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SAP Service and Support’s Analyst Day took place on May 4, 2015 in Orlando, Florida, hosting prominent SAP executives, key influencers, analysts, and SAP customers.


Michael Kleinmeier, a SAP board member, kicked off the event with welcoming remarks, followed by Colleen Speer  (VP Premium Engagements, SAP Services & Support ),  and Dr. Bernd Welz (EVP and Head of Scale, Enablement & Transformation), who presented keynote speeches providing an update on the overall strategy of SAP Service and Support, highlighting how the organization is making innovation adoption simple for its customers.

On running simple, attendee Susan Tan tweeted, “SAP Services & Support reorganizes, 1000+ to 300 offerings. Takes own advice for simplification and need for innovation. #SAPAnalystDay.”

The jam-packed event also hosted a customer panel, showcasing four SAP customers, La Trobe University, ConAgra, Mercedes-AMG and Petrobras. One attendee noted that the common themes from panel demonstrated the need for agility, flexibility, and focus on business impact.

La Trobe University, a leading Australian university with over 35,000 students and 3,000 staff, is one of SAP’s strategic partners and was presented by Peter Nikoletatos (Executive Director and Chief Information Officer La Trobe) and Scott Lindblom (SAP Service & Support Lead for La Trobe University).

Nikoletatos began with describing La Trobe’s internal challenges including outdated processes, inflexibility and the University’s need to become more agile in the increasingly competitive educational ecosystem. He said that in order to be successful during this journey, La Trobe needed to work with people they trusted, people with whom they shared a vision and strategy.

This initiated the move to SAP Simple Finance, interestingly making La Trobe the first customer to go live with the Simple Finance product. Nikoletatos said, “It disrupted our business processes, and it simplified the way we would do things going forward.”

Analyst Day culminated with breakout sessions covering topics several topics, a few of which included S/4 HANA, the new MaxAttention, HEC Services, SAP Learning Hub and Customer Lifecycle Management. Sessions explored customer cases and key messages, always relating back to simplicity and innovation.

Attendees overwhelming enjoyed the event, rating it a 4.8 out of 5. Overall, the event was said to have great, insightful content that was “diverse, forward thinking, and shed light on the inner workings of new SAP initiatives.” Attendees also enjoyed the mix of representatives and the information provided around SAP’s Vision and Executive Strategy.

Some attendees desired more information around the role of Services in SAP growth, as well as a more in depth conversation around how the company addresses why customers should move to S/4 HANA, and the related transformation risks. Attendees also wanted more evidence that SAP understands and is addressing challenges.

After this successful Analyst Day, what can attendees look forward to in future events? Topics desired for next year include cloud support, S/4 HANA migration success stories, digital transformation skills, as well as partner impacts of the Services model and how SAAS portfolio growth impacts Service & Support.


To read more about related topics and event, visit the SAP Service and Support blog library.