As an SAP employee, certain things I write about might come across as a bit "cheerleader-ish." But there's a method behind my enthusiastic madness. A good majority of bloggers and influencers that cover SAP are sometimes too quick to point out the missteps, misfires and miscommunications that (once in a blue moon) occur with the largest and most successful business software provider on the planet. (Oops, I think I did it again.) My point is this: I too am here to maintain a sense of SAP balance in this Web 2.0 world we live in. So if there's something that my company is doing well, like SAP Community Network, I'm going to grab a set of pom-poms and give it a spirited shout-out.
At SAP TechEd 2010 Las Vegas, Mark Yolton, senior vice president of SAP Community Network, moderated a panel discussion about the value of SCN. tim.clark/blog, I was floored (and a little bit frightened) by how little I actually knew about this thriving and influential community. Let's get some quick stats out of the way:
- Two million members across 200 countries and territories
- 30,000 new members per month
- One million unique visitors per month
- 16,000 bloggers
Clearly, the SAP Community Network movement can seem a bit intimidating. But what exactly is it and why is it such a hot bed of activity? As Mark Yolton puts it, "The SCN is very much user-led. A very small amount of content is actually put out by SAP." And the panelists that Mark put together also support this belief.
Tammy Powlas of Fairfax Water in Virginia said she often referred to the community network for tips when her company was piloting SAP Solution Manager. She also found SAP Community Network useful to research a proof-of-concept related to SAP BusinessObjects solutions.
SAP Mentor and senior engineer for SEI Investments, Greg Myers, said he opened 41 SAP support tickets last year. This year he only opened six. "I can fix things on my own, thanks to SCN," he said.
Derek Loranca of Aetna Financial Services said he likes the fact that Mark Yolton and the network community-at-large make sure people get involved. "They give you a little push and say, ‘You're an expert, go help.' I don't think there is another community network out there that does this."
So fear not, dear readers, SAP Community Network is your friend. If you've got questions, it has answers. And if you have answers, post them. It will be time well spent. But don't take it from me. Check out what David Hull of the "House of Mouse" has to say about SAP Community Network in the video below.
