The Good People

Earlier this week I wrote a blog where I was having a gripe about being ignored and frustrated. Thankfully enough kind people commented and made me feel a little bit easier. Thanks to all of you.

As it is Friday, I thought let’s finish the week on a brighter note and talk about more positive things. Rather than concentrate on the software side of the business I thought I might comment on a couple of people that make life in the SAP world a bit more bearable when you don’t get the work you were chasing or the configuration and design don’t want to work together. An organization is made up of people and sometimes the individual who gives more than what would normally be expected should get some credit.

When our company first became an SAP Services Partner we were given exceptional service and assistance by Crystal Xiang as our initial partner services advisor. If we needed to find out about any new SAP strategy or solution, Crystal would organize a meeting with the appropriate group. She always followed up on any matter until we were able to say the objective had been realized. I expect she is doing extremely well in her new role and hopefully is truly appreciated by her management. David Zeng, our current PSA, had big shoes to fill but is rapidly approaching the same level of service.

Closer to home, we have Jarmo Rasi, who works for SAP Australia based in Sydney. I’m never too sure what his title is but he works in the Centre of Excellence in the HCM space. Similar to Crystal he assists in putting us in contact with the right people or provides information that is relevant to what we do. All we need to do is phone or email Jarmo and the answer/assistance will not be far away. He is a keen golfer and next time he is in Brisbane we must have a game.

My experience with SAP Client Partners has been mixed. In some instances we compete for tenders and some CP’s don’t take losing well. Others are available for open and honest discussions on the happenings in the market and such discussions are welcomed. One of these latter ones is David Watson from the Brisbane office. Faced with the onerous task of dealing with Queensland Health after the disaster that was the payroll implementation, he is still able to smile and I look forward to the coffees we have together, sharing what we are able to, so that better outcomes may result for our clients.

Moving away from SAP for a moment, I would also like to mention George Chondros, Director of Sales ANZ, and Ron Shpilman, Senior Solution Consultant, both with ClickSoftWare. When it was announced that SAP were to become a reseller of the product, I scrambled onto a plane to Melbourne to meet the new kids on the block. It was refreshing to speak with a couple of people who were open and willing to provide assistance in understanding their product and market. We have not been involved in any ClickSoftWare deals but whenever our paths cross at a conference it is always good to say hello. They were just nice people.

Finally the people who I haven’t met but I seem to be learning more about each day. The ones I stalk on SCN and Twitter. The insightful information provided by Jon Reed, Dave Howlett, Luke Marson, Chris Paine and Jarret Pazahanick is most helpful. It is amazing how they all share information, ideas and criticisms and seem to engage with each other on a regular basis. Maybe I am missing something here in Australia (or maybe only Brisbane) but other consulting firms are seen as “the enemy” and not to be given more than a cursory hello when crossing paths. Perhaps I am just out of the “in-group”. Maybe just not liked and the others are all talking. It would seem beneficial if we could get that same willingness to have open discussions about the products that do provide our livelihood, share ideas and ultimately determine the best way to service our market. We did try with one of the other consulting firms but they weren’t interested. The Tier 1 companies are more willing to engage with an organization our size.  

I better stop now as the end of my last paragraph looked like it was heading into negative territory again and this blog is about the good things and the people that make work more enjoyable. Maybe others can also write something about people that make their day better…..