49ers mine custom database in preparation for NFL draft

Jarrett Bell, USA TODAY Sports | USATODAY

It's fitting that the San Francisco 49ers, the team with the largest cache of picks in the NFL draft, is at the front of the curve in trying to process so much scouting data.

There's a lot to sort out.

And the tech-aggressive 49ers are hell-bent on applying new methods. The 49ers struck a deal with SAP to develop a revolutionary draft app, SAP Scouting, that allows information in a database to be processed in real time.

"It's a very efficient database," says Paraag Marathe, the 49ers' chief operating officer.

For example, if a scout visiting a pro day at say, a SEC school, enters a 40-yard dash time of a running back while another scout is observing another running back at, say, a Big Ten school and has a 40-time to report, the information can be shared immediately throughout the organization. Furthermore, those times can be stacked up against every running back — or every player, for that matter — in the nation.

The same applies to any of the vast amounts of quantitative data kept on all the prospects.

The data can be accessed on any secured device, including smart phones, laptops or iPads.

"As the fight for each player becomes more intense," Marathe says, "you are looking for advantages."

The 49ers — with 13 picks and a philosophical foundation for using technology and analytics — approached SAP to develop a system that would utilize technology in the manpower-intensive scouting efforts.

SAP is a market leader in enterprise software. According to the company, 63% of global financial transactions involving private corporations go through a SAP system.

"It's like any industry," Steve Peck, SAP senior vice president, says of the work with the 49ers. "Anything out there that gives them a competitive edge has value."

The company has branched into sports in recent years, working with the NBA, NHL and with some NFL teams on a range of ventures.

SAP and the NBA recently launched an interactive stats platform, and many of the other projects have involved analytics used for consumer research, brand development and event staging.

Says Peck, "This may not be our biggest business, but it is one of our most fun."