For more than 100 years Ideal Heating, part of the Ideal Stelrad Group, has been keeping British homes warm thanks to its innovative range of boilers, controls and renewable energy solutions.

The group’s approach to innovation however, is not just limited to the products it designs and manufactures but is embraced by all parts of the business including, IT.

Ideal Heating’s ground-breaking implementation of SAP’s Web Channel Experience Management (WCEM) solution illustrates a company confident of its ability to apply cutting-edge technology to drive tangible business benefit and one keen to maximize the return on its’ investment in SAP software.

Following on from our blog, How to Build a Report in PowerPivot using SAP Data (Without Involvement from IT!) we've had a number of requests for a written walk-through of the scenario covered in the blog so here goes!

In this blog I am walking through a scenario where a user wants to combine a Sales Report from an SAP BW Report with Business Partner data in CRM and a 3rd set of data in an MS Excel sheet.

In my previous blog (Enabling Flexible Reporting with PowerPivot and SAP) I discussed how introducing a tool like Microsoft PowerPivot into your organisation could be used to empower your business users, remove your reliance on expensive tools and ultimately simplify your BI landscape.

In this blog I want to share with you a short video that demonstrates how a user can use PowerPivot to build a report quickly and easily using data from multiple sources (including SAP) without any involvement from IT.

While we're busy preparing the case study for our implementation of SAP Web Channel Experience Management at Ideal Stelrad we couldn't resist showing you a sneak peak of what is possible with SAP WCEM!

Following hot on the heels of Daneel de Villiers' PowerPivot integration blog (Enabling Flexible Reporting with PowerPivot and SAP), De Villiers Walton is delighted to announce the launch of what we believe is the perfect SAP integration tool for PowerPivot.

We call it the DVW PPCS, the PowerPivot Connector for SAP, because that is exactly what it is.

The connector is installed on an SAP NetWeaver application server and provides SAP data (from tables, BW Queries or BW InfoProviders) in ATOM Format directly to Microsoft PowerPivot.

So, where it was previously necessary to import data into PowerPivot using a 2 step process, it is now possible to integrate SAP directly into Microsoft PowerPivot in a single step with no fuss.

Like many others, I became disillusioned with the lack of flexibility provided by existing SAP Information Management (IM) tools. This was until I saw Microsoft PowerPivot as part of a Reporting Tool evaluation. What I saw blew my mind!

SAP offer the most comprehensive cloud computing portfolio on the market allowing you to manage your people, money, customers, suppliers – even your entire business. Seamlessly integrate with your on-premise solutions, maximize agility and eliminate the need for major IT investments.

The possibilities and benefits for your business are countless and of course there will be an urgency to start realising these advantages from SAP’s cloud offerings, but experience shows that cost-conscious clients have a tendency to rush headlong into SAP engagements for which they have not adequately prepared. The result is invariably a cost overrun, as well as a failure to fully achieve the intended benefits, and often poor user acceptance of the new solution.

Before embarking on any SAP cloud implementation it is therefore essential that a thorough diagnostic is made to assess your company’s readiness to proceed. This should be done well in advance of the start of the project giving time to resolve the issues which are identified.

In February 2013, we took the final step in our migration to the cloud by switching off our legacy systems and moving all of our business processes onto SAP Business ByDesign (SAP ByD). As the Director of HR & Business Operations for De Villiers Walton (DVW), I must admit that I had a few concerns when our MD originally suggested we implement the solution. Firstly, our business already ran smoothly and had done so for 10 years on a suite of fit-for-purpose software products, some cloud-based, others more traditional. Why fix something that wasn’t broken? Secondly, as a non-technical person, I was concerned about relinquishing control over the existing systems and creating a dependency on technical specialists.

Today is a big day at De Villiers Walton as the journey we started back in 2011 with the implementation of SAP Business ByDesign for CRM concludes with the roll-out of Finance, Project Planning & Costing, Time & Expenses and Profitability reporting functionality across our entire business.

SAP Web Channel Experience Management - A short walk from WCEM 1.0 to WCEM 3.0

We published our original opinion article on WCEM 1.0 and WCEM 2.0 back in June 2012. Since then WCEM 2.0 has progressed from being in ramp up to general release and WCEM 3.0 is currently in ramp up.

Anyone who has experience of working with SAP products might ask why three major releases of WCEM have been rolled out over such a short period of time. In this blog, we will be looking back at the brief but dynamic history of WCEM and also speculate where it might be heading in the near future.

A Practical Guide to BI Performance Improvement

Slow to generate, under-utilised and inaccurate Business Intelligence (BI) data puts organisations at a competitive disadvantage. In this paper, Daneel de Villiers, managing director and co-founder of De Villiers Walton, explains how the SAP consulting specialist’s back to basics Performance Review for SAP BI identifies the causes of SAP Business Warehouse difficulties and allows organisations to generate better Business Intelligence.

Results of the De Villiers Walton CRM study 2011

Introduction

In 2011 we commissioned an independent study of 252 CRM users around the UK to establish an accurate picture of the operational capability and user adoption of CRM. The study found that many users were failing to get the best out of their investment in CRM systems and that a significant proportion reported that their CRM system actually slowed them down or fundamentally did not support their business processes. Small wonder then that users are reluctant to upgrade their CRM systems once they have been implemented. More of that in another blog….

The results of the study were well reported and picked up by a number of journalists including MyCustomer.com’s Neil Davey who wrote an interesting piece, How can we stop CRM slowing business down?.

I thought it would be interesting to share the full results of our study with you. So, please stand back – no peeking! -  while I open the kimono….  

De Villiers Walton is 10 Years Old!

I can’t quite believe I’m writing this but, De Villiers Walton is ten years old today! When Daneel de Villiers and I started the business back in 2003, neither of us could, in our wildest dreams, have imagined that we would be here ten years later, still loving what we do and inspiring our customers to achieve ever greater success with their investments in SAP software and De Villiers Walton technology.

We would like to thank all of our customers, past and present, for trusting us with their businesses, their money and, in the early days, their reputations. As business owners we understand how precious these things are and we will continue to work to ensure that your trust is rewarded.

We would also like to thank the De Villiers Walton team for ensuring that we keep our promises to our customers. These things are important and we wouldn’t be where we are today if we didn’t have a team who take great pride in their work and strive to delight our customers.

Here’s to ten more years!

If you have a project you would like to discuss with us please contact me directly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

SAP Business ByDesign: Implementation By Yourself? (Part I)

Introduction

This is the first in a series of blogs attempting to convince you that you can take on at least some of the effort to implement the all new SAP Business ByDesign© software for your company by yourself, perhaps with the help of a few colleagues (!), but reducing the need for too much outside help from SAP consultants like myself.  I have recently implemented several ByDesign systems for customers in the professional services and wholesale distribution sectors.  The latter (I am led to believe from my counterparts at SAP UK) were the first examples of ByDesign systems in the UK where full warehouse functionality was utilised; including the use of handheld barcode scanners.  We’ll come back to this later, but let’s start at the beginning with setting up your project, and we can get to the technical pointers and pitfalls in later blogs.

The Norwegian food manufacturer, Rieber & Søn ASA, supplies a range of foodstuffs to the food service and retail markets in the Nordic region and Central and Eastern Europe.

Since 2011, De Villiers Walton has been supporting its SAP CRM-based Promotions Tool. The tool, developed by De Villiers Walton, helps Rieber & Son to better plan, manage and evaluate its in-store retail campaigns and promotions without the pain, cost and effort of implementing SAP Trade Promotions Management.

De Villiers Walton is delighted to announce that the SAP Support agreement has now been extended to cover Rieber & Søn’s SAP CRM solution including Mobile Sales.

Speaking on behalf of Rieber & Søn, Program Manager Jorn Ivar Berg said, “De Villiers Walton proved through their delivery and support of the promotions tool that they have good resources and procedures in place.  They have been very responsive to date and have good skills, they are a trusted and reliable partner. We absolutely have the confidence in their ability to deliver”.

Is Your Data Working Hard Enough?

SAP consulting specialists optimise strategic data with launch of Independent Programme Review for SAP BI.

Specialist SAP consultant De Villiers Walton Ltd, has launched a low-risk solution for enhancing SAP Business Intelligence (BI) solutions, following customer feedback which revealed that CFOs and senior managers are suffering from a lack of data quality.

Having investigated the causes of BI shortcomings, De Villiers Walton concluded that many businesses are enduring the effects of inadequate system architecture. The company’s new Intelligent BI Programme addresses an organisation’s existing BI difficulties and provides a quick, cost-effective means of meeting their needs, which could include tackling vital issues such as under-utilised or inaccurate data.

An initial assessment identifies priority issues and services from the Intelligent BI programme which can be employed to dig deeper into the barriers preventing better BI reporting. A BI Solutions Roadmap document is then compiled that lists out the crucial actions, in order of priority, that the company needs to take to tackle the problems identified.

“We have a broad customer group and have been fortunate enough to work with some of the leading global companies in the consumer goods, hi-tech and pharmaceutical arena,” says Daneel de Villiers, co-founder and managing director of De Villiers Walton. “Our Intelligent BI programme was created in response to the on-going business issues highlighted by these organisations and their need to get better value from their existing investment.

“Our work takes SAP BI solutions to the next level, giving clients the ability to gain access to data in real time and in a needs-driven format. So far, the Intelligent BI Programme has been a great success, with benefits including enhanced data quality, more intelligent and active utilisation, data timeliness, increased data transparency and optimised usage.”

The SAP CRM UI – Go in with your eyes wide open

Since 2008, I’ve had the pleasure of introducing hundreds of SAP customers and consultants to the new and rapidly evolving CRM User Interface (UI).

I recently ran a five day SAP CRM User Interface Development workshop (part of SAP’s CRM Deep Dive Workshop Series) for a group of consultants and developers at one of the world’s largest oil & gas companies. The workshop was based on CRM 7.0 and covered everything from the set-up and configuration of a Business Role through to the creation of a brand new UI Component. On the way, we looked at the Application Enhancement Tool, the Easy Enhancement Workbench, Design Layer customizing and Component Enhancement.

SAP Web Channel Experience Management 2.0 (WCEM) - Opinion

Does SAP need another web solution? What do you do if you are already using Internet Sales or Internet Customer Self Service?

With Web Channel Experience Management (“WCEM”), SAP has promised, “a state-of-the-art web solution that was re-architechted from scratch using Web 2.0 and Java standards” and that, “delivers end-to-end processes for E-Commerce, E-Marketing, E-Service, and Web Channel Analytics on a robust and easily extensible Web Channel platform, including 3rd party solutions.” (Woesner, 2012)

Sound interesting? In this piece, we assess the promise of WCEM and what it means to you if you have either invested in a previous SAP web solution such as Internet Sales (“ISA”) or Internet Customer Self Service (“ICSS”) or are looking to make a brand new investment in a web channel platform.

Train to Gain

Today’s multifaceted Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems provide the ideal support mechanism for a wide spectrum of businesses, including recruitment. However, many CRM users – especially those who may not use it on a daily basis – struggle to make the best use of what is now an essential tool for managing customer interactions.
 
Effective, bespoke training tailored to the specific needs of a particular sector, or individual business, ensures the workforce is confident and equipped to use a CRM system competently and access its full capabilities. CRM can help recruiters effectively manage interactions with customers, clients and sales prospects by organising, automating and synchronising sales activities and other business processes such as marketing, lead management and customer service.

Making Data Easier to Digest

Most finance workers are accustomed to the time-consuming process of accessing multiple systems to perform their daily tasks. But could there be a better way? Here, Daneel De Villiers, managing director of the SAP consulting specialist, De Villiers Walton, explains how adding a simple browser-based interface to enterprise software can make it significantly easier for users to interact with these back-end systems