Charles Smith, Sales Executive at Absoft, considers the value of a personable approach to managed service for SAP.
Often, when an SAP Managed Service is sold, customers are primarily informed about its features and how the partner will support their business. However, it’s all too common for communication to lapse until it’s time to renew the contract. The real question is, how can you be confident that the service is delivering continuous value?
Well, you might believe everything is fine if there are no apparent issues – but that might not be the whole story. Chances are that several issues have arisen and been resolved without your awareness. However, a proactive support partner should have the tools to ensure your system is running efficiently, identify areas for improvement, and share this information with you. An actively engaging support partner whose services include monitoring business processes, self-healing, automation, maintenance, patching, and updates should be standard.
All these features should be a given, providing the foundation for effective service. However, there is still one crucial element missing – a personable approach that fosters genuine connection, trust and efficiency, which can truly make all the difference in delivering exceptional results.
Personalised service
Having a personalised touch and an open line of communication seems to be a thing of the past. Even the largest support partners often sell you a service, then send it offshore, passing it from consultant to consultant. They never get to know you, and you don’t get to know them. How can you be sure you’re in safe hands? Wouldn’t it be reassuring to always know who is on the other end of the line, to know the names of the consultants managing your system? Transparency about what’s happening behind the scenes, including how improvements are made and what they entail, is crucial.
This raises the question: could things be done differently? The key is understanding whether your provider is working with you or merely maintaining your system. Having a partner who understands how you work is vital. Without understanding your goals, how can desired improvements be implemented? If a new, unfamiliar person appears every month, how can you expect personalised service? Wouldn’t it be great to have a partnership that feels like an extension of your business?
This connection between two teams working together can make all the difference. When people know you, they care about what’s important to you and enjoy delivering a high-quality service.
CIOs and CFOs understand the importance of knowing where the SAP system fits within the organisation’s critical business processes, meanwhile IT managers have a deeper understanding of how performance and uptime within their SAP system depend on having a great SAP support partner. A successful SAP strategy requires both a clear understanding of its role in critical business processes and a reliable support partner to ensure optimal performance and efficiency.
Being one step ahead
A trusted SAP partner should ensure that its team is constantly up skilling, keeping the business up to date with the latest innovations and maintaining an open line of communication to make improvements – and they should be able to demonstrate it.
Another benefit of working directly with a Managed Service Provider is the maintenance of the SAP system, ensuring that it’s delivering and functioning as it should. This ongoing effort can become complex, especially with ever-evolving updates and deadlines to manage.
A support provider should have a deep understanding of critical business processes, including the systems and stakeholders involved at each stage. End-to-end monitoring ensures not only the uptime of SAP process components but also the entire landscape. A smart support service will automatically notify the responsible stakeholder or vendor if a problem is identified or predicted during one of the processes, ensuring swift resolution.
A truly personalised service, committed to addressing the specific needs of an organisation, is fundamentally different from generic support services. It goes beyond maintaining the system; it’s not just about keeping the lights on. It involves scheduling critical system enhancements, such as patching systems, installing key feature updates, and providing dedicated support for both current and new business-critical processes.
By choosing the right SAP Managed Service provider and aligning it with business goals, companies can harness the full potential of their SAP systems, contributing to the organisation’s growth and success.
