Q: So we should begin with the title of your ad from the new SAP Services branding campaign out on the market, what exactly makes you a “BUSINESS SOFTWARE BLACK BELT”?
A: Being a business software black belt begins with having a baseline of expertise in SAP solutions, and the experience gained during implementations at multiple clients by having tackled the most complex challenges. What’s most important is to utilize those skills and that experience to develop solutions for our customers, by really understanding their business needs.
Q: Can you give us some examples of how you help to unlock the power of SAP for your clients?
A: There're mainly two aspects I want to share: What is important to me is expanding our world-class consulting force, and enabling them with leading, market-maker skills, to drive value and success for our customers. We have always been known for having very deep functional and technical skills, and now we utilize those skills to not only solve our customers’ complex challenges, but also to support our customers in improving TCI and TCO. Our goal is clear: Build more sustainable solutions that deliver immediate value to customers and that can expand as our solutions advance.
We have also invested in building a portfolio of services that includes highly repeatable content for core processes, to compress project timelines and improve time-to-value for our customers. Our black belts know when we can take advantage of our out-of-the-box functionality vs. when we need to develop new solutions that are differentiators for our clients.
Q: With your work around heading Services Delivery how have you witnessed the impact on our customer’s customer?
A: Our Customer’s Customers see the effect of the work we are doing in Services Delivery when they…
- …see a new world-class process being offered that has been implemented quickly and well by their supplier, or
- …see quick improvements in the way they do business with their supplier.
Behind that are Industry and LoB best-practice processes and capabilities that we built into RDS’s or accelerators we have used during our Assemble to Order approach. The face behind are some of the best and most knowledgeable SAP professionals in the Industry. The speed is being delivered by our relentless efforts to reduce time to production via use of pre-defined services. We also make the best resources available from our global pool of consultants and partners.
So when our Customer’s customers see fast improvements in the way they work with their supplier – they are also experiencing SAP Services Delivery innovation at work.
Q: As A BUSINESS SOFTWARE BLACK BELT do you have any hot-tips or pointers for other consultants at SAP?
A: Well, first of all, continue with the great work you are doing. We've seen customer successes across all regions. To keep up this high level and to improve in certain areas let me share some priorities from my side:
- First and foremost, put our customers at the center of everything that you do.
- Know your industry! Our customers expect us to bring expertise not only in our solutions, but we need domain expertise in their industry to be able to understand their challenges and how SAP can help them to differentiate, and bring more value to their customers.
- And last but not least, continue to invest in yourself and expand your skills. What makes you valuable and marketable today will not be enough next year. Look for opportunities to grow your skills, through formal and informal learning.
Q: So what do you do to recharge when you’re outside of the office?
A: Outside of work I love to run … for mental and physical health and it’s a hobby I share with my kids now, too. The competitiveness of racing and setting new goals makes it rewarding for me as well.
Marianne Heer is Global Head of Services Delivery.
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