The personalities who appeared on the SAP stage at CeBIT first thing on Monday morning made for an unusual team. In addition to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the UK Prime Minister David Cameron – because the United Kingdom is the official CeBIT partner country this year – Oliver Bierhoff, SAP brand ambassador and manager of the German national soccer team, was there. Other top German politicians including Federal Minister of Education and Research Johanna Wanka and Stephan Weil, the governor of the German federal state of Lower Saxony, were keen to be present at the “Chancellor demo,” too.

SAP HANA at the World Cup in Brazil

SAP-Co-CEO Jim Hagemann Snabe (l.) talked about a Big Data revolution in sports. (Photo: SAP AG/Wolfram Scheible)

Thanks to SAP HANA, the German Soccer Association (DFB) can analyze every match in real time. Every player’s paths and passes are recorded precisely. This means the trainer team can assess performance more objectively and adjust training sessions to suit individual needs. “We’ll already be using the software at the World Cup in Brazil,” Bierhoff said. He also stressed the user-friendliness of the design, and remarked, “It’s so easy, even soccer players can use it.” However, Cameron regretted that even this state-of-the-art technology would not enable penalties to be retaken.