SAP made an extraordinary number of announcements at Sapphire this year, and I am struck by how rapidly their technology is evolving across all their solutions. SAP referred to them as “sweeping innovations and collaborations” designed to help customers meet the future head-on, whatever it may bring, and I think that’s very apt. For anyone in attendance, it was abundantly clear that these are not incremental advancements—they are fundamental changes to the way the technology is architected and deployed. Among the most interesting to me and likely most transformative for enterprises are the ways AI is being embedded across solutions. I also find advancements to SAP Business Technology Platform, including how they’ve reimagined Integration Suite, introduced new low-code automation capabilities, and expanded their partnership with Google to integrate BigQuery technology more tightly with Datasphere, quite compelling.

It is also worth noting that they made half a dozen or so announcements related to ERP modernization efforts, which is particularly relevant because so many enterprises are already in flight on S/4HANA implementations and public sector agencies soon will be. As I wrote in my last blog post, recent FedRAMP^® authorization is driving an emerging resource capacity challenge.

As enterprises adopt these new advancements, they will need not only strategic guidance to ensure they are implementing them in alignment with SAP’s roadmap and in keeping with best practices, but they will also need new types of tactical expertise and skillsets.

How Baer Is Preparing to Identify Expertise for the Next Wave of Technology Advancements

Of course, this massive evolution has me thinking about our role here at Baer in ensuring helping the enterprises and systems integrators we partner with have access to the expertise they need to implement these solutions in ways that enable them to realize their full potential. That last part is important—the right expertise can make a significant difference in the outcome of the transformation. Identifying the right expertise to lead and support their transformation initiatives can minimize risk, speed time to value, ensure that your strategic objectives are met, and ultimately put you in a position to use your technology to drive stronger business performance.

At the end of the day, SAP is developing technology intended to help enterprises future-proof their business. Neither of them can realize their vision without the right expertise. In light of this, I have been reflecting on the type of enterprise capacity partner Baer needs to be and what we need to do to meet this pivotal moment. The good news is that I think the type of partner we already are, will serve our customers well in this emerging environment. As for what we need to do, the following are just a few steps we are taking to ensure that when the time comes—and it is fast approaching—we are prepared to provision these initiatives with precision, by identifying the right expertise, at the right time, for the appropriate investment.

• We’re staying on top of the evolving technology landscape – I can’t understate how important it is that an enterprise capacity partner understand the strategic objectives of your SAP technology transformation initiative, have deep knowledge of how the solutions have evolved over time, what is currently standard best practice, and where they are headed. The technologies are so complex—you will save hours, weeks, even months of time and spare yourself round after round of interview cycles by working with someone who understands the ecosystem, the technologies, the integration landscape, and the skillsets.
  
• We’re nurturing strong relationships with proven expertise – Baer has been partnering with leading enterprises, systems integrators, and public sector agencies to identify expertise for their technology transformation initiatives for many years. As these projects are completed, we continue to nurture relationships with this proven talent, placing them multiple times over the course of years. Because they have touched the technologies directly, often over the course of years, and seen them evolve, they bring industry vertical knowledge and best practices that are necessary to drive stronger business performance.
  
• We’re proactively identifying new talent – To create a more robust IT labor supply chain pipeline, we continuously look down the innovation curve and proactively engage and vet expertise through our invitation-only Opportunity Edge network. I like to think about this approach in terms of concentric circles—the center circle is comprised of people who have touched the new technologies directly, the second circle is comprised of people who have relevant, adjacent legacy skills, and beyond that, we engage people with complementary skillsets.

• We’re tracking the skills and certifications needed for this future state – We’re in regular conversations with stakeholders across the ecosystem to better understand what new skillsets and certifications will be necessary to support these emerging technologies. As we gain clarity, we not only apply our proactive approach to building and maintaining relations with people who have them, but also to steering the most promising talent in the direction of the relevant certifications to broaden the supply chain.

I will add that we are all in this together—SAP, systems integrators, enterprises, and Baer. The onus is on all of us to collaborate to build a sustainable pipeline of expertise with the right skillsets. To that end, SAP announced a set of new programs designed to help existing SAP professional upskill and build their bench strength as well as broaden the base of people who can become SAP professionals. Specifically, they have introduced a new role-based certification program, are offering free courses for SAP S/4HANA Cloud public edition and have enhanced the SAP Learning Hub.

While my recent experience at Sapphire and the host of announcements SAP made certainly has inspired my thinking, this situation is not unique to the company. Technology is advancing at an unprecedented pace on every front, and it seems every day brings similar announcements from other enterprise technology solution providers. Both Oracle Fusion Cloud’s new AI capabilities for Supply Chain Management and Salesforce Genie, a real-time data platform powered by Hyperforce, spring to mind. The race is on for expertise on these fronts, as well, and we are similarly engaged in our proactive identification efforts.

Any enterprise—or systems integrator or public sector agency for that matter—would be well served by looking beyond traditional technology staffing companies, and instead teaming up with an enterprise capacity partner who will commit to working side-by-side with them over the course of months and years, and who is invested in helping you realize the full potential of your enterprise technology investment and in driving stronger business performance.

I think it goes without saying that at Baer, we strive to be all these things, and more.

About Baer

Unlike typical technology staffing companies, Baer is a true enterprise performance partner. We have a deep understanding of the scope of enterprise technology transformation initiatives and the highly specialized skillsets you will need at different stages of the process.

To learn more about how Baer can make a positive impact on your enterprise transformation, please reach out to Brian Trout, btrout@baergroup.com, Executive Vice President, Sales, or John Wilson, Vice President of Strategic Accounts, at jwilson@baergroup.com.

We look forward to speaking with you and learning about your specific challenges.