- SAP Managed Tags
On June 11, some 55 trading partners representing 30 organizations gathered in the SAP office of Berlin for the European edition of the Network Success Day. These smaller, more focused events are organized regularly by the SAP account management teams and take place in multiple locations across the globe. The Berlin edition offered a relevant agenda, strong engagement from the audience and insightful conversations during the many networking opportunities. The present organizations were equally balanced between buyers and suppliers on SAP Business Network, representing 4.1M documents and $40.4B exchanged annually. Here is what I saw and heard.
A well-balanced event
Albeit small, the event welcomed a wide variety of roles from both buying and selling organizations, each coming in with their own expectations. This challenge was met with a diverse agenda of 8 sessions including 2 breakouts, and by the end of the day it seemed that everyone got what they came for. In addition to innovations and testimonials, the topics covered strategy talks, best practices, AI, sustainability and e-invoicing mandate – including the famed X-Rechnung for Germany. To me, the most interesting remained the questions and the conversations that took place during breaks and dedicated networking moments. The feeling was shared by Manutan, saying on stage that they love the network part of SAP Business Network, and not only during events.
Not a perfect world
What struck me during the event is the honesty and candor in the room. Everyone was there to express both their joys and frustrations in a constructive, well-informed way. The presence of Beata Kortus, representing the Product Development side of the business, was much appreciated for the more technical side of the strategic talks. The challenges, mainly around data matching, supplier enablement and invoicing compliance, were enunciated clearly and duly noted - if not already tackled by the SAP Business Network team.
SAP’s key differentiator? They listen!
The general excitement around the innovations was not baseless. Several suppliers, some of them on stage, expressed their gratitude in having more decision power in their collaboration with customers and with SAP, and confirmed that we were addressing the right challenges in the right way. They went on explaining that any trouble on SAP Business Network means a potential limitation of business with current and future customers. Hence the need to vocalize their concern.
“SAP listens and acts, and that’s a key differentiator from their competitors” was a sentence I heard several times throughout the day. At lunch, an insightful conversation on the shifting requirements for electronic catalogs and the pros and cons of level 1 vs. level 2 Punchout concluded in the following: “SAP is bridging the gap between the buying and supplying organizations by organizing such events, helping to develop best practices and an awareness of the other side’s perspective, especially on supplier enablement.”
Silver linings in a shifting context
Hosting this event in Berlin was probably a fitting place to invite reflections on the current disrupted times. The ideas and conclusions that came out offered some way into minimizing risks. In an unstable geopolitical context, trading partners are looking for stability and transparency in their business relationships. And that’s precisely what we at SAP can do for them. It also appears that the upcoming regulatory e-invoicing mandates in Europe and beyond means that buying organizations are more open to change, willing to explore and test out solutions. No doubt that many suppliers will show them the way to SAP Business Network as a trusted solution.
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