Brian Duffy, President of Cloud, on how cloud is the growth opportunity for partners.
Chief Partner Officer for EMEA South, Rafael Brugnini, shares his highlights of the year and looks ahead to 2023.
Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer at SAP, Supriya Jha, on the steps to take to create sustainable, inclusive businesses.
Over to you. Cathy Daum and Rich Phillips answer the top five most common questions partners put to their PBMs.
Planning for 2023: what to do now to get ahead in the new year.
Saudi Arabian partner Altivate on their RISE with SAP success story.
The future looks bright for the partner ecosystem with S/4HANA Public Cloud. Here, Evert-Jan Tromp explains why.
All the latest updates from across the region.
The challenges felt globally over the last few years are ongoing. Our partner ecosystem though, as ever, has risen to the challenges faced, unearthing new skills, jumping into new experiences and adapting to change.
It’s all about Regeneration…
Inside Track: Brian, what role does the ecosystem play in delivering RISE with SAP?
Brian Duffy: We’re at a point in time where not only has the world changed a lot, but SAP as a company, and our go-tomarket strategy, has drastically changed too.
In order to deliver in this changing environment, and as we look across the entire product portfolio, we need to work closely with each and every one of our partners. And the opportunity for partners is just immense.
If we take RISE with SAP as an example, in order for us to meet the customer opportunity, we need to work together with our partners, in tandem, to drive new customer innovations.
Fundamental to the RISE with SAP value proposition is the ability for customers to get to and maintain a clean core while differentiating, innovating and creating new business models using SAP tech and its platforms.
Make no mistake, our partners are critical to the realisation and success of that value proposition and customer success.
Inside Track: What insights and experience do partners bring to the party?
Brian Duffy: Our strategic partners continue to innovate on decades of expertise and success with design, implementation and business process change, while our resellers expand routes to market and provide the strategic specialisation and local expertise that drives scale into high growth markets, while also designing and building new solutions.
Our partners’ knowledge of the markets they operate in and the regions in which they serve is profound; they are able to build deeper relationships with customers in the parts of the world where SAP just isn’t able to.
Partners are on the frontline when it comes to meeting our customers’ changing expectations from a quicker return on value, through to starting on day zero. Partners in our ecosystem can compress that time to value for customers on a clean core, through the use of SAP technology and the Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) as the medium for enterprise innovation.
Inside Track: And what’s in it for our partners — what are the benefits to them from RISE with SAP?
Brian Duffy: RISE with SAP provides partners with an opportunity to accelerate growth by harnessing the scale and speed of cloud ERP with end-to-end business and industry enterprise applications.
There’s a range of space for partners to play in, from business process realisation to extensibility to innovation and partner economics. Partners can choose to actively participate in more than one engagement model and SAP offers a range of attractive incentives for partners to get involved in and grow as members of the SAP ecosystem.
Partners providing build or run capabilities will also be able to expand their revenue opportunities through the composition of new RISE with SAP extensions, applications and innovations on the SAP technology stack, and then by offering these through expanding routes to market, including the SAP store.
However, ultimately, to unlock the joint opportunities that RISE with SAP presents, and deliver value-based outcomes for our customers, we need to continue to work in lock step and engage early. Our ‘Land Together’ programme is a great example of how we’ve created a fully aligned ecosystem strategy and we’re excited to build on this going forward. ■
“ Our partners’ knowledge of the markets they operate in and the regions in which they serve is profound; they are able to build deeper relationships with customers in the parts of the world where SAP just isn’t able to.”
Brian Duffy President of Cloud, SAP
Follow Brian Duffy on LinkedIn
In the final edition of The Inside Track for 2022, Chief Partner Officer, PES EMEA South, Rafael Brugnini , talks about the highlights from his first 12 months in post and looks ahead at the year to come.
Inside Track: In the last edition of the Inside Track, we talked with SAP’s EMEA South President, Manos Raptopoulos, about the global and regional priorities for our Partner ecosystem. What’s your view on those priorities?
Rafael Brugnini: First, Manos’ passion and direction demonstrates an SAP-wide commitment to our Partners in EMEA South. Together, we can adapt to the many global changes we are all facing – no matter the business size, industry or location. Everyone is impacted by the geopolitical instability and changing needs of our customers, so our collective creativity and our ability to adapt will generate greater opportunities for our customers, for SAP and for our ecosystem.
Manos clearly pointed out that SAP's success over the last 50 years and beyond is intimately linked to the success of its ecosystem. To enable this success, we must better understand our partners' priorities and work hand-in-hand for
Together, we can adapt to the many global changes we are all facing – no matter the business size, industry or location.
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Rafael Brugnini
the common good, including that of our customers, which is to solve their top 3 concerns today: accelerated business transformation, sustainability, and supply chain management.
On the other hand, we recently had our Global All Hands meeting with all SAP employees after presenting a great set of results for Q3 2022, and the first person on stage with Christian Klein was Sandra Völler, a CEO of our partner AGILITA AG. There cannot be a better demonstration of how strategic our partners are for SAP´s future than this accolade.
Second, the quality… We are privileged to have the ecosystem that we have, what I like to call the SAP family. These are the most talented and loyal companies in the world that customers turn to for advice to transform their businesses.
Third, the appetite to both follow and support SAP as well as give us candid and direct feedback on what we have to improve on to make the world run better together and improve people’s lives.
And, finally, our vibrant ecosystem’s ability to innovate. Our partners are hugely successful at developing functionalities and even solutions to complement our own portfolio. Some of these are being monetised and pushed to the market through our channels or the SAP store. It’s inspiring to see.
Inside Track: What are you saying to your own internal Partner teams about Q4?
Inside Track: What’s been your biggest surprise working with partners since becoming Chief Partner Officer 12 months ago?
Rafael Brugnini: First, the scale! More than 1 million families depend on the jobs available today in our partner ecosystem! More than 80% of new customers come through our partners and more than 90% of the SAP implementations are done by our partners.
Rafael Brugnini: Q4 is always a magic quarter for all of us – for SAP, partners and also our customers. For SAP and for our partners this involves a huge administrative burden and additional tasks due to the volume of business we drive at the end of the year. We must anticipate as many of those milestones as we are able to and, while Q4 is vital, on the other hand we must not forget that life goes on, on January 1st! So, we must continue to satisfy our customers now, whilst continuing to deliver on those tasks that ensure the success of the business beyond the quarter in which we find ourselves.
[the SAP family] ...are the most talented and loyal companies in the world that customers turn to for advice to transform their businesses.
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...it’s going to be a year full of opportunities, one where our partners will be at the heart of innovation, complementing the SAP portfolio with their intellectual property to the greater satisfaction of our customers.
Inside Track: Tell partners ONE thing they can look forward to next year from SAP.
Rafael Brugnini: It's hard to single out just one thing. Our obsession is to become the partner of choice for our ecosystem, and this involves continuous improvements in many different areas: from enablement, monetisation, innovation, customer insights and best practices to expand. We will continue to listen, to learn, to adapt with our focus on doing the right thing by our partners and our customers being at the forefront.
Inside Track: How do you describe your outlook for 2023?
Rafael Brugnini: It couldn’t be better; in spite of the challenges we all know the world is facing. These challenges are creating the cloud acceleration and the need to help customers to become intelligent and sustainable enterprises in an accelerated way.
It’s also going to be the year where S/4 Public Cloud and BTP (Business Technology Platform) take off and with them will be a boost to SAP and the ecosystem.
Finally, it’s going to be a year full of opportunities, one where our partners will be at the heart of innovation, complementing the SAP portfolio with their intellectual property to the greater satisfaction of our customers.
And while our SAP solutions are getting better and better for market relevance and customer success, our Partner Software Solutions will be further valued, integrated and promoted to the market for enhancing their Intelligent Enterprise.
2022 has been an exciting year for SAP and our ecosystem, but 2023 is going to be even more incredible. ■
Esperanza Valbuena: What does diversity mean today?
Supriya Jha: In many ways, we are all similar. We all want the same things from our families, friends, and workplaces. And we all need to belong. But, at the same time, we all carry multiple identities that make us highly diverse. For example, I identify as a mother, an Indian, an immigrant, and more. Diversity is the differences that we all bring to the table. And it is those differences that add to the beauty of our perspectives and contributions.
Esperanza Valbuena: Can you share some of the myths and the realities about diversity and inclusion (D&I)?
Supriya Jha: When we talk about diversity and inclusion, many people assume that it's about select groups, for example, women
and people of colour. But, in reality, it is about everybody and applies to the differences we all bring to the workplace.
Esperanza Valbuena: What are the biggest changes and challenges affecting D&I today?
Supriya Jha: As time goes on, we are becoming more diverse. The next generation to enter the workplace, gen-z, are more multi-racial and multi-ethnic than any previous generation. So, this is an evolving space, and we must embrace it.
Imagine a meeting where someone has a great idea, but they do not raise it because they are the only person there that looks different. Or they fear others will not understand their accent. The business immediately misses out on their valuable contribution. So, intentional inclusion matters.
People do their best work when they bring their authentic selves to the workplace. SAP's Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Supriya Jha, talks to Esperanza Valbuena, VP Midmarket Digital Sales, about what diversity and inclusion means to SAP and why it’s critical to business success.
If we fail to create an environment of belonging, we risk missing out on more and more of our employees' contributions as the world and our workforce becomes more diverse.
Esperanza Valbuena: What is your top priority in your new role?
Supriya Jha: The systemic inclusion and exclusion of certain groups over a long period mean we see a bigger proportion of majority groups in most industries and organisations.
At SAP and across our ecosystem, we want to create an environment where everyone feels respected and like they can bring their authentic selves and best ideas to work daily.
Supriya Jha: Because our customers reflect society for all its diversity, D&I is part of the larger conversation around business strategy.
We can only truly empathise with and solve for our customers by reflecting them. So, we must embrace our employees' diverse traits, and the beauty and opportunity diversity brings.
Esperanza Valbuena: How can we measure the business impact of D&I?
Supriya Jha: One of the leading indicators we use is the growth in requests for different identities and cultures to be celebrated at work.
To do that, we must solve the human need for belonging in all our employees, here at SAP and in our partner organisations.
Esperanza Valbuena: How does diversity and inclusion contribute to commercial outcomes?
For example, at SAP, we have formalised employee network groups where people who share an identity and their allies can celebrate their differences and solve their challenges. Currently, over 35,000 employees participate in these groups, which are fully supported by SAP and our leaders.
we fail to create an environment of belonging, we risk missing out on more and more of our employees' contributions as the world and our workforce becomes more diverse.
Supriya Jha: It takes effort to understand other peoples' differences. But it is very enriching because you experience what it means to be human from multiple perspectives.
we are composed, what we're tracking and measuring, and what we're driving towards.
And when considering customers' needs, we shouldn't limit ourselves to services and solutions. We should also think about their need for interactions, belonging, and
When it comes to the workplace, while diverse teams tend to experience more initial conflict, there are benefits over the long term. Ultimately, they tend to be more productive, innovative, creative, and successful. And most importantly, they have more fun.
understanding. If we are not reflecting the diversity of their society, we probably aren't meeting their needs fully.
We also have information about D&I on SharePoint that partners can access, so I recommend accessing those too. ■
Supriya Jha: It starts with giving partners what they need to educate themselves on D&I from the SAP and customer perspectives.
We recently published the first-ever SAP D&I report, which I highly encourage all partners to read. You will be able to see how
Esperanza Valbuena: Why should employees embrace D&I?
It takes effort to understand other peoples' differences. But it is very enriching because you experience what it means to be human from multiple perspectives.
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Esperanza Valbuena: How can SAP support D&I across the partner ecosystem?Follow Supriya on LinkedIn
Cathy Daum, Senior Vice President Go-to-Market Partnerships and Rich Phillips, Head of Channels, EMEA South, answer the top five most common questions partners put to their PBMs. Cathy and Rich, over to you…
Evert-Jan Tromp discusses how partners can maximise their planning to start generating revenue faster next year.
If you fail to
early,
to
As the saying goes: if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. At this time of year, ambitious organisations are beginning to think about 2023 planning and future gazing. These exercises allow businesses to reflect on their biggest wins of the present year and strategise for next year's growth.
"When planning for 2023, partners should focus on RISE with SAP and increasingly on the Public Cloud. During the year, SAP and the partner ecosystem have gained a lot of traction with the ERP Public Cloud. And in fact, in the last quarter, over 90% of the ERP Public Cloud deals were won by partners. So, clearly, there is a significant customer appetite out there that partners can capitalise on.
"But any healthy business is also a balanced business. In terms of our internal strategy at SAP, in 2022, we started focusing more on standalone deals from a Line of Business perspective. We'll continue this path into 2023 and continue working together with our partners."
"Every year, there is a balancing act between the Q4 pressures and planning for next year,” says Evert-Jan. “So, this year, we've decided to alleviate that by starting planning earlier than usual. Our new mantra is 'If you fail to plan early, you plan to leave revenue on the table'. So, our teams are already working on point of view documents, 2023 go-to-market strategy, and relevant sales plays."
While SAP has historically been synonymous with on-premise ERP, it now has ambitious plans to rapidly grow its market share in the Cloud ERP space and become the dominant player. Evert-Jan explains how partners can factor these plans into their own strategies for 2023.
Partners that want to maximise their 2023 planning can access support from SAP. One of the newest additions to the support available is SAP’s virtual planning sessions.
...in the last quarter, over 90% of the ERP Public Cloud deals were won by partners. So, clearly, there is a significant customer appetite out there that partners can capitalise on.
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“ [SAP] now has ambitious plans to rapidly grow its market share in the Cloud ERP space and become the dominant player.
"We want to help partners start planning early, just as we have internally, so we designed our new virtual planning sessions to give partners a springboard. During the sessions, we'll share information about areas of significant growth potential, help partners develop their knowledge of relevant solutions and services, and even provide them with our sales plays. By helping partners plan earlier and more effectively, we hope they'll be able to execute sooner and rapidly accelerate their revenue generation in Q1 of 2023."
generated over 80% of the total revenue. It's been great to see partners fully embrace S/4.
This 2022 success lays solid foundations for our mutual success in 2023 when we'll continue working together to accelerate growth and drive broader market adoption." ■
We want to help partners start planning early, just as we have internally, so we designed our new virtual planning sessions to give partners a springboard.
No forward planning session is complete without looking back over the past year to identify the wins and highlights that will lay the foundations for success in the coming year. To date, one of the most significant wins in EMEA South has been the surge in partnergenerated revenue.
"Growth in partner contribution has been very pleasing across almost all lines of business, but particularly for S/4HANA Public Cloud edition, where partners
Partners interested in participating in an SAP Virtual Planning Session can contact their Partner Business Manager for more information.
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By helping partners plan earlier and more effectively, we hope they'll be able to execute sooner and rapidly accelerate their revenue generation in Q1 of 2023.
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Market adoption of S/4HANA Public Cloud edition surged in 2022, with partners acting as a critical driving force behind the growth.
To date this year, over 80% of S/4HANA Public Cloud revenue has been generated by the partner ecosystem, and growth is still accelerating into Q4 with a clear net new name focus.
Here, Evert-Jan Tromp gives his view on how partners can drive further success with S/4HANA Public Cloud in the coming year.
“While S/4 proved to be a critical solution for businesses in 2022, it’s going to become even more important next year,” says Evert-Jan. “Firstly, because market research shows that more businesses are looking to the Public Cloud to help achieve their outcomes. And secondly, enhancements made in the latest release will allow us to address areas of the market that we previously couldn’t. Combined, these two factors open up more market opportunities for our partner ecosystem.”
In the current landscape, innovation, agility, and speed are critical to customers’ success. Only those that can operate intelligently and react swiftly to changing market conditions will be able to thrive in the existing and on-going volatile economic conditions. S/4HANA Public Cloud edition, together with SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP), lets partners combine their competencies and domain expertise to create intellectual property (IP), that drives customer outcomes and delivers fast time-to-value. This kind of IP will increasingly help partners to become more competitive.
“Demand for Public Cloud ERP has been growing for some time, and that trend will accelerate next year. Month after month, we’re
seeing pipeline growth, shorter sales cycles and faster customer time-to-value. Customers are increasingly looking to get better lifetime value from their ERP solutions, and public cloud is delivering that.”
Excellent planning and preparation is key to making the most of market opportunities. EvertJan discusses the steps SAP is taking to help partners become even more competitive in this space.
“During 2022, we’ve done a lot of analysis on our awareness and demand generation activities. One of the ways we’re going to help partners further increase the percentage of partner source opportunities is to share those data-driven insights, and our up-to-date best practice recommendations. We’ll also have more demand generation activities, and these will be more focused and even more aligned with S/4HANA Public Cloud opportunities.
“We have ambitious plans for S/4HANA Public Cloud in 2023, and we can only achieve them with our partners. The incredible volume of partner-generated revenue this year is testament to partners’ determination and skill. I look forward to continuing to grow and accelerate towards the future together.” ■
The date is set for the next Partner Innovation Meeting – and the final one of 2022. Taking place on Tuesday, 29th November at 10am CET, this time the meeting is coming live from Dubai.
The hybrid session – which is in-person for partners in Dubai – is centred around the theme of Regeneration. Guest speakers include SAP’s Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, Supriya Jha, and Timo Elliot who shares his view on what 2023 will bring. There’s also the chance for partners to have their say during the live Q&A.
Register today to reserve your spot
Joining SAP in March 2023, Asam is currently CFO and member of the Executive Committee at Airbus and has experience working in senior roles with Goldman Sachs, Siemens and Infineon
Hasso Plattner, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of SAP SE, said: “Dominik Asam is a well-rounded and experienced leader in global finance and technology, and with that the right person to continue powering SAP’s successful cloud transformation.”
SAP TechEd Hands-On Lab will help partners learn how to drive successful, clean-core, implementations and take advantage of critical technologies for customers.
Register now to join either in-person or virtually.
