"On SAP customer attitudes on Enterprise Support, the value/hype of SaaS for SAP users, and SAP skills advice"
Podcast Interview Date: September 25, 2009
Podcast: Listen Now!
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One of the most controversial issues in the SAP community today is the question of SAP Enterprise Support and whether the support justifies the cost. In the flurry of blog posts on this topic, an important viewpoint can get overlooked: the day-to-day experience of SAP customers. Recently, Panaya, an SAP third party solutions provider, released their 2009 SAP Support Costs Survey. This survey put some meat on the bone of the hot topics in SAP support, such as the cost of support per user, the attitudes towards Enterprise Support, and the key support challenges that SAP users face.

During this twenty minute podcast, Jon Reed of JonERP.com interviews Amit Bendov, Chief Marketing Officer of Panaya, about what they learned from their recent Survey on SAP Support. Since Panaya's tools are all delivered via Software as a Service (SaaS), Jon wanted to get Amit's take on how much value there is in SaaS right now for SAP users based on what Panaya has learned. The podcast also covers the release of Panaya's new Big Book of SAP Upgrades and Panaya's presence at SAP TechEd Phoenix, including the Phoenix/Sedona bike trip Amit is organizing the Saturday after TechEd. (Find Amit on Twitter for more details on the bike trip). Editor's note: for more details on the challenges of installing SAP support packs and the specifics of Panaya's SAP support package automation solution, check out the additional podcast Jon and Amit taped with a focus on SAP support pack installation.

1:45 Amit's background as a twenty year veteran of the software industry.

3:21 Jon has noticed that many third party SAP firms are very good at marketing, but they don't necessarily share a lot of information. Panaya has taken a different tack, openly sharing results such as their SAP Support Pack Survey and the Big Book of SAP Upgrades. What has inspired Panaya to undertake the hard work of compiling meaningful content?

5:25 In their recent SAP Support Survey, Panaya interviewed 178 customers and partners about their attitudes on a range of topics pertaining to Enterprise Support, SAP Support Pack installation, and related issues. Some of the findings were surprising.

8:25 SAP support packages are not necessarily as routine as we might think. The survey results identified many user challenges related to the time and expense of SAP support pack installation.

11:15 Two of the biggest buzzwords in the enterprise world right now are: Software as a Service (SaaS) and "the cloud." Some see the cloud as a long way from impacting SAP users, others see it as revolutionizing the market right now. In Panaya's own work with cloud-based solutions, what has Amit seen so far? Where is the use case and where is the hype? Does the learning curve of SaaS take away from the ROI potential for SAP customers?

13:45 Panaya also has a solution that addresses SAP upgrades - another aspect of SAP implementation that carries a major set of challenges and often goes overbudget. Panaya just released a "Big Book of SAP Upgrades" which shared upgrade lessons learned from many SAP partners and customers. What were some of those lessons?

16:30 As we taped the podcast, the economy is still challenging and the SAP job market is not an easy one. What are Amit's skills tips for SAP professionals based on his talks with SAP users?

• Be aware of the tools that are available with the latest releases (ERP 6.0 and BS 7.0). People think the new releases are mostly architectural changes but there are functionality changes also, including many new tools to familiarize yourself with.
• Stay on top of the third party tools outside of SAP, including but not limited to cloud-based solutions, that support migration to ERP 6.0 as well as optimization of that environment.

• Another key point: it's not enough to be a "code monkey" anymore. Companies are looking for "technical advisors" who can not only code, but can help them better understand the pros and cons of different tools and approaches. Can you provide value beyond writing code? It's a key question to keep in mind and the move from pure developer to more of a developer/advisor is a good move these days.

18:12 Closing comments - Amit is looking forward to getting feedback on the Big Book of SAP Upgrades. If you have feedback on any of Panaya's products or reports, please This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and they'll be happy to be in touch.

18:45 Panaya will be at SAP TechEd Phoenix and if you want to meet up with Amit and the Panaya team find him on Twitter . He's also organizing a bike trip in the Phoenix/Sedona area for the Saturday after TechEd Phoenix.