Kumud Singh – SCN Member of the Month September 2012
The TechEd season is about to start and this month I picked a member who is doing a great job building a strong network within the community and participating in events – whether small (Inside Tracks) or big (TechEd). Kumud Singh is the SCN Member of the Month for September 2012.
When you engage on SCN, you create relationships that will help you build your network in the SAP world, establish your reputation, and give opportunities for in-person interaction.
Look at Kumud’s picture. Don’t you want to meet her and talk to her? Her smile is so engaging that I thought I knew her before I spoke with her on the phone. Kumud truly likes engaging with people and this is what motivates her. She has managed to establish relationships that are not restricted to a geographical zone. I hope I get to meet her one day!
Kumud, can you tell us a bit about yourself, where you live, who you work for, and other things you would like to share with the community (hobbies, fun facts)?
I work for NTT DATA, Bangalore. I started my career with HCM Adapter, then my work led me to learn and work with the insurance module and then banking modules. I am now back in the HCM area with Time Management and Payment Processing. Hobbies include blogging, reading books, being on SCN, exploring places, doing fun activities whenever and wherever possible 🙂 . I am a social media enthusiast who is passionate about emerging technologies such as HANA and Design Thinking. I try to think “design” and “innovation” wherever possible. Recently I learned more about Sustainability and I started applying it in my life.
Note from Laure: When I hear Design Thinking, I think of Hasso Plattner and his HPI (Hasso Plattner Institute), and experts like Heike van Geel and Deepa Iyer. Both ladies live in Palo Alto, CA – I know them personally – and are charming. I’m sure they are thrilled to be mentioned next to Hasso’s name in this blog ;-). Kumud met Heike on SCN but she didn’t know Deepa and if I managed to make a connection here, I am very happy.
When did you become a member of SCN and what brought you to this community?
A colleague of mine introduced me to SCN for solving an issue via posting it in the discussion forums. However, I became a user early 2011 after I gained interest in reading blogs. Michelle Crapo provided me with a lot of impetus to participate in the community. Gradually I started contributing in the wiki, the forums, and I started writing blogs and documents. This in turn added to my confidence. 🙂
How does SCN help you in your daily activities?
SCN has brought many ‘like-minded’ people in my circle and I am thankful to SCN for that. By sharing content on SCN, I don’t need to carry learning documents with me, they are available in the appropriate SCN space for handy use. I like how people like Michelle Crapo encourage other members to contribute, they motivated and inspired me when I needed it. Also, meeting people in person when I know them virtually makes things move faster. I was given a chance to speak at the SAP Inside Track Bangalore in 2011 and it gave me more confidence. Participating in such events provides me with a platform to check my skills and remain up-to-date on different technical topics I have worked on. Reading blogs on SCN also helps me learn about the new stuff and be apprised of what is going on in the SAP world. Reading what is going on in the forums also provides me with a different perspective to tackle a challenge.
I log in daily, it’s a must! It keeps me engaged and motivated in my working hours.
Note from Laure: Kumud’s session at the Inside Track Bangalore was about being active in social media channels. Check out the replay.
How do you find the time to contribute to SCN?
It’s about making time. Once I have realized importance of sharing and participating with the community, time gets managed on its own. Being active helps me do my work faster and efficiently. To share one’s experience, one has to understand the topic better. One has to be precise and all these further enhance the presentation skills of the individual. Contributing in the wiki taught me to be crisp and present content precisely and in a structured manner. Wiki moderators such as Mauricio Ghem and xMoshe Naveh (Old Acct) helped me provide quality contributions.
What do you like most about the community in general?
Great and amazing people. Knowing people like Tammy Powlas, The specified item was not found., Susan Keohan is absolutely thrilling and motivational to me. Best knowledge is being shared in a great way. It is a platform for sharing my knowledge with the best people. I also like Anjan Paul’s work in the Workflow space.
In addition to ABAP and HCM, what are the other areas of SCN that you follow and like to get updates from?
SAP HANA, SAP Business Workflow, SAP StreamWork, SAP for mobile, Social Media and Social Networks, SAP Inside Tracks.
If a new member came to you and asked for your advice on how to be an active and respected member of SCN, what would you say?
I have been doing this for quite a while now 😆 . My session last year at SIT was about my experience of being on SCN and the participants asked many questions. I generally advise them to start contributing what they have learned in their current project and remain open to feedback. This can help them in further presentations. Answering questions can further help them grow in their areas of work.
Is there an SCN member you admire (OK… you can name a few)?
There are many! Tammy Powlas that I met on Twitter, Marilyn Pratt: a true figure who really boosts people and brings out the best of them. Susan Keohan the workflow goddess (ok, it’s me Laure who added this).
Michelle Crapo who is a true mentor in the original sense, Matthias Steiner who knew I would have good things to share one day 😉
Gregory Misiorek, Jan Penninkhof,Fred Verheul, Thorsten Franz, Abhisek Patnaik, Dipankar Saha, Alvaro Tejada Galindo, David Hull, Vinod Kumar Puttaswamy and Jim Spath.
They all motivate me, everyone should know them.
Easy question: Mac or Windows?
Windows originally. Now I recently got an iPad and I love the user experience.
Note from Laure: Here I told her that getting a MacBook is the next step but she should be careful: Once she’s on Mac she won’t be able to go back to Windows 😉
Are you on Twitter?
Yes, my ID is @singhkumud.
Every month, a member of the SAP Community Network is recognized for exemplary behavior: sharing knowledge with peers, being helpful and taking on additional tasks to support community engagement. See the list of previous SCN Members of the Month.
I am super excited that Kumud Singh is member of the month! She is such a positive force and I want to congratulate her.
I am honored she would mention me and I admire everyone she's mentioned. I feel like I have already met her in person but I have not.
I look forward to her future contributions.
Tammy
Thank you Tammy: I've got nothing to add to your comment.
Except:
Kumud: congratulations from NL! It's very well deserved.
Thank You Tammy and Fred. I am priviledged to know both of you!
Regards,
Kumud
Excellent work Kumud, from what I know about you it is well deserved!
Thank You Tim.
Regards,
Kumud
Congrats and well-deserved! 🙂 You're a "MoM" now ...
Thank You Matthias! Now I am on Netweaver Cloud 9 and I would REST there for this complete month as a "MoM" 😉 .
Regards,
Kumud
We are proud of you, Kumud. Keep it up 🙂
Thank You Ronjan! To keep it up I would have to ask Laure Cetin if she would select me again! 😉
Regards,
Kumud
Congr8s... 🙂
Keep the good work & words going.
Thank You Jyoti!
Regards,
Kumud
Well deserved! Kumud you are amazing. I enjoy reading your blogs, comments... Well I enjoy reading what you write.
Congradulations!
Michelle
Michelle, I have been missing you here on SCN since quite a while as I don't see your comments on blogs as you did previously! How are you? Thanks a lot for the wishes.
Regards,
Kumud
Many Many Congrats 🙂
Keep it up...........................
Thank You Anjan!
Regards,
Kumud
Kumud Singh, Congratulations on this very well-deserved recognition.
Regards, Vinod
Thank You Vinod!
Regards,
Kumud
It's wonderful to see Kumud as the Member of the Month! Her enthusiasm and passion for the community is evident!
Congrats Kumud!
Thank You so much Susan! I owe my enthusiasm and passion to the people I have met on SCN.
Regards,
Kumud
Thanks for all your contributions on SCN and more. Very well deserved, congrats!
Thank You Jan 🙂
Regards,
Kumud
Congrats Kumud ... Keep Writing...
Thank You Kennedy T.
Regards,
Kumud
Congratz Kumud Singh for being MoM! It's really nice to see you being so active in the SAP community!
+1 for Laure Cetin as well for bringing out these great MoM interview's
Thank You Tom!
Regards,
Kumud
Congratulations Kumud! Glad to hear you are passionate about Design Thinking!
We should try to meet at the TechEDs if both of us manage to be at a common one :-).
@Laure--I am honored to be mentioned in a post along side Hasso and Heike (my mentor on Design Thinking)! Thank you!
regards,
Deepa
Hi Deepa,
It would be great if we can meet at TechED this year, I would certainly be at any related event to Design Thinking. Thanks.
Regards,
Kumud
Hearty Congratulations Kumud.........
What Laure said in this blog is correct, one should get a feel of speaking with you after seeing your smile. Because, I can see the confidence in your face.
Keep up the good work
Thanks,
Narasimhulu
Thanks a lot Narasimhulu! Blush! Blush!
Regars,
Kumud
Hi Kumud,
Congrats.. truly an inspiration for many of us..
Regards.
Sunitha
Thank You!
Congratulations Kumud...
Thank You Gourav!
Congratulations Kumud!
Thank You Punit!
I spotted the announcement on the Member of the Month for September 2012 shortly after it was posted, and immediately congratulated Kumud Singh for her well-deserved recognition. I've waited till the month is more than half-over in order to continue the accolades. For those who may not have read about my travels to India for TechEd in 2011 (and vacation time), I will just share one link; others are out there on SCN for the intrepid searcher.
In July of last year, I posted a request for help in planning my trip: Help an SAP Mentor with his travels? As this was my first trip to India, I was quite apprehensive about travel arrangements and wanted to meet SCN members not just in the technical sessions, but to learn about the culture. The responses were well-intentioned, yet not quite the answers I was hoping. A few weeks later, I received a detailed reply from Kumud, offering to show me the city of Bangalore.
Her generosity, warmth, enthusiasm, and drive are quite spectacular. When we first connected outside the Tech Ed site, she was overjoyed to also meet Marilyn Pratt and Jeanne Carboni from SAP's SCN team. The video of that encounter is on one of my blogs, and amply demonstrates Kumud's persona. She certainly helped me with my travels far beyond my expectations, and I am quite in her debt.
My hope is to visit India in 2013 for Tech Ed (this year's budget and schedule just didn't happen for me), and that Kumud will not only attend those sessions, but present on topics of community and technology that she encompasses.
Jim
p.s. read this if you haven't, or read it again if you have:
Design Thinking, Women in technology at Tech-ed BLR 2011 – a participant’s view
Hi Jim,
I would definitely recommend you to visit India, not just for TechEd 2013, but, you will see a vibrant culture, nice food, wonderful people and so on... I am confident that you will really enjoy your trip to India. You will probably see other part of the coin. You will enjoy looking into different cultures.
Best Regards,
Ravi
Hi Jim,
Thank You! 🙂
I was looking forward to meet you this TechEd 🙁 .
Regards,
Kumud
Congrats...Kumud..!
Thank You Yoga!
Regards,
Kumud
Congrats Kumud Singh 😎 .. Nice to know about you 😀
Regards
Pavan
Congratulations Kumud!
Regards,
Ravi