Reed: Definitely. Sudhanshu, one thing you and I talked about when we were preparing for this call is the push toward greater usability of PLM. Can you tell us about some of the demos of PLM available at PLM at BPX and what went into the latest user interface?

Srivastava: For PLM, there are the development priorities which were basically outlined by customers for us when we asked them the type of things they would like to do in PLM and their number one priority. They talked about simplicity as the number one priority. Traditionally, if you look at the ERP solution, it's based upon the older technologies and now has evolved, but I would not say it was the most easy-to-use solution out there. We basically took that as the number one priority: usability became our primary goal for the evolution of PLM.

So we've put a lot of user interface options out there that are easy to deploy, easy to use; there is information about intelligent ways to foster efficiency and productivity for different types of users, and the UI is based upon the standards of NetWeaver. If you go to BPX community, you will find a lot of demonstrations which were recently created - a lot of people have not seen them yet because they were just created. Solution Manager has created a demo so you can actually see - I would say you can almost feel - how the product is going to work in different ways.

So we have demos, we have a lot of information in terms of what's new in the product, and I think in terms of timing, this is the best place to get all this information in one place.

Reed: And in our "preview of coming attractions" segment, there is a new PLM release coming out fairly soon. I wanted to ask you about any highlights you want to mention or also how the PLM at BPX community might play a role in providing input on this release.

Srivastava: That's another thing we are experimenting with through this community. We have traditionally gotten input from the existing customers - people who have been using our products - and some of the prospects. But by opening it up for all, it definitely becomes another interesting way of looking at not only the customers and immediate partners but somebody who is just evaluating different solutions, and being able to get their input. So, the forums and the blogs and all these wikis out there - we would be seeking information and trying to figure out what's the interest level.

We also want to figure out what they expect, based upon the information we have right now, in the next release coming next year. PLM 7.1 is "baking" right now, and we would like to see what the ingredients would be from these community members.

Reed: Hopefully, people will join in the conversation with you there. It looks like we have time for a question I was really hoping to ask you. SAP professionals who are listening to this podcast are always interested in how they can become more experienced in certain areas, so I wanted to ask you about PLM consulting and specializing in PLM. When you work with PLM consultants, what do you think are the key characteristics of a successful PLM professional?

Srivastava: If you look at the PLM area, it is definitely one of the fundamental aspects of product development. You start from the ideas, you design the products, you develop those products, you manage the products throughout their development life cycle, then you pass it on to manufacturing. You look at which suppliers can provide the elements of the product and services, then you manage the product.

The consultants who would like to succeed in the PLM area should know that the best people have actually worked on the shop floor - basically, they have touched the product. We are always interested in people from these traditional companies who have used either one of our solutions or any competitive solution, who have been there, done that. Like change management, if you talk about one of the elements of PLM, if you have not been part of a change management process then you do not even know the details.

There are approval cycles, there are various elements of the change management, and, unless you have done that, it is really difficult for you to try the product or implement the product. So the elements we are always looking for from business partners as well as from consultants who can be good implementers of PLM are the ones coming from the industry, who have hands-on experience. That's the key.

Reed: In pursuit of that knowledge, folks can get involved with the PLM at BPX community and share with the community folks who are pursuing the same ends. Is there anything else you wanted to mention about PLM at BPX that we didn't cover?

Srivastava: I just wanted to say that this is a very important initiative for us, we are getting all the information out there, and internally and externally, we have gotten a pretty good review so far. I just basically launched it for our Executive Customer Council members as well, and I got a very awesome response; they were very excited to see the content. I would encourage people to get into the BPX community, to start adding their pieces of information and giving us feedback.

This is a very exciting time for us. This is perfect timing for us and for customers because, as you see, we are getting input for the next release - this is wonderful timing for us to hear what they want to say. It is very easy to get into BPX: all you have to do is register, just like any other web site, so that's not a very difficult task. Once you get in, you can give us feedback in terms of what is missing, what you want us to do or focus on, and I think that will definitely help us further improve our initiative here.

Reed: Great, Sudhanshu, thanks a lot for taking the time to provide us with this preview of the PLM at BPX community as it launches. I just want to make sure our listeners know how to access the PLM at BPX community. If you're not yet registered with SAP's communities, you can register with all three of them in the same registration process and if you're already signed up for one of the communities but not in BPX yet, all you have to do is update your profile and check that off in your member information. Once you're in BPX, you can find the PLM at BPX community by clicking on the "Solutions" menu on the left-hand side.

On that note, I'd like to thank our listeners for joining us today on this BPX community podcast. This is Jon Reed of JonERP.com signing off. We'll see you online soon at BPX.SAP.com