SAP IT ANZ Complete LoB Shadowing Project!

As part of a new initiative, and in aligning with SAP’s core value of “run simple”, the SAP IT ANZ team undertook a LoB shadowing project.  The project was run to understand the challenges users face, and advise them on the benefits certain IT tools could have on their team work processes.

Over the course of a few months, senior IT team members shadowed users from various lines of business including Facilities, Services, Consulting as well as new SAP acquisition members on both internal meetings as well as external customer site visits, observing their current IT practices.  They were then able to assess and suggest newer technologies which could be implemented to make their meetings and customer interactions more reliable and efficient.

Services

SAP IT was able to observe and assist the services team on a customer-site visit.  It was understood that the services team still relied on the use of SAP Connect to engage with colleagues both internally and externally.  In aligning with SAP’s core value of “run simple”, the newly rolled out Skype for Business Client is the preferred method for online meetings.  As a result of understanding the service team’s needs, SAP IT organised a training session specifically for the team to experience and learn about how Skype for Business could make their meetings more efficient.

SAP Acquisitions

SAP IT was able to assist Ariba in integrating into SAP.  Understandably, many of the Ariba staff did not have much knowledge of SAP IT processes, with the majority of people not knowing how to log and IT ticket, use the SAP helpdesk or even request new hardware.  Martin Ng, an IT team member was able to capitlise on the Brisbane office move to give a presentation of SAP IT and its resources, introducing local IT, software corner, secure pull printing and backup agent.  As a result of this, the Ariba staff were able to understand the resources available to them to “Run Simple”.

Facilities

The facilities team is responsible for many day to day tasks which allow SAP as a business to function smoothly.  This includes two time-consuming and tedious tasks of handing out loan equipment to staff and assigning temporary visitor passes.  In the SAP Canberra Office, this has typically been a manual process, where records are made by hand in writing.  In turn, many access passes and loan equipment pieces tended to go missing unless facilities staff made a conscious effort to chase them up.  In order to show how IT services could allow the facilities team to function easily and more efficiently, the IT Rental Tool was installed in the Canberra office.  In doing this, there is no longer the need to record details in a book, or to manually send out emails asking for equipment to be returned.  These processes are not automatically completed.

In the SAP Sydney office, and across various SAP APJ regions, new roundtable technology has been rolled out to meeting rooms.  In order to allow the Sydney facilities team to fully understand the extent to which this new technology could potentially aid their daily work functions, the IT team conducted a personalised training session for the team (as pictured below).  As a result, the facilities team have now been able to use the technology to enhance their internal and external meetings.

Overall, the IT shadowing project was a success, with new technologies and processes being spread further throughout the business.  The SAP ANZ IT team plan to continue this project with other departments and service lines into the future. 

A special thank you to all team members who were involved for their time and dedication in ensuring this project was a success!