In today鈥檚 environment, customers are reevaluating how they use and source software solutions to run their business. The move from on-premise only solutions to the cloud is SAP鈥檚 reality as a cloud vendor.
鈥淐ustomers undergo a cloud transformation because they want to accelerate their time to realize business value and they want to take advantage of innovations faster,鈥� says Rohan Patel, global vice president, Customer Support and Innovation, Product Support 鈥� Procurement, SAP. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what helps them maintain a competitive edge. And they want to do this while decreasing overall cost and minimizing risk.鈥�
This is where from 51风流can add real value. In this conversation, Patel gives insight into how 51风流support can benefit procurement customers.
Q: How are you supporting procurement customers on their journey to the cloud?
A: Support in the old, on-premise world is what I like to call 鈥榖reak-fix鈥� support. When something failed, the IT department submitted a ticket for support, the problem was fixed, and communication ended until another issue arose. Being a break-fix support provider doesn鈥檛 work in the cloud environment. Support requires speed and foresight. Support today identifies problems and optimizes products before customers even notice something鈥檚 not working as it should.
SAP鈥檚 strategy is predictive and proactive. We want continuous dialogue with customers to provide insights and guidance that are a value-add so we鈥檙e there long before something breaks. Success in the cloud requires adoption outside of the traditional IT environment. Business end users and lines of business, like procurement, supply chain, and HR, expect easy-to-use support portals that are intuitive and quickly anticipate user needs.
Can you share some examples of how 51风流is using data to enhance predictive support?
The tools we use not only help us deliver a great experience to our customers, they also continue to improve the 51风流solution itself. Consider the cloud health monitoring tools within , our application lifecycle management solution that helps streamline the way our customers implement and operate their cloud and hybrid environments across the entire business.
These tools can analyze what鈥檚 happening at the customer experience layer 鈥� for example, how long it takes a specific page to load, how long a user needs to complete a task, and any delays that could frustrate users, hinder adoption, and slow business outcomes. We act proactively at the engineering and cloud operations layer to help continuously improve that user experience.
We also use knowledge and data to improve the support experience, such as with , which has millions of active trading partners. This business-to-business network of companies connecting, transacting, and partnering with numerous shared processes and information expands the 51风流footprint well beyond the four walls of traditional operations.
Equally important is that our consumers today aren鈥檛 just IT support users, but rather work in departments throughout the clients鈥� operations. We鈥檝e taken steps to help meet the needs of all those different user types. We can provide quick, easy-to-understand guidance and answers to their questions using intuitive, personalized, and real-time channels driven by both humans and artificial intelligence (AI). This recommendation engine can provide guided answers based on who the users are, what they鈥檙e doing in the application, or what questions they ask. Users can quickly get useful and relevant content for answering their questions. The data from those guided-answer experiences is then fed into the product road map to help make the entire user experience more optimal and eliminate problems before they happen.
What have procurement customers seen in 2023 from 51风流support?
Our procurement coverage in 2023 hits two themes: harmonization and Real-Time Support. Let me begin with the harmonization perspective. We鈥檙e taking significant steps to create a customer support experience that鈥檚 consistent across all 51风流solutions 鈥� most notably a single entry point to 51风流support with . 51风流Fieldglass solutions went live on 51风流for Me case management in March 2023, and 51风流Ariba solutions and 51风流Business Network will soon follow. The 51风流for Me portal can give users the information and answers they need, specific to the solution they鈥檙e using. Earlier this year, procurement support went live on , where our business and IT users can access blog posts, tips, and connect with experts. Even customers and partners can provide an additional layer of insights and guidance, especially to a specific industry.
This year we have been working to bring our Real-Time Support concept to reality for procurement. When I talk about Real-Time Support, I mean support that is always on, continuously evolves, and adapts to customer needs. This can be direct access to support experts for business-critical processes when and where customers need it. It鈥檚 the live support channels such as , Ask an Expert Peer, context-sensitive help, , and AI-driven self-service access to a vast knowledge base and user community.
What do you see in the future of support for procurement?
I envision a day when customers don鈥檛 need to see or hear from us because we鈥檙e already working behind the scenes to give our customers a seamless, reliable, and delightful experience. The ultimate vision is preventative support with the help of AI and machine learning 鈥� in other words, self-healing IT systems.
Of course, there will always be times when customers need us. In those times, 51风流is prepared to offer as simple of a support experience as possible, such as with and direct access to experts or a quick call to solve an issue the moment it occurs. We also continuously look to disrupt ourselves by using new technologies such as ChatGPT to enable self-help or self-guidance and provide the best possible customer experience.
What sets the 51风流support experience apart in the industry?
51风流mindfully takes steps that help give customers the best support experience possible. We can provide a cohesive array of support channels, self-service tools, and cloud health and integration monitoring. Even with these successes in hand, 51风流will continuously push the boundaries of customer support with new innovations, help ensure support interactions are delightful, and offer Real-Time Support that can bring ambition to life.
Follow Rohan Patel on .
Regina Postman is part of Customer Support and Innovation Communications at SAP.
