Panaya

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During this twenty minute podcast, Jon Reed of JonERP.com interviews Amit Bendov, Chief Marketing Officer of Panaya, about what they learned from their recent Survey on SAP Support. Since Panaya's tools are all delivered via Software as a Service (SaaS), Jon wanted to get Amit's take on how much value there is in SaaS right now for SAP users based on what Panaya has learned. The podcast also covers the release of Panaya's new Big Book of SAP Upgrades and Panaya's presence at SAP TechEd Phoenix, including the Phoenix/Sedona bike trip Amit is organizing the Saturday after TechEd. (Find Amit on Twitter for more details on the bike trip). Editor's note: for more details on the challenges of installing SAP support packs and the specifics of Panaya's SAP support package automation solution, check out the additional podcast Jon and Amit taped with a focus on SAP support pack installation.

 Podcast Timeframe

(1:45) Amit's background as a twenty year veteran of the software industry. Unlike many in marketing, Amit used to be a "code wrangler" so he brings a developer's sensibility to his current role. It took Amit about 30 minutes to figure out that Panaya's SaaS-enabled SAP upgrade and support pack solutions were going to be a difference maker in the SAP market. His decision to join up with Panaya was a "no brainer" - two years later, he feels even more strongly about it.

(3:21) Jon has noticed that many third party SAP firms are very good at marketing, but they don't necessarily share a lot of information. Panaya has taken a different tack, openly sharing results such as their SAP Support Pack Survey and the Big Book of SAP Upgrades. What has inspired Panaya to undertake the hard work of compiling meaningful content?

Amit has found that: 

• Creating original content and compiling surveys helps Panaya to understand the issues SAP customers are faced with that their solutions should be addressing.
• Sharing content is what SAP users really care about. They want to know what their peers are thinking, rather than just get another sales pitch.
• Making content available sparks conversations about issues that Panaya is working to solve. Feedback and response to this content shows Panaya how they need to fine tune their solutions to meet SAP customer needs.

(5:25) In their recent SAP Support Survey, Panaya interviewed 178 customers and partners about their attitudes on a range of topics pertaining to Enterprise Support, SAP Support Pack installation, and related issues. Some of the findings were surprising. Amit was expecting to see very high levels of dissatisfaction with the cost of Enterprise Support but:

• A surprising 40% said that Enterprise Support was reasonable and justified, and this survey was taken prior to the SAP-SUGEN initiative which spreads the support increases over time assuming SAP is able to meet a set of agreed-upon KPIs.

(7:17) Other SAP survey takeaways on Enterprise Support that SAP should take a note of; the survey did identify areas of confusion about the value of Enterprise Support:

• People confuse maintenance and support, which are two different things: maintenance being the right to stay on the latest and greatest release of the SAP software that the company is currently running, and support being technical support for issues that users are having.
• SAP needs to explain the value of support that people are getting; explaining the KPIs further may help as well. People understand the price increase but they may not understand the value. SAP seems to be headed in the right direction in terms of better explaining Enterprise Support.

(8:25) SAP support packages are not necessarily as routine as we might think. The survey results identified many user challenges related to the time and expense of SAP support pack installation. Amit says that SAP support packs are like a "mini upgrade." Customers want to stay up to speed with the latest SAP support packages, but there is never a good time to undertake them. There is a substantial amount of testing and some risk, and it is not easy to budget for SAP support packs. Falling behind carries another set of consequences. Panaya wanted to make sure its support pack solution addressed the most common issues they found, such as:

• 57% of the respondents said that their number one challenge was understanding the impact of SAP support packs. Not everything in a support pack is applicable to a user's system, and they need to know which aspects impact their system. The second highest challenge was how to do effective testing. Less than 5 percent of SAP support pack updates are typically applicable to a user's system. This creates a "needle in the haystack" problem. Panaya took these concerns into account when creating their own SAP support packs solution - a separate podcast with Amit gets into Panaya's SAP support pack solution in more detail.

(11:15) Two of the biggest buzzwords in the enterprise world right now are: Software as a Service (SaaS) and "the cloud." Some see the cloud as a long way from impacting SAP users, others see it as revolutionizing the market right now. In Panaya's own work with cloud-based solutions, what has Amit seen so far? Where is the use case and where is the hype? Does the learning curve of SaaS take away from the ROI potential for SAP customers?

• Amit says moving from SAP on premise to the cloud is a very big decision, but it's good to start exploring the options. The cost benefits of the cloud are definitely there. But you have to approach it gradually and find the initial areas of greatest benefit.  Panaya has moved their 100 servers to the cloud, and they are saving substantial amounts every day, getting better performance, and saving a great deal of operational overhead.
• As far as tools like Panaya are concerned, the cost benefit is definitely there. It's much cheaper for Panaya to offer their solution to customers in the cloud than to do it in a traditional way. Panaya uses a "virtual supercomputer" of about 100 servers to run their customers' simulations. If the customers had to run 100 servers to use Panaya's tools the solution would not be viable. Many of them are shocked to learn the solution can be up and running in twenty minutes without installing any hardware or software.
• Panaya's experience has shown that the cloud has relevant value to SAP users now, but it's smart to push through the hype and only use the solutions that are appropriate.

(13:45) Panaya also has a solution that addresses SAP upgrades - another aspect of SAP implementation that carries a major set of challenges and often goes overbudget. Panaya just released a "Big Book of SAP Upgrades" which shared upgrade lessons learned from many SAP partners and customers. What were some of those lessons?

• This is a huge question, worth of its own dedicated podcast. Panaya felt that there was a great deal of SAP upgrade knowledge out there, so they wanted to compile it. There were numerous contributors from some of the largest SAP users out there, as well as freelancers and smaller companies. Tips included efficient testing tactics, building testing replicas of the production system, and which transactions can save you time and how to minimize database size. There are close to 100 different tips in different areas.

(16:30) As we taped the podcast, the economy is still challenging and the SAP job market is not an easy one. What are Amit's skills tips for SAP professionals based on his talks with SAP users?

• Be aware of the tools that are available with the latest releases (ERP 6.0 and BS 7.0). People think the new releases are mostly architectural changes but there are functionality changes also, including many new tools to familiarize yourself with.
• Stay on top of the third party tools outside of SAP, including but not limited to cloud-based solutions, that support migration to ERP 6.0 as well as optimization of that environment.

• Another key point: it's not enough to be a "code monkey" anymore. Companies are looking for "technical advisors" who can not only code, but can help them better understand the pros and cons of different tools and approaches. Can you provide value beyond writing code? It's a key question to keep in mind and the move from pure developer to more of a developer/advisor is a good move these days.

(18:12) Closing comments - Amit is looking forward to getting feedback on the Big Book of SAP Upgrades. If you have feedback on any of Panaya's products or reports, please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and they'll be happy to be in touch.

(18:45) Panaya will be at SAP TechEd Phoenix and if you want to meet up with Amit and the Panaya team find him on Twitter. He's also organizing a bike trip in the Phoenix/Sedona area for the Saturday after TechEd Phoenix.