SmartSAP Newsletter - June 2003 Edition

The Heart of SAP Application Outsourcing

The heart of any application outsourcing deal and the differentiator amongst the numerous providers is the help desk and specifically the experts that support the customers.

Any organization that wants to establish a SAP Help Desk can (and has) come up with the processes and tools to make it work:

• The processes are fairly common; make sure the calls get handled in a timely matter that meets the Service Level Agreements.  Put escalation procedures in place in case something out of the ordinary occurs.  Ensure that solutions are documented, tested and approved by the customer.
• Have a tool that enables the tracking of the ticket and provides a history.

So what makes one SAP Help Desk better than the next?  The people!

The naysayers point out that the job websites and recruiters are overloaded with SAP experts who are excellent technicians and configurators with five to seven years experience and multiple implementations.  Add to that the influx of offshore resources and the cost of those experts has dropped dramatically within the last two years.  The market has good resources at low costs.

They are right, but they are over looking the most important skill required to be part of a successful Help Desk.  Communication skills make or break a help desk.  And I don’t necessarily mean language skills, even though that is very important.  Help Desk staff must be able to:

• Genuinely listen to and comprehend a customer’s problem. This is a necessity.
• Ask pertinent questions.
• Demonstrate compassion and caring about the customer.
• Make the customer feel that their problem is serious and a top priority.
• Be responsive.  Meet commitments and get back to the customer when promised.  Provide updates on solution progress.
• Be courteous, patient and understanding when dealing with difficult or confused customers.
• Be humble.  Help Desk personnel can not take a superior stance or talk down to the customer

Another aspect of being able to communicate optimally comes from having work experience in the area of expertise.  Someone can be an SAP FI/CO expert, taken all the courses, been through a couple implementations and configured several systems.  But if they can’t talk to controllers about their problems using financial lingo and understand the financial ramifications of what is being discussed and ask the right business questions, then they can’t properly support their customer.

Unfortunately, today, Application Outsourcing customers’ choices are driven by cost savings.  Most of the service providers look the same to them and decisions are based on lowest cost, reputation and the sales team.  On day one of the service, though, there are two people connecting that had nothing to do with establishing the agreement.  A SAP user has a problem and is talking to a SAP expert at the Help Desk.  The success or failure of the partnership of the two firms involved hinges on the communication between these two people and especially on the communication skills of the person manning the Help Desk.

Author Profile

Roger Miles manages Blue Marlins SAP Managed Application Support Help Desk.  Served as Operations Group Manager of Bayer US, responsible for IT Help Desk.  As part of the IBM CIO Office, managed the SAP Data Standards Team in preparation of IBM rollouts.  Managed SAP Application Management Services Help Desk servicing several customers. 

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