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SAP Realizes Enterprise Social Processes

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Almost two years ago after a discussion at Enterprise 2.0 Summit, I posted several different models showing how to mix enterprise processes and social interactions. The models showed levels of evolution of maturity of thought of how the process-oriented and social-oriented world could interact. The goal was to show the evolution of the social software systems themselves in significance to ERP, CRM or other enterprise tools.

To summarize, it started with a basic model where both were separate but there was possibly some information from the social sphere that could add value to the overall process or some process step. The second model allowed some of the process steps to be taken over by social interaction but still operating in separate infrastructure. In the third model (see Figure 1), the social activity is embedded directly or just visually displayed inside the enterprise process steps. In the final model (see Figure 2), both infrastructures are merged and the process steps live inside the social sphere.

The benefit of this last model was that common work done in the enterprise, that which we call processes, now place greater emphasis on the nature of relationships at work. You—each of us specifically—do work in a context of social relationships at work. Rather than the task being the only focus, it brings in the social context of one’s relationships, peers, managers, customers, partners, and even strangers-but-fellow-enterprise-citizens. This therefore pulls in the value of trust in relationships, and accelerates work with the speed of trust, per Stephen M. R. Covey.

Enter SAP Jam Work Patterns

SAP has done something interesting with the latest revision to their enterprise social product, SAP Jam, with the introduction of Work Patterns. I had a conversation with Enterprise Social GM Sameer Patel, Sr. Product Manager Steve Hamrick, and Marketing Manager Holly Simmons from SAP to understand its value.

SAP Jam Work Patterns seems to fit into both the Third and Fourth models of integrating social and enterprise process, depending upon your point of view. If you are a traditional enterprise app user, say a salesperson using the company’s CRM system, you can continue to use the same traditional CRM tool, but also see social discussions and other social tools within it—this is the Third model realized.

According to Sr. Product Manager, Steve Hamrick, users can also see the CRM data appear as objects in their enterprise social environment—this is the Fourth model realized. The enterprise data and the social data go where they are needed. This helps to support users from either perspective, and allow them to work the way they each prefer.

What’s the Systemic Difference to say Sales?

Figure 3: Opportunity Management in SAP Jam

Let’s take a look at some of the most common work patterns for complicated Sales: opportunity management, engagement planning deal rooms, and customer-facing sales engagement. Each of these is very socially oriented: there are people you need to work with to research or discuss; there is content or information you want to share with them; and there is some status per the customer that has to be known by others.

In Opportunity management (see Figure 3), as a seller, you want to research and manage the information about the client, understand the state of existing opportunities with the client, and brainstorm on possible future opportunities. Old style, you run around the CRM systems, your management chain, your internal contact list, and perhaps even the web gathering what you need. New style, you involve people as necessary to assemble and manage the information in a shared (social) space that includes formal systems of record (e.g., the CRM), and the informal tacit knowledge of anyone in your organization willing to help.

Figure 4: Deal Rooms with SAP Jam for Sales

With deal rooms (see Figure 4), you create a specific space to plan for a particular opportunity with the customer. It often includes documents like spec sheets, proposal templates, customer contact information, presentation materials, and the sales strategy. Rather than make copies of the CRM information, SAP Jam brings in the different aspects of customer records live for the sales team to work with.

For new sellers, this system can also work as an enablement process, showing them step-by-step the kind of information they need to bring together for different sales processes. It is the most effective form of enablement, bringing together the what-to-know with the how-to-do aspects in one.

Building Enterprise Agility with Work Patterns

SAP Jam is realizing the business value of social capabilities by accelerating and reifying the oft-hidden-but-necessary steps that are in the gaps of enterprise process. In doing so—in bringing out these hidden steps—the operations and strategy teams get a clearer view of how people spend time at work. In other words, we get deeper insight into how our operations really run when work actions are extensively directly recorded within the tools.

Think of all the phone calls about the sale that never get tracked; the content that goes missing because it is in some device or laptop; the client relationship history that disappears when the salesperson leaves the company; the delays in tracking a sale in the CRM system because people are gaming the system when they put in the information to make themselves to simplify their own lives. Work patterns for SAP Jam are also interactive portals that frame the job to be done for that pattern. As mentioned, this is a form of enablement; but more so, with the data auto-collected as people use the deployed work pattern, you get a level of insight into how people interact around that work.

Keep in mind social patterns are not the same predictable step-by-step of enterprise processes. This means that you need that information of ‘How did you actually go about doing it?’ and see this over many individuals and teams. Then you have some level of data to see if you should tune the pattern. This is similar in concept to business process optimization and reengineering, but the greater free-form nature of social interaction.

How does this create agility in the enterprise? With the supporting data, you can change the pattern for some or all the users as necessary. You can more accurately determine the better patterns and reshare that with others. You could even manage a library of such work patterns and offer folks different approaches to the same work that appeals to their work styles. This recognizes not only are there different ways to do a processes but that people work in different styles. For example, in sales there are a number of different styles of sellers, as I described in a prior article referring the book, The Challenger Sale.

Therefore, this form of work pattern analysis creates both operational agility (how to do things better) as well as personality agility (how to allow people to work best per their own style. Such agility is exactly what we need in the modern organization, and social business is making it happen. SAP has created a real system designed for getting current forms of work done in the enterprise, while setting the state to realize higher levels of business performance through agility.