The Inside Track: The Velocity Issue Issue Q2 2022 EMEA N

The Essential Update for SAP Partners

The Velocity Issue

Going Public The latest on S/4 Public Cloud

Perfect Platform SAP BTP Partner Success

Q3 2022

Contents Q3 2022

Thought Leader Bobby Vetter shares the lowdown on the

partner strategy behind S4 Public Cloud and what it means for partners in EMEA North.

Spotlight On… SAP BTP Sohail Mohammed on how one partner has embraced the

platform to deliver customer success.

Partner Business Essentials Introducing Fast Track on Cloud Certification—an opportunity to upskill consultants on solutions and products and secure new business.

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Fresh Faces from Ukraine How SAP Fresh Faces from Ukraine is offering career opportunities within the partner network to graduate and experienced talent.

Innovation Conversation Turning the lens on partners and their views on the hot topics for 2022.

Network News The latest and greatest updates for partners from across the region.

Inside Track 2022

The Thought Leader: The Public Cloud Acceleration Plan Bobby Vetter, SVP SAP Global Partner Organisation, on why EMEA North is one of the regions leading SAP’s cloud ERP acceleration plan, and what this means for partners.

SAP’s aspiration is to increase its cloud ERP business. To do this, partners will be involved in a ‘big way’, explains Bobby.

committed to driving demand generation, are active in the sales cycle and are able to deliver projects and support customers throughout the entire customer lifecycle.

“Our go-to-market strategy is partner-centric and, working with partners, we will address the majority of brand-new customers with S/4HANA Cloud first,” he says.

It’s this group of partners that will benefit from a series of new innovations coming with the S/4HANA Cloud Release 2208. Included as standard will be: a three system landscape (3SL), a Central Business Configuration (CBC) and intrinsic ABAP Cloud.

With business volumes increasing, the SAP partner-centric strategy targets partners within EMEA North that are

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The Thought Leader

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Adds Bobby: “Of the 26 partners who are fully committed, half of these are already fully able to sell and deliver, and the remaining half will have completed their enablement sessions during quarter three.

This means we’ll be ready to deliver a big end to the final quarter of 2022 with our partners; our aim is to increase the number of S/4HANA Cloud customers by three times compared to 2021.”

In addition, SAP’s worldwide operating Global Service Providers enjoy a strong presence in EMEA North, helping to substantially deliver against SAP and partner business targets.

“The commitment to our cloud-first strategy is remarkable, and we would like to thank all those partners in EMEA North for contributing to this joint go-to-market approach.” ■

S4 Public Cloud Acceleration GET INVOLVED •

To help prepare committed partners for the new release, SAP has launched a new S/HANA Cloud test, demo and development system.

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If you have questions regarding SAP’s S/4HANA Cloud go-to-market strategy and the enablement and coaching sessions available, please contact your Partner Business Manager who can direct you to the Cloud ERP Centre of Expertise.

Cloud ERP Software for Today and Tomorrow SAP S/4HANA Cloud is a complete, modular, cloud ERP software system, designed for every business need. It’s powered by AI and analytics and allows businesses to run their processes in real time from anywhere, to introduce new business models and to expand globally.

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The Thought Leader

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Inside Track 2022

Spotlight on...

SAP Business Technology Platform The IP Development Accelerator

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Spotlight On...

Here’s the inside track on how digital operating transformation provider, Sapphire, was able to successfully adopt SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) to build an industry-leading solution.

SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) helps partners quickly and easily build powerful yet flexible solutions that solve customers' biggest problems. With powerful tooling, solutions built on BTP let customers adapt and scale their business processes frictionlessly to remain relevant, competitive, and profitable in a fast-changing landscape.

With a portfolio of customers across all industry sectors, Sapphire works with the entire spectrum of SAP products to help meet their needs. It’s been using SAP BTP regularly since its launch to drive business transformation.

“ …it’s commercially

Sapphire is a leading SAP partner driving business transformation for its clients.

Its ethos is built around the notion of ‘frictionless digital’ – the idea that, by helping customers to invest in an ecosystem of technologies that work together and become embedded into the structure of a business, any workflow frictions are erased.

transformative for our clients.

Mark Wheeler, Director of Automation and AI at Sapphire, says he thinks of BTP as a tool bag: “When we meet with a client, we’re

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Inside Track 2022

“ Customers are now buying an ecosystem of tech that’s going to help their business to grow... not selling technology, we’re solving their business problems. They might have come to us because they want to buy an ERP system, but with BTP we can talk to them about how their business is changing: how it’s becoming more complex, how it’s consuming more data and how they as a business have to move beyond ERP to become data futurists – to get there they need to be automating as much of the transactional stuff away from their team as possible.”

developers or commit their business to a static set of technologies. We can help them.

“Customers are now buying an ecosystem of tech that’s going to help their business to grow. BTP meets their business model.

We know automation works because the big players have been doing it for 10 plus years.

Now midmarket companies can have it, at a fraction of the cost because it’s coming from the cloud, and services can be consumed as a service. Those two things are commercially transformative for our clients.”

Fundamentally, says Mark, ‘BTP is not optional’. He says that, from a partner’s perspective, the sales pitch has shifted too.

Sohail Mohammed, SAP's Partner Solution Adoption Director, focuses on helping partners understand how to use BTP to meet their goals and develop IP that solves customers' biggest problems. He describes his process as "understanding what the partner is trying to achieve and meeting them in the middle with the SAP strategy."

“It’s BTP plus an ERP system,” he says. “You go to market leading with the capabilities of extensibility, integration, automation and deep insights and suddenly find customers talking about digital transformation rather than system implementation. It’s BTP that enables them to continue to transform their business, month-on-month, year-on-year.

And they no longer need to hire specialist developers or IT resources to handle the tech. We bring all the intelligent tech to them as a service. We’re dealing with midmarket customers, some of whom are scaling startups and therefore don’t want to employ more

In his previous role as Principal Architect for BTP, Sohail supported the pre-sales team on many of SAP’s largest deals. He, therefore, has deep insights into how BTP goes into customers and extensive networks inside of SAP, which he can lean on to help deliver maximum value to partners.

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Spotlight On...

Sapphire

A BTP Success Story Sohail enthusiastically describes BTP as 'strawberries and cream' because, when combined with the SAP toolset, it is the perfect combination for partners and their customers. The toolset includes a vast array of powerful capabilities such as predictive insights, voice technologies, machine learning, big data, automations, and workflows.

they get from smart technology, Siri and Alexa. Sohail sees BTP as a way for customers to transform their business to stay ahead of trends and challenges rather than reacting to them.

He says: "There's so much capability within the platform that, for me, it's really about having a one-on-one conversation, learning about the partner's business and its customers’ challenges. Then I can understand how BTP can work for them." ■

In today's landscape, customers are in a difficult position. Having run simply and well on rock-solid ERPs, they are now finding that they need more flexibility. Facing enormous problems like the great resignation, the war on talent, and the rapidly accelerated pace of change, they want to get to a place where they are ahead of the industry in terms of digitization and automation. Additionally, they know that their user base is changing, and the target audience of tomorrow – and to an extent, today – demand different user experiences.

Partners interested in learning more about BTP can contact their PBM.

To ensure consultants are fully up to speed and ready to deliver with SAP BTP, consider registering them for the Partner Certification Academies for SAP BTP which offer free, live, training and free certification for eligible partners.

Clicking a mouse to find what you want won't cut it anymore, and they want voice commands and the accessible experiences

Learn more about Sapphire’s journey and how they use BTP to help their customers grow better in this video 11

Partner Business Essentials:

Take the Fast Track to Cloud Certification

Partner Business Essentials

SAP's new Fast Track to Cloud Certification programme gives partners discounted access to SAP Certification and training, helping them grow their credibility and stand out from the competition.

The growth potential for SAP partners has never been bigger. By 2024, IDC estimates cloud growth will drive SAP partner opportunity to a massive $260 billion.

But as the pace and complexity of digital transformation continues to accelerate, customers are realising that they need more than new solutions. They need trusted partners that can run their transformative technology in a way that delivers valuable business outcomes and secures a long-term competitive advantage.

could increase their confidence and workrelated knowledge. As a result, they're likely to take on more responsibilities, deliver better outcomes for customers and deploy solutions quicker, even in challenging circumstances. This gives partners a platform to enhance their business' reputation and increase their capacity to take on new clients.

The demand for SAP-certified experts is rapidly growing, and every day, SAP certifies around 300 consultants. Now partners can get discounted access to over 150 certifications in nine languages through SAP's Fast Track Initiative.

SAP Certification positions partners as a valuable transformation specialist, with a workforce equipped with current and validated SAP skills. What’s more, certification helps to set partners apart as best-in-class, credible businesses, giving customers the confidence to choose them to lead their digital transformation. Using the SAP Partner Finder helps customers to identify partners with the capacity and accredited skillset within the SAP ecosystem to support them in their business needs.

To qualify, consultants must sign up for and complete certification training within three months and complete their training within three months. ■

To find out more, explore the SAP Learning Hub by clicking here or get started now at training.sap.com/certification.

According to a study from IDC, investing in consultants' continuous development 13

Inside Track 2022

Fast Track to Cloud Certification

Take Advantage of our 3-For-2 Offer!

For every two consultants registered for a Fast Track training session, partners will be given one additional place on the same session for free. That’s three places for the price of two.

In addition, partners can apply for one of the two following alternative offers: 01

A reimbursement of 600€ per attendee through the SAP BDF (Business Development Fund), with a maximum of 10,000€ per partner (this could cover approx. 16 consultants)

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Or, if a partner has an MDF, they can cover up to 100% of the cost using the MDF, with a maximum of 10,000€ per partner

Click here to learn more

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Certification Secures myBrand Service Excellence Award At EMEA North partner myBrand, customer satisfaction is the ‘number one’ KPI for everyone in the business, because, by focusing on that, they can deliver excellent service. And a big part of delivering customer satisfaction, is ensuring their people are fully skilled in SAP solutions, thanks to certification.

Here, Director of Strategy & Innovation, Marcel Antons, tells us why and how they do it:

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Fresh Faces from Ukraine Offering refugees career opportunities within the SAP partner network

Partner Business Essentials

This year, SAP has opened the Fresh Faces programme to refugees from Ukraine.

Partners that join the initiative can recruit experienced and early talent through the programme and help refugees secure stable, meaningful work and establish their lives in their host communities.

programme is open to experts with five to ten years of experience and offers consultant positions across finance, logistics, process management, and sales systems.

More than 90 SAP partners across EMEA have joined the Fresh Faces from Ukraine initiative and are set to offer some 300 career opportunities to close to 200 refugees from Ukraine.

Experts from Ukraine can also access free advanced training via the SAP Learning Hub, helping them prepare for their new roles and learn everything they need about the SAP software solutions they’ll be working with.

Early talent and those with no prior experience in IT or SAP solutions can also apply.

Open to both experienced and early talent, SAP designed the initiative to support refugees from Ukraine and to provide partners with the support they need to grow.

Ukraine has a strong and prosperous technology sector supported by a significant pool of talented technology experts. In 2021, in Lviv alone, there were over 500 tech companies and 31,000 technology professionals1. The Fresh Faces from Ukraine

Lifelong learners, stakeholder-oriented thinkers, and people with enthusiasm for

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Inside Track 2022

change who are keen to experience a new challenge in SAP’s partner ecosystem will be supported to develop all of the technical skills and knowledge they need to be successful members of the #SAPFamily.

SAP’s open online courses are free to early talent refugees from Ukraine and have been made accessible to all skill levels with complimentary microlearning and podcasts.

At the same time, Fresh Faces from Ukraine gives SAP and our partners the opportunity to help fellow human beings to continue their professional lives, to develop and to contribute to society.

For refugees, meaningful, secure employment with plentiful future opportunities is vital for building their lives and establishing roots and connections in their host community.

Through the Fresh Faces from Ukraine programme, partners can help give refugees a foundation for their lives in Europe."-

Peter Miskiewicz, who lives in Poland, is responsible for SAP Partner Transformation Services in the Nordic & Baltic States, and has been working closely with Partners in this Market Unit to get them up and running on the Fresh Faces platform. He says the Fresh Faces from Ukraine programme is a win-win situation for all.

All partners are welcome to join Fresh Faces from Ukraine. ■ To learn more, visit freshfacesfromukraine.com

“Since the invasion on 24th February, more than 3.2million people have crossed the border from Ukraine into Poland, leaving their homes, jobs and loved ones,” he adds.

“Among those are talented, skilled and bright individuals who can greatly contribute to the development and success of our partner organisations.

Or to join, complete the form at this URL: https://pdagroup.fra1.qualtrics.com/jfe/ form/SV_4I9C3Agf6YHSq10

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https://lvivtech.com/

Partner Business Essentials

“For refugees, meaningful, secure employment with plentiful future opportunities is vital for building their lives and establishing roots and connections in their host community.

Fresh Faces from Ukraine gives SAP and our partners the opportunity to help fellow human beings to continue their professional lives, to develop and to contribute to society. ”

Peter Miskiewicz

Partner Transformation Manager EMEA North

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Inside Track 2022

Innovation Conversation: Partner Spotlight Partners from across the region were captured on camera sharing their views on a range of hot strategic topics, everything from securing new talent to winning brandnew business, from innovation and the SAP Business Technology Platform through to RISE with SAP. To get a sense of what to expect, check out the teaser video here.

The interviews form a brand-new series called Partner Spotlight, now available to view via a dedicated YouTube channel. There are 17 videos in the series in total with new episodes being added all the time. Keep checking the link to see them all.

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Partner Business Essentials

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Network News: The Latest News from Across the Region

Network News

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Fifty Years…And Counting Christian Klein, SAP CEO launched SAP Sapphire Orlando by celebrating SAP’s amazing community of customers and partners in over 140 countries, while celebrating the company’s past, present, and vision for the intelligent, networked, sustainable enterprise.

“For 50 years we have revolutionised together the way businesses are run, and in the next 50 years, together we will continue to deliver market-making innovation,” he said. “While the world around us has changed significantly, our purpose is more relevant than ever: to help the world run better in times of geopolitical tensions, disruptive industry transformation, and supply chain disruptions, and to improve people’s lives in times of war and climate change.”

Catch-up on all the news headlines from Sapphire 2022 here

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Register Now for the Q3 Partner Call The date and time are set for the third Partner Update Call for 2022.

Providing all the latest updates from across the region, from business results, success stories and portfolio updates, to guest speakers and the chance to join in the conversation via live, interactive polls, the Q3 call will take place at 2pm CET on Wednesday, 20th July.

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Registration is now open via this link

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Any questions partners would like answering on the call should be submitted as soon as possible using this link.

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Inside Track 2022

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Save the Date for the Q3 Business Woman's Network “What stops a company being innovative?”

We all know that innovation is a business imperative, but why are some companies brilliant at it and others stifle and suffocate it?

The corridors of innovative businesses snap and crackle with the excitement of the latest crazy idea, rather than reverberate with the sounds of discussions on promotions and salary bands.

How do we embrace a culture of active experimentation with our partner network and the clients we look after? What would an incentiveto-innovate look like? What does it take to bring sustainable innovation to life – where the ideas keep on coming?

Join us on Tuesday, 13th September at 9.30am CET, when we’ll be discussing this very topic and trying to answer these questions.

Please click here to reserve your spot and have your chance to share your experiences and views on innovation within the chat function during the session.

And, if you have an amazing example of innovation in action and would like to share it with the ecosystem, please email womennetworkbcn@sap.com and you might just be one of our guest speakers.

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The Essential Update for SAP Partners

Illustrating the Inside Track Returning to The Inside Track for 2022 is 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.