Over the last couple of years there have been a multitude of C-Level designations introduced globally across all industries. Mid-size companies are also getting into the act with experienced and specialized individuals taking up roles such as CDO (Chief Digital Officer), CBO (Chief Brand Officer), CPO (Chief Privacy Officer), CCO (Chief Customer Officer) etc.
New C-Level designations are the new in-thing, or are they? What is the real reason behind introducing a plethora of additional high-level roles in a company, which in turn increases outlay that could adversely affect an underperforming company/start-up?
As technologies, processes, requirements and competitive strategies evolve across companies, there is some strata of the professional community which believe that segments of a company need to be further divided and not just categorized into standard departments such as Sales, Marketing, Information Technology etc. There is now a general belief that organizations must have senior executives looking after new strategic technologies.
SAP is one of those strategic Enterprise Resource Planning technologies which in so many ways can dictate how a company performs. If properly and wholly implemented in a company, its tentacles can reach out from a company’s sales team to the manufacturing team on the floor. Every process within a company can be integrated to work seamlessly for increased productivity, lower costs and optimized efficiency. With SAP being what is it, shouldn’t it have its own ‘Chief’?
SAP is currently governed by a company’s CIO, CTO, VP IT or even the Head of IT. It is however just one amongst some zillion other areas of IT, which this leader must have oversight of. IT leaders are expected to innovate, collaborate, strategize, motivate, negotiate and create business value across all lines in a company’s technical domain. Cloud computing, big data analytics, AI, IoT and digital disruption are areas which are keeping the leaders of IT on hot seats and there is simply not enough time for a CIO or a VP IT to focus on an application like SAP. Even though SAP in all likelihood is the key application which holds the business together.
A typical company runs SAP with a userbase of tens to hundreds of users. SAP version upgrades, SAP database upgrades, data migration projects, transformation projects, reporting needs, SAP security, support, service engagements and a never-ending wish-list from users, should keep any SAP leader in a company not only on their toes but also scratching their heads and likely pulling their hair out.
It is to meet these exact needs that multiple tools companies have come into existence, that enhance SAP. Uptrix has partnered with 3 such ground-breaking companies to give end users & the leaders of IT the required ammunition, to cope with bottlenecks in business processes and get the most out of SAP
Is it time companies start hiring Chief SAP Officers???
