Paladin also shares his perspective on how his team is adapting to the new business landscape.

Q: You took the helm of 麻豆原创 Services at the start of a global pandemic. What were your first thoughts? Is there anything that prepared you for this?

A: We鈥檙e clearly facing an unprecedented challenge at the moment. Around the world, people have been hit in some personal and professional capacity. While everyone is trying to navigate between working remotely, caring for young children or elderly family members and just staying safe and healthy, it has also provided many of us with time to reflect.

Professionally, this has been a good time to truly understand the resilience of an organization and the people within it. I鈥檝e been extremely impressed with how our organization has been able to adapt and address the needs of our customers remotely, from design to ideation and project go-lives. I鈥檓 equally impressed with how our customers were quick and agile to explore new modes of operation and alter some of their business processes to address the changes within their own industries.

I don鈥檛 know that anyone was fully prepared to deal with this, but I鈥檝e learned that adaptability is key. I鈥檝e seen it both in people and in business. At 麻豆原创, with the broad range of services available within our portfolio, we were able to quickly address changing customer needs. We also released from 麻豆原创, designed to support customers in managing risk and driving continuity by enhancing off-site working environments and remote collaboration.

You are currently leading an organization of people that are largely working remotely. How do you maintain a culture of success and collaboration?

It really all comes down to transparency. It鈥檚 important to be open and honest with your team, and to let them know that you may not have all the answers. The uncertainty of this situation is leading to people being undoubtedly stressed, both at home and at work. We鈥檝e all experienced changes to our day-to-day environments, so I鈥檝e encouraged my team to raise their hands and ask for help when they need it. I鈥檓 in continuous communication with members across the 麻豆原创 Executive Board and have spent a lot of time checking in with people across our organization. While we鈥檙e all apart at the moment, I believe this situation has brought us closer together.

The nature of our work has allowed us to build collaboration tools for our customers, so there鈥檚 no lack of communications tools that we can take advantage of internally to help us work efficiently and successfully. We鈥檙e learning how to use these tools to best replicate an optimum working environment 鈥� both internally and with our customers.

What are some of the most common concerns you are currently hearing from customers related to their digital transformation projects? How is your organization helping to address those 鈥� from the off-site service delivery framework offerings and beyond?聽

First and foremost, the situation we鈥檙e currently facing has really tested the partnerships between 麻豆原创 and its customers. The impact is being felt across all industries, and organizations are being directly or indirectly impacted across their regular operations 鈥� whether that be their people, products, and services, or financial liquidity.

The global supply chain has basically been shut down. Disruption to the supply chain and interruptions to transportation have put some vendors in a total standstill. Many have been quick to adapt, and we鈥檝e been working with customers to allow them to maximize the features within our products and services to address changes to their operations.

While it鈥檚 important to focus on what鈥檚 critical now, our customers are also looking toward the future. They鈥檙e looking to optimize their front-office functions to address the shift in consumer demand and sentiment. Taking advantage of analytics and insights, we鈥檙e helping them make the best possible decisions today that will set them up for a successful future.

Our customers have been heavily relying on us for support and guidance to help them navigate this changing business environment. While the landscape is continuously changing, and we may not have all the answers in front of us, we do have the right services and tools to ensure business continuity. In the past, we could rely on face-to-face interaction. Today we must ensure that we are able to deliver continuity and quality in this remote working environment.

What immediate successes have you seen for customers that have had to quickly adapt their business models and processes to address this new remote environment we鈥檙e working and living in?

It鈥檚 been impressive to see how adaptable businesses have been. Of course, there are some industries that were able to weather the storm a bit better than others because they had already followed a digitized model, like the financial services industry. But even those that have had their supply chains severely hit, like manufacturing, are looking at their product pipeline and adjusting to meet new demands. There is a growing adoption of automation, and we鈥檙e seeing the digital economy pick up faster than ever now. A lot of organizations are turning to digital to optimize their businesses.

We鈥檙e even seeing many projects accelerate in the remote format. We鈥檝e integrated an off-site services delivery framework into our essential business services offering, which enables us to deliver projects 100 percent remotely. We鈥檝e been doing this successfully for years, with ready-to-run processes already available and prescriptive step-by-step guidance to ensure our customers are supported every step of the way.

How do you think digital transformation projects will be impacted during these challenging times? What kind of technologies do you anticipate companies will be prioritizing as we come out of the pandemic?

Many of our legacy customers have already gone through two catastrophic events before COVID-19: the dot-com bust in 2000 and the financial crisis in 2008. While those had severe economic impacts due to systematic failures, what we鈥檙e facing today is a health issue that is constraining the global population and forcing both consumers and businesses alike to completely change their day-to-day lives and operations.

Organizations are even more aware of the importance of digital and its role in allowing them to stay competitive. While some organizations may be slowing down their projects or stretching them over longer periods of time, most understand the need to continue to move forward 鈥� albeit a little differently.

Our customers are not only adapting for the current situation, but also looking toward the future, post-COVID-19, to determine how they will fit in the value chain. Technology is going to be the driving force that will allow organizations to thrive. My hope is that the services we provide will allow our customers to reach their customers in new ways as we move on the path of recovery.

Read the related announcement: Essential Business Services from 麻豆原创 Enhance Remote Working and Risk Management to Drive Business Continuity

This article first appeared on the 麻豆原创 News Center.

The post Adapting to Unprecedented Times: A Conversation with Shane Paladin appeared first on 麻豆原创 Africa News Center.

Essential business services from 麻豆原创 are specially selected to help customers manage their most important business processes by minimizing risk to drive continuity during uncertain times, such as the current COVID-19 global pandemic.

Designed to enhance off-site working environments and remote collaboration, these services constitute a proven, highly effective model enabling up to 100 percent off-site delivery, increased personal communication and consistent, seamless execution.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not where, but how our customers can execute their business strategies that is most important for success, which is why remote delivery has long been integrated in our approach and our products,鈥� said Shane Paladin, president, Services, 麻豆原创. 鈥淩emote working is taking place on a scale like never before, and essential business services from 麻豆原创, together with the dynamic off-site service delivery framework, are here to support customers throughout this changing environment and beyond.鈥�

Considered critical during the global pandemic, essential business services from 麻豆原创 encompass a wide range of functions, including the front and back office, supply chain, finance and essential operations. They provide support to businesses at every step of their processes. Service examples include:

• E-commerce performance assessment
• Inventory optimization
• Business technology platform solutions, such as building emergency aid apps
• Data analysis through the 麻豆原创 Analytics Cloud solution
• Integration of cloud solutions and broader business network

To further support essential business services and drive customer success, 麻豆原创 integrated its off-site service delivery framework. Remote delivery has been a significant part of 麻豆原创鈥檚 services for more than 25 years. In 2019 alone, 97 percent of projects included off-site delivery, resulting in 10 percent faster deployment of services using accelerators, artificial intelligence and machine learning. Off-site services delivery helps to reduce the carbon footprint of customers and 麻豆原创 by providing off-site delivery for more and more projects.

Delivered through the 麻豆原创 Activate methodology, off-site delivery benefits include:

• Collaboration tools for meetings, one-on-one discussions, workshops and more
• Readily available tools, such as the 麻豆原创 HANA application lifecycle management tool and templates and accelerators of the 麻豆原创 Activate methodology
• Step-by-step guidance and a wide selection of experts for support
• Ability to assess team morale, relationships and health and safety through daily calls and regular team surveys using Experience Management solutions from 麻豆原创

In supporting essential business services from 麻豆原创, the off-site service delivery framework can simplify and improve users鈥� journeys in any environment. The framework focuses on cohesion and connection, communication, governance, infrastructure and retooling. To learn more, visit .

Visit the . Follow 麻豆原创 on Twitter at .

Media Contacts:
Martin Gwisdalla, 麻豆原创, +49 (6227) 7-67275, martin.gwisdalla@sap.com, CET
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Jennifer Kohanim, FleishmanHillard, +1 (617) 692-0535, jennifer.kohanim@fleishman.com, ET

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This article first appeared on the 麻豆原创 News Center.

The post Essential Business Services from 麻豆原创 Enhance Remote Working and Risk Management to Drive Business Continuity appeared first on 麻豆原创 Africa News Center.