Tag Archives: SAP

HR Innovations 2019 – My Conference Recap

Cloud, SAP HCM, SuccessFactors, Talent Management, , , ,
HR Innovations 2019, hosted by SAPInsider in Las Vegas on March 19-21, 2019

I was fortunate enough to attend and speak at HR Innovations 2019 last week in Las Vegas. I have attended and been a speaker at the SAPInsider shows since 2006 (gulp!). During the 2006 conference, I spoke on “Guidelines and Best Practices for Leveraging Standard SAP Functionality for Career and Succession Planning” and “Structural Authorizations 101: What You Need to Know”. Boy, that definitely seems like a lifetime ago.

One of my first sessions at SAPInsider, back in 2006

At this year’s event, I was able to participate in a panel (“The great debate – on premise vs cloud”), as well as five (5) sessions spread across only two (2) days. I spoke on building a cloud business case, managing change in a cloud environment (versus on premise), as well as Fiori and SAP SuccessFactors Performance Management. Yes, I definitely felt immersed in the event! A few reflections on the event in general:

SAP Insider looked and felt different than previous shows

SAPInsider made some nice updates to the event. I liked the shorter sessions (30-minute delivery with 10-minute Q&A) with more time for participants to go between sessions and network. The sessions were more consumable for the audience and the event just felt less rushed in general. There were also sessions in the exhibitor hall, and – although it was loud and distracting at times – overall, I think it added another nice twist to the sometimes-mundane breakout room. (Of course, this was an added bonus for the sponsors and exhibitors at the event as well due to extra traffic).

Selfie shot with a few of our industry’s finest: (L to R): Danielle Larocca, Rinky Karthik, Steve Bogner, Imran Sajid, and me

Customers are still worried about life in the cloud

HR Customers get it – the industry is pulling them (whether they like it or not) to the cloud. Most customers weren’t (at least) overtly pushing back but remain surprised at some of the harsh realities when entering a cloud environment (whether it be hybrid or full). In particular, the topic of upgrades came up at a few of my sessions. Customers who have SAP Payroll on premise, for example, were horrified to hear they would need to continue with their annual HRSP (HR Support Pack) upgrades, as well as the added quarterly releases from SuccessFactors. SuccessFactors recently (as of Q4 2018) added test scripts to their releases which put some at ease. Still others fretted it meant more work to spread across little to no available resources.

Yet, Customers understand the benefits of moving to the cloud

Customers understand the benefits of cloud software. The enhanced user experience and continuous innovation seem to be the two most obvious ones. Many of the 15,000+ on premise customers are stymied now since innovating on their current SAP HCM ERP offering may not be justified if a move to the cloud is imminent. The effect on the marketplace is a slow pace of change, and the industry has felt this the past few years. Regardless, customers still understand they need to get there- they’re just struggled how to do so.

On premise is on life support until at least 2030 now (until SAP changes it again).

Ralf Wagner (VP, Product Management) from SAP did a nice job explaining the new offering in 2023 for SAP customers not able to migrate to SAP SuccessFactors in the next few years. The offering is called “SAP Human Capital Management for SAP S/4 HANA on premise addition” (take a breath!). This offering basically means the customer has to “carve out” their existing SAP HR module and deploy on SAP HANA database. It will be based on an EhP8 and supplemented by some HANA-based capabilities. The will then be integrated with the S/4 HANA suite. SAP will develop migration tools to do this. Still TBD on what effort this would really look like.

One of my industry colleagues, Danielle Larocca, Senior Vice-President of HCM Solutions at EPI-USE Labs, created a post on this with additional details.

SAP’s latest approach on migration options for on premise customers

New podcast

Check out the podcast from Steve Bogner’s Insight Consulting Partners. I was a special guest and I had a fun time recording it with Steve and friends. Steve hasn’t posted yet, but I’ll update this post when he does.

Taking in some beauty at the Bellagio

Until next time…. I expect SAPInsider to continue having an HR show in 2020, and go back to simply calling it HR 2020. Here’s to hoping it will grow on the productive changes done this year.

Jeremy

SAP HCM Query – Worklogix Whitepaper

Reporting, SAP Query, Uncategorized, , ,

This three-part whitepaper on SAP query is something I have been meaning to blog about. There are plenty of SAP HCM customers out there who continue to seek information on how to leverage the query application in SAP.  As it is one of the most underleveraged of tools within the SAP HCM suite, one of my colleagues, Susan Traynor, has written a three-part whitepaper on the subject.

query

You can download these whitepapers here:

Worklogix Whitepapers – Harnessing the Power of SAP Query in SAP HCM Part I

Worklogix Whitepapers – Harnessing the Power of SAP Query in SAP HCM Part II

Worklogix Whitepapers – Harnessing the Power of SAP Query in SAP HCM Part III

There is a boatload of information to enjoy here. Enjoy!

Top Ten Gotchas when Implementing SAP Enterprise Compensation Management (ECM)

Compensation, ECM, SAP HCM, Self Services, Talent Management, Variable Pay, ,

Thought I would share a few lessons learned around Compensation management using SAP ECM (Enterprise Compensation Management), but these could be used for any compensation system.

  1. ECM supports the annual compensation (“focal review”) process, but not the off-cycle (ad hoc) increases associated to promotions, laterals, downgrades, etc. Don’t force the off-cycle process in the tool or it will turn ugly.
  2. Ensure budgeting requirements are well understood early in the project between the compensation and project teams.  For example, what is the budget/organizational freeze date (or, is there a freeze date?), can budget funds be re-allocated during planning, what  do you do with terminated employees during the cycle, etc.
  3. Don’t rely too much on “macro-eligibility” to drive your compensation eligibility rules. Infotype 0758 (Compensation Program) is where “macro-eligibility” is defined.  Putting too much intelligence in this infotype is a recipe for disaster because you are at the mercy of master data maintenance (PA30/PA40 transactions).  Bake your eligibility requirements into your “micro-eligibility” rules (including the eligibility BAdI) since you have absolute control over the logic.
  4. Listen carefully to the requirements around compensation planning and approvals. For discretionary plans, ensure that the system is configured to handle the appropriate workflow and business logic to handle compensation worksheet level approvals, routing and escalation rules.
  5. Ensure that all your process inputs (market data, performance ratings, potential ratings, etc.) are configured prior to the compensation worksheet being opened to management.
  6. Agree with the compensation team on which master data will be entered by them in Production versus input by IT in Development (and transported to the upper environments).  Time-sensitive information such as Business Unit Results, Black Sholes/Fair Market Value, Bonus modifiers/kickers, etc. should be controlled by the business in the Productive environment.  This data may also be very confidential as well, for “comp’s eyes only”.
  7. Give the compensation team the ability to proof the compensation worksheets before releasing to management.  Seems a given, but worth it’s own line.
  8. Conduct your system testing with a dedicated QA system with unmasked employee/compensation data. (This may not be realistic for all companies due to budgetary and/or environment  constraints, I understand, but shoot for the stars and maybe you will reach the moon.)
  9. Just because functionality is offered, doesn’t mean you should use it. Test the waters within a demo environment with the compensation team to ensure they really do want all the functionality offered. There is nothing wrong with hiding functionality until if (or when) it’s needed. For example, the Compensation Profile is neat but also can backfire on you if you expose too much data that’s difficult to explain (or – even worse – wrong!)
  10. Don’t over-engineer the stock granting process.  At maximum, collect and split the stock recommendations, but all other activities (vesting management, exercising, life events, etc.) should be handled by your stock plan administrator.

Until next time!

Jeremy

@jeremymasters

Getting Ready for HR2014… are you???

Cloud, HANA, HR Renewal, HR2014, Integration, Mobility, SAP Fiori, SAPInsider, Self Services, SuccessFactors, Talent Management, , , , , , ,

HR2014

Like many of my colleagues attending HR2014 (produced by the @SAPInsider team), I am getting ready for HR2014 in Orlando March 11-14, 2014. I will be delivering 4 sessions this year:

podcast

I recently did a podcast with Kristine Erickson (twitter handle: @SAPinsiderKE) from @SAPInsider to sum up my SuccessFactors Talent Management Fall 2013 Seminar as well as look at the year ahead including the conference: What’s next for SAP ERP HCM Jeremy Masters shares his advice on SAP HR on-premise & cloud and the trends to watch at HR 2014. We chatted on the overall SAP HCM roadmap, SuccessFactors integration, HR Renewal 2.0, SAP Fiori, and Employee Central among other topic areas.

I will also be doing an Ask-The-Experts session with several other industry colleagues during one of the evenings. This is an underutilized part of the event where you can grab a beverage and sit with someone in a relaxed atmosphere to discuss anything you want. For this year, the SAPInsider team was able to compile a great group of folks including:

There will be a great group of speakers this year with fresh content. You can see who is speaking here. Too many sessions to mention that sound great, so I won’t even attempt to list…

hot_button

Some of the hot topics from this year will surely include (in no particular order):

  1. HANA roadmap for HCM, specifically anything in addition to the payroll work that has been done so far…
  2. SAP Fiori and the roadmap for HR apps. Wave 2 brought no HCM apps, will we see what Wave 3 will bring for HR?
  3. SuccessFactors Talent Management enhancements (such as the new “Presentations” functionality which was just released 1402).  By the way, if you haven’t already done so, please join the new LinkedIn group dedicated on SuccessFactors Talent Management.
  4. SuccessFactors Employee Central updates.  I am looking forward to hearing the 12 month roadmap especially around Time management.
  5. Updates related to the Customer Connection program in areas such as on premise Compensation, Learning (SAP LSO), and E-Recruiting.
  6. Further integration of SAP Jam into everything SAP HCM and SuccessFactors.
  7. HR Renewal 2.0 and the roadmap ahead for SAP Core HR innovations.

Hope to see you there. If you are not able to make one of my sessions, please drop by booth #315 in the Exhibit Hall and say hi to me or one of my Worklogix colleagues during one of the breaks.

See you all soon!

Jeremy (twitter handle: @jeremymasters)

(Twitter hashtag for the event is #HR2014)

SuccessFactors Talent Management Seminar 2013 Wrap Up

Cloud, HANA, HR Renewal, HR2014, Hybrid, Integration, Mobility, PaaS, Proxy, SAP Fiori, SAP HCM, SAPInsider, SuccessFactors, Talent Management, Uncategorized, , ,
Over the past 5 weeks, several industry colleagues and I have traveled in the US (Las Vegas and Orlando) and Europe (Copenhagen) meeting with over 50 customers from over 20 countries for a seminar on SuccessFactors’ Talent Management.

SuccessFactors Seminar

The below list is in no particular order but reflects some important themes, questions, and comments:

Integration is still a main concern.  Integration has always been central to SAP’s value proposition. The recent focus on cloud cannot derail this.  I was fortunate to spend these sessions with fellow speakers from SAP. From the messaging and interactions with them, I can confirm that SAP / SuccessFactors is committed to continued investment in integration (they term them “iFlows”).  This is a very good thing for customers, to ease the transition for using cloud technologies where practical. Prashanth Padmanabhan, SAP’s Senior Director, has written a recent blog on the topics for talent hybrid and full cloud integrations. Revisiting my list of concerns from nearly two years ago,many of these items are being addressed. (That blog post alone has gathered over 3,000 unique page views since June 2012).

Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) will be the differentiator.  Like other functional areas, the HANA Cloud Platform will be a critical piece for HCM to make the suite competitive in a very competitive cloud space (Workday, Oracle Fusion, Infor).  The HANA Cloud Development environment is key to SAP’s eco-system. Worklogix is actively developing applications and excited about the opportunities here with the future HANA marketplace (think Apple’s App Store but for SAP).

In my opnion, HANA (as a database) is a distraction to HCM customers. Yes, SuccessFactors would like to dump its Oracle databases (and soon will), but we need to focus on the platform HANA so that customers and partners can develop apps on. This has been articulated by Vishal and Hasso as well, but hasn’t reached most customers yet.  My hope is that this eco-system ramps up like salesforce.com has done.

Speaker Team for Las Vegas and Orlando
Speaker Team in Las Vegas and Orlando

Can we crack the User Experience nut?  Most hybrid customers have two (if not three or four) portals by the time they implement SuccessFactors. How will we truly make the user experience seamless? This is an area I have a lot passion in, as I have worked with employee, manager and HR self service since 1998 when I was a wee lad at Price Waterhouse.  We cannot be in the business of building and supporting “Frankenstein” portals (my term). However, the reality is that we need to support customers with their own internal realities. (For example, many customers will have to make sense of how their intranet, SharePoint, NetWeaver, and SuccessFactors sites/portals all come together).  This isn’t new but is becoming a pervasive issue as we venture into hybrid customers adding SuccessFactors into the mix. Putting simple (and single) sign on aside, we still need to team together to figure out how this all will be transparent to the end user.

Access control (security authorizations) is a major pain point for hybrid customers. Since authorizations won’t (and can’t) magically port over from SAP to SuccessFactors (or vice versa), we need to put this at the top of our list during design sessions. Especially with customers using complex structural authorizations (including context-sensitive structural authorizations). This will be – GULP – a big area for SIs and customers to work out together.

Mobility, mobility, mobility! Should I say it again: mobility! I don’t need to mention how important this area is for SAP HCM / SuccessFactors in order to keep up with customer demand as well as the competition’s offerings. How to offer one customer-facing (i.e., employee-facing) mobile app (or apps?) will be a challenge, and will be huge over the next 5 years.  If/when SuccessFactors will go device-agnostic (e.g., HTML5) is to be determined. (Secondary question: how does SAP Fiori come into play here – if it even does?). Mobility is another passion of mine, and one that I will speak on during next year’s HR2014 conference. Here are the session details.

Speaker Team in Copenhagen
Speaker Team in Copenhagen

Proxy functionality needs to be killer. In fact, I will call proxy (or delegation) management the third (or fourth?) killer app (this is self-proclaimed, but where can I copyright this???). SuccessFactors has done a nice job with proxy management. You can both manage proxy assignments, as well as use the proxy functionality easily within the tool. Compared to SAP HCM functionality, customers will be enthused.  On premise SAP HCM has always struggled with transactional and approval authorization (in part why Worklogix built the Proxy Manager product).

Social collaboration is great, but its benefits are not yet well understood. SAP Jam is a great tool (we use it internally, during our SuccessFactors trainings, as well as to share knowledge within the SAP/ SuccessFactors eco-system), but many customers don’t understand its context in the (corporate) world.  They ask: “Why do I need a LinkedIn / Facebook for the enterprise if I have access to LinkedIn and Facebook?” We need to evangelize on the importance and power of team collaboration, especially with video at our disposal. (Can you imagine what the internet would be without YouTube, Vimeo, SlideShare, MOOCs, Khan Academy?). SAP has a huge asset with Sameer Patel who I think is doing a great job in this area. You should follow him on Twitter you are not already: @SameerPatel

Being clear with messaging around on premise and cloud innovation will be important for SAP/SuccessFactors.  We need to be clear with customers that there is HCM innovation happening in both SAP’s on premise (e.g., SAP Fiori and HR Renewal) and cloud offerings (SuccessFactors, HCP, Jam). This is a good thing for customers, as they move to cloud at their own pace but are still looking for continuous improvement with their current HRIS investment.  We know where massive innovation is happening, but we do need to remember that some customers will either never have an option to go to the cloud, or won’t have the opportunity to get there sooner than they wish.

I want to thank SAPInsider for supporting my idea back in February 2013 for this SuccessFactors seminar. It was a huge success and, as always, the events in all three cities were interactive, engaging, and educational for all involved.

Please follow me on Twitter @jeremymasters

Until next time!

Jeremy

Attention All Comp Geeks: Conference Time, 2013!

Compensation, Talent Management, , , ,

Hear ye, Hear ye, calling all Compensation geeks… will you be joining me at the WorldatWork Conference in Philly at the end of this month?  There’s still time to register.

WorldatWork

Total Rewards 2013
Total Rewards 2013

The annual WorldatWork conference will be held April 29-May 1, with loads of great information for those in the Compensation profession.  This is the quintessential event for Total Rewards Professionals. Check out the quick schedule of the event here and the complete list of workshops here.

This year, I am happy to be presenting a case study with one of our customers, Perrigo, on how we used technology (specifically SAP’s Enterprise Compensation Management module) to deliver a best-in-class compensation solution for their employees, managers, and HR Professionals worldwide. Our session is at 9-10am ET on Tuesday, and official session title is: “Leveraging HR Technology to Build a Strategic Human Capital Platform” (Session Code T07T1). I am privileged to be presenting with Stacey Petrey Ed.D., CCP, VP of Global Compensation and Benefits, Perrigo. Stacey is a compensation visionary and truly understands how technology can support the needs of the business.

I have been lucky to be part of an organization (Worklogix) that has one of its core competencies in Compensation. We have several robust solutions, including a Compensation solution that will knock your socks off.   I have authored five books from SAP PRESS including Enterprise Compensation Management. For a full list of my titles, you can also check out my author page on Amazon.

Some of the other sessions that I plan on attending (and why!) include the following:

“New Frontiers in Reward Design: Six Key Learnings from Behavioral Economics” (Session Code: C19T5)  by David W Cheatham, CCP, Director Compensation, Coca-Cola Company.  I know David from compensation work we did with The Coca-Cola Company, and am always impressed with what he has to say.

“Fantasy and Reality in Academic Research on Rewards” (Session Code: C09T2) by Barry Gerhart, Ph.D., Professor, University of Wisconsin; Kevin F Hallock, PhD, Director Institute for Comp Studies, Cornell University; Gerald E Ledford, Jr, Senior Research Scientist, Center for Effective Organizations; Michael H. Schuster, Ph.D., CHRS, Professor and Consultant, U.S. Coast Guard Academy.  I am always intrigued at what academia can teach us in the business world.  Of course, I am also always supportive of anyone from my alma mater, Cornell.

“Perception Is Reality: The Importance of Pay Transparency to Employees and Organizations” (Session Code: C07M3) by Robert J Centonze, CBP,CCP, CEBS, VP Global Compensation & Benefits, Campbell Soup Company; Nora E Costa, CCP, GRP, Sr. Director, Corporate Compensation, CVS Caremark; Rena Rasch, Ph.D., Manager, Research, Kenexa High Performance Institute; Mark A Szypko, CCP, GRP, Managing Director Compensation, Kenexa, an IBM Company.  I like the topic as well as the mix of speakers between industry experts and analysts.

“From New Technology Smog to Cloud 9: An Overview of Today’s Hot Technologies and What’s Right for Your Organization”, Session Code: T05T5 by Kimberly L. Seals, CCP, Senior Partner, Mercer. Love the title, and session topic is just up my alley.

Will I see you there?  If so, please be sure to say hello at my session, or anytime during the conference. If not, I will be providing some coverage on my Twitter account @jeremymasters.

See you soon (I hope)!

Jeremy

 

got mobility? HR Apps will Rule the World

HR2013, Mobility, MSS, SAPInsider, SuccessFactors, Uncategorized, , ,

Alright, maybe the title is a bit extreme, but I have seen a lot of excitement lately around mobility and HR. The question is not if mobility will hit mainstream HR platforms (be it on premise or SaaS), but rather how fast it will catch on.

So first things first, do you remember this?

Motorola DynaTAC8000X
Motorola DynaTAC8000X

It’s the Motorola DynaTAC8000X. For those old enough, the DynaTAC may be best known for being used in the 1987 movie Wall Street, starring Michael Douglas as corporate raider Gordon Gecko. Whether or not you were a fan of the movie, it’s pretty amazing to see this phone in action.

We have come a long way from the Motorola, having lived through the rule of Blackberry in the corporate world, until Apple came along with its iPhone and iPad innovations and flexed its muscles…

And now I reflect further on mobility, as I am getting ready for my HR Forum Q&A on the SAP Insider Learning Network, for Wednesday, April 17, 2013 at 12:30-1:30pm EDT. The session title is Leveraging HR mobile apps: Mobility with SAP ERP HCM and SuccessFactors. (Please register for this ahead of time – you can also go ahead and leave questions already on the site.)

During my session at HR 2013 in Vegas, I felt a strong connection with my audience. Lots of interest – as well as – lots of questions around what SAP and SuccessFactors has in their offering. During my session “Guidelines and Best Practices for Deploying ESS and MSS on Mobile Devices“, (which I am also presenting at the SAPInsider Europe conference in Amsterdam in June), I was able to articulate a few themes that seemed to resonate well with colleagues.

Performing HR transactions on a mobile device?

Yeah! Performing HR transactions on a mobile device will become the norm and not the exception in the not-so-distant future. In 2011, Gartner predicted that 40% of ESS and MSS transactions will be performed on a mobile device by the year 2015.  Whether or not we will achieve this number is not the point here.  Another interesting stat: In 2015, projected sales of smart phones/tablets will be 1.7 billion units, whereas the projected sales of PC/laptops will be 400 million units. Definitely makes you scratch your head.

Bring Your Own Device

BYOD is leading the charge where consumer IT is the pioneer. We demand our HR apps to work a certain way since we use Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Amazon, and Google on a daily basis. In fact, on the same device we shop Diapers.com, we can also update our performance management plan, or approve leave requests, or look at the current headcount numbers. Pretty amazing.

Consider This!

If you are going mobile for HR, here are some quick consideration areas:

Functionality – will depend on several factors including your device type (tablet, smart phone) but think about what processes actually make sense to be on a mobile device and what processes don’t;

Size/User Experience  – screen real estate matters; be sure to think about the user experience when operating a smart phones or tablet;

Connectivity – between WiFi and cellular networks, you can connect just about anywhere (work, home, airport, plane!);

Security and Infrastructure – understanding options around MDM (Mobile Device Management) software like SAP Afaria, and MEAP (Mobile Enterprise Application Platform) like SUP (Sybase Unwired Platform); and lastly,

Deployment Model: Are you developing native applications or web mobile applications?  This is an ongoing debate that has no winner. Some are of the ilk that there is no match to developing native mobile applications (using Objective C for iOS, Java for Andriod, etc.) so as to fully unearth the powers within the device (including its hardware, like camera functions). And then, there are others who believe HTML5 is the holy grail and browser-based access to applications is the most efficient and sensible option (e.g. for upgrades). There are pros and cons in both camps.

The Store is Open for Business

Last, did you know SAP has a store just like Apple has iTunes, Google Android has Google Play, Windows has Windows Store, and BlackBerry has AppWorld? You can find it at http://store.sap.com/. There’s also a mobile app for it on iTunes.

SAP mobile application iTunes
SAP Mobile Application Store

In addition to the SAP-built applications, the SAP vendor eco-system is also pushing the envelope and making some important innovations in this area as well. My company, Worklogix, has created some incredibly powerful mobile applications that our clients are loving. See below screen shot of Worklogix’s Mobile Desktop – which gives HR and Managers the ability to view their team (span-of-control), and initiate or approve transactions such as promotions, changes in position, termination, and hire/rehires.

Worklogix Mobile Desktop for HR and Managers
Worklogix Mobile Desktop

 

Have any questions on the above? Please don’t hesitate to leave a comment, or contact me directly. Thanks!

 

Thoughts from HR2013

ESS, HR2013, SAP HCM, SAPInsider, Self Services, SuccessFactors, Talent Management, , , , , , , , ,

Hi gang,

Just back from a great conference held by the SAPInsider team from Wellesley Information Services. Like past years, this year was great. Here are some of my takeaways, impressions, and lasting thoughts while still fresh in the brain:

  1. The messaging was clearer, but the sales pitch needs to go. The good news from the conference was that SAP and SuccessFactors did a much better job at the positioning of the strategy/roadmap than last year. I thought David Ludlow did a nice job with the message delivery at the keynote. Outside of the keynote, the sessions largely had the same quality and diversity in previous years (great job to SAPInsider, Riz, and Amy Thistle). My session on mobility really resonated with the audience, as did many important subjects on integration and HANA. The only downer for me was that there was selling in some of the vendor-led presentations. This is a customer-driven event and it should focus on ‘how-tos’, case studies, and best practices. Let’s focus on describing the options for our customers and how we can help drive successful deployments.
  2. Impressed with access to SAP and SuccessFactors staff. This year more than any other we had more SAP/SuccessFactors representation at the conference. Also, some SAP folks were available on Twitter throughout the conference, such as @watchthewave and  @brianclendenin which enabled us to clarify some items right then during the conference. For example, I had a question around Plateau’s performance management offering that was clarified by a SuccessFactors VP in about 1 hour. I learned first hand how powerful social can be, especially in a conference setting.
  3. Innovation around HR Renewal and deployment challenges. Like others, I saw some cool things around HR Renewal, but am concerned around how quickly it can be adopted by the bulk of customers. First , it does require the customer to be at a certain version/patch: SAP ERP 6.0,  Enhancement Package 6 on with SP Stack 03. What’s difficult here is that we have alot of things being thrown in front of customers from an ESS/MSS perspective: there was the conversion to Web Dynpro ABAP (which is now complete, as of EhP6), then there was CORBU, then HR Renewal for the HR Business Partner, then an extension of this for ESS and MSS. Also, throw in the mix of SAP Portal versus NetWeaver Business Client (NWBC). For those customers who are a SharePoint shop, NWBC is a consideration (to be consumed in a web part), but the challenge now is that SAP Portal is pretty well entrenched in SAP customers and it’s hard to rip that out at this point. When surveyed at my ESS/MSS customer session, about 80-90% were using the SAP Portal. Net new clients might be a different story. So we need to guide our customers in this hazy area. [As a side note, I was disappointed with the demo during the keynote, as it appeared slow (due to connectivity issues). At one point, the screen went blank. Also, the Employee Central demo appeared a bit slow during the keynote, and it was given shorter airtime (not sure why?).
  4. Some thoughts around functionality offerings of SAP/SuccessFactors:
    1. Jobs2Web adds huge capability for the Recruiting solution from a social (SocialMatcher) and candidate User experience perspective. However, the recruiter functionality (original SuccessFactors Recruiting) needs improvement, which I hope is an area of innovation for SAP/SuccessFactors.
    2. Performance management (and goals) continues to be a strong and compelling offering. I’m not sold on the use case of the new goals app for my iPhone, but the offering in sum is functionality rich.
    3. Qualifications management is a key issue needing a solution. Since many customers maintain a qualifications catalog within their core HR system, and since the go forward solution is SuccessFactors, there needs to be a well-thought out plan to sync this within a hybrid environment.
    4. I believe the SAP on premise Enterprise Compensation Management (ECM) and SuccessFactors comp/variable pay are comparable in terms of functionality. I heard from several customers who will stay on premise with compensation since their variable pay calculations/business process need special attention.  Those that have SAP Payroll on premise, I also see value in coupling the comp with the payroll.
    5. We need more clarity in the Workforce Analytics and HANA areas. From the information I gathered, and from the customers I met with, there is still alot of confusion around the strategy on premise v. cloud, around these two items.  I suspect we will hear more about these items during SAPPHIRE in May.
    6. Employee Central needs to grapple with the concurrent/ global employment use case since it currently cannot handle multiple contracts. Again, an area SAP/SuccessFactors needs to invest in.
    7. Time management was largely absent during the sessions and throughout the conference.
    8. Cloud Payroll was mentioned at a very high level. When will we hear more about this?

Next stop is the 2013 SAPPHIRE/ASUG conference. Hope to see all my friends there, and learn more!

Please follow me on Twitter at @jeremymasters

SAP Insider Q&A: ESS, MSS, and Portal Talk – A Great Conversation with Customers

ESS, MSS, SAP Consulting, Self Services, , , ,

On November 27th, I hosted another SAPInsider Q&A forum with over 50 participants. The good turnout did not surprise me as I have talked with many customers asking about the new ESS and MSS functionality and also the deployment options available (NWBC, SAP Portal, 3rd party, vendor-provided, Cloud, etc.).  There were a ton of great questions. You can check out my the recorded session here.

A few takeaways from the event for me were as follows:

  1. Still a lot of interest for customers wanting to implement basic ESS and MSS (even for the first time).  Basic time entry and attendance is still much in demand for customers, as well as benefits, pay statement, and other more “basic” self services. This is especially true for many of the smaller or mid-size customers.
  2. There is lots of talk around the newer EhP5 and EhP6 services, including the new deployment options.  I have seen some customers looking at SharePoint and WebSphere for their portal (content management), but by far customers seem to be sticking to their SAP NetWeaver Portal investment.  Since becoming enterprise-grade years back, I feel confident the SAP Portal is here to stay for most customers already running it for their HR services (and/or as their enterprise portal). Ripping it out and going NWBC might not make much sense for them right now given their provisioning is already being handled via the portal.
  3. Confusion around prerequisites and sequencing of Enhancement Package upgrades. Whether the customer is going to EhP5 or EhP6, there seems to be a lack of good content. You can start here for MSS content, and here for ESS content. Also, check out SAP Note  1588625 (Release information for Manager Self-Services Add-On 1.0) as well as SAP Note 1450179  (ESS Based on Web Dynpro ABAP Available as of EHP5) . These two notes should provide some good high overview of the current ESS and MSS offerings. Customers are realizing the differences between the Enhancement Pack and the Business Functions – Enhancement Packs are a BASIS activity versus Business Functions are for Functional consultants (this is a generalization, but the point is that the business functions is where we actually switch on the functionality). For those who want a baseline, please check out my ESS/MSS SAP PRESS book  as well as Marin Gillet’s SAP PRESS book.

I am hosting another HR Forum on Talent Management, on January 23 at 12:30pm EST. Please join me then and let’s have another great conversation about Talent!

You can follow me on twitter at @jeremymasters

Best,

Jeremy