19 minute read
RISE Up
RISE with SAP RISE Up
Evert-Jan Tromp speaks to Çiğdem Bağbakan, Head of Sales and Marketing of Solvia Digital Solutions, about the RISE with SAP win they secured recently with a Turkish textile company.
Evert-Jan Tromp: Your RISE win is great news – congratulations to you and the team. What can you tell us about the customer and the deal?
Çiğdem Bağbakan: The customer specializes in producing synthetic yarns for home textiles (curtains, upholstery, carpets for example), the fashion industry, technical applications (such as outdoor and the military), and fabrics for vehicles. They were looking for a modern ERP system and spent time evaluating different products and partners. We worked with them to look at their pain points and then showed how we could address their needs using the latest tech. When they could see how their issues could be resolved, they chose to work with us.
Evert-Jan Tromp: Did the customer have a solution in place already? Çiğdem Bağbakan: Yes, they were using a very basic ERP system.
Çiğdem Bağbakan
Evert-Jan Tromp: What was the main reason they were looking to replace their current system?
Çiğdem Bağbakan: They grew rapidly during the pandemic, as people started to spend more time in their homes and begin to purchase furniture which yarn is used for. They wanted to control and contribute to this growth with an end-
to-end system that can control both production and financials. Their plan to grow globally, push them to find a system that is used everywhere. This was the reason behind their search.
Evert-Jan Tromp: Were they looking to adopt a cloud-based solution or did you have to encourage/educate them to do so?
Çiğdem Bağbakan: They weren’t originally looking to adopt cloud, no, but when we pointed out the advantages to them, we were able to convince them to do so.
Evert-Jan Tromp: Why did you propose RISE with SAP and why did they decide to go with it?
AG: We were able to show that RISE includes a range of advantages, from hosting, security and system availability to additional offers and the flexibility in user licensing. The customer’s main driver to going with RISE was the savings they could make in hardware. They were also very interested in bundled products and the benefits these could deliver to their business.
Evert-Jan Tromp: Which elements of RISE will they be using?
Çiğdem Bağbakan: We will use BTP to run our solution “Report Executer Bot”, which is built with iRPA. With this solution, the customer will be able to get or send their reports easily by just texting a simple message to the bot, wherever they are. With Ariba, they will be able to connect to a network of sellers, and they will benefit from this especially when they open their new production plant in Bulgaria.
Evert-Jan Tromp
Evert-Jan Tromp: What does this deal mean to you?
Çiğdem Bağbakan: It’s very important to us as it’s one of the first cloud projects in Turkey – it’s going to be a great reference for us as a business.
Evert-Jan Tromp: What do you think of RISE with SAP as a proposition?
Çiğdem Bağbakan: It’s a really strong proposition and its value becomes clearer every day. With the latest additions – such as BPI – it secures its place as the best digital transformation offering available. ■
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.
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.
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 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 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”.
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.
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”.
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.
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. 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”.
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.
There is a ruthless logic to both my guests’ approach. Esperanza points out we are
Esperanza Valbuena
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…”
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 Luoto
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?
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?! ■
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”
Esperanza talks about leading by example: “You must not deny who you are, you must 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.
Partners, please register to join the call by clicking here
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.
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. 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.”
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
sound a business’s existing processes are and then run simulations to highlight potential process improvements.
“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.
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. “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."
“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." ■
All you need to know about BPI
Matt's Top Tips for Partners
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
• 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
Special Feature: SAP BPI: The Partner Perspective
Hoda Mansour, Head of Business Process Intelligence for EMEA South, answers quick fire questions from Evert-Jan Tromp, VP Head of Solution Sales & Innovation, EMEA South on SAP BPI and why it’s such an important tool to successful digital transformation.
Evert-Jan Tromp: Can you sum up what BPI is and why it’s so crucial to our partners’ customers?
Hoda Mansour: SAP BPI (or Business Process Intelligence) is important for any digital transformation. Recent research found that between 70 and 80% of transformation projects globally fail to achieve their goals. Why? Because when businesses embark on what they believe to be a digital transformation programme, they only look at moving what they already have into a digital format, or upgrading the processes they already use. So, in fact, it’s digitisation rather than digital transformation. BPI helps business to look into benchmarking what they’re doing today versus what is happening in the market. It can benchmark the performances of one department versus another department within a business. It benchmarks best practice. It gives visibility on where the bottle necks are. Digital transformation is not just about having a new system, it’s about increasing efficiencies and looking at how to do things differently.
Evert-Jan Tromp: 70% is astonishing!
Hoda Mansour: Yes, and that’s why our focus is on working with partners to achieve success.
Evert-Jan Tromp: In the context of RISE, does it mean we have started the digital transformation journey at the wrong point. Should we be starting with BPI first?
Hoda Mansour: This should be considered. When working on a business case for digital transformation, it’s very helpful to show customers – in just a few days – what value SAP can bring with RISE, and how BPI is attached to that, with a minimum
subscription. It won’t cater for all business intelligence processes as only a limited number of users come free with that bundle, but we should consider starting with BPI by showing and creating value for customers.
Evert-Jan Tromp: Because partners are critical to the success of BPI, are you saying that if we start with BPI in the value proposition for customers, then articulating the true value proposition of RISE will be easier?
Hoda Mansour: I truly believe so and that’s where we need the partners to help. Once they’re enabled on BPI, they will be able to open the door for the customer and show them the value of digital transformation and the value of RISE.
Evert-Jan Tromp: Many of the partners have adopted RISE so far but until today they have not adopted BPI, which I think is going to be crucial. What can we do in 2022 to encourage partners to embrace BPI, to make sure we don’t end up in the 70% of failed transformation programmes?
Hoda Mansour: For me partner enablement is key and we’re starting to put a plan in place for that in the new year. We’re going to look into pipeline creation and will be meeting with partners to onboard them and ensure they have the right tools in place to deliver BPI. There will be a BPI academy that the partners can enroll onto which will help them to focus on understanding the tool and work with us on pipeline creation. We want to come away from those sessions understanding which customers we can work on winning with those partners.
Evert-Jan Tromp: And if you use BPI, will the sales cycle be shorter because you can show the Return on Investment?
Hoda Mansour: Yes, that’s correct
Evert-Jan Tromp: As we head towards the start of 2022, how should partners leverage BPI going forward?
HM: We’ll be putting ourselves at a disadvantage if we don’t position BPI in the early stages of the sales cycle. Let’s start by using BPI and showing the value: this is not just a RISE deal or an upgrade from an existing system, let’s look at the processes and efficiencies and together transform the face of digital transformation.
Evert-Jan Tromp: What do you say to those partners who say, ‘this is for very large customers, not really midmarket’?
Hoda Mansour: That that’s not correct. We are relevant to customers of all sizes and across all regions. BPI really is an offering for all and I’m looking forward to working with midmarket partners to deliver true digital transformation with BPI.
Evert-Jan Tromp: Would you say LACE and BPI go hand-in-hand?
Hoda Mansour: Absolutely! ■
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 South.
The January Summit – which carries the theme NOW IS OUR TIME TO SHINE – is an opportunity to celebrate the on-going success of cloud-based 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 New Partner Update Calls In 2022
Partners across EMEA South can expect to enjoy more access to partner-led success stories and hear from more external voices in the 2022 quarterly partner update calls.
The Q4 2021 call features guest speaker Nilesh Shah, CEO of Accely, who talks about his partner company’s successful shift to a hybrid service provider/product developer model, and partners are encouraged to register for the call to hear his story.
As the calls develop into the new year, partners should look out for more ‘outside-in’ perspectives from a range of speakers, designed to equip the ecosystem with insight, opinion and views to aid in the growth and development of their businesses.
03 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.
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.
