Monday, May 20, 2013

Carla Grant, the legend

Who is Carla Grant? well, if you have ever seen a SuccessFactors' demo, you would not ask. She is a fictional figure, part of every demonstration scenario... and has several profiles on LinkedIn, as well as in other professional networking sites. :) A legend, really. 




Speaking of Carla, while recently attending SAPPHIRE I was eager to get updates on multiple areas of interest, not unlike many other participants - check also this summary blog by Jeremy Masters.

In particular, I was determined to review the current status of the Cloud Core of HR, the SuccessFactors Employee Central tool. For this, I made my way to the third floor, where Joachim Foerderer was holding ASUG session 1809, Take HCM to the Cloud with Employee Central. 


Sunday, May 19, 2013

High heels and SAP

I confess having been to many SAPPHIREs, in the last 23 years - by no means to all, but enough to spot something very different. During last week at the Orlando event at the megalomanic Convention Center (it could literally host a whole city, and it did with 20'000 participants), I've seen an unusual booth. If you were there as well, perhaps you've noticed it: named Lucia+Daniel, it looked and felt like a fun high-end boutique in Milano. But you could not purchase anything - rather, it was showcasing MyRunway app - an SAP solution offering enterprises to engage with consumers in innovative ways, leveraging new powerful analytics and data extractions on HANA cloud.


Saturday, May 18, 2013

Happy 25th birthday, SAPPHIRE!

My, you have grown. From 120 participants in a New Jersey hotel, to the Orlando Convention Center, filled to capacity at some 20'000 experts, over three days, fed, watered, co-hosted with ASUG. During the first day keynote, co-CEO Bill McDermott mentioned that the online statistics where showing an attendance of about 80k online! 




People always ask what SAP stands for, but a similar question is never asked about the event. And, no, it isn't about hiring (SAP-P-hire). The acronym has outgrown its own meaning (SAP's Perennial Highly Integrated R2 Event). Now, there is so much more, and so many options. Back in 1989, R3 was only a dream still. R/2 was our bread-and-butter, and we had to memorize infotypes numbers and table codes.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Struggling with SAPPHIRE agenda, again

Yes!!! You have nagged and begged, and have found budget to attend SAPPHIRE.

You have registered, booked a plane ticket (or several), and figured out which hotel makes most sense (hopefully it is not going to be undergoing renovations). You have verified it isn't far from the convention center, that it is on the I-Drive route, and that you can get to the outlets. You may even have booked Disneyland tickets for the family (disclosure: I didn't. I try to keep a healthy distance from Mickey).

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

One trip, two UserGroups and three countries later.

I am back, if still jet-lagged.

Three days spent at the HRGUG annual meeting in Walldorf always are deeply satisfying and informative. SAP  provided us with a backbone of updates and presentations with, among others, the below screenshot sporting the most recent development for the Core of HR in the Cloud - Employee Central and its spiffy looks. Of course, Carla Grant was there... can there be BizX without Carla, ever?