Otto Schell
Speaker,
Globalization Working
Group
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Facing international system rollouts
and business processes that extend across multiple
languages and time zones, many large and medium-sized
enterprises are struggling to get a handle on
all the IT implications of doing business globally.
To help our member companies address their global challenges,
DSAG formed the Globalization working group in June
2005, with its formal introduction at our annual Congress
in October 2005. This group, which already comprises
around 100 member companies, opens up new opportunities
for collaborating with peers and influencing SAP around
the most pressing issues of running a global enterprise.
The group also forges into new DSAG frontier by partnering
with Americas' SAP Users' Group
(ASUG) to address global enterprise needs with SAP.
The Globalization Group Agenda
The main objective of
the Globalization working group is twofold: to
educate customers about successfully implementing
and running their global systems, and to bring
to SAP ideas for enhancing global integration
support in future releases.
The group plans to tap into the experience and road-tested
knowledge of its member companies to create and distribute
a landscape model that other DSAG member organizations
can reference when rolling out their own global SAP
systems.
Tackling the Biggest Issues
To determine how best to carry out the group's
goals, DSAG polled member companies about their most
difficult globalization concerns. Responses were consolidated
into three categories, resulting in the formation of
three subgroups:
- Application Infrastructure is concerned
with the setup of a flexible, open SAP solution
architecture — both
from an IT and a business perspective — and
how global companies can integrate heterogeneous
systems and legacy applications into this infrastructure
- Support
and Maintenance of Global IT Landscapes deals
with the business and legal ramifications of
maintaining IT systems across multiple time
zones and in many languages
- International Rollouts
and Project Management focuses on sharing best
practices for globally rolling out and upgrading
SAP solutions, as well as developing change
management and compliance strategies
A Global Partnership
DSAG is pleased to coordinate our influencing efforts
with our American counterpart, ASUG. Together we
are establishing joint agendas and educating one
another about how to address the most crucial globalization
topics. For example, we have already collaborated
on a WebEx call with member companies to discuss
and further explain SAP's support
and services for Unicode. Additional joint topics include
Enterprise Services Architecture (ESA), support for
local SAP language installations, and operational schedules
across time zones.
Exchanging Experience Is Key
Globalization is a complex and challenging topic, but
one that benefits from the sharing of information across
companies and geographic boundaries. The Globalization
working group fosters open discussion by uniting
companies worldwide so they can ask questions, exchange
knowledge, and receive advice from their peers. For
more information, please visit www.dsag.de.
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