A regular car has four doors and six gears …

Imagine you are in the following situation. You are in the parking lot of a supermarket, watching a family of four (dad, mom, two kids) approaching. The man and the woman are carrying big bags of groceries. Daddy has to put down the bags next to his car and as he is searching his pockets for his car keys, some of the purchased goods fall on the ground. Once the door is unlocked, the children are climbing into the car using the door at the driver side, followed by the woman, who has some difficulties getting into the car through the passenger seat. The groceries are loaded into the car via the same door, handed over to the kids, who put them on the backseat. When, after quite some time, they are finished, dad starts the car and leaves the parking ground. As the car makes a lot of noise, this catches the attention of everybody around. Keeping the car in first gear can have that effect, of course...

You probably have some questions about the events I just described. “Why doesn’t the man use the car key to remotely unlock the car?”, you might ask. Or: “why don’t they open the rear and the passenger doors to get everybody in the car?" And: “wouldn’t it be better to load the groceries directly into the trunk of the car?” Some of you would ask: “something must wrong with the car, because what else could be the reason the driver didn't use any of the other gears?” It is hard to imagine that something like this would happen in reality. If this family would look around, they would quickly notice that their way of “using” their car was not exactly “common practice”.

Am I exaggerating? Perhaps. However, I see a lot similarities between the car scenario and the way people use software solutions. Companies often buy software solutions that are only partially known by the user, sometimes not implemented in an optimal way, too often under-exploited and even misused. The net effect is reflected in the level of user satisfaction (just like the car that is not convenient for its passengers, makes too much noise …) and un-used capabilities.

I’m happy that SAP has an entire community –our SAP ecosystem- to avoid this. Next to the services to have our software up and running, our partners and we have put everything in place to train and spread the knowledge and enable everyone to share their experiences.  A very important element is peer-exchange; customers exchanging knowledge, challenges and insights. That’s why I believe a lot in the value of a user community: organizations can show each other that a car has lots of functions and even advanced options which can make life much easier. In this context the Belgian SAP User Group SAPience.be has proven its value.  I’m a great fan of the SAPience.be user group and of event events like the SAPience.be User Day, where SAP customers show each other how they use SAP technology to get the greatest business value. If you want to see how other people use the “four doors and six gears” of their SAP software, then do stop by on November 19 at the SAP Lounge for already the 8^th SAPience.be User Day.

You can find inspiration on www.inspirationforsuccess.be