SAP : A Single, Secure Solution Connecting People and Information

I'm always excited to hear about new products that help people work more efficiently - and maybe even let them spend less time in the office. Egnyte Connect for SAP Cloud Platform is one of those business applications that can really make an impact on streamlining your workload.

Available now on SAP App Center, this new app is a single solution that lets you collaborate and share files - any files - with anyone, anywhere, on any device, and with total confidence about security and data governance. Think of the level of productivity you can achieve and the time you can save when working so easily across domains, even with customers, suppliers, and partners.

To understand more about it, I spoke with Ronen Vengosh and Rafi Cohen of Egnyte's strategic partnerships team. Cohen lost no time in pointing out a key concept: 'Egnyte Connect is generic, not tied to a specific line-of-business solution.' What does that mean in a business context? 'In most organizations, data resides in a number of different applications that are not accessible from one area to the next. They work separately in a silo.'

But say you're a financial analyst and need information from an HR application to analyze payroll costs. You can use Egnyte Connect for access to files that reside in an SAP SuccessFactors solution, for example, and bring the data into your own workspace. You might need salary information for a certain job type and compensation level; you can get that in aggregate to run your reports and what-if analysis, but without access to confidential individual salary information. What's key is that Egnyte Connect provides the centralized administration and policy enforcement. 'You're managing the documents using Egnyte,' Cohen noted.

Integrating Centralized Governance and Security

'We take security very seriously,' Vengosh added, 'which is why the security levels are so sophisticated, with layers of granular controls. Administrators set the policies, and the solution enforces those policies. Administrators can also delegate the level of permissions, and users can make decisions based on the policies. Yet it's impossible to mistakenly share information. An administrator can not only restrict access, but even restrict the time to access. Based on your password, you can spend only 15 minutes on a certain file, for example. If a role changes, administrators can easily un-share a link.'

Vengosh noted that the solution provides auditing capabilities, with a complete reporting center that shows who saw what, when, and for how long. The centralized security, compliance, and auditing meets the requirements of even highly regulated industries like life sciences. That's supported by built-in integration with third-party applications like DocuSign for e-signatures, Adobe Acrobat for tamper-proof files, and Microsoft Office 365 for easy access with support for controls.

Intersecting with SAP Cloud Platform Portal Service

Recognizing that Egnyte Connect has been around for quite a while - since 2007, in fact - I asked Cohen to tell me how Egnyte Connect for SAP Cloud Platform came about.

'When SAP developed SAP Cloud Platform Portal, now you could stream data through the cloud and make it available to both external and internal parties,' he explained. 'Companies wanted to provide access to customers and suppliers, as well as people working on mobile devices out in the field. But there had to be a data governance element in place. The product management team for SAP Cloud Platform Portal reached out to us, and we gladly agreed to develop Egnyte Connect for use with the portal.'

Bonding with SAP App Center

Cohen, who is responsible for leading Egnyte's relationship with SAP, said that his team immediately saw the value of SAP App Center as a sales channel. He gave credit to the partner manager and partner service advisor on the SAP side for assistance in achieving the necessary product certifications, and for making introductions to the SAP account team. 'Our partner manager has really helped bring our sales team together with the SAP account execs to get into deeper discussions,' he remarked.

We invite you to make your own connection with Egnyte Connect for SAP Cloud Platform.

Bill Rojas is senior director of Digital Transformation and Partner Engagement at SAP