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Masney: That's a good question. The big topics continue to be ERP upgrades. If you're not running the ECC 6.0 version of the SAP product, it becomes more difficult to take advantage of Enterprise SOA (SAP’s blueprint for developing services-based applications for business).
Enterprise SOA adoption is another topic for our members.
And certainly the newest topic on the radar screen is Business Objects, the business intelligence software vendor SAP recently purchased. What does that really mean to the existing SAP customer base? What does that mean in terms of BI? What is the impact? What happens to the roadmap? And a lot of customers are trying to figure that out as well.
The acquisition brings a different aspect to SAP and actually creates a different situation for us, because not every Business Object's customer is an SAP customer. There may be an opportunity for providing community to them as well.
CIOZone: Obviously a priority of your group is to be an advocate for your membership and to really challenge and push SAP. In the last year could you name one or two instances where ASUG has actually made some impression on SAP?
Masney: When the Business Objects acquisition was about to be made, SAP CEO Henning Kagermann actually asked the ASUG board of directors to provide an input channel to them for the Business Objects roadmap. So we've had opportunities to provide input there.
We've worked very closely with their upgrade office in trying to influence SAP on tools to make upgrades easier. And so we're very influential there.
It’s amazing the impact I think we're making on SAP. And they're really listening to what the membership if saying. They truly want outside-in type of perspective. They want the voice of the customer to really help drive their products and services.
And we're trying to do that. During my tenure on the board, we've done things like Voice of the Customer, where we survey the membership on their business and technical pain points.
CIOZone: In April, SAP appointed Leo Apotheker as co-CEO to work alongside Kagermann. Did the appointment of a co-CEO give ASUG members any reason for concern?
Masney: No, not at all. Obviously, their internal affairs in terms of who runs the company is their business at the end of the day. At ASUG, we feel very, very fortunate to have a relationship with all the executive board members.
Henning Kagermann’s sponsorship has been outstanding. And Leo Apotheker is absolutely committed to the user group and wants it to flourish even more.
CIOZone: Because of overall economic worries, is it tougher these days to get an SAP project approved?
Masney: Well, that's a good question. There were more than 15,000 people at Sapphire, the SAP conference held last month, so there’s still an interest in investing in SAP.
I think people are still trying to figure out how to squeeze efficiencies out of their operations. And IT is one way to do it. So in the face of the bad economy people are going to make good, prudent investments and try to drive as many operational efficiencies as they can. And IT is one way to do that.
CIOZone: During the last downturn, the CIOs who invested strategically in IT often placed their companies in a stronger competitive position.
Masney: Yeah. And they're doing even better.
Today, people are walking cautiously. They’re watching their discretionary spend. They're watching travel and training and those kinds of things. But, at least my personal observation, people are still investing in IT. And will continue to do so for a while.
CIOZone: Now that you’ve stepped down as chairperson, any last thoughts, comments, recollections, reflections?
Masney: It's been an interesting ride leading the organization at ASUG. I think we're at a powerful point in our history that's really going to drive us to new success and new growth as an organization.
And I'm proud to have been a part of it — with a great team of people from different companies and different walks of life. It's just been a lot of fun.
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