A pair of startups, including one led by a former top SAP executive, are betting that SAP customers want more flexible ways to purchase consulting services and find answers to problems.
Greg Tomb, who was CEO of SAP North America before leaving the vendor early this year, recently formed Vivido Labs, which offers remote help-desk service provided by a roster of experienced SAP professionals, Tomb said.
[ Discover what's new in business applications with InfoWorld's Technology: Applications newsletter and Killer Apps blog. ]
The main difference between Vivido and traditional consulting contracts is that customers can purchase help a la carte, and can get it faster, he said. A large systems integrator may demand a minimum length of engagement or be unable to immediately put qualified help on the job, he said.
About 1,000 SAP consultants have expressed an interest in working with Vivido, but the company has selected an initial group of about 400 for now, according to Tomb.
The system works well for the experts, many of which are veterans and "tired of traveling," Tomb said. "It gives them the ability to make extra money and get in front of new customers. ... These people love working through the hard problems," he added.
Following feedback from initial customers, Vivido is now tweaking its platform to ensure customers can name a preferred consultant if desired, rather than be assigned one randomly from a group specializing in a particular area, Tomb said.
Vivido is focusing on customers whose SAP implementations are already up and running and need help with configuration issues or other "post-go-live" problems, Tomb said. However, a customer that is just about to hit the switch on an implementation might want to call in Vivido's experts to serve as a last-minute extra set of eyes, he added.
In addition to remote help, Vivido is attempting to build up a large repository of white papers, how-to guides and other information relating to specific areas of SAP software. The materials undergo a thorough vetting process by a team of SAP "scholars," according to Tomb.
Meanwhile, startup CumulusIQ, based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, is taking a somewhat different approach to remote support.
Customers submit questions to the company's "SAP Help Desk in the Cloud," after which an answer is "crowdsourced" by a virtual team of consultants.
"You could potentially have 20 experts looking at an SAP issue anytime day or night, whereas with a traditional dedicated help desk, you might only have one person helping you at a time," cumulusIQ CEO Monty Kalsi said in a blog post.
Vivido and CumulusIQ are creatures of the recession and its pending aftermath, according to Jon Reed, an independent analyst who tracks the SAP jobs market.
"Basically, when you look at the impact of this economy, business models are never going to return to the way [they] were. We're going to recover into a different world," he said. "Part of what's changing is stuff around systems integrators and consulting in the enterprise space. Companies want more innovation."
Get the independent advice and expertise you need to support a virtual workforce.
The increase in Linux popularity has increased the frequency and sophistication of malware attacks. Read this 2 page white paper now to learn how you can protect your Linux environment with real-time protection that is certified by all major Linux vendors.
Download now »
Ensuring acceptable application delivery will become even more difficult over the next few years. As a result, IT organizations need to ensure that the approach that they take to resolving the current application delivery challenges can scale to support the emerging challenges. This handbook elaborates on the key tasks associated with planning, optimization, management and control and provides decision criteria to help IT organizations choose appropriate solutions.
Download now »
A common misconception is that mid-range storage requirements are dramatically different than that of a larger enterprise. Mid-range storage users may require less capacity, but they have similar functionality and management requirements. This ESG paper examines mid-range storage needs and reviews a new solution that adjusts size while retaining value, performance and functionality.
Download now »
Sign up to receive Applications Resource Alerts
Like any valuable resource, IT is a terrible thing to waste. But by applying the same lean techniques that have been used to streamline manufacturing processes, IT departments can reduce costs, improve performance and better manage resources.
Download now! »
Stephen Elliot, vice president of strategy for CA's Infrastructure Management and Data Center Automation business unit, explains why difficult economic times drive the need for simplified management capabilities and advanced automation tools.
Listen now! »
According to a recent study CA conducted with 300 CIOs and top IT executives, 64 percent of respondents say they've already invested in virtualization, and the other 36 percent reported that they plan to invest in virtualization.
Download now! »
In this video learn about process automation in a virtualized world. How CA and VMware are enabling enterprise datacenter automation.
View now! »
20 Recommendations
