Janus, for those whose recollection of Roman mythology and religion is sketchy, was the Roman god of transitions and beginnings, usually depicted with two heads, one looking back and one looking forward.
In the spirit of Janus, I decided to take a simultaneous look back to 2012 and forward to the implications for 2013, of my own standout memories.
For me, 2012 started with a GRC Access Control 10.0 migration project. This project was interesting to me because the client was committed to using the Business Role Management functionality, and there were quite a few bumps in the road to go-live; at least in my view, over 100 customer messages concerning this component seemed a bit higher than expected well after general availability. I learned a lot and enjoyed helping the client team get ready to support their upgraded system on their own and continue their roll out. The implications for 2013: at my new job, we are starting our own migration from GRC Access Control 5.3 to 10.0, and I am keeping my fingers crossed that the issues with Business Role Management have been resolved enough that this migration is much smoother.
The SAPPHIRE Now/ ASUG 2012 Conferences and SAP TechEd were, as ever, highlights of 2012 for me; I always enjoy sharing the good news of the accomplishments of our Security Influence Council, and lucky me, I got to do that both at ASUG/ SAPPHIRE and again at SAP TechEd in Las Vegas. It is tremendously satisfying to help other SAP customers work together with SAP Solution Management to have a voice in the evolution of SAP solutions; our Influence Council has had our recommendations accepted to enhance the GRC solution, Solution Manager, the NetWeaver platform, and we are still at work on other recommendations. Unfortunately our council is still in search of an SAP Point of Contact, as our previous contact has moved on to other challenges at SAP. I am hopeful that we will soon get back to work and have more success to report in 2013.
As for other activity at the conferences, reconnecting with my SAP Mentors and ASUG volunteers colleagues, hearing interesting customer success stories and lessons learned, hosting an SAP Executive panel discussion on SAP Live, and increasing my own understanding of emerging technologies make these events highlights year after year. If you have not been attending these conferences, maybe 2013 is the year that you will be able to convince the decision makers of the value. I encourage you to start thinking about it now, because early bird registration for the spring conferences is already open.
A look back at 2012 would not be complete without my SCN highlights; the Blog it Forward Challenge was a fantastic idea and great fun. If you have not yet participated, give it a try, it is not too late. Thanks to moshe.navehfor the launching that great series!
I was very pleased with the response to gretchen.lindquistin October before and after TechEd; the personal high number of page views and frank discussion threads suggested to me that I hit a topic that resonated well. Thanks to all who chimed in. I am keeping my fingers crossed that my series will have an impact on the SAP TechEd educational plan for this year.
Alas, I would be remiss in my look back to SCN in 2012 if I failed to mention the elephant in the room, the reputation program. Under the scheme implemented with the new SCN, the rewards for commenting on someone else’s work are often greater than those for making the time and effort to craft a blog oneself. Of course, for the bloggers who are expert on hot topics such as BI4, Mobility, and SAP HANA, high recognition levels can be achieved with blogging, and kudos to all who are high achievers under the new scheme. Looking ahead to 2013, I am very excited about the projects I anticipate this year, but I do not have any expectation of attaining knowledge to share in any of those technologies. Knowing that the chance of achieving the same levels as in past years is so remote as to be for all intents and purposes impossible is quite a disincentive to continued blogging on SCN. However, from time to time I expect to be inspired to share my thoughts regardless of the recognition program disincentive and, who knows, perhaps we will see some changes there as well in 2013.
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