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RichBlumberg
Product and Topic Expert
Product and Topic Expert

“A knotty 'puzzle' may hold a scientist up for a century, when it may be that a colleague has the solution already and is not even aware of the puzzle that it might solve.” 
― Isaac Asimov (on Collaboration)


How a ONE team approach can bridge internal & external boundaries!

For profit and non-profit organizations around the globe have a common mission to launch new products and services to obtain front-line revenues and customer value objectives. For most, the investments (i.e. Dollars ($), Euros (€), Yens (¥)) are large and the stakes are high.


Many people and groups must come together to achieve ONE common set of goals and objectives.  The adoption of SAP Jam can make a huge difference to accelerate (& streamline) a successful roll out that requires the collaboration and cooperation of "internal and external" stakeholders.


Go-to-Market momentum takes place through consistent, repeatable, flexible, and efficient small steps which add up to larger efforts and leads to an ongoing set of important milestones (& deliverables).


The key to success requires:

  • Combining leadership and expertise with a 360 degree project management view
  • Cross-teaming around business priorities
  • Enabling formal and informal training
  • Providing user access to content and real-time data
  • Achieving speed to market and measurable results


Taking a step back helps senior executives and their leadership team(s) identify "work patterns" which allows companies to save time and money as well as work smarter.


Leveraging SAP Jam allows organizations to put the enterprise social collaboration foundation in place while allowing for the "many changes" which will happen along the way.


The recent SAP Jam product release and new developer program provides powerful tools and resources to customers, developers, and partners to simplify the work patterns that impacts stakeholders participating in a new product launch. By enabling SAP Jam to receive data and content from people and technology (SAP and non-SAP), the virtual collaborative environment bridges the gaps between face-to-face meetings, conference calls, and time zones to address the business requirements.  When assessing SAP Jam it's important to consider what exists today and the power of SAP and SuccessFactors in strategically investing in the SAP Jam roadmap as part of the overall portfolio of industry and line of business solutions. As a result, the ceiling is very high to address customer's business priorities which intertwine with collaboration.  

Based on numerous SAP Jam go-live customer successes and feedback, my team and I have developed an “Automobile Company Dealer Network"[1] SAP Jam prototype (see image - right side) to demonstrate a repeatable work pattern for a prospective new car launch which includes: 

  • Connecting the company to the dealers
  • Ensuring a full view of the new product launch
  • Providing formal "certification" (highlighted in orange rectangle - right side image) training around the new car (integrating SAP LSO [2] or LMS to SAP Jam) as well as specialized 3rd party subscriptions for industry or line of business learning materials
  • Enabling informal learning around vehicle sales based on best practices and experts
  • Deploying a flexible process that can change quickly


Work patterns are designed to bring the various components together.

From a business perspective they play a major role in a return on investment in productivity and accelerated performance. From a technology perspective the SAP Jam Open Data Protocol (OData) and Content Management Interoperability Services (CMIS) provides advanced capabilities to access and provide visibility to data and content with the ability to search for the information that that the users need (see "Definitions" below).

Customers, developers, and partners who learn more about the new SAP Jam developer program and related advancements can take their initiatives to the next level and maximize competitive advantages.

Keep in mind that SAP Jam implementations and solutions are based on both "technology" and "business" adoption (vs. 100% technology) so organizations that take full advantage will be in a better position to achieve their goals. The many capabilities of SAP Jam including working with cross-teams ranging from Sales, Marketing, and Services....to HR/Onboarding/Learning... as well as lines of business (i.e. Finance, IT, Operations, Supply Chain, Procurement, Legal, etc.) and industry specific adoption allows SAP Jam to stand apart from the competition. 

The proof of success is not just in the go-live launch, but rather how successful the initiative is 3 weeks, 3 months, and 3+ years later!

As a result, companies can protect existing investments and make more informed decisions as they move forward with strategic, compelling business initiatives such as a new product launch that takes place inside and outside the boundaries of their organization.

As the acclaimed bestselling author Isaac Asimov once shared...
…the answers that we seek may lie with an internal "or" external stakeholder (“colleague” or expert) who connects to us through a planned or chance interaction. By putting SAP Jam in place and leveraging repeatable work patterns and business processes the foundation for inter-enterprise collaboration is established. Often success (or failure) hinges on finding the right "puzzle piece" at the right time.

And once found, we can share this "puzzle piece" (i.e. knowledge, wisdom, content, data, solution or answer) on SAP Jam so that other stakeholders might benefit and as a result the ONE whole team wins together!

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Definitions

  • Work Patterns
    Formal work patterns are generally understood to be systems of coordinated and controlled activities that arise when work is embedded in complex networks of technical relations and boundary-spanning exchanges. But in modern societies formal organizational structures arise in highly institutionalized contexts.
    Source: Wiki Answers

  • Open Data Protocol (OData)
    OData is a standardized protocol for creating and consuming data APIs. OData builds on core
    protocols like HTTP and commonly accepted methodologies like REST. The result is a uniform way to expose full-featured data APIs.

    Source:
    Open Data Protocol | YouTube

  • Content Management Interoperability Services (CMIS)
    CMIS uses Web services and Web 2.0 interfaces to enable information sharing across content
    management repositories from different vendors (i.e. SAP Jam and SharePoint).
    Source: OASI


Sources:

[1] SAP Solution Explorer - Auto Value Map

[2] Social And Collaborative Learning powered by SAP Learning Solution and SAP Jam - martin.mueller04


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About the Author
Richard D. Blumberg, President, World Sales Solutions, LLC, (WSS) (www.WorldSalesSolutions.com) provides 25+ years of thought leadership on a variety of "View from the Top" strategies including: Enterprise Social Business, Go-to-Market Strategies, Business Development, Talent Development, and Community Building. 

WSS is a SAP Service Partner for SAP Jam and long-time supporter of the SAP Community Network and the SAP Ecosystem.

Prior Blogs:
- View from the Top: Bill McDermott shares his success secrets at a #fireside chat!
- SAP Jam: The ROI Impacting Sales Productivity

- Split Second Selling with SAP Jam - 7 Use Cases!

- The Customer Go-to-Market Imperative - Transforming Silos to Social Business and Community Building

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