Win-win for SAP, users and partners
Date: September 9, 2007, Source: SAP INFO, Author: SAP INFO
What led up to the establishment of the International Association for SAP Partners (IA4SP)?
Baljer: There are many reasons for SAP partners to work cooperatively with each other. They have common interests and the need to coordinate matters related to a wide variety of issues. Also, communication between participants works only if it is well-managed, especially since their numbers are constantly increasing. Initial discussions led to the idea of creating an association. And finally eleven companies allied themselves in early May to form this association.
What is the basic idea behind the association?
Baljer: Today, SAP is more dependent than ever on partner companies for advancing its ambitious goals such as "100,000 customers by 2010" among middle-sized companies and for increasing the use of the Enterprise Service-Oriented Architecture. Partners play a major role in many customer projects, and their numbers are growing from year to year just like the number of different SAP partner programs. For a well-functioning partner ecosystem, it thus becomes more and more important for partners to coordinate their work not only bilaterally with SAP and the German-Language SAP User Group (DSAG), but also among each other. Structured channels of communication are beneficial for everyone involved.
How would you describe the goals of IA4SP?
Baljer: We offer SAP partner companies the organizational framework to coordinate their overarching interests and represent them to SAP. We want to set up a partner network, improve planning security and coordinate work with SAP in the areas of sales, development, consulting, support and training. We also want to be involved in further developing and optimizing the SAP partner ecosystem.
You mentioned overarching interests of the partners. Aren't there conflicts there too? After all, some companies compete with each other.
Baljer: Of course the partner companies are often competitors. At the same time, they often cooperate in many customer projects where their solutions and services complement each other. Frequently there are competition situations in one area, for example system integration, while they cooperate as partners with one another in other areas such as hosting or technology. The goal of IA4SP is not to market products, solutions or services. All partners, of course, represent their own business interests on their own. IA4sp focuses on topics that are of overarching, general interest such as standardization or certification.
Why should an SAP partner company become a member?
Baljer: IA4SP sees itself as a service provider for its members, for example when it involves information, exchanging ideas and contact persons at SAP to achieve a specific partner status. We enable the direct dialogue with SAP. IA4SP thus enables quicker decisions and a greater degree of technical planning security. Ultimately, a strong ecosystem is a win-win situation for everyone – for customers, SAP and partners.
Which companies can join the association?
Baljer: IA4SP is looking to establish a member base that is as broad as possible, so all SAP partners are being addressed – regardless of partner category or status. Any legally independent company can become a full member that has at least official SAP partner status. Associate membership is designed for companies that have created their business model based on SAP and want to promote the goals of IA4SP.
What's the significance of the "international" in IA4SP?
Baljer: The focus at first is on Central Europe. After all, the headquarters of the association is in Walldorf. But IA4SP is also open to business partners without branches in Germany or even in Europe. In such cases, future cooperation will take place from a distance or through regional chapters. In addition, we are looking to cooperate with ASUG, the SAP users group in the U.S. and other international organizations in the SAP ecosystem.
How was the response to the new association thus far?
Baljer: The response has been positive throughout. More than 50 firms responded immediately to our press release about founding IA4SP and requested information material. Six new firms have meanwhile joined the eleven founding companies, and a number of firms are in the approval process for membership.
What structure will be the basis of IA4SP's work?
Baljer: IA4SP takes the working methods and structures of DSAG as a model. We generally meet at the Partnerport. Currently, we're working on setting up these structures. The association has a management board, a steering committee and working groups. The steering committee is made up of the management board and representatives of the working groups. It determines the nature of the working groups and routes the flow of information. Meetings are generally held every three to four months. A working group is set up at the request of the members. It is a permanent organization that provides solutions for the tasks assigned to it. Content issues are dealt with in these WGs.
Which working groups have formed since IA4SP was established?
Baljer: We have set up two working groups and elected their spokespersons. The issues are: "Partner programs 2010 and certification basics" and "Resell solutions, sales and services." Here, the first thing to do was work out goals, structures and definitions of contents. Right now we're cooperating with SAP to find a suitable contact person to prepare the issue for a larger circle.
Where is IA4SP positioned compared with DSAG? Where does the work of both associations intersect?
Baljer: DSAG represents the concerns of SAP users. Its focus is on the interest of the customers. Several SAP partners are members there, but the focus of DSAG is on the user companies; it is not a suitable platform for representing the interests of SAP partners. That's IA4SP's job. DSAG and IA4SP meet regularly to exchange ideas. Perhaps I can make it clear with this comparison: DSAG is for users what ADAC [German Automobile Club, similar to AAA] is for car drivers. ADAC represents the interests of its members, the car drivers. IA4SP, on the other hand, is more like to the Association of German Automobile Manufacturers which, together with car manufacturers and suppliers, sets standards and thus standardizes and simplifies the cooperation among all participating companies. This benefits the car driver. For example, the car radio fits into the standard dashboard of every car manufacturer.
How does IA4SP want the communication to work with SAP?
Baljer: The goal is to establish a common platform for structured communications with SAP. There are regular meetings on the management level, working groups and committees. We would like to adopt the proven processes that have existed between DSAG and SAP for ten years as a model and use them for the cooperation between IA4SP and SAP.
And how does SAP see IA4SP?
Baljer: Prior to establishing the association, we naturally held many discussions with SAP. The response was and is positive throughout. SAP also recognizes the added value of the partner association for the mutual partner ecosystem. SAP benefits from consolidating the dialogue with its partners, which eliminates a lot of different communication paths and allows it to make quicker decisions. After all, we support expanding and operating a more efficient partner ecosystem. This is confirmed by all of the feedback we have received from SAP colleagues.