Annie, tell us about yourself.

I am an IT professional who has an envious career progression working within global ICT technology vendors, including major global names: IBM, HP, Trend Micro, Cisco, Telstra & Microsoft ( within Distribution) as a Sales Business Development Manager or Channel Development Manager across Australia, Asia Pacific, and New Zealand. Over the past decade I have made offer of my SAP and ICT experience back as a Business development or business transformation consultant to the industry finding my engagements across both Small, Medium, Business, channel partners as well as large Enterprise ones. My latest engagement, which has only been disrupted very recently due to Covid 19, has been with the Australia/New Zealand division of Oxygen (SAP Sales) of the global DXC Technology for just short of 2 years. I studied Anthropology/Archaeology before IT was a formal tertiary study and became passionate about the technology opportunities as a continuation of man’s use of artifacts to better enhance mankind’s universal development. As a result I have enjoyed the fascinating developmental impact of vendors and individuals such as Microsoft’s with (Bill Gates) Apple (Steve & Was) and of amazing emergent technologies in hardware, internet commerce, Cloud development and software with significant advances such as SAP S/4 Hana. My passion for people, process and abundant opportunity in a unique industry that has shaped our decades, is ongoing.

Which applications did you work with prior to SAP and how do they compare?

I have worked with Sales Force, Tencia, Halcyon, many home grown Proprietary CRM/ERP systems as well as have sold ones such as Microsoft Dynamics, Tencia etc for Small, medium business.

Which SAP modules have been most useful in your business and why?

SAP Business One, SAP By Design, S/4 Hana, C /4 Hana, SAP Ariba, SAP Concur, SAP Success factors, SAP CX, SAP Leonardo, Fiori etc .

The reasons why & most useful – SAP is now one of the global leaders in the most technologically up to date software for centralised management giving organisations a big picture of the entire enterprise whether it is an SMB or a Larger Enterprise for Digital core. SAP provides Cloud based best practice industry standard management of supply chain solutions with the power of digital performance, IBP, logistics, Procurement, HR, customer AI, analytics and automation. SAP provides Customer needs satisfaction in availability or power to add from base modules to include Commerce Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Sales Cloud, Service Cloud and customer Data Cloud means that for the 1st time a management team have concise data analytics at all operational , HR and finance levels as well as customer experience analytics to facilitate strategic marketing to customers and markets to enable sustainable growth in revenue and profitability. New technologies incorporation in the software for Supply chain management of AI and Blockchain mean that SAP provides the future now in an organisation to adapt to today’s global challenges and new threats to its sustainability or growth. By Design, and S/4 Hana are the 2 most useful for their appropriate organisation size as they are the most comprehensive way to efficiently run the whole organisation in all aspects from HR, Accounts, Sales, Procurement, supply chain, production, marketing and finance with data that can be meaning fully shared to give accurate real time analysis of an organisations performance or challenges or weaknesses.

Tell us about your career journey in tech / SAP to date?

My career 1st started with SAP early 2000’s (20 odd years ago) with its 1st versions for large enterprises that included supply chain and logistics organisations such as Toll, Retailers, such as Priceline & Seven Eleven, Car manufacturers such as Toyota and BMW or Health enterprises such as Aged Care and hospitals, banking and finance institutions, all within a large global VAR, working directly with SAP. (Value Added Reseller – IBM and then defunct Gold VAR- Synergy). The experience was one of being a key person internally to undertake the internal roll out the SAP software for the VAR to use daily for its own compliance, training and knowledge base to then be competent, experienced and capable to sell to enterprise clients across the Australia and New Zealand region.

All sales of hardware, software and services projects, procurement, HR, Finance and payroll were completed in SAP within the VAR (IBM & Synergy) and the transition from 1st internal installation to full integration use took approx. 3.5 years of daily training, learning and skills gain of complete competence in various roles including Procurement and IT Project services supply and support. Later joining DXC Technology the use of SAP was for Deal Registration, Pricing and project reporting using Fiori interfaces and dashboards. At DXC my Sales competence was withing the marketing team as an Inside Sales Support Consultant for ANZ was across all DXC SAP solutions . It was to convey the specialised messaging to convince engagement with both SMB and large Enterprise clients to attend Webinars, events or engagement directly with the various business management teams at the “C level “ for initial conversation as a result of Marketing campaigns and lead development activity. My vertical speciality focus was Aged Care, Health and Supply chain – particularly Dairy industry and manufacturing across the ANZ regions.

What is the best thing about working in SAP technology?

2018 onwards is a very exciting time with huge projected growth for new and existing customer sales for SAP particularly S/4 HANA. SAP has one of the largest installed base of both SMB and Enterprise ERP global customers- it’s a very exciting time of growth and change decisions for business digital transformation even before Covid 19, as 2025 was then the date for complete industry roadmap transition to force a new platform install due to the Internet of things (IOT) making all current ECC6 customers change to a new S/4 Hana base. The new date of 2027 or now even 2030 make it still so, but the high degree of desire for change and knowledge of C level managers for SAP to trust as the best practice for giving them the best industry solution to run in the new technological revolution of data driven change, and how SAP technology integrators are assisting in this the best satisfaction of working in a technology that has global and local diverse verticals all wanting to participate in this uptake and transformation.

What does equality mean to you?

Equality means that people are viewed the same without any bias of gender, ethnicity, religion, age, cultural background etc. People should be regarded by others on their merits and abilities equally and treated with respect in society and workplaces as equal – there are different genders and gender identifications today this should be accepted as a given but all are entitled participants of the human race. If people are viewed the same as a human person alone but all are unique and therefore of value, then they should be valued suitable or not where their ability, efforts, training, personality, attitude, passion and qualification allow them to be compared with respect to a role of employment and this alone should determine their hire.

What inspirational words would you offer to other people looking for a career in SAP?

For anyone looking at what, how, and why technology platforms impact the business world globally we live in and which ones have successfully transformed people’s lives for the better in developing and the developed countries as well as given sustainable incomes and employment for millions of people of all ages and backgrounds ? Then my advice would be for them to look for themselves into SAP as a platform, as a technology leader, and a global tech employer that has ethically invested in people, culture and continues to do so – then this would be in itself in what a person uncovering if they didn’t know about SAP to be inspirational. This would be based in evidence not just some body’s words and I think a more powerful inspiration.

Why do you think Tech/SAP have been male dominated in the past?

Our education system has reflected the cultural experience of the parents of previous 5-6 generations with little real base curriculum change in emphasis. Schools have been taught basic skills by people (teachers with little or no grasp or experience in technology) with minimal revolution in gaining imagination of their students to the realms that technology can now provide and the wealth of opportunity. IT has not been seen as aspirational by the last generations of their parents too, as say being a doctor or lawyer. This is because they have little experience to provide guidance. Men have generationally traditionally run the management of the workplaces where now they accept that technology is part of the labour cohort that they need to hire, so these are hired from the Universities, educational institutes in larger numbers as these male students are in larger numbers, completing the certifications that industry is hiring .Except perhaps in the last few years, where finally use of IT and technology skill in areas such as coding has begun to make some inroads. Ask today a cohort of early primary school children what would they like to be when they grow up and the answer is still probably the same traditional aspirations of female and male children such as nurses, teachers, doctors etc .Girls fail to be excited especially by STEM Education appeal as this is not changed enough across all schools. To make aspirational to women there needs to be emphasis highlighting the potential for change and reality in the everyday world and why Software like SAP is used in all types of organisations. Some fundamental understanding of data, cloud technology and ERP is needed in all global early education systems. Males still dominate gaming numbers as their early introduction to imaginative technology but females are less enticed as gaming involves time and again the traditional culture ideology permeates female psyche to see time wasted such as gaming as a luxury, when the burden of domestic work such as cooking, cleaning and grocery shopping even in teenage and young adult women takes priority as this is burden of responsibility is not shared equally with men. Women have not traditionally been made aware of the technology behind and driving the use daily in their activities that they are often the ones performing roles with software from data entry to reporting in all types of roles and in all diverse organisations that use SAP. Women need education on what Technology and software like SAP is and why it can be a pathway or any technology (including AI, Robotics, Blockchain, 3 D printing etc) but what is missing is that they then can understand that the implications if what its purpose and power in the new future will be – it also needs to be de -mystified as it is something that they probably already understand better if more education around benefits rather than the old ideas of techno babble that does not seem relevant to Women in particular. The current Toyota commercial about nails simplification in a humorous way (what does a Project Manager do again ?This explains to a primary school child what job the man does as the man has to summarizes all the boring, harder parts of his job into a simple one liner “ I drive a Hilux” This is spot on about connecting the complexity of what one does to make it aspirational, interesting and therefore desirable. This is perhaps is what is needed in education around STEM particularly to have a larger training cohort of women in IT skill certification training to make it into senior Technological and software companies like SAP in far larger numbers, then it will not be so male dominated as present.

What advice would you give you to a women working in the SAP ecosystem and looking to advance her career?

Enrol in the Open SAP courses, seek organisations that provide SAP training, use SAP and have employment in SAP and career pathways. Do as many of these certifications as possible.

What can we all do to inspire more women into working with SAP?

Work with SAP integrators to target in marketing, all education institutions to include SAP knowledge and courseware. Work with SAP to work with global education on what SAP is and what it can do for systems, efficiencies and opportunity for growth in economies. Lobby and work with SAP to offer scholarships, prize awards and benefices to students from SAP. Ask SAP to invest in more aspiration media to gain women’s interest and desirability in career ambitions.

What female inspiration have you had in your career?

I have had a handful of current female senior role models and mentors in my career but this has grown significantly over the past 20 years. Recently more and many have been of a slightly younger generation than me and have inspired me with new ideas and ways to overcome complex challenges. Surprisingly to me, these have been from different cultures and global countries where I am forever grateful that my career, role and travel has allowed me time and exposure to these wonderful women who are so often under the radar in even their own organisations some times, in what they do but are amazing in their stories of how they have arisen to be in the roles that they are in within these technology and SAP organisations.

SAPTURE, feature women working in SAP and making it happen. To be featured, or to nominate someone to be featured, contact danielle@sapture.com.au