As I have become more active with Twitter over the last year it has become
very clear that the adoption by SAP customers has been very slow. In this
article I would like to point out the reasons why SAP customers and employees
should start to become more active with twitter and the value it will bring to
their organization.
What is Twitter?
Twitter is a social networking and microblogging service that enables its
users to send and read other user messages called tweets. These tweets are
text-based posts of up to 140 characters that are displayed on the author's
profile page. Over the past year the amount of individuals working within the
SAP ecosystem, networking and content being shared and on Twitter has grown by
leaps and bounds and it is only in its infancy.
Value of Using Twitter
There are some common misconceptions regarding the value of twitter and I
will outline below some of the key areas and value that it can bring for SAP
customers and their employees.
A. Networking/Industry Contacts – There has been quite a bit of talk recently
about twitter and its value in bringing people together based on the Malcolm
Gladwell article “Twitter, You’re No Martin Luther King”
which I generally agree with. On the other hand I have had and seen many SAP
relationships start on twitter which lay the foundation for a more meaningful
future relationship.
I often get asked what type of people use twitter as they must have a lot of
spare time on their hands but I think it would surprise you that SAP, SAP
Executives, ASUG, SAP Mentors, SAP Industry Analysts and senior consultants are
actively posting information, new content, their views on SAP, sharing
information and using the tool to network with each other. Just to give you a
flavor of some of the people with “to much time on their hands” some of the
regular providers of content are as follows:
This is only a handful of the key individuals in the SAP ecosystem that are
active on Twitter and my apology for all that I left off the list. You can click
on any of the names above to follow them or get some additional
information. Once you start using twitter you will get a better idea of
the people, information and viewpoints from the SAP industry which is very
impressive.
B. Information - I realized early on in my career that there was a lot of SAP
information available in the marketplace and the primary challenge was being
able to find it and stay on top of it. While I personally use Google Reader as
my main tool to stay current on SAP information over the past year I have
started to use Twitter not only as a social networking tool but to occasionally
find new content or even better, new sources of information I can start
following. It is important to note that a majority of the content found on
twitter can be accessed by different means but it another tool to ensure I don’t
miss listening to a Jon Reed (@jonerp) podcast for example as I know he will
tweet out a link to it. You will be pleasantly surprised by the amount
of free SAP information available that will help you and your
organization.
C. News – Many years ago I used to read the newspaper to get cutting edge
information but over time the internet took over making the daily paper seem
like old news and now in a way it feels like twitter makes some of the internet
information old news. Just to give you an example of how news travels on
twitter, SAP announced their earnings this morning and as soon as it was
released the information was on twitter and shortly thereafter were some tweets
(aka 140 character analysis) by industry respected analysts as well as in the
hours that followed tweets with links to articles dissecting the earning from
Dennis Howlett (@dahowlett) and others. When I open up the US Today or Wall
Street Journal tomorrow I will read about SAP earnings in what will feel like
“old news” to me. It is important that companies and employee have all
the relevant news and information so they can make informed decisions regarding
SAP.
D. Industry Events – All of the SAP industry events are now well covered real
time via twitter and this was recently shown at SAP Teched 2010. If you look the
SAP Teched website you will notice what a
great job SAP has done integrating twitter to the event for anyone that posted a
comment or information using #sapteched. If you followed this stream there was an
unbelievable amount of free information, links and replays to sessions, insider
information, pictures, and commentary.
It was a very unique experience but it almost got to the point where you felt
like you were actually there and it something that you have to experience for
yourself but it helped cement the value in twitter for me personally. All the
SAP events both big and small will be covered using Twitter going forward and I
don’t want to discount the value of attending these events in person but as
budgets tighten it is another way for companies and employees to be involved and
get the conference content and a bit of the experience without having to send
their entire team. There are a lot of SAP industry events yearly and it
is important that companies and employees participate and gather the appropriate
information so that they can learn and make informed decisions.
How to get started
I would recommend reading a previous article I wrote called “How to find and
follow SAP Content on Twitter” http://tinyurl.com/2flh2do as it should provide
some valuable insight as to how to get started using twitter. It is important
to note that it takes some time and effort to learn and maximize the value that
twitter can offer so don’t get discouraged.
Just like anything in life you have to give Twitter a fair chance which means
committing to spending 15-20 minutes a day for at least a month and I will be
very surprised if you don’t start to see the value this can offer you and your
organization. I have seen firsthand the value that it can offer people involved
in SAP and my goal is to spread that message to SAP customers because having the
relevant industry contacts, information and news are some important aspects that
are found in all successful SAP implementations.
If you enjoyed this article and want to give twitter a try please feel free
to follow me on Twitter at @SAP_Jarret
Jarret Pazahanick is a SAP HCM
Consultant and the Managing Partner of EIC Experts (www.eicexperts.com)
