Archiving SAP Software – an Important Step when Switching to Third-Party Support

Spinnaker Support’s ISO 9001:2015-certified archival process delivers substantial value when transitioning to third-party support.

September 21, 2017 | Dan Diaz-Gilligan | Archive Analyst

Archiving as a Jump Start to Third-Party Support

Software archiving, as it relates to third-party SAP support, is the download and storage of relevant software and data located on the SAP Service Marketplace website. Timing is a critical component of the software archiving process, and should be conducted after a user has decided to switch to third-party SAP support, but before their contract with SAP ends.

Spinnaker Support considers software archiving to be one of the most important parts of the third-party support onboarding process for a variety of reasons.

  • SAP users are legally entitled to all releases and patches made available on SAP’s service marketplace up until the date their SAP support contract terminates. Software archiving allows clients to retain, access, implement, and use their enterprise software that they are legally entitled to as defined in SAP contracts.
  • Once a client has ended their SAP maintenance contract, they may no longer have access to SAP Service Marketplace. With software archiving, pertinent information such as software upgrades, support packages, enhancement packages, and patch information specific to the client’s unique footprint of SAP applications will still be available for future use.
  • Software archiving gives clients peace of mind knowing that their information will not be lost once they make the switch to third party SAP support. While archived information is not always leveraged, customers like knowing they have it in case they need it.

The Onboarding and Archiving Process 

During the period of transition between when a client cancels their SAP maintenance contract and begins their contract with Spinnaker Support, our SAP engineers will host a kickoff meeting to discuss a software archiving strategy that is based upon our extensive knowledge of the critical data that each client needs to retain.

Developing a Software Archiving Strategy 

Spinnaker Support has designed a project tool to accurately define the archiving process and to ensure that all steps are completed successfully and on time. The strategy session will serve to identify the software to which you are legally entitled, and when it will be downloaded.

The complexity of this type of project combined with the time it takes to successfully capture the software updates often discounted. To make the transition period as smooth as possible, Spinnaker Support’s solutions include archive execution at no additional cost. Our archive execution solutions guarantee that software is packaged securely, easy to navigate, and saves the customer time spent on processing.

 Software Archiving Time Management Expectations 

The duration of the archive process is determinant on the number of SAP products, versions and platforms being archived, but typically takes 3-8 weeks. Spinnaker Support has a dedicated archiving team with skillsets specific to SAPs Service Marketplace processes and procedures, taking the risk and time away from the client.

Reaping the Benefits of Software Archiving with Spinnaker Support 

Spinnaker Support’s software archiving capabilities provide a number of benefits to customers. Consider the following:

  • Data is housed on client hardware, making it accessible for years to come.
  • We offer archiving scope and guidance, which provides access to the software that best matches your future business and technology strategy.
  • Spinnaker Support’s ISO 9001:2015 certified archival process.
  • Our Technology Center of Excellence is available to assist customers utilize the updates, upgrades, or patches that have been archived.
  • We are experienced with best-in-class search tools that locate and identify patches when needed.
  • The archive can also serve as a backup in the case there of any data loss on the client’s system.

Customer Case Study

One of our SAP customers, the world’s largest forest products manufacturer, made the decision to move to third-party support in October of 2015. Upon selection, Spinnaker Support quickly initiated onboarding activities to gain deep knowledge of the company’s people, processes, technology, organization, and practices. With this knowledge, Spinnaker Support developed personalized support to best fit their unique requirements. Spinnaker Support delivered effective archiving services by ensuring all software and product documentation to which the client had access rights was downloaded and packaged in a searchable archive, hosted by the client.

During the onboarding process Spinnaker Support:

  • Created the archiving project plan
  • Assisted in the identification of software and documentation to be archived
  • Coordinated and processed the download of nearly 300,000 notes, more than 8 enhancement packs, 16 kernels, 4 GUI updates, and numerous support packs and other components.
  • Ensured that the archiving work was completed in less than 6 weeks

Spinnaker Support completed a full archive of SAP’s available releases prior to their contract termination on December 31, 2015. With their large SAP footprint, we saved our client months of internal IT staff time and the dollar amount equivalent to roughly 450 man hours. The archival process was entirely provided under our standard support fee and completed at no additional cost to the customer.

In recent months, this customer needed to update their ECC6 applications with a required service pack. They came to Spinnaker Support’s Technology Center of Excellence for assistance in locating and deploying the required updates from their SAP archival directory. They were able to deploy the service pack, complete testing, and promote to production within a few days.

Conclusion

Archiving is a lesser known feature when clients seek out alternatives to vendor support. When considering third-party support, client’s initially focus on the substantial cost savings, hyper-responsive service, full support for their custom code – but they also end up with a full set of software updates archived for future use.

In addition to offering world-class software archiving capabilities, Spinnaker Support helps businesses better leverage advanced SAP features and functionality at a significantly reduced rate. Learn more about our SAP third-party software support solutions, contact us today!

Women in STEM Fields: Stories of Success and Support

According to the 2016 National Science Board Science and Engineering Indicators, over 5.7 million college graduates have filled positions in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields between the years of 1960 and 2013. While the late 80s and early 90s showed an increase in the number of women entering STEM fields, recent reports are showing a decline in certain areas, such as computer science. Overall, the data show under-representation of women in STEM fields, but the gap is beginning to close thanks in part to support from leaders in the public and private sectors.

Michelle Obama delivered a call to empowerment during her first public appearance since leaving the White House, “If we want girls in STEM, we need to rethink how we deliver education.” President Trump recently signed two new bills into law promoting female entrepreneurship and STEM participation. Says Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, “In the future, there will be no female leaders, there will just be leaders.” Support from these leaders is one of the reasons female undergrads are entering STEM fields more frequently, and the percentage of female-invented patents have increased nearly every year since 1980.

At Spinnaker Support, our success is dependent upon a team that is both technically skilled and diverse enough to serve a global client base. We hire the most highly skilled support engineers in their field of expertise. This has enabled the diversity needed to best serve our customers. Our team consists of women and men who work from 7 regional operations centers, speaking 14 languages, covering customers in 102 countries. We recently sat down with a few of our female leaders to discuss their experiences at Spinnaker Support. Below, Carolyn Barr –  Senior Technical Support Analyst, Cynthia Hinckley – JD Edwards Managing Consultant, and Daphna Amal – Senior Application Support Consultant, offer advice for young women interested in STEM work, as well as discuss their career trajectory and experiences in the field.

Beginning a STEM Career

Like any career, women end up in STEM jobs through a variety of paths. Current reports show that women have earned 50.3% of bachelor degrees in science and engineering. However, a degree isn’t the only way to get a job in the STEM field.

Both Cynthia and Carolyn transitioned into STEM roles from other positions. Carolyn was working for United Airlines when they introduced their first online reservation system and moved from operations to programming when demand increased. Similarly, Cynthia worked her way from a customer support role for a large software company to being a member of the global IT team.

Other women, like Daphna who is based in Israel, have been interested in working in STEM for as long as they can remember. Daphna says that she has “been interested in mathematics and computers from when she was a girl.” In high school, her high school teacher encouraged her to take a university class in computer science. She graduated with a focus on mathematics, computer science, and statistics, and she’s been working in the field ever since.

No matter what path women take to begin their STEM careers, they’ll find a job that requires them to “think outside the box, try things, and play and experiment,” according to Carolyn. If you or someone you know is interested in a career in STEM, there are ample resources available online. If you are looking for resources in your area, Girls Who Code has chapters all over the country, and the Girl Scouts has even started STEM focused programs.

Persisting Through the Gender Gap

While women are still underrepresented in STEM careers, there are signs that the gender gap is closing. In 1993, women only represented 22% of the STEM workforce. However, by 2013, that number had increased to 29%.

Being a minority in the workforce can come with some challenges. One woman we talked to has faced some discrimination over the years. Back in the 1990s, when women in STEM were less common than today, she found that she struggled to have her professional opinion respected.

“There was management in the industry that would ask my opinion, and then ask my male colleagues what they thought to see if our opinions matched. If it didn’t match, they would always go with the male.”

Fortunately, this mindset seems to be less common in the modern-day workforce. Cynthia has worked in male-dominated STEM jobs for her entire career. However, she reports experiencing little discrimination while on the job.

“Most of the time I was the only female in the room,” says Cynthia. “Did I notice that? Yes. Was I treated any differently? No. I feel like we all had mutual respect for the things that we each brought to the table and participated in.”

Despite their personal experiences with gender discrimination, all the Spinnaker Support women attributed their success, in part, to their persistence.

Advising Future Women in STEM Fields

The future looks bright for young girls who are interested in a career in a STEM field. Harvey Mudd College, a top engineering university, reported in 2013 that female engineering students outnumbered males for the first time. Women also accounted for 47% of computer science majors, well above the national average.

As the millennial generation and Generation Z enter the workforce, experts predict that we’re likely to see the number of women working in STEM increase. These generations were raised with computers, which means both genders may equally be interested in and master technical careers.

When asked what advice they would give to young women interested in working in a STEM career, the Spinnaker Support women encouraged girls to pursue their passions.

“I would encourage them to follow their passion because that’s where your success is going to be, regardless of what area of STEM it is,” says Cynthia. “Always know that everything is achievable. It’s just a matter of how much work do you want to put into it to make it happen.”

Carolyn concurs: “I would tell any young girl to find the passion and to go with it, and just to dig in and do it. There’s nothing you can’t do, so try it.”

Conclusion

Passion will take you places. The female leaders at Spinnaker Support agreed that choosing a career should be based on passion and personal interests, not what others feel is best for you or where society says your gender fits in. These ladies are proof that you don’t have to have a college degree or insider connections to make it in science and technology. As the number of women in STEM continues to grow, women will have a larger support system and opportunities to excel in their chosen fields.

If our customers aren’t satisfied neither are we, and the women of Spinnaker Support have always been an integral part of helping our global team provide excellent service to our customers.  We are proud to have earned numerous awards in the field including American Business Awards Stevie Gold, 2017 and Top Denver Workplace two years’ running. Connect with us on LinkedIn to stay up to date on the latest software support news and our latest successes.

Examples of the Business Case Behind Switching to Third-Party SAP Support

The technical case for switching from SAP-provided support to third-party support is well documented. Breaking away from the software vendor’s self-support model to a concierge-style of support has many benefits. But, since the business case typically outranks a technical case, it is always great to find a single solution that addresses both.

Examples of Our Current Clients’ Business Cases

1. A global leader in design software and services is in the midst of a business transition to shift from selling perpetual licenses to SaaS subscriptions. Such a shift exchanges high upfront license payments for the higher valuation recurring revenue model. However, there are some challenges to overcome. Switching to a SaaS selling model presents a temporary cash crunch and causes delays in revenue recognition. Our client needed to find ways to lower costs in order to minimize disruptions to cash flow and revenue recognition. They decided to make the switch to Spinnaker Support and immediately saved in excess of 60% on SAP support fees – monies that were redirected to support the business case. This client will save nearly $4 million during the course of their multi-year agreement with Spinnaker Support.

2. A leading provider of commercial high-resolution earth observation and advanced geospatial solutions is striving to be the indispensable source of information about our changing planet by 2020. To meet this challenge, they are executing a “Five Point” strategy to position themselves for stronger growth and continued shareholder value creation. By switching to our SAP support, this client was free to drive stronger cash flow, return more capital to shareholders, and invest more in R&D to launch leading edge platforms and services at a faster pace. Our client is highly satisfied with the much-improved service and can redirect $millions over the next few years year to better support the business strategy.

3. The largest water and water recycling company in England and Wales is challenged to deliver safe, clean, and reliable water while ensuring fees remain affordable. They must remain a sustainable business that delivers great service while always protecting the environment. The geographic area they serve has grown in population by about 20x in the last decade – so finding better ways to serve more people is an ongoing challenge. This client implemented cost control measures where savings could be redirected to support their most strategic programs. Replacing high-cost, low-value SAP-provided support with Spinnaker Support is contributing nearly £2 million every year towards this client’s business objectives.

4. A multi-billion dollar Tokyo Japan-based leader in test and measurement wanted to better offset business fluctuations that are inherent in the semiconductor industry and to widen their global leadership position. They decided to take actions to improve their cost structure to generate more stable profits and to increase their R&D investment. Spinnaker Support provided an ideal solution to tie the client’s business challenge with their technical issue – which was paying too much for a decreasing level of support. By making the switch, this client will save over $4 million in 5 years.

Spinnaker Support delivers an increasingly popular solution to address client business challenges/strategies while simultaneously solving a very real technical problem. Contact us before your SAP support contract auto-renews on September 30th.