The Inside Track: Winning in the Midmarket Issue Q4 2021 EMEA N

The Essential Update for SAP Partners

Winning in the Midmarket The SAP View

Alain Georgy on the highs of 2021 and the focus for 2022

Introducing BPI The acquisition of Signavio drives digital transformation success

Q4 2021

Work Made Human

Why diversity and inclusion is more important than ever before

Contents Q4 2021

Spotlight on…

Alain Georgy on his highlights of

2021 and his vision for in 2022.

Partner Business Essentials

Taking a look at two new programmes for partners: SAP Net New Names Programme and SAP Enable Now learning and certification.

In Design The latest on the SAP Business Technology Platform and how it’s already proving to be the right move for partners.

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Behind the Deal Partner Inetum talks about how the Accelerate2Package programme reaped rewards.

In Review How SAP is providing partners with the forum to discuss and promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

Innovation Conversation The inside track on SAP BPI – the latest addition to the SAP family.

Network News All the latest news for partners in EMEA North.

Spotlight on...

Midmarket Success

Alain Georgy, Head of Midmarket Partners & Sales for EMEA North shares his review of 2021 and looks ahead to 2022 with key advice for partners

Inside Track: Alain, after the challenges of 2020, how would you summarise 2021?

well received by the market and the success of that alone is accelerating triple digit growth: for Q4, we’re looking at more than 350 RISE projects being discussed. But that wasn’t the only new offer doing well: SuccessFactors, B1, BYD, the Digital Supply Chain and Emarsys have all done extremely well. Emarsys is a great offering, easy and very light to implement and one that goes live quickly, which is what we’re seeing now from more and more customers: they want to be live on line very quickly: more complex solutions are more difficult to sell.

Customers want solutions to be delivered tomorrow. After the slow down caused by the pandemic it’s surprising to see the pace now – there is real investment and customers want automated, digital solutions that return investment quickly.

Alain Georgy: As Bob Dylan says: ‘the times they are a changin’. Do we see the change?

Yes! It’s crystal clear and we can measure it: we are in a very, very dynamic market and the economy is very strong. Thanks to that we’re about to post 50% growth in Northern Europe.

Inside Track: What have been your highlights of the year?

Alain Georgy: Firstly, the strong growth that we’ve seen in every Market Unit across Europe. We always questioned how the UK would do with the impact of Brexit. Well, the UK grew as fast as any other country and, actually, at MU level, the UK is leading in terms of growth with very significant numbers. Other MUs are growing fast too: France just posted 70%. Every Market Unit is different so we can’t compare like for like, but the numbers are strong consistently across the region.

Inside Track: Alain, do you have a key message for partners as we head towards 2022?

Alain Georgy: Yes, please address capacity!

We are in a very bullish market where demand is exceeding supply. During the pandemic, SAP Midmarket grew 15% and, at that point, our partners didn’t take the

Secondly, we grew significantly in all cloud products. RISE with SAP has been really 5

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chance to invest in building out their teams.

Now, our cloud growth rate is at around 50% and there is a severe capacity shortage in the market. Consequently, projects are sometimes postponed, project prices are going up and customer experience is suffering. I saw it recently where a customer asked three partners to quote for a project and one turned them down because they were fully booked until the middle of 2022. That’s not a great experience for the customer.

there. We have a target to migrate 1,600 customers to RISE before the end of 2027 and that’s just existing customers.

We’re currently migrating 120 a year so that needs to increase to 250-300 a year if we’re to hit that target by 2027. But the capacity isn’t there. And we’re not even talking about Net New Names! This change requires strong leadership and management with real vision to decide to invest now in building up capacity and adapting fast. Consider developing accelerators and don’t count on offshore support because those other regions are growing just as fast. If you attack fast now you will enjoy fantastic growth opportunities and build a sustainable business for tomorrow.

In addition, the market has evolved towards high volume, low or mid-value, sales transactions. In the last 12 months, we doubled the number of transactions because cloud projects are much more of the ‘land, adopt, consume, expand’ type. So, two pieces of advice for partners:

Inside Track: Finally, what are looking forward to in 2022?

1) Build the sales and support you need to

cope with the high volume of transactions we’re seeing. The days of sending a sales person out in their car to see a customer to discuss one project are becoming a thing of the past. Now, that one project has turned into 10 smaller projects and so that traditional business model no longer works. Partners need to build a sales organisation that is able to compete with the high volume of small to midsized transactions in the market. We can help them with that via our team at the Barcelona Hub.

Alain Georgy: A much better balance between market demand and capacity so that our customers’ experience isn’t compromised. If a product or solution is fantastic but because of the market it’s too experience or not available at the time they need it, then that’s not a great experience for them. So I’m looking forward to a market in which, together with our partners, we can enjoy sustainable growth and where our customers enjoy high levels of satisfaction and see a quick return on investment. ■

2) Build cloud capacity as fast as you can.

We have seen a growth of 50% but capacity is at 15/20% - so we’ve a gap of 30% that needs closing. We won’t get

Connect with Alain via Linkedin

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Partner Business Essentials: Introducing SAP Enable Now & SAP NNN Journey

Inside Track 2021

Partners can now train and certify their consultants through a free, blended, enablement and support programme called SAP Enable Now Learn & Certify which is launching in December.

As Alan Brazier, Global Head of Partner Development. Education and Ecosystem Success, SAP Services explains: “It is a well-known fact, and one that has been cited by leading analysts for many years, that user adoption is the single biggest and most common reason for project failure.

SAP Enable Now is SAP’s Digital Adoption Solution that is natively embedded across many solutions in SAP’s portfolio, driving user consumption and accelerating the results of all SAP (and non-SAP) applications.

“This programme is a unique opportunity for partner consultants to get up to speed and fully equip themselves with the skills and capabilities they will need to successfully deliver Enable Now,” adds Alan. “The programme requires commitment but those consultants that are willing to commit and get certified will reap the benefits.”

To attend, partners will need to have an active SAP Learning Hub account and an SAP Certification Hub subscription. ■

“Not only is SAP Enable Now designed to ensure user adoption, it also drives efficiencies and supports best practice implementation methodologies.”

SAP ENABLE NOW Programme Structure • Six-week programme running between January and February 2022

The new SAP Learn & Certify programme has been developed to equip consultants with the skills and capabilities to better deliver Enable Now, helping to safeguard clients’ SAP projects and helping partners to lead the way in digital transformation.

• Average time to invest per week for self-study: 15 hours • Weekly three-hour webinars run by experienced SAP Enable Now trainers

To find out more, partners are invited to attend an introductory webinar which will provide an overview of the programme together with a breakdown of the benefits partners can expect from completing it. At the end of the webinar, partners will be able to nominate one or more consultants to attend.

• Course materials consist of the standard SAP Enable Now courses available via the Learning Hub

Sign Up for the Kick-Off Webinar here

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Partner Business Essentials

A brand new programme launched in September has seen partners across five market units attend a series of workshops to drive brand new cloud business in midmarket.

More than 160 partners from across EMEA North have taken part in a brand-new cloudbased net new name programme called the SAP NNN Cloud Partner Journey.

discussions to enable the sharing of best practices, ideas and initiatives.

Head of Channel, Veronique Hangard, adds that increasing net new name pipeline is key to business success. “This is the only way to grow our businesses and create healthy, sustainable organisations in the midmarket,” she says. “Identifying where to focus and how to attract and retain new customers is a priority across the region.” ■

The Journey has been designed to “support, inspire and enable” net new name demand generation activities.

Justine Desardurats, Channel Digital Hub Leader, explained why the Journey was launched: “Our ambition is to see net new business representing more than 40% of our indirect cloud numbers in the quarters ahead.

Up until quarter 3 of this year, it represented only 25% in our region and so this programme is a key part of our strategy to help our partners to realise their cloud NNN targets.”

The SAP NNN Cloud Partner Journey In Numbers Step 1: Exec Briefing Attended by 140 Partner CEO & Sales Directors Step 2: Workshops 302 partner attendees from sales, pre-sales, marketing and business development

Running throughout September and October, the SAP NNN Cloud Partner Journey consisted of three separate elements: a 60-minute briefing session with partner business leaders and sales directors, a series of follow-up virtual workshops for partner sales, presales, marketing and business development functions across five Market Units and – finally – a programme that provides funding to deliver demand generation activities proposed by SAP to partners.

Step 3: Follow-up Funding 25 motivated, committed partners will benefit from SAP funded activities for their region

Business planning for 2022 should now be underway. Review the services available to help generate net new business and contact Partner Business Managers for support and collaboration.

For the workshops, local agendas were created by teams of SAP and partner representatives, and included partner interviews and panel 9

Inside Track 2021

In Design: SAP Business Technology Platform Delivers

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Launched in July, the SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) is already paying dividends for partners who’ve used it to develop new solutions.

Here, The Inside Track speaks to partner EY AgilityWorks about the experience.

EY AgilityWorks specialises in deploying SAP HANA and SAP Cloud based technology to help customers to shape and deliver their digital business transformations.

The company was an early adopter of the previous suite of products that now make up SAP BTP.

The SAP Business Technology Platform gives partners the chance to integrate and extend applications, enabling them to respond to the needs of their customers and drive a sustainable business.

Sohail Mohammed says: “SAP Business Technology Platform is resonating with our customers and as the numbers show – it’s proving to be a worthwhile investment for those partners who’ve already adopted the new platform to power their innovation usecases.”

Sameer Shah, Partner for EY AgilityWorks, explains: “SAP BTP has been core to helping our clients to move to S/4HANA and ensuring they adhere to the mantra of ‘keep the core clean’. The platform has allowed us to deliver the business specific solutions our clients need, whilst avoiding the complexity and technical overhead of customising their core ERP systems.”

In a recent study, partners building their apps and solutions on SAP BTP grew their first-year revenues by up to 4.9 times and saw an increase in their gross margin from 3% to 12%. Meanwhile, their research and development costs dropped by 10% due to the efficiencies the platform brings.

One of EY AgilityWorks’ proudest achievements comes in the form of the Proximity Monitor, born out of the COVID-19 11

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pandemic. Designed to monitor and control physical spaces where large groups of people may interact, the solution makes use of the integration, analytics and extension capabilities of SAP BTP.

Sameer says that SAP BTP allows EY AgilityWorks to ‘cherry pick’ technologies that suite the needs of a particular scenario, and then scale as necessary. Plus they can develop both traditional ERP and innovative use-cases (using RPA, IoT, Machine Learning and real-time analytics), in parallel and with ease.

“The Proximity Monitor is a brilliant example of the power and flexibility available across the suite of SAP BTP services, and how we can bring those different services together to deliver something truly innovative,” says Sameer.

“The flexibility of BTP’s capabilities has been paramount to our success and the quality of solutions we’ve delivered with our clients” adds Sameer. “Being able to say ‘yes, we can do that’ to all of our clients’ requests for innovative solutions is a very powerful and positive result of adopting SAP BTP. We are able to bring the best of SAP and nonSAP technology worlds together to build innovative, performant, fault-tolerant and robust applications.

The Proximity Monitor is augmented by capabilities from SAP Qualtrics, as well as using “a lot of very clever wearable tech and Bluetooth technology”.

“It’s helped organisations manage the return to physical spaces – with us picking up a range of accolades along the way, not least SAP Innovation awards,” he continues. “We particularly love the fact it’s a solution based on a complex mix of SAP technology being used by a whole range of organizations and industries that wouldn’t normally use SAP – it really demonstrates the power of SAP BTP as a platform for innovation.”

“SAP BTP continues to be core to our strategy, enabling us to deliver solutions and innovation across our broad range of clients, whilst also offering growth and development for our consulting teams, and indeed our clients’ teams.” ■

The power of BTP is also demonstrated by the fact that, as the world recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Proximity Monitor solution is being rapidly enhanced to apply to a range of non-Covid scenarios such as space and occupancy management, security management and facilities management.

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In Design

In Their Own Words Developers at EY AgilityWorks, who use SAP BTP daily, describe the experience.

“Developing on SAP BTP was easier, quicker and more intuitive than in the old graphical user-interface. It was also much easier to learn than I thought it would be!”

“Development methodologies and languages on BTP have increased our reach and allowed us to work with more open-source developers to build on top of SAP. With modern programming models like CAP and UI accelerators like Fiori Elements, we are also seeing more ABAP developers transitioning to cloud than ever before in SAP.” “BTP sees SAP move to more common industry standard development methodologies, allowing us to use tools and techniques that are familiar to a wider range of developers, like Cloud Foundry and Visual Studio Code. This makes it easier to maintain solutions and allows more scope for innovation in app development with our clients.”

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Behind the Deal Accelerating Ahead

In Design

Global tech partner, Inetum, has unveiled a new qualified package ‘Smart Factory’, designed to specifically support the manufacturing industry in its digital transformation journey. Inetum used the SAP Accelerate2Package programme to help it take Smart Factory to market.

1) Plant operator: capturing and processing analogue data which informs human-led activities within an industrial environment 2) Maintenance operator: collecting and enhancing data associated with the equipment used to improve the efficiency of the industrial tool

Smart Factory was developed off the back of a proof-of-concept called Axelle, which was co-designed by SAP, Inetum and six industry sectors – all of whom form a tech consortium called CCN – and the engineering services provider ats. Axelle – which acted as a ‘customer’ – could demonstrate how the inter-operability of their respective solutions allowed for the vertical integration of data, which is inherent in industry 4.0.

3) Production manager: turning the shop floor digital so they have complete visibility of production When it came to taking Smart Factory to market, Inetum enrolled in the SAP Accelerate2Package partner programme to equip its sales team with the knowledge and tools to deliver best practice digital and social selling, to help define and identify their target audience and to create compelling content. It also gave them the skills to engage in a relevant, credible way with their target audience.

Michael Perrin, Sales Director of Inetum says: “Our biggest challenge was always going to be changing mindsets: explaining, justifying and demonstrating to industry managers how digital tech can bring huge benefits to their businesses.

“In addition, the SAP Digital Demand Executives based in Barcelona provided us with high quality data of the industries we were looking to target, thus making our demand generation campaign extremely relevant,” explains Michael.

“But talking through their business problems as part of CCN, and having Axelle as a proof of concept helped, as we were able to offer a solution to those problems and adapt and iterate based on their feedback.”

The team also built ‘journeys’ to get an understanding of how managers within a manufacturing industry would benefit from Smart Factory, and embarked on a twomonth digital communication campaign to capture the attention of business stakeholders.

Which is what led to the development of Smart Factory. It creates a ‘human-tomachine’ experience and is designed to be used by all stakeholders within a typical manufacturing company. Currently it focuses on supporting three different jobs, namely:

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In its first digital campaign promoting Smart Factory, Inetum targeted 150 customers, contacting more than 500 people and building more than 100 close contacts to nurture over time. It resulted in a series of live leads.

their individual needs and to demonstrate our areas of knowledge and expertise,” adds Michael. “This helped us to win the confidence of the customer. It takes time to build relationships but it’s crucial to helping customers on their transformation journeys.” ■

“Taking this approach gave us the time to talk to customers, to really focus in on

Taking Social Selling to the Next Level SAP partners with an SAP Qualified Partner Package Solution who are looking to up their social selling game are invited to take part in the Accelerate2Package programme.

• Create a pipeline of warm leads, helping partners to become self-sufficient • Automate the social selling process and create packaged programmes that can be delivered time and again with a known, expected, outcome

Not only does A2P give partners the skills and confidence to deliver best practice social and digital selling techniques, but it also provides advice and insight on how to nurture a client relationship, guidance on sales alignment and support on how to secure package adoption.

In addition, A2P provides training around how to use Linkedin to better connect with potential clients, building relationships that culminate in a face-to-face meeting. The average time it takes to execute a campaign for a new QPPS is three months and partners can expect an in-depth analysis – covering everything from industry, geography, turnover and c-level personnel – to help to define their target audience. ■

This all helps to: • Speed-up a partner’s time-to-market – and therefore accelerate their pipeline generation • Increase the effectiveness of their social selling thus reducing lead time

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In Design

Behind the name:

Inetum is certified VAR and Service partner with a team of 2,300 consultants operating in Belgium, France, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and across Africa.

It provides innovative, agile, future-proofed digital services and solutions to companies and institutions looking to get the most out of digital technology.

It is looking to become an SAP Platinum partner and to be recognised as one of the top five preferred partners within every country in which it has an SAP operation.

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In Review: Rethinking Workplace Diversity

Sarah Dodd, Director at Amavanti Ltd and an expert

in leveraging virtual communications tools, has been moderating the quarterly Barcelona Womens’ Network (BWN) discussions on Diversity and Inclusion.

Here she explains why she has found the experience so illuminating and inspiring.

minutes of their time. I encourage them to focus on giving that person insights, tools – advice gained from real world experience which a participant can take away from our call and apply straight away. I have been absolutely blown away by the extraordinary stories my guests have told, and how brave they have been in sharing their experience.

The SAP Barcelona Womens’ Network quarterly events were launched to spark a discussion about diversity and inclusion in the SAP ecosphere. I was approached to moderate, and I agreed, with one condition, that these events were more than just a ‘talking shop’.

I have navigated the IT universe developing the communications skills of highly intelligent people for the last thirty years. Over that time, I have seen IT culture evolve from backroom geekery, to all boys together, “have you turned if off and turned it on again?” to now, where I see more diversity and hear a wider variety of voices across all levels and functions. I believe it’s important not just to talk about diversity and inclusion, but to give our people direction on what works, on how to do things differently.

The latest discussion featured Janina Luoto, CEO of Islet Group, and Esperanza Valbuena, SAP Vice President & Head of Midmarket Digital Sales EMEA South. What struck me about both women was their guts, strength, determination and passion. They are both characterised by their ability to look outwards.

To read the environment they are in and work successfully within it. Esperanza made this comment: “It’s not only important to be invited to the party. I also need to be invited to dance. And if they don’t invite me, I will get up and dance with the first one who wants to dance with me”.

When we put together each event, I ask my guests to imagine a participant. To think about a real person who has chosen to give us 45

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Inside Track 2021

Rather than passively accepting the environment she found herself in, frequently the only woman on the team, almost always the only Columbian, she decided very early on, that she was going to make her own opportunities.

“It’s not only important to be invited to the party. I also need to be invited to dance.”

Janina’s honesty knocks you over. Describing her first experience working in a developing market she said: “I was 22 years old. I was an idealist. It shocked me at first how different, diverse and beautiful the world is. But then my world view moved from idealist to realist quite fast. What I saw around me was that many people continue along that journey, from idealist, to realist and on to becoming a racist. It made me realise that they were not able to see the strength and the beauty of a multi-cultural organisation”.

Esperanza Valbuena

Leveraging diversity means differences are not ignored, those differences are valued. Because those differences facilitate innovation and creativity”.

Janina is convinced the reason her company has grown so rapidly is because she is determined to make her workforce balanced.

Her creative approach to recruitment means she searches beyond the usual parameters.

She is intent on putting her beliefs into action: “I never compromise in recruitment. I always pick the best talent. The way I see it is the best talent is when it’s a diverse talent. Our end users are diverse, so we will not be able to give the best service or build the best solutions for our customers if we don’t understand diversity”.

She was also determined to shape her own world, rather than allow others to shape it for her. “Being the only one, the only woman on a male team, the only person on the management team under fifty years old, I felt I didn’t belong. I either had to continue being sorry for this situation or turn it to my own advantage”.

Both women are not afraid to say what many of us are thinking but are too afraid to say out loud.

Her commitment follows through to all areas of the business, from values, to actions, to recruitment, to pay. The company’s success story suggests this is a highly profitable strategy.

Esperanza said: “Diversity is sometimes just about those numbers we all want to demonstrate to the world. But inclusion and a sense of belonging means making people feel comfortable and part of the journey.

There is a ruthless logic to both my guests’ approach. Esperanza points out we are

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In Review

progressing, but not as quickly as we could. “There are big differences between companies, and countries. We need to recruit like the show ‘The Voice’…. Not looking at people, just listening, hear how talented they are, then turn around…”

be confident, you must know your own strengths. I was inspired by a leader who led with such grace. You have to be brave enough to be authentic”.

I challenged my guests to tell me what qualities they think they have which make them the best role model for themselves?

She maintains leadership is key: “We have to create the right platform…diversity as a critical area, a critical success factor, requiring commitment and involvement of top management. It has to start from the top, creating the policies and the conditions so people feel more comfortable being themselves.”

Janina said to be forgiving, of yourself and others, to be eternally curious, and to have the courage to stand up for what you believe.

Esperanza said to appreciate who you are, and what others bring to you, loyalty to yourself, your peers, your company and your family, and trust. Trust gives us the energy to move on.

Both Janina and Esperanza strike me as leaders who are already being the change we all want to see. Who wouldn’t want to follow them when they are so creative, inspiring, interesting and brave?! ■

“I never compromise…

I always pick the best talent.”

Janina Luoto

Both women come across as bravely determined to initiate change. Janina says: “We have to build a secure haven in a fastchanging environment. As leaders we are here to help people do their best. The only way we will be successful is if every one of you are successful, so tell us what you need.

I want people to feel secure so they can leverage their own strengths”

The next BWN session is planned for Tuesday December 7th when we will be talking about how to make business more human with Toby Haug, Head of Humanising Business at SAP, and why we should care about brand with Kate Waterton, SAP UK&I Alliance and Partner Manager at EY AgilityWorks.

Esperanza talks about leading by example: “You must not deny who you are, you must

Partners, please register to join the call by clicking here

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Inside Track 2021

The Innovation Conversation: Introducing Business Process Intelligence

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Helping customers to become more resilient, sustainable, and profitable is the core SAP value proposition, in other words, helping them to become an Intelligent Enterprise. That's why in March 2021, SAP acquired Signavio, a global leader in Business Process Intelligence (BPI). BPI allows organisations to accelerate digital transformation and drive operational excellence at scale, providing solutions for process mining, modelling, and performance management that unlock value across the entire organisation.

Matt Bray, Head of EMEA Partnerships for Signavio, explains why the acquisition has created such a compelling proposition for partners and customers alike.

BPI helps customers address digital transformation. This was important before 2020, but since the pandemic, the need for transformation has accelerated rapidly.

Customers that embrace digital transformation and become Intelligent Enterprises will see great opportunities emerge as a result. Similar opportunities are there for SAP partners.

Matt Bray says: “As organisations grow organically, often acquiring new businesses along the way, they begin to integrate many different operating systems. These can quickly resemble a jumbled-up Rubik's cube. 'Time' and 'money' are consequently haemorrhaged as organisations fail to get everything to work seamlessly and deliver optimised business output. Pre-COVID that may have been ok, because organisations had time to put things right. Post-COVID, it doesn't work like that anymore. With volatility and uncertainty at all-time highs, organisations must transform smarter to compete. Businesses today need to be pro-active, agile, and dynamic.”

Companies of all sizes can move from transformation based on instinct, to databased process improvements built on rapid analysis of current business processes.

Businesses that react more quickly, more intelligently and with more agility to their customer and employees' needs will be the ones that thrive in a fast-changing, digital, global economy. BPI gives SAP and Signavio partners the ability to investigate, simulate, model, and manage business processes, combining SAP’s process insights solution, Signavio’s process transformation portfolio and SAP’s low code solutions.

BPI steps in when organisations do not see the desired business value from their processes, lack the understanding of where in the process the problems may lie, and cannot see the impact of process changes that are meant to be improvements. It can run a full investigative ‘MRI scan’ to establish how 23

Inside Track 2021

sound a business’s existing processes are and then run simulations to highlight potential process improvements.

“SAP intrinsically understood the challenges that can come with transformation and the growing importance of meeting the demands of the global digital economy,” continues Matt.

“It was, therefore, an obvious next step to acquire Signavio. Signavio helps companies transform, but also slots in perfectly with SAP's solutions and their customers' journey towards SAP S4/HANA. It was a natural progression."

“Whether it’s order management, procure to pay, or another process entirely, we need to understand what it is and find out what’s working and what isn’t,” explains Matt.

“Customers often don’t know what they don’t know, and it’s our job to simplify those processes into an easy-to-understand format and present them back.”

Partners benefit from BPI's blueprints because they enable them to get beneath the skin 'to line-item detail' of what makes their customers tick. By then adding their own specialist industry, segment and regional expertise, partners can help customers’ transformation projects become successful.

Anyone involved in transformation projects understands how challenging they can be. The cost of an unsuccessful project can be huge, making it even more important for partners and customers to fully collaborate across the full scope of processes to understand what they are trying to transform.

“Partners help us be a customer-first organisation."

Adds Matt: “We are a customer-first organisation, and everything we do is geared to that. Partners are therefore an important element of the BPI eco-system. We need the right partners with the right expertise and industry know-how to complement our solutions. The more that our partners understand BPI, the better experience we can jointly provide to our customers and the more growth opportunities there are for everyone involved. Training is essential in delivering that understanding and unlocking opportunities for partners." ■

Furthermore, in a world emerging from the pandemic, organisations face more pressure to transform right, first time. For an organisation's employees, the future of work has changed forever: work is no longer defined by your location, it’s defined by the job you do. This now applies to a large swathe of the working economy, and organisations must reach their customers and employees differently. This entails having to re-architect what they’re doing – they have to transform or face the consequences.

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The Innovation Conversation

All you need to know about BPI There are a plethora of training and certification resources available to partners. Check out these links to find out more: The Business Process Intelligence landing page on PartnerEdge is the place to head for training on BPI. Find assets, upcoming and recorded webinars, learning journeys and certification.

For product knowledge on BPI, visit these Partner Edge product pages: Partner Edge: BPI Partner Edge: About Business Process Intelligence And for product demos, head here

Matt's Top Tips for Partners • Upskill your team on BPI using the resources on Partner Edge • Get engaged: check which client projects BPI solutions can help with • If you think there is a pipeline, chat with your PBM or BPI Alliance team to get advice

on how to get the BPI team involved.

Connect with Matt via Linkedin

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Network News: The Latest News from Across the Region

01 Customer Success Summit Returns Invitations to register for the the 2022 SAP Customer Success Summit are on their way out to partners across EMEA North and South.

The January Summit – which carries the theme NOW IS OUR TIME TO SHINE – is an opportunity to celebrate the on-going success of cloudbased business transformation, and to embrace the opportunity that continues to lie ahead.

Be sure to register to attend and put the following dates in the diary: CSS Global Day: January 11th, 2022 CSS Regional Day EMEA North: January 20th, 2022

02 Partner Planning for 2022 Starts Now Partner planning for 2022 should be getting underway in earnest this month, with plans addressing four key business trends: Transformation to Cloud, Flexible Business Models, an Aging Traditional Channel Community and Digital Transformation. RISE with SAP, SAP BTP and SAP Industry Cloud all remain strategic priorities. Partners should contact their Partner Business Managers to start to plan based on their skill sets and the capabilities as defined within the identified market segments. Plans can be submitted via the Business Planning Tool.

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Inside Track 2021

03 SAP Fresh Faces Sponsor Plan Partners will be given the chance to sign up and sponsor a series of free certification programmes for graduates, helping partner companies to connect with students looking to kick-start their careers in the SAP partner ecosystem. Getting certified equips students with all the skills and knowledge they need to hit the ground running as consultants.

And building capacity across the partner network is key to delivering success within Midmarket. The SAP Partner Transformation Team will be running a pilot programme within the EMEA North region to test the approach with 10 partners before the end of 2021. To find out how to get involved and sponsor a certification programme across a range of SAP solutions, please contact Partner Business or Partner Transformation managers.

04 Partners: Your Feedback Please!

In a bid to continually review its communications, SAP is keen to hear from partners on the content of its quarterly update calls for EMEA North: is the content just right, could it be improved and, if so, how? What would partners like to see on the agenda?

Now’s the chance to provide input by taking just a few moments to complete the survey here.

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Network News

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The Essential Update for SAP Partners

Illustrating the Inside Track Returning for his fourth issue The Inside Track, we're excited to feature the work of Bonn-based illustrator Timo Meyer, whose brilliant, vivid illustrations have brought our Bright Futures edition to life. Timo has worked with Air France, Opel, FAZ and DIE ZEIT newspaper, among many others.