Jon Reed: Welcome to this special SAP BusinessObjects Community podcast. I'm your host, Jon Reed of JonERP.com. Joining me today are Jason Cao and Kirby Leong. We're here to talk about changes in the BusinessObjects Community, the impact of the community on SAP users, and how you can get involved.

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Vendor Podcast - Tracking SAP Mobility Trends with SAP Mentors John Appleby and Kevin Benedict
An SCN Community Podcast
Hosted by Jon Reed of JonERP.com
Podcast Interview Date: July 2, 2010
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One of the key messages from SAPPHIRENOW 2010 is that this is the year of SAP mobility. To get a better handle on how mobility trends impact the enterprise and how to track those trends on the SAP Community Network, Jon Reed sat down with SAP Mentors John Appleby and Kevin Benedict. During this twenty minute podcast, John and Kevin explain the difference between enterprise mobility and point solutions and share their take on the SAP mobility trends to watch for this year.

Both Kevin and John are experienced SCN bloggers, and one of the highlights of the podcast is hearing their tips on how to get started blogging and how the conversational nature of SCN blogs has impacted their mobility work. 

Editor's note: there is a mobility section on SCN as well as a mobile blog category to follow.

"Special Edition - Insights from The New Polymath for SAP professionals, Vinnie's take on SAP innovation, and the problems of the SAP 'egosystem'" (ERP Lounge #10)
Podcast Interview Date: June 30, 2010
Podcast: Listen Now!
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note: this is a 20 meg sound file, so it may take a minute to download

If you're a regular attendee at SAP's trade shows, chances are you have run into Vinnie Mirchandani. Although he attends SAP events as part of SAP's blogger program, Vinnie is not the kind to keep to himself and file stories. When he's not in lively discussions with SAP executives, you can often find him on the show floor, engaging much more directly with the SAP community than many press/media attendees do. The fruits of that engagement show up in Vinnie's new book, The New Polymath: Profiles in Compound-Technology Innovations, which features no less than eight SAP Mentors within its pages.

With the release of his book - one of the most important business books in recent years (see my review on Amazon) - and with the reverberations of SAPPHIRENOW/ASUG Orlando still lingering, the timing was right to have Vinnie in The ERP Lounge to talk about his blogs on enterprise software and innovation. I wanted to dig into his opinionated takes on SAP and his critique of what he has dubbed the SAP "egosystem." I was especially looking forward to asking Vinnie about how the "polymath" practices he describes in his book can be emulated by individuals in their own skills development. I wanted to ask Vinnie how you reconcile the need to have broad expertise with the problem of becoming a "jack of alll trades, master of none."

This 48 minute podcast has three distinct sections: in the first, we talk about the rise of the independent analyst, and how Vinnie emerged as a leading enterprise blogger. Vinnie turns the tables on me and asks about my own business model, and how individuals can stand out in an industry still dominated by corporate giants. In the second section, we delve into Vinnie's book and how its themes can apply to individual skills development. We attempt to reconcile Vinnie's views on the importance of skills diversity with the need of successful SAP professionals to specialize. In the third section, I ask Vinnie about his beef with the SAP partner ecosystem and the kinds of innovations he would like to see in that space. Scroll down for the detailed show notes and time stamps.

Editor's note: this podcast builds on some of the themes in Jim Spath's excellent post-Sapphire/ASUG podcast with Vinnie where they discussed the conference, the role of SAP Mentors in The New Polymath, developing a blogging voice, and the challenge of fairness in blogging - recommended listening!

Note: to comment on this podcast series, or send in a question for us to answer in the next one, be sure to join our ERP Lounge Group on Linkedin. If you want to subscribe to the series, get the The JonERP Master Blog and Podcast Feed. Or find Jon on his @jonerp Twitter feed. The ERP Lounge podcasts are also included in the JonERP iTunes podcast feed.   

Jon Reed: Welcome to this SCN Community Podcast. I'm your host, Jon Reed of JonERP.com. Joining me today is Kuhan Milroy and Anne Hardy of SAP. We are here to talk about SAP's Idea Place launch, why they did it, and how the SAP community can engage with Idea Place. With so many companies grappling with how to best crowd source and prioritize ideas, not just for competitive advantage, but to improve responsiveness, SAP's release of Idea Place is timely.

Jon Reed: Welcome to this SCN Community podcast. I'm your host, Jon Reed of JonERP.com. Joining me today is Kevin Benedict of Net Sensing Strategies and John Appleby of Bluefin Solutions. We're here to talk about SAP mobility trends and how these two SAP Mentors are using the mobility resources on SCN in their own work. I also hope to pick up a few blogging tips from a couple of SCN veterans.

There's one thing about the Certification Five you can count on - we're going to generate a lot of content about our dialogue with SAP on certification, and we're going to share it with you! Here is a resource page, still in progress, that documents what we have been up to. 

I'm just about to present with Leonardo De Auraujo at SAP Inside Track Newtown Square - in advance I wanted to post these resource links to refer to during our presentation. 

Key Materials

Our much-discussed SAP Certification Five White Paper (PDF)
Our SCN blog which announces the paper and recommends specific action items (with tons of community comments)
My own blog post which provides a context for SAP Certification Five activities
Dennis Howlett's entertaining narrative of our memorable SAPPHIRENOW meetup with Bill McDermott

"Special Edition - Talking SAP Business ByDesign Skills and the Differences in SaaS Consulting Economics with Ray Tetlow from Skyytek" (ERP Lounge #9)
Podcast Interview Date: June 18, 2010
Podcast: Listen Now!
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note: this is a 20 meg sound file, so it may take a minute to download

I reported on the PAC Feeding the Ecosystem blog that the SAP Business ByDesign (ByD) conversation has shifted from technology debates to product rollout. A key part of that shift is taking a closer look at the skills needed to support ByDesign implementations and the different economics of SaaS consulting. One emerging voice in that conversation is Ray Tetlow of Skyytek. Ray spoke as an early ByD partner at SAPPHIRENOW Orlando.

At SAPPHIRENOW, I found that Ray's ideas about the skills requirements for ByD professionals were much better fleshed out than most. Likely this was because of his firm's experience as a SaaS reseller and implementor with more than 1,000 SaaS installs under their belts. All told this made Ray an ideal guest for this special edition of the ERP Lounge.

During this forty-seven minute podcast, Ray hits me with some rapid-fire answers to a slew of key ByD questions, such as how he intends to train ByD professionals, why SaaS consultants are easier to bring up to speed in ByD than "on-premise" SAP consultants, and the appeals and drawbacks of the SaaS consulting model. We were able to cover a lot of fruitful ground in this podcast, but one of my favorite parts comes at the end when we get into some informal talk about how virtual SaaS consulting can change the consulting lifestyle and open up new opportunities for those who can't (or don't want to) travel - parents in particular. Most firms growing like Skyytek are building new offices; Ray is shutting most of his down. Listen to the podcast to find out why and the different approach he is taking.

Note: to comment on this podcast series, or send in a question for us to answer in the next one, be sure to join our ERP Lounge Group on Linkedin. If you want to subscribe to the series, get the The JonERP Master Blog and Podcast Feed. Or find Jon on his @jonerp Twitter feed. The ERP Lounge podcasts are also included in the JonERP iTunes podcast feed.  

"Jon and Andy Interview Each Other on ASUG-SAPPHIRE Orlando 2010, SAP training trends, SAP certification, and other conference takeaways"
Podcast Interview Date: May 27, 2010
Podcast: Listen Now!

Andy Klee of ERPtips is no stranger to ERP shows. He's a JD Edwards/Oracle industry veteran who has been publishing SAP content for the last seven years and blogging on SAP training trends for the last year. But ASUG-SAPPHIRE Orlando was Andy Klee's first SAP show. So what did he think of SAP culture? Was the food really better than Oracle shows? And what did he learn about training trends from his meetings with SAP customers and SAP Education leaders?

In this thirty-five minute podcast, Jon and Andy have their second two-way conversation (hear the first one here). Andy starts by putting Jon on the JonERP hot seat and getting his conference reactions to SaaS/Business ByDesign, Sybase, and certification, then Jon returns the favor with questions to Andy on his conference takeways. Jon also surprises Andy with a question about how Oracle/JDE and SAP consultants compare.

"Special Edition - Live from SAPPHIRE NOW podcast on SAP career and skills paths, certification, and conference views with 3/5 of the Certification Five and Vijay Vijaysankar (ERP Lounge #8)
Podcast Interview Date: May 19, 2010
Podcast: Listen Now!
[PC users: "right click" to download file]
note: this is a 20 meg sound file, so it may take a minute to download

What's the latest on SAP certification? How did the Mentors fare on the SAPPHIRE floor and what did they learn in their conversations with SAP executives and ASUG members? And what are the keys to navigating a successful SAP career in the midst of technical change and skills commoditization? That's a meaty menu for a podcast! For this live SAPPHIRE NOW taping, four SAP Mentors, including three members of the "Certification Five" gathered in the Mentor meeting room to give you their best ideas (and a few off color comments) on SAP skills trends.

Recorded on a Zoom H2 portable, this play-it-loose forty-five minute podcast has gems from Martin Gillet, Jon Reed, Leonardo De Araujo (3/5 of the C5) and special guest and fellow SAP Mentor Vijay Vijayasankar. Vijay has become an key voice in the SAP community on SAP skills issues and also recently ignited a debate on SAP and Agile development as only he can. (Check out Vijay's live Enteprise Geeks "SAP-Agile Throwdown," also taped live at SAPPHIRE). 

More show notes: the Certification Five also appeared on an Enterprise Geeks SAP Certification 5 live SAPPHIRE taping and are fresh off a C5 appearance on the Friday Morning Report.

Note: to comment on this podcast series, or send in a question for us to answer in the next one, be sure to join our ERP Lounge Group on Linkedin. If you want to subscribe to the series, get the The JonERP Master Blog and Podcast Feed. Or find Jon on his @jonerp Twitter feed. The ERP Lounge podcasts are also included in the JonERP iTunes podcast feed.  

"An international roundtable on the pros and cons of Solution Manager, debated with grit and mutual respect"
Podcast Interview Date: May 9, 2010
Podcast: Listen Now!
[PC users: "right click" to download file]

SAP Solution Manager is one of the most controversial topics in the SAP community. Though some see Solution Manager as the key to everything from post-go-live optimization to realizing the value of Enterprise Support, there is a noticeable gap between how SAP perceives Solution Manager and its customers' own experience. One way to close this gap is to bring honest discourse about SolMan out into the open. What better way to do that then a no-holds barred, roundtable podcast with three of the most influential voices in the blogosphere (and Twitterverse) on SAP Solution Manager?

When you begin a podcast, you never know how it will turn out. I had high hopes that the combined voices of Jim Spath, Tony de Thomasis, and Phil Avelar would advance the Solution Manager conversation with new insights and a clash of perspectives, but you never know. The end result exceeded my own expectations. With good humor but a frank style that underscored their different perspectives, these guys nailed it. We taped this four way, fifty minute podcast on Skype, and while the sound quality is solid, there is the occasional piece of background noise. I think you'll find that any occasional sound blips are more than worth it for the caliber of the content. Read further to check out the speaker biographies, podcast notes, and links to additional Solution Manager content.

"On the customer perspective on SAP business process expert skills, Guy's take on soft skills in an SAP context, and the SAP consultant as midwife"
Podcast Interview Date: April 28, 2010
Podcast: Listen Now!
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How is the SAP consultant skill set changing? Do companies really want "SAP Business Process Expert" skills or is it a top-down invention? And why are "soft skills" becoming more important to SAP professionals? And what does "soft skills" mean anyway? To get to the bottom of these topics, Jon talks with Guy Couillard, President of OTA. Jon was introduced to Guy by Andy Klee of ERPtips, and ever since that introduction was made, Jon was seriously impressed by OTA's role in the SAP soft skills and change management education space.

During this 40 minute podcast, learn why Jon thinks OTA is one of the best kept secrets in the SAP consulting space. Hear Jon and Guy talk about what customers are looking for from SAP consultants, how they fall short, and find out what to do about it. 

Podcast guest Jim Spath is a fan of the Bengies Drive-In Theatre.  And just like the drive-in, we've got a podcast double feature for you. In part two (the part in this description), Jim and I talk about our shared interest in improving the public discussion on SAP Solution Manager and why we think this public airing is important. In part one of our double feature, we talked about getting the most out of ASUG 2010. 

Jim Spath is a Technical Archictect with a global manufacturer. He's an SAP Mentor and a long time ASUG volunteer. He writes some of the most readable technical blogs on SCN. Jim is presenting at ASUG 2010 on compressing database objects. I tracked him down on Skype for a Sunday evening taping so we could talk about ASUG but also launch several upcoming discussions on SAP Solution Manager. Note: the views Jim expresses on this podcast are only his personal views and are not made on behalf of any of his organizational affiliations.

"On getting the most out of ASUG 2010, justifying your attendance, and greener approaches to trade show attendance"
Podcast Interview Date: April 29, 2010
Podcast: Listen Now!
[PC users: "right click" to download file]

Podcast guest Jim Spath is a fan of the Bengies Drive-In Theatre.  And just like the drive-in, we've got a podcast double feature for you. In part one (the part in this description), Jim and I talk about ASUG 2010 Orlando and why the ASUG part of the show matters (Jim is presenting at ASUG 2010 on compressing database objects). In part two of our podcast double feature, we launch our first discussion on the pros and cons of SAP Solution Manager .

Jim Spath is a Technical Archictect with a global manufacturer. He's an SAP Mentor and a long time ASUG volunteer. He writes some of the most readable technical blogs on SCN. I tracked him down on Skype for a Sunday evening taping. During the ASUG part of the discussion, I asked Jim why he gives people like me a hard time when we talk about SAPPHIRE and don't mention ASUG. Jim also talks about how he reports back to his team and how to justify one's attendance at ASUG to one's employer. We also touch on the greening of conferences and how to have a greener conference experience in Orlando, including the use of Redi Pedi bicycle taxis. Note: the views Jim expresses on this podcast are only his personal views and are not made on behalf of any of his organizational affiliations.

"On the adventure of being an early Business by Design customer, how ByD impacts Johnson Products' business strategy, and what SAP can do to improve ByD from here"
Podcast Interview Date: April 14, 2010
Podcast: Listen Now!
[PC users: "right click" to download file]

In a milestone podcast for JonERP.com - the first about a small enterprise SAP solution - Jon Reed of JonERP.com interviews Eric Brown, CEO of Johnson Products, about his company's experiences as an early Business By Design (ByD) customer.  During the thirty-five minute conversation, Eric gives the background on the Johnson Products story that captured the audience's attention at the SAP Influencer Summit in December 2009. 

Brown talks about why his team chose ByD over other SME offerings, how they implemented in thirty days under intense deadline pressure, and what he thinks SAP can do from here to improve the ByD go to market strategy. Brown's entrepreneurial dreams would not have been possible with out a cloud-based ERP solution that could provide a major savings in cost and infrastructure without sacrificing functionality. Johnson Products is an ethnic hair care products company with a proud history. Brown shares his frank views on what it was like to purchase the company and lean heavily on By Design to get his business off the ground.