For the 2023 program, we have made several changes, including:
- Submissions will now close on February 1st, 2023.
- Updated online self-assessment form aligned to 2022 eligibility rules. Check, in just minutes, if you are eligible to participate in the 2023 SAP Innovation Awards before you start preparing your pitch deck. Click here to take the self-assessment.
- Total of ten new and updated categories to reflect global trends and business priorities.
- New requirements for customer proof of concept (POC): Must be using at least one of the following cloud technologies from SAP Business Technology Platform.
- New requirements for SAP Partner submissions: Must submit a developed next-gen application that is intended to be sold to your customers (monetized or listed on SAP Store) using at least one of the cloud technologies from SAP Business Technology Platform and deployed by one or more customers.
Aug 15th, 2022: Submissions open
Feb 1st, 2023: Submissions close
Mar 15th, 2023: Finalists announced
Apr 12th, 2023: Winners announced
- For all categories: SAP Customers with live deployment of SAP solutions
- For Cutting-Edge Genius category: SAP customers with POC (Proof of Concept) if they are using at least one cloud technology from SAP BTP
- For Partner Paragon category: SAP Partners that developed a next-gen application that is monetized or listed on SAP store and is deployed by one of more customers using at least one cloud technology from SAP BTP
Note: SAP Partners that are using an SAP solution within their own organization and are submitting those stories are considered SAP Customers for the purpose of the Awards and should identify themselves as “SAP Customer” in the Entry Form when selecting their relationship with SAP.
All countries are eligible to participate in the Innovation Awards. Companies with deployments in non-eligible countries stand a chance to be selected as winners and receive a trophy, but they are not eligible to win any monetary prizes.
Each year the Innovation Awards team works with legal counsel to expand the list of eligible countries, i.e., verify local laws governing contests. The following countries are eligible for the monetary prizes in the 2023 SAP Innovation Awards: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Botswana, Brazil, Canada (excluding Quebec), Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Kazakhstan, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, and Venezuela.
Note: The application that is the subject of the entry must be deployed in an Eligible Country or has been developed and intended to be sold and used by customers in an Eligible Country to be eligible for the monetary prizes.
A judging panel will select up to 30 winners. Each winner will be awarded a trophy and one complimentary pass to SAP Sapphire Orlando 2023 (SAP Sapphire is our signature and largest event that brings you the latest in business and technology innovation, happening yearly in Orlando between May and June) OR a $1,000 SAP4Good donation voucher per winner.
In addition, winners will be offered several opportunities to participate in promotional activities such as podcasts, events, videos, media /analysis interviews, social media, and more.
Note: Prizes are subject to change. Travel and expenses to attend the SAP Sapphire event in Orlando, FL, are not provided.
EXCLUSIONS
Government and government-related entities employees are not eligible for the prize identified above but may receive recognition for their achievements in the form of a trophy.
Participants from non-eligible countries and/or deployments in non-eligible countries do not qualify for the prize identified above but may receive recognition for their achievements in the form of a trophy.
Yes, a single submission can win multiple awards and receive multiple trophies. However, a winning entry is entitled to a maximum of one (1) SAP Sapphire Orlando pass OR a $1,000 SAP4Good donation voucher per winner.
There are two rounds of judging:
- Round 1 of judging is to select the finalists. A panel of SAP experts will review all entries to select the finalists.
- Round 2 of judging is to select winners. The finalist entries are reviewed and scored by a panel of judges composed of external thought-leaders, influencers, community members and SAP experts based on the judging criteria, which you can review here.
- Additionally, compelling submissions that do not get selected as winners will be formally acknowledged by the program as Honorable Mentions when winners are announced.
The 2023 judging criteria are:
- Use Case Creativity: How compelling and disruptive is the use case described in the entry? Does the use case involve a big idea and innovative approaches? Can it drive significant change?
- Tangible Outcomes: What was the result of the project? What is the magnitude of the outcome, what is the impact on individuals, and society, and how compelling are the quantified results? Does the submission outcome illustrate how the customer solved a business problem within the context of their own industry?
- Intelligent Enterprise: How well does the entry demonstrate the company’s journey to becoming an intelligent enterprise? Is the company applying cloud technologies and best practices within agile, integrated digitized business processes that help make them resilient, profitable, and sustainable?
1. For all categories, except Partner Paragon:
- On behalf of your customer: By showcasing how your customer is using SAP products to innovate and describing your role and contribution as the partner in the project. In this case, the customer is the actual participant of the awards and will win the prizes if the entry is selected, but the partner will be recognized as participating partner.
- As a customer: When your organization uses SAP solutions internally for its own benefit.
2. For the Partner Paragon category only:
- As a Partner: When your organization has developed a next-gen application that is monetized or listed on the SAP Store using at least one of the cloud technologies from SAP BTP and deployed by one or more customers.
Yes, 3rd parties, i.e., SAP partners and SAP employees, can submit on behalf of an SAP Customer. You must get permission to submit on behalf of the customer. Additionally, in the entry form, you must:
- Enter the customer’s contact details as the participant (competing for the awards and eligible for prizes).
- Confirm in the entry form that the customer has agreed to participate in the awards and given consent to participate and the use of personal data (optional).
Note: The SAP Innovation Awards team will send the participant (customer) an e-mail if the entry is published/selected as a finalist or winner, and you, as the submitter, will be copied.
Participants interested in entering can submit by following the following steps on How to Enter (sap.com):
- Eligibility Self-Assessment (optional): Use the online tool to check your submission eligibility before you start developing your Pitch Deck.
- Prepare your Pitch Deck (required): Maximize your chance of winning by submitting a compelling and well-structured story using the pitch deck template. Once posted, you can continually refine your Pitch Deck until the end of the submission period. Follow the pitch deck guidance document to help complete your pitch deck.
- Create your SAP.com Account (required). If you do not have an account on sap.com, you must create one before accessing the online entry form (see next step).
- Submit your Entry (required). Along with the Pitch Deck, you must also complete the online Entry Form with information about you (participant) and your company. It also includes promotional opportunities that you might like to participate in. Remember to upload the pitch deck in PPT format, the company logo, an optional participant photo, and the participating SAP partner logo (if applicable).
Each entry will be reviewed for eligibility and completeness by the awards team. Qualified entries will be posted on the awards website. Entries must be in English.
- Go to the website and click on the “Submit entry” How to Enter (sap.com)
- In the “Title” field, type the beginning of your saved entry’s title and tab/move to the description field. A link to your existing draft entry/entries will appear in the right panel; click on your draft entry that you would like to edit.
- Click on “Edit” at the bottom of the screen and select “Edit Idea.” Your entry will become editable, and you can make any adjustments or complete the missing information to submit.
Note: The awards team cannot access your draft entry. Once you click “Submit,” you will receive a confirmation e-mail with your entry id. You will no longer be able to edit your entry. You can e-mail your changes with your entry id in the subject to sapinnovationawards@sap.com.
Submissions must utilize one or more SAP products and be deployed in production (go-live). The only exception is for the Cutting-Edge Genius category.
While the winning entries can be in any language, the submissions – i.e., Entry Form and Pitch Deck – must be in English.
There are many benefits to participating in the award program for SAP customers:
- Celebrate your project’s success
- Gain global recognition as an innovation leader and claim sole bragging rights.
- Win a trophy and prizes (see the question “What are the prizes available to winners of the award?” for details), assets for promotion and social media.
- Get support from SAP to create and promote your innovation story.
- Share your expertise in exclusive promotional opportunities with SAP executives at a dedicated exclusive celebration event
- Get your brand amplified via Innovation Awards promotional materials.
- Participate in SAP activities such as webinars, podcasts, interviews, videos, blogs, social media, and more!
- Extend your network and do good
- Connect with your peers and other prominent business leaders.
- Support social causes through charitable contributions of $100 per submission (up to a total of $20,000) that SAP will donate to a charitable organization.
- Improve people’s lives by supporting a good cause with the awarded $1,000 SAP4Good donation voucher per winner (if you choose the donation instead of the SAP Sapphire Orlando pass). Public sector companies and related public sector companies and entries from non-eligible countries are not eligible for the donation or SAP Sapphire Orlando pass.
There are many benefits of participating in the award program for SAP partners:
- Promote your company’s innovation story
- Gain global recognition as an innovation leader.
- Build credibility with their customers, prospects, and industry peers.
- Win big prizes.
- Promote your customer’s innovation story
- Showcase your customer’s successes, and amplify their story to a broad audience, positioning them as leaders and innovators.
- Promote your role as a trusted partner helping customers to innovate.
- Take advantage of the many opportunities to tell your customers’ stories through the SAP Innovation Awards (online/social media, SAP Sapphire Orlando activities, press and analyst opportunities, webinars, and podcasts).
- Promote your innovative next-gen application to enter a market or capture an opportunity
- Promote your innovative solution to SAP employees and SAP customers.
- Gain bragging rights over peers with validation of innovation leadership from SAP.
- Get exposure and opportunities to interact with SAP executives virtually.
- Government and Government-related entities employees may participate and are not eligible for the prize identified above but may receive recognition for their achievements in the form of a trophy.
- Participants from non-eligible countries and/or deployments in non-eligible countries may participate and are not eligible for the prize identified above but may receive recognition for their achievements in the form of a trophy.
All previous award winners are publicly available on the awards website – “Past Winners.” Submissions for the 2023 Awards will be posted on the website as soon as they are verified.
The SAP Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) team has selected the following charities:
Powered by the passion, dedication, and professionalism of almost 21,000 staff worldwide, the World Food Programme (WFP) works in over 120 countries and territories to bring life-saving food to people displaced by conflict and made destitute by disasters and to help individuals and communities find life-changing solutions to the multiple challenges they face in building better futures.
In the United States and around the world, Save the Children works every day to give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. When crisis strikes and children are most vulnerable, they are always among the first to respond and the last to leave. They do whatever it takes for children - every day and in times of crisis – transforming their lives and the future we share.
The SAP Innovation Awards logos can be downloaded by clicking on the following link: 2023 SAP Innovation Awards logos