Welcome to the new Run SAP Partner Program!  The Global Partner Management and Training team in AGS has launched the new Run SAP Partner Program.  You can find an introductory article published in insiderPROFILES that highlights the new program here.  The Run SAP Partner Program provides its members access to the Run SAP Partner Academy, the SAP Solution Manager for Run SAP Partners, Go-to-Market/Business Development around the SAP Solution Manager, and AGS Strategic Topics.  As the Run SAP Partner Program grows we anticipate greater collaboration with various groups in AGS and look forward to working together to serve our customers.  

Already an SAP Services Partner? Looking for information on becoming a member of this program?  Visit us at Run SAP Partner Program on SAP PartnerEdge for more information!

The Hero Campaign was again present at SAP TechEd events in Las Vegas, Madrid, and Bangalore to show the new innovations around SAP Solution Manager 7.1. The AGS Partner Management and Training team updated the Hero Campaign for all 2012 TechEd events to include the recently released mobile apps of SAP Solution Manager 7.1.  The new apps include System Monitoring, End User Experience, Incident Management and Change Approval app on IOS for Apple devices and the HANA monitoring capabilities of SAP Solution Manager. 

In the Hero challenge participants were asked to beat the “SolMan” at his own Game to check their knowledge around SAP Solution Manager 7.1 and newly released training courses, including E2E100. Customers and partners who stopped by the station successfully met the Hero challenge and participated in the knowledge quest. Most importantly, they came away with a better understanding of how they can benefit from using SAP Solution Manager in the “Run” phase and where to obtain more knowledge in this area. Play the game here:  https://websmp107.sap-ag.de/~sapidb/011000358700000758672012E/index.htm

Altogether over 800 attendees stopped by the Hero Campaign booth at the various events.  Rodrigo Kruger, a Manager at Partner FH Consulting in Brazil, contacted our team after SAP TechEd Las Vegas to let us know how much his team enjoyed the event and how it benefitted them and their customers:

I really liked the idea of the Hero Campaign. It was a good point to show us if we really understand the functionalities of SAP Solution Manager, and how we can help our customer to run better. It was good to see SAP Solution Manager managing all the types of SAP Solutions, like ECC, CRM, and Business Objects. We have customers using these products, and we think the SAP Solution Manager must manage these products in the same way it can manage all the others. Obviously we joined other topics like NetWeaver Cloud, HANA, User Interfaces, Mobility, and so on, but we stayed connected with the ALM topics. SAP hosted a really good event this year!

A good Run SAP partner has enabled its consultants, built a quality portfolio, and sharpened its capabilities to meet customers’ needs.  A great Run SAP partner is able to execute on its capabilities and deliver best practices at customers, in essence, achieving value realization at the customer.  Concepts and capabilities are fine but mean little unless put into practice and brought to an execution level.

The ALM Roadmap Service from SAP is a way to understand how the best practices are being used at the customer, recommend value-adding changes, and lay a roadmap for success.  Used tactically, it can jump-start or grow your consulting practice to implement SAP Solution Manager and E2E standards to more customers.

Active Global Support has been working with HP in North America to knowledge transfer the use of the ALM Roadmap Service and how to leverage it to grow their business.  In a first step, SAP delivered the service at one of HP’s customers while HP observed and listened.  For the next customers, an SAP expert participated but only in an advisory role, giving support as needed and offering feedback afterwards to drive improvements.  Now HP is on their own.  The next 15 customers have been identified and a game plan to deliver the roadmap services is in place.  Additional work has come out of 75% of the customers so far and now the challenge is to staff the new projects accordingly  – a problem every Run SAP partner would love to have!

The ALM Roadmap Service will be offered as a self-guided service on SAP Solution Manager.

To learn more about the Run SAP Partner Programs, check out this blog post:  http://scn.sap.com/community/it-management/alm/solution-manager/blog/2012/09/27/have-you-seen-the-run-sap-partner-youtube-channel-yet

Blue Pencil Consulting, a certified Run SAP Implementation Partner, was a finalist in the SAP Pinnacle Awards – Run SAP Partner of the Year 2012 category.  Due to their customer implementation successes and dedicated marketing strategy around ALM and Run SAP, Blue Pencil earned this distinction which propelled them in front of the video camera at the Global Run SAP Partner Summit in Rot, Germany in June 2012.

Managing Director Steve Hobbs discussed his organization’s commitment to SAP, SAP Solution Manager, and the Run SAP Methodology.  He also highlighted Blue Pencil’s impressive growth as they expand their reach in South Africa.

Hear Steve in his own words here.

Check out the Global Partner Management and Training's YouTube Channel here!

Run SAP Operations Partnerand Global Run SAP Implementation Partner, T-Systems, recently published a press release on their success with the Run SAP Partner Program.  T-Systems has become the first Run SAP Partner to launch Premium Access for SAP Solutions Run SAP for Operations.

T-Systems, in cooperation with SAP Active Global Support, launched Premium Access for SAP® solutions, a new and improved premium-level collaboration model built on the Run SAP methodology for solution operations. The offering provides benefits to service providers’ customers who rely on SAP Enterprise Support or SAP Product Support for Large Enterprises services.  Premium Access for SAP solutions is the result of years of intensive cooperation between T‑Systems and SAP, and will further enhance the reliability and stability of software applications, by:

§  Extending integration of support offerings from T-Systems and SAP.

§  Further enhancing the quality and stability of applications, leading to increased customer satisfaction.

§  Specifically tailored to the harmonization of support processes for customers,
SAP and T-Systems.

"This new model, which is currently unique in the industry, will allow us to offer our customers a huge plus when it comes to security,” said Dr. Ferri Abolhassan, head of Production and member of the Board of Directors of T-Systems. “Premium Access for SAP Solutions increases system uptime and boosts solution reliability.”

Please read through T-Systems’ press release http://www.telekom.com/media/enterprise-solutions/126066

Want to learn more about what Run SAP Certified Partners can do for your organization?  Check out another great success story here: http://scn.sap.com/community/it-management/alm/blog/2012/05/22/grom-awarded-cool-vendor-status-from-gartner

Calling all customers!  Please join us at our SAP Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) event  taking place on June 18th in our SAP facilities in St. Leon-Rot, Germany. We will conduct a knowledge-sharing event featuring SAP Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) and the value it brings to run your business. The day will focus on SAP’s ALM platform, SAP Solution Manager, and the new value-adding functionality now available in the latest release 7.1.

The day will provide a keynote in the morning to highlight essential aspects of ALM and Solution Manager and sessions in the afternoon to give you the opportunities to learn the topics most important to your business and needs. Big Picture sessions will give you the chance to get an overview on specific processes, while Deep Dive sessions can provide you with a more technical or business view on certain SAP Solution Manager capabilities. Customers will also be sharing their experiences. By joining this event you will help us drive innovation, develop best practices for your industry, and help your organization become more innovative and flexible in today’s competitive market. Register here - https://www.scherer-event.de/app_lifecycle_customer

Partners are also welcome and invited to this event as it is the most important event of the year for partners who manage and operate SAP solutions!  Partners interested in taking advantage of this great event from June 17th-21st to participate in workshops on HANA, SAP Solution Manager 7.1 SP05, and Rapid Deployment for Application Lifecycle Management should register here:  https://www.scherer-event.de/app_lifecycle_partner