to the relevance of total workforce management in the cloud across global markets and enhanced sales force automation as key target areas.

At the Conference SAP announced the launch of what it calls 'a new SAP store' with fresh consumer digital native offerings and a purchasing model that sells directly to the consumer.

What this means for businesses, including those in emerging markets across Africa, is that individuals across both large and small organisations can now buy from SAP without the need for a purchase order, invoice or lengthy RFP process.

SAP Store is the company's new purchase experience and is built on the SAP hybris Commercial Suite.

In a statement SAP said, "They can simply purchase as soon as they want and across multiple devices with the ease of a credit card. The SAP® Digital organisation has streamlined contracts for its offerings down to a simple one-click online agreement and transparent pricing. Individuals can configure their new applications, usually in a few hours or less, without requiring the aid of their IT department or outside consultants. At the same time, CIOs will have comfort from the security and scalability of an SAP offering that can be seamlessly upgraded to an enterprise edition without extensive effort or business disruption."

"For 43 years SAP has helped organisations around the world become best-run. Now our digital business will bring the power of SAP technology to individuals, using the same simple approaches they know in their personal lives," said McDermott. "This is a key accelerator for SAP's growth aspirations as the SAP Digital organization will create new revenue through new offerings that appeal to a new, individual buyers."

The Company also used the Conference to announce innovations surrounding its Lumira and Predicative Analytics software.

"SAP is focused on end-to-end analytics and data management capabilities, because that's what companies need to execute and thereby innovate," said Steve Lucas, president, Platform Solutions, SAP. "Analytics solutions from SAP work together to provide a comprehensive, yet simple and integrated, analytics technology platform that propels customers' ability to succeed."