Introducing Our Newest SAP Mentors – April 2016

Who could have imagined that when we asked the SAP community to apply or nominate others to join the SAP Mentors program, that we would have close to 400 candidates from 53 countries to choose from?! This is amazing! It confirms that the SAP community is huge and vibrant. At the same time, it’s also a signal that legitimizes the awareness and trust the SAP Mentors have created in the broader SAP ecosystem.

The SAP Mentors program is going through a transformation, and this includes the way we are recruiting new Mentors:

1. Transparency about our gaps – our Mentors Wanted posters lists specific attributes and profiles of people we’re looking for. “Mentor Magic” is always important, and we are looking beyond the SCN to ensure the SAP Mentors community is diverse and representative of the SAP world. 
2. Continuous recruitment – with the year-round nomination system, we can keep our eyes and ears open to identify new influencers and interested candidates, while building up a list of potential Mentors. Candidates who weren’t chosen in this round can still be eligible in our next intake in August.
3. Wisdom of the crowd – our community knows best and that’s why we’ve entrusted you to nominate our future SAP Mentors. When it comes to selecting the new Mentors, we’re following the same rule and sharing this responsibility to the newly elected SAP Mentors Advisory Board.

I would like to thank each and every member of the Advisory Board for spending countless hours reviewing profiles and credentials of hundreds of candidates. Because we didn’t know every candidate personally, and not every candidate had a SCN profile or content, we had to use our best judgement. Having so many candidates who are SAP experts and influencers in the SAP ecosystem made our job difficult. However, we were also glad to have such a deep pool of talented and community-minded individuals to pick from.  After several rounds of voting by the Board to create short lists of candidates, followed by deliberation, here is the outcome:

• Andre Fischer (Germany): The community’s go-to person for anything-SAP Gateway, Andre is a recognized blogger on SCN, and a frequent speaker at SAP TechEd events. His helpful mindset and knowledge of SAP solutions make him a trusted advisor to all who engage with him.
• Dagfinn Parnas (Norway): Considered one of the best SAP UX/Mobile people in the space, Dagfinn is also known by many in the community for his solution architecture and Security expertise. Dagfinn is a returning alumnus to the SAP Mentors program, so we expect he will share his experience and wisdom.
• David Ruiz Badia (Spain): As an IT Architect in his company, David has been focused on technical aspects of SAP projects. He set up the SOA Special Interest Group in Spain’s SAP User Group in 2007 where he served as a board member. David was also a Core Leadership Team member of SUGEN.
• Eng Swee Yeoh (Malaysia): Any of our community members involved with Process Integration or Process Orchestration would have encountered Eng Swee’s expert advice and usable content. His willingness to share useful tips and ability to describe new SAP product features to readers is a great example of community spirit.
• Joseph Fox (USA): Joseph is Senior Vice President & GM of SAP Ariba, focused on New Innovation and Co-Innovation. He and SAP Mentors have crossed paths before. With Joe’s help, we expect to increase collaboration and knowledge sharing with SCN members about the SAP Business Network.
• Jyoti Prakash (India): SCN members are very familiar with Jyoti’s active contributions, especially as a Moderator for several topics including SAP SD, SD Billing, and Internationalization and Unicode. One of his goals in life is to become a SAP Mentor. Check!
• Vasily Baranovsky (Russia): As a SuccessFactors consultant in Moscow, Vasily likes to look beyond his field of Human Capital Management – he’s also interested in artificial intelligence and cognitive computing. He has been most active in the SAP SuccessFactors Customer Community, and the SAP Russian community.
• Veselina Peykova (Bulgaria): If you’ve read this Member of the Month blog, you’ll recognize Veselina. She’s an independent consultant with expertise in Plant Maintenance, ERP Sales and Distribution, and Investment Management (just to name a few), and a passion for learning.
• Trong Minh “Woody” Nguyen (Singapore): Originally from Vietnam, Woody now works in Singapore as a HCM consultant where he generously shares his time and knowledge with other consultants, especially in the South East Asia region.

Please join me in congratulating the new SAP Mentors! We will invite our new SAP Mentors to join an upcoming SAP Mentor Monday webinar to personally introduce themselves to the SCN community.