My 1st SAP TechEd experience as a Mentor

Many firsts to mention… My 1st post in this new and refreshed SCN, my 1st networking dinner with wonderful folks from SCN, 1st experience as a SAP Mentor in Teched 2016, at Bengaluru!!

Leon Simson and I had the pleasure of having a networking dinner with Jason Lax, Yaniv Bar and Idit from SCN. We had a wonderful time together, knowing each other. I was the Odd-one out, who stuck to fresh fruit juice and a smoothie 😉

Really we must appreciate the hard work the SCN Folks put in to run the show. Though Idit was superb tired due to the long travel and jet lag, she still made it to the dinner. And while leaving, advised us to be more active than ever on the new SCN Platform.  Yaniv, who travelled from Berlin for the Tech Ed, had to rush back on Thursday, to support the Go-Live of the new SCN platform.  Kudos to you both!!

And needless-to-say, we missed Kumud Singh, Raj (both) and Jyoti Prakash

Our 1st day at Tecd Ed began with much fervor and color. The welcome speech by Dilip Khandelwal and Bernd Leukert helped us know the future path of S4 HANA. The demo of Fiori 2.0, the new Co-Pilot and the BW 4 HANA, were superb!!

At 12.30 PM, I set in for the networking session that I have scheduled for S4 HANA Finance Simplifications. Being a Mentor, I had the privilege to schedule the session. I was overwhelmed to see the no. of participants who were waiting to be seated for the session. And before the session, I published a message on my facebook page (MadAboutSAP) about the session, so that the word could reach.

Keeping in mind the short 30 minutes slot I got, I thought the best way to add value would be keep it an open session where people can get their questions answered. So, we stuck to the Q&A format. After the session, I felt the decision was pretty much correct.

And at the back of mind, I had a comfort of Kavita Agarwal and Sanil Bhandari’s company, who were also present as one of the attendees. I knew I can always bank on their expertise, if am not able to answer anything. I met few other old friends during the session, which was a welcome surprise for me

We interacted on a lot of topics  – Custom/Vendor Sync to BP in S4H 1511, Migration issues, Account Based COPA, ALE in S4H, New Asset Accounting, etc.

To be honest, the 30 minutes were just too short, considering the enthusiasm and the quantum of questions that people had. We had to vacate the booth, as the next session was equally awaited for with the same enthusiasm. But then we all assembled outside the booth to answer few more questions.

It was an experience in itself, which I would cherish for life. It was first such experience for me. It was a very special feeling to hear so many good words about myself, and  people wishing to have a selfie with me or asking for a visiting card 😉

And the experience did not end there. We, mentors, were fortunate enough to meet Sven Denecken, Colin Hughes, Bernd Leukert and Dilip Khandelwal from SAP. It was our turn to get our questions answered, so that we can be useful to the community. One such pic is enclosed below

And guess what? The experience did not end in Bengaluru with the TechEd. After I returned to office, I was swept off my feet, when I saw my desk decorated. My wonderful team at office, did that for me. Really cant thank them enough!!

Overall, it was an experience, one could never forget. Thanks to SCN, Thanks to Bernd, Sven, Colin and Dilip for their time, and a BIG Thanks to the wonderful team back at Itelligence!!

Regards

Ajay Maheshwari