Eursap's Ask-the-SAP-Expert: Sana Asher

Ask-the-SAP-Expert – Sana Asher

This month, we feature Sana Asher, a vastly experienced transformation lead in the SAP world. Sana has worked for some of the biggest consultancies and clients in the world, and regularly shares her knowledge with her ever-expanding audience on LinkedIn.

Sana, thank you so much for joining us. For our readers who may not be familiar with you, could you share a little bit about yourself, including how readers can follow your SAP updates on social media?

Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. I am an experienced Business Transformation Leader and have been in the SAP ecosystem for the last three decades helping clients achieve their transformation goals. Readers can follow me on my LinkedIn @ Sana Asher.

Tell us a little bit about Concept Vines and Integrity. How can you help SAP clients?

Integrity has been around for the last 15 years focused on the SAP ecosystem. We have helped clients with many of their SAP Projects and have worked with clients like Costco, Amazon, Twitch, Panasonic.

Concept Vines is a global technology and a consulting firm that equips businesses with a cutting edge through innovation.

How has the SAP landscape evolved over the past three decades, and what are the most significant changes you've witnessed in enterprise software consulting?

Over the last three decades the SAP landscape has evolved significantly. What began as a journey for organisations to have all their business processes and operations in one place, is now a platform for growth and automation. The most significant changes in enterprise software consulting are S/4HANA, Cloud, Business Process improvements, tools and of course AI. All of these changes have led to consultants that need to keep abreast of these skills and constantly upskill.

What do you consider the most critical skills for success in SAP implementation and consulting that aren't typically taught in traditional training programs?

The most critical skills for success in SAP implementations and consulting that are not taught in typical training programs are the business skills and the ability to understand business. If we are able to teach our consultants that business drives technology and not the other way around, we will have a higher rate of success in these implementations. Most of the skills that consultants carry are very technology focussed and I believe that a business class should be a part of the curriculum.

With the rise of cloud computing and AI, how do you see these technologies transforming SAP implementations in the next five years?

We are going to see some massive shifts with the rise in cloud computing and AI in SAP implementations. We are primarily going to see shorter, sharper implementations with AI, using AI for doing a ton of repetitive work, using standard business use cases, e.g. Joule. With cloud computing, clients now have the ability to use hyper scalers and ensure that they have the best infrastructure without making the heavy investments that are needed.

You have worked with some large and complex clients in your time, Sana. What would you say are the most common misconceptions that companies have about SAP implementation and digital transformation?

The most common misconception that all clients have around SAP implementations and digital transformations is that they think it’s an only one-time deal and be done with it.

They believe that when they embark on that journey once they will be done. While starting the transformation is surely a one-time event, it is most definitely a journey that must unfold with time, and it is an ongoing effort. This is especially true when they are looking at making acquisitions or considering a merger. Even if they do not focus on an M&A, they must keep their growth in mind and hence constantly be fine tuning their business.

And if you look back over your 30 years of experience with SAP, what has been the most unexpected lesson you've learned about enterprise technology?

The most unexpected lesson I have learnt about enterprise technology is that business always, always and always comes first! I am so fortunate that I have a business background but for many of my colleagues who were from an engineering or a technical background it was a battle field at all times!

Let’s talk about S/4HANA. Clearly the world has moved on significantly since the days of ECC6. What mindset shifts are important for SAP consultants now when navigating a digital transformation project like an S/4HANA implementation?

The mindset shift that each consultant needs to make is that knowing SAP alone is not enough to navigate transformation projects and S/4HANA implementations. It is important to be business savvy as well and understand what is fundamentally going to help the business with this transformation. They need to come to a project with a very clear understanding of the client’s industry and the challenges clients are trying to solve. Technology is only the vehicle to solve business challenges and knowing just the technology is not going to help!

Given this fast pace of change we are all seeing in the SAP world, how do you personally stay up to date?

You have to be constantly upskilling; you have to be open to learn from younger people and embrace new tools, methodologies, and new ways of working. Be open to learning from people who have less experience than yourself and do not be driven by ego!

I want to touch upon your LinkedIn profile now if I may. You’ve been very active on the platform on podcasts, interviews, as well as posting your own videos too. How have you seen your audience grow and what is the motivation behind this?

Thank you for noticing this, Jon. You and I met on LI as well! I have been on LinkedIn since 2005 and used it sparingly, but after 2020 when social presence and social selling became a thing, I decided to expand my presence on the platform.

I have grown my audience to about 10k followers and the motivation behind this is to showcase to clients that embarking on a SAP Transformation journey has a very good starting point – Phase 0. Given my experience of three decades I have seen so many clients not work on Phase 0 and go head on into a transformation, only to realise that there is so much work they needed to do.

I am helping clients who are running on ECC make the move to S/4HANA by understanding the complexities involved in a 12-week advisory engagement so that they are better prepared to tackle their transformations.

After two decades of working with complex enterprise systems, what's the most absurd or memorable tech-related mishap you've encountered?

Oh gosh, there are so many! The one that stands out most recently is when we were implementing a Rise with SAP project and being the first one, we were implementing, there were many learnings. We got through the implementation but at the go-live we realised that the system was totally blank and there was no business processes copied to it! That totally threw us off for about five weeks and we were able to get the project back on track!

I’m intrigued, Sana – can you map out your ideal digital transformation project for us – location, technology, industry?

There is no ideal project, Jon! That’s a myth. Yes, there are a few that are very good and I can name a couple:

1. Finance Transformation for AIG, Insurance industry, global project with SAP.

2. Digital and Finance Transformation for Johnson and Johnson across 24 countries, with SAP.

So, building on that, what emerging technologies or trends in enterprise software are you most excited about?

I am really excited about S/4HANA and SAP transformations and how AI is going to be shaping up these projects. Also excited about the different SAP products coming together and creating value for the transformations.

Tell us a little about your hobbies and interests – what gets you up in the morning on the weekend?

What excites me the most is the ability to see my clients succeed with their Transformation projects, on time and on budget. I truly believe that we live in an amazing world, and we get what we give in this world!

And finally, the question we always like to ask our interviewees, what advice would you give new starters to SAP consultancy, or perhaps ECC6 consultants looking to upskill in S/4HANA?

Sure. The advice that I would offer to new people who want to become SAP consultants is to understand the basics of the SAP software but also understand what moves this software!

For the folks who are experienced and have been in the SAP ecosystem, they should upskill on the SAP portfolio, understand the different deployment options and develop soft skills that will help them to converse with the leadership teams. Do not just focus on learning the SAP software but have the ability to translate the why and the how! Soft skills combined with the upskilling and the experience they bring to the table will truly help them pivot to having a longer-term career in the SAP ecosystem.