Eursap's Ask-the-SAP-Expert – Alok Kumar

Eursap's Ask-the-SAP-Expert – Alok Kumar.

This month, we feature Alok Kumar. If you want someone who is inspiring and a self-starter in the technology space, look no further than Alok. He has carved out a niche in SAP and Workday training and provides hungry consultants with priceless information on a regular basis. Let’s find out what makes Alok tick.

Alok, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us. It’s unlikely, but there may be some SAP consultants and readers of our Ask-the-SAP-Expert articles who have not come across you. For their benefit, can you start with a short background?

My name is Alok Kumar. I started as a curious SAP learner who wanted to understand how large systems actually run businesses.

Over the years, that curiosity turned into training and mentoring, and finally building ZaranTech.

Today, I work at the intersection of SAP, Workday, Cloud, AI and upskilling.

We’ve trained 32,000+ professionals, worked with 300+ clients globally, and seen what really breaks projects versus what actually makes them succeed.

You’ve worked with SAP across multiple generations of the platform. How did you first get started with ERP systems, and what attracted you to enterprise technology early in your career?

I got pulled into enterprise ERPs like SAP because it forced me to think end-to-end, and specifically address market demand. 

Early on, SAP taught me one thing very clearly:

If you don’t understand the business context, the system will always feel complex. Once that understanding is in place, everything starts to click.

Looking back, which early career decisions or projects had the biggest impact on shaping your expertise?

Taking roles that felt uncomfortable and pushing me out of my comfort zone was the key for me. That, combined with working on projects where I had to learn fast.

Instead of only focusing on tasks, I spent time understanding why decisions were made by the business. That mindset helped me grow faster than just learning transactions or screens.

SAP ecosystems change constantly and you have built a platform which demands that you are always knowledgeable about the latest innovations. How did you ensure your skills and those of your team stay relevant as SAP evolves from ECC6 to S/4HANA and beyond?

We stopped treating learning as an event. Too many organisations and training companies operate using a “train once and forget” mindset, but not us.

SAP keeps changing. ECC to S/4HANA. On-premise to cloud. Now AI. So, we focused on continuous learning. As a result, at ZaranTech, we constantly watch trends such as 
●    Which technologies customers are actually using
●    Which issues and processes show up in real projects
●    Which skills teams typically struggle with on projects

That keeps us grounded in reality.

If something isn’t used in real projects, we don’t chase it. For us, relevance always beats novelty.

You’ve seen SAP and Workday implementations from many angles: consulting, delivery, and training. What do you think most organisations underestimate about successful technology programmes?

The number one thing organisations miss is people readiness. This is because most organisations focus heavily on tools and timelines. This is important, but it also means that it is not uncommon to underestimate training, change management, and internal capability.

We know from experience that technology works. However, it’s people and preparation that decide outcomes, not technology. That’s where our focus is.

From your experience, what distinguishes a good SAP consultant from a truly exceptional one?

A good consultant knows the technology and how to configure it to achieve a set goal. The difference is that an exceptional consultant knows why something should or shouldn’t be done. In short:

Exceptional consultants ask better, higher quality questions.

They think about long-term consequences, not just short-term fixes.

They simplify things instead of adding complexity.

How has the role of SAP and all ERP professionals changed over the last decade, particularly with cloud, automation, and AI entering the landscape?

In earlier incarnations of SAP, a consultant could survive by knowing one module very well, such as FI, MM, SD etc.

But that’s no longer enough. Today, consultants need to understand not just their own module, but also end-to-end processes covering multiple modules. They need a clear understanding of Cloud concepts, as well as an appreciation of the role of automation and AI basics.

You could say that the role has recently shifted from systems expert to business partner.

Let’s talk about your baby: ZaranTech. Firstly, explain the name – how did that come about?

The name reflects strength and clarity. It’s also a very personal name for me: ZARAN is made from the first letters of my family members' names including our dog!

What gap in the market led you to found the company? Was there a specific “Eureka” moment for you, and why did you decide to focus so strongly on SAP and Workday training?

Most training prepared people to apply for roles and crack interviews. We found that there was very little in the marketplace that prepared consultants for real-life projects. This was evident to me as I saw these same people struggle once they joined a project. And that gap bothered me, and I knew I could do something about it.

ZaranTech was built to bridge that gap.

Starting a training organisation must have felt very different from working on ERP projects. What were the biggest challenges you faced when building ZaranTech from the ground up?

For any small organisation, the main challenge was all around building trust in us. This meant that we had to have a relentless focus upon maintaining quality whilst also ensuring that we kept growing.

In other words, scaling training is the easy part. It gets harder when you need to maintain credibility in a competitive market. For us, that meant that we needed to focus on doing fewer things well rather than trying to chase every opportunity which became available. 

We always kept quality of our product as our number 1 goal.

Coming now to the technology you cover, SAP and Workday dominate different parts of the enterprise landscape. How do you see their roles evolving, and why is cross-platform knowledge becoming more important?

The two systems meet two differing demands: SAP is strong in business processes. Whereas Workday is strong in people systems. 

The two technologies intersect today because organisations now need professionals who understand both.

This is why cross-platform thinking is becoming very important to modern consultants.

As a founder of a training company, you must have a unique insight into what skills you believe SAP professionals will need most over the next 5 years, beyond purely technical knowledge. Any nuggets of wisdom you can share with our readers?

It’s the same story as I’ve been mentioning. Consultants require softer skills, which go beyond technical skills. These include:

●    Business understanding
●    Clear communication
●    Ability to learn fast
●    Comfort with change

These days, the best professionals are not always the smartest. The best ERP professionals are the ones who can adapt the fastest.

In short, you already know the “What” .... now it is time to learn the “Why”.

With SAP’s focus on S/4HANA Cloud, BTP, and AI, where do you see the biggest opportunities and risks for customers and consultants alike?

The opportunity is clean, flexible systems and faster innovation. But this needs to be built upon a platform of strength, relying upon business knowledge and capabilities, first and foremost. 

The risk, therefore, is repeating old habits. Everyone knows the issues faced by ERP projects:

Over-customisation, leading to a maintenance headache in the future; shallow learning leading to a skills gap and incorrect deployments; Rushed implementations leading to burnt out, long hypercare, and business damaging defects.

There is a new breed of ERP technologies out there and we cannot carry on with the same old tired way of thinking. New technology needs new thinking.

How do you think enterprise training itself needs to change to keep pace with SAP’s faster release cycles and cloud-first strategy?

Training needs to be:
●    Shorter
●    Hands-on
●    Scenario-based

People don’t need more slides, and lots of training organisations fall into this trap. Consultants need practice with guidance. The concept of “MicroLearning” is still new for many organisations, but it is true that people consume short form content much more effectively.

Additionally, the use of interactive short videos works much better for the modern consultants' training needs.

Looking ahead, what is your long-term vision for ZaranTech, and what legacy would you like to leave in the SAP and enterprise technology community?

My vision is simple: to build professionals who last in this ecosystem. If I look ahead and I hear someone say, “I handled my first project confidently because of ZaranTech”, that’s what success looks like.

If you could send one professional thing back to your younger self, what would it be?

Slow down. Build strong fundamentals. Confidence comes after experience, not before. Okay, that’s three things!

Finally, the question we always like to finish on: For newer SAP consultants who want to reach “guru” status, what’s the advice you always give? What mindset or habits matter most?

For modern consultants to be successful, they must focus on understanding, not titles. This means building strong and successful habits such as:
●    Learning every day
●    Asking why relentlessly
●    Reflect on projects

Consultants need to realise that expertise is built quietly over time by embedding these habits.