About a decade ago, while serving as CIO of a multibillion-dollar food company, I made a bold recommendation — to move away from the existing ERP platform and go with SAP. The decision was not without some risk, but I believed in the value of the relationship with SAP and the business advantage that the relationship would create. Since that time, business requirements, and the technology landscapes that support them, have changed tectonically. At the same time, the pressure on IT to deliver — while managing increasingly fragmented and complex landscapes — is greater than it has ever been. In the midst of this evolving environment, SAP continues to enable its customers to move and stay ahead. I see ASUG as a bridge for businesses in motion — to help connect what SAP’s business leaders are talking about with what customers want to accomplish.
What’s Changed?
Today’s technology landscape is much more varied than it was 10 or even five years ago. Traditional ERP systems remain at the nerve center of the digital organization, with the addition of robust in-memory business intelligence tools, as well as e-commerce and social media functionality. Other common requirements include mobile solutions to connect customers, employees, and partners; sophisticated user interfaces for getting attention and gaining traction with consumers; and cloud and virtual hosting options to support agile and cost-effective landscape infrastructures. Quite simply, we live in a time in which information is expected to be at your fingertips anytime, anywhere.
What’s the Same?
SAP’s strategies address these fundamental changes and are well positioned to keep your software and hardware investments relevant for years to come. ASUG is your amplified voice for providing feedback to SAP on those strategies and their implementation. Organizations continue to turn to ASUG to help interpret and shape their current and future technology landscapes.
Looking Ahead
I have a simple guiding principle for ASUG: to ensure that our member companies get the most value from their SAP investments, and that the members themselves have every possible tool they need to succeed in their SAP careers. I look forward to even more opportunities in 2014 to connect ASUG and SAP in an authentic, holistic way, to help customers surge ahead with innovation and to continue to reap the rewards of their investments.