Category: User Group

I’ve been gone from the SAP world for awhile now but I doubt I’ll ever be completely gone – too much of my blood is still in the veins of the Developer network. So when I saw all the back and forths about the recent “delay” of the relaunch of the new platform I decided it was about time I chimed back in a little on the topic.

SAP delays launch of new community network at the last minute. What happened is not clear but this is a major embarrassment

The ASUG BusinessObjects Strategic Special Interest Group for SAP Integration recently conducted an ASUG webcast covering SAP Integration with BusinessObjects Survey results, findings, and steps taken to address members' concerns including licensing, product name changes, and education.

You may never have heard of it, but The Executive Value Network for Finance is a business community of practice for the senior business leaders (CFOs and senior finance executives) where SAP customers can meet their peers from leading companies to discuss today’s challenges and solutions. The purpose of the network is to facilitate the exchange of customer success, innovation, and best practices – but don’t worry their subject matter goes well beyond software

Some 80% of organisations polled by the UK & Ireland SAP User Group predicted that their future SAP implementations would be a mix of on-premise, on-demand and on-device services. While 64% of organisations believed there was too much hype around cloud computing, 56% said they were planning to implement software-as-a-service strategies in the next 12-18 months, and 27% they were already using SaaS for business-critical applications, up from 17% in 2010. "I am pleased to see a definitive move to cloud from our membership to cloud-based services," said Craig Dale, chief executive of the UK & Ireland SAP User Group.

The SAPhila Cape Town presentations are available for download from the SAPhila website. My picks (from downloads which were available) include: Derek Wood & Michael Perks - Process Orchestration and Distell Case Study Roland Slagman - SAP Financial Closing cockpit Natasha Cook - Never-ending quest for optimal BI Performance If you are looking for technical content of an international flavour, all the TechEd sessions from Las Vegas are available via the SAP virtual events website. The closing keynote by Tom Raftery from the SAP for Utilities conference in the US is available on Slideshare  

The SAP Community Network (SCN) continues its self-improvement campaign. Migration is underway to a new, modern platform that will support social media tools and simplify the posting process.

I attended the regional SAPhila conference in Caledon last week, you had to look hard to find the customers amongst the partners. Highlights from my perspective was Robert Enslin, President Global Field Operations - who kicked off the plenary session with some good insights into what global customers and SAP's strategy going forward is, as well as Alison Lambert's presentation on customer loyalty (which included details on the Pick n Pay Smart Shopper program).

SAP TechEd 2011 is underway at the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. And the agendas for those in attendance are jam-packed with wall-to-wall SAP tech goodness: sessions, demos and keynotes for those SAP customers and partners in attendance.

Two years into her tenure, ERP Executive talked with ASUG CEO Bridgette Chambers about ASUG's turnaround, her vision for ASUG’s future, and new initiatives including ASUGnews.com and the forthcoming revamp of ASUG.com.

Two years into her tenure, ASUG CEO Bridgette Chambers provides ERP Executive with an inside view of ASUG's turnaround, her vision for ASUG’s future, and insight into new initiatives including ASUGnews.com and the forthcoming revamp of ASUG.com. 

ASUG members shape SAP products and services. That’s such a simple statement of fact. But, it’s also a remarkable and inspiring statement of fact. For two decades, ASUG members have been driving innovation, and influencing the direction, shape, and form of SAP products and services. That ability to influence is an expression of the power of ASUG’s community.

I recently spent some time examining the market-facing side of Sybase and SAP's combined solutions from a customer perspective for an International Sybase User Group analysis feature. My argument was that the market needs Sybase whether they are the ...

Simon Carpenter, Director of Strategic Initiatives SAP Africa, says: “AFSUG's collaboration within SUGEN will be increasingly important to African organisations. With South Africa having been invited to join the BRICs countries, and Africa as a whole.."

VNSG holds a special place in SAP history as the first SAP user group. VNSG counts among its members 80% of all SAP Business Suite customers in the Netherlands and Belgium. ERP Executive spoke to Rob Van der Marck, Managing Director of VNSG, about how his group influences SAP product direction.