Hello, SAP utilities community,
Happy New Year! In reflecting on 2023, I have found myself thinking increasingly about the year ahead and the opportunities—and challenges—that 2024 presents for our community. Among other areas of focus, members of our community are continuing to formalize their cloud migration plans, learning more about how AI-embedded solutions can improve business operations and considering how best to close the SAP skills gap. Fortunately, we are planning a variety of events and content offerings to make sense of these topics and more.
First, I’m hitting the ground running with a webcast hosted by Khoushik TT Thiruppathi, Program Manager, IT Solution Planning & Delivery for Customer Service at Southern California Edison. Following his presentation at the SAP for Utilities, Presented by ASUG conference last October, Thiruppathi will discuss SoCalEd’s implementation of SAP Customer Service Cloud, diving into challenges, successes, and lessons learned along the way. Click here for the Microsoft Teams link to join us on January 19 at 10:00 am CDT for a great discussion and presentation. (Meeting ID: 357 776 937 604 / Passcode: cF8wrs) And you can read more about SoCalEd’s business transformation journey over at ASUG.
Another excellent event in the near future, "Next Generation SAP Enterprise Architect Forum - Mindsets, Skills and Tools," is scheduled for February 27 at the SAP North American headquarters in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. The three-day forum will cover topics vital for enterprise architects including AI, SAP S/4HANA implementations, and the SAP Business Technology Platform. Register here.
Currently, we are working on several other webcasts in which utility organizations will discuss their implementations of SAP Customer Experience and other SAP solutions. Miquel Carbo, Director – Water & Waste Water Services at the Utilities Industry Business Unit of SAP, will lead a discussion with water utilities leaders on March 6; save the date. Tina Kua, Senior Director of Customer Service for Service Cloud at SAP, will be presenting on Service Cloud 2.0 on April 24.
In other news, ASUG will later this month host an ASUG 101 webcast focused on helping members make the most of their ASUG investment (January 25; register here). Further ahead, the ASUG IT Operations Community Alliance is hosting a virtual task force on March 12 focused on using SAP Fiori to extend the value of SAP ERP Central Component (ECC) investments.
ASUG is in the midst of planning robust lineups for both ASUG Annual Conference and this year’s edition of SAP for Utilities, to take place in Miami on September 9–11. ASUG is currently accepting SAP for Utilities speaker proposals. Click here to submit your proposal. I am working with ASUG’s content production teams to help develop panels for those events and help ensure they represent our community’s most pressing priorities and evolving interests.
Additionally, we are excited about the impending return of ASUG Talks, a bi-weekly podcast series that will premiere its next season later this spring. This year, the ASUG editorial team will focus the podcast on important topics in the SAP ecosystem, along with SAP customer success stories. More information on this in the coming weeks.
A few weeks ago, I wrote about this community’s excellent 2023, which was defined by community, collaboration, and continuous learning. Looking ahead, I am thrilled about all that 2024 has in store for utilities. As always, thank you all for your support and collaboration. I look forward to improving our organizations and moving forward together.
Again, Happy New Year!
Marc
Marc Rosson is Enterprise Architect for Snohomish County PUD.