Influencing SAP

What is Customer Connection?

How long does this process take?

Where can I view information on Customer Connection and get access?

What can I do in Customer Connection Idea Place once I am registered?

How can I suggest a new Focus Topic for consideration in Customer Connection?

Is there a section in Idea Place just for UK & Ireland members?

What is the difference between Customer Connection and Customer Engagement Initiative?

Further Information on Influencing SAP

Customer Connection Program – The New Development Request Process

Your UK & Ireland SAP User Group is one of several global user groups taking part in SAP's revamped Customer Connection project.

The structure of the newly designed system, promises to be more effective than the previous development request process, where members have experienced requests taking up to three years to process resulting in the request being deemed invalid.

How long does the process take?

For approximately two months customers will be asked to submit Improvement Requests relating to any of the available Focus Topics. There will be a subsequent one to two month Select phase when SAP will analyze these requests and determine which will be developed, and up to a further six months development phase, during which time the enhancements will be implemented.

We`ve already seen great success in the CRM area, delivering some of the following in under 6 months;

Title                         Cross CRM – Display Key Fields
Description            To avoid the scroll, should jump off by branch marks to each assignment block.

Title                         Cross CRM, Previous Items
Description            Open previous worked on object

Title                         Cross CRM Formatted Notes
Description            Text should be formatted in the WEB UI

The Customer Connection Program will offer new Focus Topics (like CRM in the case above), which are agreed between the User Group and SAP, every three months.

Where can I view information on Customer Connection and get access?

Available Focus Topics are viewable in the Customer Connection area of Idea Place and can be viewed by all registered users.  To access the Customer Connection area in Idea Place, click on the tab titled 'All Improvement Requests' and select “Customer Connection” from the drop down list.  Please be aware you will not be able to view this area if you have not previously been granted FULL access into the Customer Connection area.

To gain access to the Customer Connection area, please follow the instructions via this LINK.

What can I do in Customer Connection Idea Place once I am registered?

Now is your time to say what you want from SAPs developments, what do you feel is missing, what would help you in your day to day running of your SAP system.

Browse the Focus Topics in “Collect” phase to see if any are relevant to you or your business. For further help in submitting your Improvement Request, editing or subscribing to an idea already created please view SAPs User Manual.

How can I suggest a new Focus Topic for consideration in Customer Connection?

SAP and User Groups can both raise Focus Topics for consideration in the next quarter. Attending Special Interest Groups allows you to get involved in the discussion of potential Focus Topics, if the SIG chair and SIG attendee agree that your idea will be beneficial, the SIG chair will raise this to SAP. Once this has happened SAP have a selection team that choose the Focus Topics.  This team considers whether the Focus Topic is a fit for the program and if the request will have enough input from all members from SUGEN. If the requested topic is deemed as appropriate, it will be scheduled for a future quarter.

Is there a section in Idea Place just for UK & Ireland members?

As the Customer Connection is a global program, your UK & Ireland SAP User Group understands that sometimes there will be discussions with the UK & Ireland that does not affect the rest of the SAP world. We have a section in the Customer Connection area of Idea Place which is just for our members,  titled 'SUG UKI'. This allows you to request, edit or subscribe to an idea that would only available for UK & Ireland members. If you would like to view the private space, please follow this LINK.

What is the difference between Customer Connection and Customer Engagement Initiative?

There are 3 different ways you can influence SAP; Short-term, Mid-term and Long-term. SAP offer these options to all of our members. However, even though the Short-term and Mid-term solution seems very similar, they have different processes and results. Below is an explanation of both processes:

Customer Connection – Short-term

Customer Connection is directed at incrementally enhancing and improving the products and solutions SAP customers are using today through Improvement Requests. The Improvement Requests which are selected for development are typically delivered through support notes or support packages. This allows customers to deploy them independently of enhancement package schedules.

Customer Engagement Initiative – Mid-term

Customer Engagement Initiative (CEI) is a structured approach for close end-to-end collaboration between customers and SAP during the full development cycle for planned products and solutions and new releases or enhancements packages. CEI offers an opportunity for customers to influence SAP development in collaboration with their peers.

Customer Engagement Initiative

We are still creating this section. We want to make sure you get the correct information.

Customer Councils

 We are still creating this section. We want to make sure you get the correct information.

Further Information on Influencing SAP

If you would like to see more information regarding the ways to influence SAP please follow visit this website:  www.service.sap.com/influence

We also have 2 videos on our YouTube channel, to see a video on how to register on Idea Place please follow this link.

To view how to upload a Improvement Request, please follow this link.