AI or not AI, is that the question?

Recently, I've felt that many of my conversations have been circling around AI. Why AI, why not AI, the good, the bad, the naughty, the fun, the acceleration, the unavoidability of it all. Just getting on the Highway 101 from San Francisco to Palo Alto is enough to get the conversation started... 

In the end, I always come back to a 3-legged stool... 

Thank you to ChatGPT for the rendition

1. The Problem. 

We need to ensure that we are fixing a real problem, one that will bring something to the table. What problem? that is really up to each organization to find out. Sometimes it will be staring in our faces; in other situations we may want to dig down... but AI should be engaged to solve something, not just to say "we're doing AI".  

Not only it should be a real problem, but we should understand what the solution will bring, and how we will measure success. Examples... 

Mandate: "fix recruitment with AI" is the wrong approach; do we know what is wrong? fixing recruitment could be a good hunch, but to engage AI in the right way we need to do homework, understand what we want to fix (costs? quality of hires? time to hire? all three?). In some cases, AI can be a support and an accelerator. In other cases, only a costly add-on, and there are other options.

I suggest some Design Thinking to dig deep... 

The crowning glory of finding the real problem to solve is that it facilitates adoption. If you give folks a spoon, they will use it to eat the soup. If you give them a fork, they'll continue sipping from the bowl.

2. Data. 

Of course, analytics, reporting, AI are nothing without data; and in the case of AI, enormous amounts of data. Once we have identified the real problem to solve (and only then), we can review what data we need to have as a foundation, and determine if we have it, if we can procure it (either sourcing internally, or buying externally), if we need to enrich it... 

Data must be pertinent, and relevant to our organization, industry and geography. Data on hiring in - say, Nairobi - is not very useful to determine pay scales in Rome, Italy. 

... and finally, the big one:

3. Governance!

This is not trivial at all, and cannot be just sourced somewhere. One of the biggest challenges is that there isn't "recipe", and one must examine carefully the multiple parts to determine how to approach AI governance in your organization (and yes, I am underlining "your" because it has to fit the culture and vision). 

Then, after examination, it is about assembling all the different parts, understand how each fits in your environment and in the fast evolving legal environment around us. 

A place to start is linked; a well rounded report, addressing multiple facets and offering good suggestions. 

HR TRANSFORMER - it is a type of superhero

Inspired by the action figures trend, I decided it is time to resurrect my set of blogs covering the post-go live of any implementation of a technology. The topic is based on my experience, and it can be applied across HR Tech tools and formats, and possibly beyond. 

THANK YOU for taking the time to read my post. For more, contact me for advice, suggestions or collaboration, and/or join me on LinkedIn.

Why are you reading this?

You have either implemented or are in the process of implementing your new, awesome, responsive, interactive HR system; you are looking forward the expected accelerations that will be delivered by the new technologies, and even more so: by the decisions that you were able to take.

The new processes are going to make life easier and provide plenty of insightful data, support employee experience and entice your employees to use adopt the new methods. You have planned a launch, and a change management plan has been put in place to communicate, train, teach, share and capture knowledge (RIGHT? HAS IT BEEN PUT IN PLACE???).

So what now? As much as you would like to put all project times behind you, they are simply not going away. Much as after the implementation of any large system, even with cloud systems you will need to plan the next steps. You will have learnt that:

In your new system (most likely an HCM SaaS tool or set of tools), you will not need to know coding languages to stay ahead and keep up. Now it is all about configuration, so in other words, no coding needed.

Without regular upgrades to plan, and consequently less need for technical support services; and all administrative tasks should be undertaken by HR, and there will be no further need for IT involvement. Is it true???

There are still areas that require an expert eye, and whether IT or HR will be tasked should not be the most important question. It is a shift of work skills and priorities, but not a disappearing act! It needs to be budgeted somewhere, with the correct expertise and training; examples of these tasks are integrations updates, future projects, data governance, loads, tests.

HR representatives and analysts often don’t have the training to manage an application and its governance, or simply have no interest in doing it – it is frequently not considered an attractive career development for the HR team, and is not part of the job description nor objectives.

A critical share of change management is required, as well as system and process governance on both HR and IT sides, to ensure system stability and performance. At the time of go-live, the HR administration team is often overloaded, the learning process is on the starting block and HR users must pick up on the new system responsibilities.

The new tasks should be planned and built in the daily work. What tasks should be expected? Here is a simplified list (more activities may be required):

• Overall system admin, including user administration and routine regular tasks required for the regular HR processes run; depending on the size of your company and on the system footprint (one or more modules), you may need one (even part-time), or several appointed power-users
• Periodic releases reviews, management and tests if required Governance and IT responsibility (or input)
• Specific after go-live (usually one or more months) support
• Role-based permissions management, controls and audits
• End-to-end system change management (or governance), to ensure that all consequences of a proposed change in the system can be spotted in time
• Integrations to other systems, automation, controls
• Training, knowledge transfer and documentation updates as required

Follow the links below to access the next steps (on LinkedIn for now):

Watch the Go-Live

Setting up a Support Model

Change Management

Knowledge, Training and Documentation

Operational Governance approach

Release Management routines

DisruptHR

Are we Transforming or Disrupting HR?

DisruptHR. It is an interesting approach to focus on the inevitable change occurring in HR and in all things related to how we are working, where we are working, what contracts we accept (or shouldn't), in short: how we deliver work and find the right talent that will provide the best input. 

I am proud to announce our own event. It will take place on April 27, 2017, starting at 5pm. We will take over the beautiful Domenico Winery in San Carlos (California), and you will get to be in the first line to watch change happen. I think that the Silicon Valley DiruptHR will be even more exciting and interesting, as we all sit at the center of change. We'll start with networking, and finish with another opportunity to discuss together all we have heard. Bring your business cards!

If you don't live in the Bay Area (we cannot all fit in here, although one would think we are trying to do just that if looking at the real estate...), please do have a look at how many cities are organizing a similar event, and by all means - attend one. These events are organized usually as non-profit, by volunteers; the events are sponsored and supported by the attendees by mean of a (relatively) cheap ticket (by the way, buy one to attend our event!) and by local sponsors (thank you!!!).

The format is like a condensed TedX dedicated to HR. 12 to 14 speakers, 5 minutes each, and slides rotate every 15 seconds - so there isn't much time for deep discussion (or for sales pitches, those being formally forbidden), but only the opportunity to share ideas. Each talk is recorded, and then shared on the DisruptHR website as well as on a dedicated Vimeo channel, where you can directly listen in if you want to get the picture.

You don't have to be an HR professional to attend or to speak. Actually, it is almost better if you are not; the freshest ideas often come from looking at things with a new eye.

And... we still have place for additional sponsors! so if you are interested, do contact me. 

S/4 and HCM cloudy relations

A few months have passed since the official announcement of S/4 HANA, and during SapphireNOW 2015 SAP executive held the Cloud Edition to baptism. Guides, reviews have been published, and analysts offered their opinions. Then in June, during the HR2015 conference in Nice, a specific announcement covered S/4 HANA and HCM platform(s) options and go forward offerings.

But I still wonder: from the HCM point of view, is it hype, or is it real?

Understand what is S/4 HANA

After more than 40 years of focused, continued developments to bring to reality what is arguably today the most complete suite of Enterprise Business Software on the market, SAP has taken a hard look at two issues:

·         on one side, the massive amount of data accumulated in storage has turned accessing and extracting it into a true challenge

·         on the other hand, process complexity has reached a zenith, requiring very extensive deployment projects and deep expertise – technical and business alike.  

While the original SAP’s value proposition was being an integrated suite (with all pieces built in the same data format and structure), this was lost with the addition of multiple mySAP  complementary modules, such as EIC, CRM, SCM and others - outside of the “ECC” core; in fact, from the HCM perspective, even the Organizational Management (“OM”) module introduced the need for an internal integration that made many data manipulations complex and required extensive expertise.

With the launch of HANA, the recent in-memory database brought forward by SAP and heralded by SAP’s founder Hasso Plattner, a new generation of  applications has become possible. HANA is the foundation of the new version of the ERP, first with the development of Simple Finance, and now with its extension into a full suite of functional applications, with more to come in the future.

R/3 was a new product compared to the mainframe-based R/2; S/4 is also a completely new tool. It carries through much of the same data semantics existing in the SAP Business Suite we well know, with a simplified data model, eliminating the complexities related to the previous database performance and technical limitations.

What about HCM?

Unlike all other functional parts of the Business Suite, SAP’s HCM has found its next generation tooling set in the SuccessFactors Suite. It is a pure-cloud, SaaS product that will not be made available on premise; similarly, there doesn’t seem to be a place within the S/4 suite for the complex and never ending tables and data structures that made SAP HCM infinitely flexible and complex.

HR data fields exist in S/4 HANA, and are able to support the integration of tools as well as the end to end processes to Finance and other functions – leveraging the popular concept called a “mini-master”, but it is important to understand that there is no HR Data Management, nor any HR Processes built in S/4; in other words, no transactional layer.

Adding to the situation is the fact that ECC 6.0 mainstream maintenance has been extended multiple times  - most recently until 2025, giving a good visibility and planning time.

So when we look to the options customers have to choose from in SAP landscape, we can only outline:

Option 1: Move to the public cloud with your HCM requirements by leveraging the SuccessFactors modules. The solution set provided is extensive and growing every quarters with multiple developments; the missing functionalities are being considered for development and prioritized, while being covered in the interim by strong partnerships with external providers. From the Cloud HCM solution, extend the set with productized integration available to S/4 HANA cloud edition; an alternative productized integration with S/4 HANA on premise is being finalized, expected availability before end of 2015. It remains a fact that in this case, a separate solution will have to be found for Payroll, either by using the EC Payroll (hosted, single tenant SAP HCM), or by outsourcing the process.

Option 2: Decide to remain on premise, knowing that the cost of support will grow after 2025, and keep informed on the solutions made available by SAP. Productized integrations connecting S/4 HANA to the traditional on premise HCM are announced and should be available in Q4 2015. In SAP’s mind, this step is only taken to help customers needing more time to migrate to cloud solutions, so only as an intermediate step in your eventual move to the cloud.

Participation in User Groups and associations (such as ASUG, DSUG and many others, full list: http://www.sap.com/communities/user-groups.html) can support you in keeping aligned to the product roadmap and possibly influence it; it has never been more relevant than in times of change.

Important points

•  User Interface is being harmonized across all systems. Fiori was launched in 2014 as a set of design guidelines for applications, and was quickly adopted as a harmonization tool. First the On Premise tool was “fiorized”, the SuccessFactors’ applications alignment is announced for this year, and S/4 has been built on these principles from the start. So independently from the tools that will best fit each customer’s landscape, the user EXPERIENCE can be end-to-end.
• Choice of delivery. While SuccessFactors is offered only as a public cloud solution, S/4 HANA is available today in both on premise (so on customers’ hosted premises, with yearly innovation packages) and Cloud Edition, benefiting of the accelerated quarterly release cycles. 
• Integration packages developed for SAP On Premise have been designed around the mini master record concept, and will remain the basis of the integration of SuccessFactors to S/4 HANA.
• SuccessFactors solution to payroll – EC Payroll, is strongly based on the original on premise powerhouse. I am not aware of any plan to introduce an S/4 HANA payroll… although one can only hope. 

Interestingly, there is no HR sitting at the board on this capture: is that for lack of graphic space?

For more information

Harvard Business Review: Making the Real-Time Enterprise a Reality (Feb 2014)

S/4 HANA overview

S/4 HANA FAQ (May 2015)

Constellation Research review of SAP S/4 HANA

Ciber's HANA blog

ASUG's review of HCM and S/4 HANA

David Ludlow's own blog on the S/4 HANA HCM options

Jeremy Master's comments

Visual CVs - a comparison and a poll

A new toy has appeared since some time in the Recruitment world - tailing the end tail of the infographics' visual appeal: the Visual CV - or in other words, your resume reduced (or improved) in its infographic format.

Multiple options have appeared, with different level of visual complexity, options and ease of use. I want to compare 4 options, rating 1(low) to 3 (high) each of these elements:

• is it Representative of the data that we want to see portrayed?
• is it Useable? (is it possible to import data, from LinkedIn or a CV? how easy it is to customize?)
• Is it Relevant - does it bring new information, or a new light?
• and is it Aesthetic? (of course this is a lot more subjective, so I will stick to a gut feel of the choices and options available) 

1. Visual CV is the easier to find - and in fact, it functions like a traditional job board, and collect your CV to make it searcheable for potential employers on their site. Not exactly what I was researching. It is painful to use - even when "importing from LinkedIn", data has to be manually added; in addition, the formatting provides little additional visual tools than a normal CV...

Nothing particularly exciting. 

Representative: 2

Useable: 1

Relevant: 1

Aesthetic: 1            

2. Re.Vu - I like this one. It has a great visualization, and good customization options; you can import your own background, and select different color schemes, including creating your own. It is possible to import data from LinkedIn, but you will still need to manually enter career milestones and history (and the history has only a short visibility due to the format), as well as select all other type of information you wish to display in infographic format. 

The main drag I see is that the more infographics get added, the longer the format - and in our world of horizontal screens, it is difficult to visualize. 

Representative: 3

Useable: 2 (lots of manual re-entry)

Relevant: 3

Aesthetic: 3

3. Visualize.me

Less infographics, but the option to import the recommendations from your LinkedIn profile - sadly, you cannot just select one or two, but only prioritize the first ten. I found that some of the graphics required too much space for the value added. Colors and styles are fully customizeable. 

Representative: 3

Useable: 3 - WOW, nothing to re-enter, but some re-formatting/consolidation required.

Relevant: 2

Aesthetic: 3

4. ResumUP can be as touchy-feely as you want. It offers a lot of options to fill your profile; many however are available only for premium profiles - an expense of 7.5 to 10$/monthly. 

Representative: 2 - the options are great, but even some critical ones such as mobility or salary can only be added by premium customers. 

Useable: 3 

Relevant: 2 - not sure all the options are actually useful, it requires a lot of decisions

Aesthetic: 3 - the skills imported (from LinkedIn) have a nice graphic. 

Conclusion.

Having options is always great, and each vendor provides some plus and some cons. Finding, filling and writing all these four templates have taken a half day (including some annoying manual entry, yes, I am complaining), so it is an acceptable effort. 

Now, what I am truly wondering is how useful this can be. By making the CV more digestible at a glance, are we making it easier for the HUMANS in recruitment to evaluate our application? I would hope so; but I also believe that the edge gained is very little, and it will be counter-productive when facing an ATS (Applicant Tracking), not be able to read such a CV. 

I see it more useful for business service providers, to allow a prospective customers to review and compare at a glance multiple profiles. 

As an end... I would love to have your opinion - which of the visuals is in your opinion the most relevant? are there any elements that should be better showcased? is there anything forgotten?

THANK YOU for any and all inputs. 

A rose by any other name - or, is it HR or IT?

While reading the news of the day yesterday morning, I happened by this post by my trusted friend Prashanth Padmanabhan. 

The debate started well before we started speaking about "CLOUD" or SaaS, discussed many times, at meetings, global user groups and conventions, in private offices and conference halls.

Credit: http://incandescentcloud.com/cloud-credits/ - isn't it a magnificent art installation?

Indeed, should HR or IT take the lead when it come to HRIS projects? 
When the Cloud started being commercialized, the common understanding was that FINALLY the function could be solely in charge, with very limited or no input required by the IT/IS group - so there would be no need for expensive long term consultants, nor specialized IT headcount. Is that true? More specifically, can we hold it true when we are talking about critical systems as HR Core?

Confluence 2014 in Santa Clara

On March 5th, I attended Confluence 2014  in Santa Clara. 
First thing first: I must give thanks to the organization of the event, who contacted me and was kind enough to invite me to attend. It was a day very well spent. 

The title of the event could appear pretentious anywhere else than in Silicon Valley: "The Future of Engineering: Better, Faster, Smaller". Here, it felt just right. While I feared to be blown off by topics way out of my comfort (i.e. expertise) zone, the agenda's keynotes and panels hit right home, and I learnt a lot from a roaster of exceptional speakers. 

Just a quick update - with a recently interview on Ciao Pittsburgh

Have you ever regretted not doing an MBA?

HA.

Well, no, I never wanted to go for an MBA (even if occasionally I considered the idea, in particular when my alma mater EPFL started sending me the pamphlets detailing the executive MBA in Management of Technology); I remember too well the sense of relief I had upon finishing my degree, and how much more at ease I felt in the real world rather than in pure academia.

Am I ready to change my mind, just when a few recent articles evaluate the actual value of an MBA sizeable investment (examples of such articles can be found on Forbes, or on Business Insider)? No, I don't think so, but I have become more curious of the different opportunities out there.

My life still doesn't afford me the extra time to go back to school; and programs that I have evaluated tend to be exemplary for how they address other people need for development, but never seem to truly apply to me. My niche is HRIS - it branches out in many different disciplines, but I have never had the ambition to become CIO; even less now that HRIS systems (on premise, in the Cloud, for large corporations, for small 1 to 200 employees ventures, as well as everything in between) are in such a frenzy of novelty.

Credit: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/mooc-makes-oxford-online-dictionary/2006838.article

Enter here the MOOC approach (my last blog in December was about my recent discovery). Quickly, I found myself using many waking moments (I will not say all, because I have an employer and a family, each having every right to expect my full attention during large parts of my days) evaluating which courses I would prefer to pick and how many I can manage to learn well from simultaneously.

Higher Education, 2013

Growing up in Switzerland and Italy, there has never been much of a doubt that I would complete my education at a higher education institution - and so did I, by chosing to read Architecture at the Swiss Institute of Technology in Lausanne. Now that I write this, I wonder if one is really suppose to read Architecture, or if a better word would be perhaps "design"?

Image credit: http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/2013/03/11/mooc/

After those years and a diploma, I moved out of the art-y side of the world, and wholeheartedly embraced IT, working with ERP providers and multiple customers; over the years, I've never wanted to go back to school for an MBA, and certainly not a second degree.

Internal costs of a reorg

All companies need to re-organize internally, it is a logical part of growing and changing; I am a strong believer that life IS change, and what we can't prevent we must embrace. Change is the world's only constant; its opposite isn't stability... rather immobility, or death.

That being now out of the way, every change come with a price tag, and we have to carefully evaluate if the cost is something we want to pay now, if it is better postponed, and how it should be prepared for, communicated and managed.

The lithany of a travel prisoner

Having loaded my beloved mini ipad with books to kill a full day of enslavement in planes, airports and other means of public transportation, I usually manage to transcend the mundane situation and place myself on a different planet, yet some recent rather uncomfortable business- and personal-related flight have made me think.

(Image from http://nyceducator.com/2006/09/children-first.html)

Really, isn't modern air travel just a modern version of a XIX century Orient Express in 3rd class cattle train? 

Uh-oh, are we almost ready to get all off Linked-In???

Technically, it is quite a wonder.

The newest brain-child of our rolodex provider is called Intro. Read here the details of this seemingly little app. LOOK in this picture how it innocently adds details about the senders of your mails INTO the emails themselves? how does that magic works? well, it seems to work by becoming the middle man for all your mails.

Another interesting read is here, looking at the potential consequences of this app, legally and regarding privacy. I am particularly fond of a couple of the questions proposed by this article.

• In position number one, we find "Attorney-client privilege", but in fact what is questioned here is the focus on sensitive material that you may be exchanging through your mail - with your insurance, with your bank, with doctors, with your lawyers. Yes. For instance "Hospitals and health systems are responsible for protecting the privacy and confidentiality of their patients and patient information" (HIPAA Guidelines), and it is a good thing. Doctors cannot disclose any part of conversations you have with them, unless you specifically request them to, and sign a release. Discussing your condition by email now could make a leak possible, and your health provider could not be blamed.
• Toward the end, point number 9. The understanding of what is private to each of us is, well, a private matter. LinkedIn, nor anybody else, should take this decision on your behalf. 

The saving grace of all this is that Intro is (so far) an additional app that you have to volontarily install on your Iphone and/or Ipad. Once installed, it creates a security profile and a special email, ready for syphoning. 

So the solution is quite clear - just don't even think to install this wonderful new product, and lets all keep an eye on how it all proceed... after having been an early adopter, I am ready to quit LinkedIn if a tool like Intro makes its way into the main app. 

It ties in quite nicely in my previous blogs about Data Privacy HERE and HERE

As BishopFox says, If I were the NSA, and I hear mobile phones were routing their emails through LinkedIn…well I know where I’m having my next birthday party.

The international POV on Data Privacy laws

I promised back in July that I would provide some notes about data privacy legal impacts in the cloud. I started writing down such notes - but I came to realize very fast that I could not do so without gaining a better view on where there are specific provisions about data privacy and how these can be in conflict.
That took me some time. I guess it is a work in progress; every day new content is published, new questions seem to arise; but I feel it is a good start, and a necessary one before talking about the cloud.

I am sharing an overview of my findings here, always please bear in mind that this is personal research and I have no claim to any legal title - if in doubt, please do yourself a favor and seek legal counseling.

International law coverage
Lets start by looking at this map. It is based on what I know, and I just updated it with my most recent readings... but even if (IF) it should be complete now, readers beware: it will not be tomorrow, so lets consider it a starting point.

Did you know that the 28th of January is Data Privacy Day?*

*DataPrivacy Day

Ever since I have been working with HRIS in the context of global companies, I’ve been collecting notes on how the HR data, sensitive and private as it is, can be protected. I’ve decided to publish this blog, but here goes the DISCLAIMER: these notes are of a general nature, and share my personal ramblings and thoughts on the matter. It should not be construed as an attempt to offer or render legal opinion or engage in the practice of law. Please consult the advice of a licensed professional if you require it. 

What is what?

One of the modern-age most compelling frauds includes one form or another of identity theft (identity cloning, financial ID theft, medical ID theft); we have seen first-hand phishing attempts received by mail and e-mail, and are careful in shredding personal documents rather than just throwing them on the recycling pile. As HR professionals, working with HR information, we are aware of the sensitivity of the data entrusted upon us by our company; and as employees, we expect that our information will be appropriately protected and remain private. 

Governments have produced laws and guidelines, and since 1981, groups of countries have entered agreements to decide how data (and in particular, HR data) can be shared across borders.

Image from HERE

Plenty of information is available, often fairly indigestible and written in “legalese”. Several terms appear to be used in alternance, are they really synonyms? Not quite.

·       Data integrity addresses the concern that data should be correct and complete for the use we want to make. As a simple example, if the address held about your employee is not updated, correspondence will fail to reach him/her, and consequently data is trash.

·       Data security is focused in keeping information safe, seeking protection from access by unauthorized entities. The idea is to avoid hacking and intruders; both to prevent theft of ideas or valuable information and to protect the integrity of the data (as above) against corruption (either accidental or willful). To date, it relies as much on technical hacking prevention and on the strength of individual passwords... and that is a weak link, see below.

·       Data privacy is often confused with data security, but actually starts from data security,  spanning a wider area. Its concern is to ensure legal compliance with the multiple international regulations controlling and protecting the individuals’ rights to keep their data safe and private; it isn’t merely protecting against external intrusions, but supervising the way HR data is shared internationally, where it is stored, how it is accessed. It means providing adherence to data privacy guidelines and regulations, all around the world where your organization is active.

Graduation day and Leaning In

Woaaah, how time flies. Yes, June was busy. What happened? well, its personal stuff, but all happy: I have a high school grad in the family now!

I've decided to go ahead and write a post about graduation day, mostly because it has been an impressive day. Anna has been attending Sequoia High School in Redwood City since our arrival in the Bay Area (sounds forever, but it is only 2 years!). It is one of the largest public high schools, and the oldest on the Peninsula; I have always been a strong advocate of the solidity of public education (when done right); we have chosen where to live based on the proximity of Sequoia and on the type of education this school offers - at the same time the option of an International Baccalaureat diploma (for free!), and the cultural experience of a large school, exposure to difference, strong support of equal opportunities.

Graduation at Sequoia is a big affair, as every year 400 new grads are ready to move on with their lives, to college for most. Some are the first grads in their families, more grads will be the first to attend college. 400 grads means a football stadium full of hope, cheering families (under a blasting sun), and a ceremony lasting a half-day. Not easy to find good speakers who will be willing to be present for the whole event...

Well. This year, Sequoia HS didn't even have to look for a speaker, because Ms. Sheryl Sandberg's office called asking if a speaker would be welcome. A strong advocate of education, supporting public high schools and their diversity, Ms. Sandberg offered freely her time, and not only delivered an interesting speech (you can listen in here about it), but also insisted to shake the hand of every grad. It is a cool grad pic if you ask me:

Some pictures about Ms. Sandberg's intervention at Sequoia HS are also available on the Lean In group on - you guessed - Facebook.

So, now that June and graduations are over, summer is starting, and we go on - and of course, Ms. Sandberg, we are ready to lean in.

What would you do if YOU weren't afraid? please add your comments.

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. 

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.

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.

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).