“I applaud this year’s winners who have created extraordinary value for the companies in their use of SAP solutions,” said Bridgette Chambers, ASUG CEO. “Each winning company is leading by example through constantly striving to enhance its business and leveraging the ASUG community of professionals to reach their implementation goals.”
ASUG launched the Impact Award program in 1998 to acknowledge the efforts and achievements of its member companies that have driven business transformation through the implementation and effective use of SAP solutions. Submissions are evaluated on demonstrated success in the following criteria: return on investment, strategic alignment, SAP product scope, best practices, improved service, and innovation. This year’s awards will be presented to three companies representing three segments within ASUG; Comcast Corporation for Large Enterprise, Summit Electric Supply for Small to Medium Enterprise, and Northern Kentucky University for Public Sector.
The ASUG Impact awards will be presented at 4 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday May 18, 2010 during the Customer Spotlight session at the 2010 ASUG Annual Conference and the SAPPHIRE(R) NOW events in Orlando, FL. ASUG CEO, Bridgette Chambers; President, SAP North America, Robert Enslin; and the 2010 ASUG Impact Award winners will participate in an interactive panel discussion to share how they are leveraging SAP technology and their ASUG membership to drive transformation within their organizations.
The 2010 ASUG Impact Award Winners are:
* Large Enterprise—Comcast Corporation
Comcast Corporation is one of the nation’s leading providers of entertainment, information and communication products and services. Comcast is principally involved in the development, management, and operation of cable systems, and in the delivery of programming content. Over the past decade, Comcast experienced tremendous organizational growth which led to a decentralized environment. The strategic direction of the organization required a scalable human capital management (HCM) solution that provided standardization and efficiency to its human resource information systems across the company.
Through the course of the SAP project, changes were made to standardize and streamline policies and processes, including the consolidation of multiple sets of payroll rules. The SAP system provided a platform from which to begin building a strategic talent management capability to guide Comcast through the current economic environment, and position the company for future growth.
“Winning the 2010 ASUG Large Enterprise award is a great honor. We’re extremely proud of the hard work demonstrated by our project team during the implementation and are very appreciative of our partnership with Accenture,” said Paul Beatty, Vice President of Corporate Systems and HCM Project Director, Comcast Cable. “We’re excited about how Comcast’s innovative and extensive installation of the HCM module will help shape future SAP enhancements.”
* Small to Medium Enterprise—Summit Electric Supply
Summit Electric Supply is a privately held corporation that operates 19 service centers in four states, an industrial marine division that services shipyards domestically and abroad, a global export division that ships products into more than 25 countries, an EP&C division that provides electrical materials to construction projects around the world, and a sales office in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Summit provides value-added services which help electrical professionals save time and money. Services include engineering, procurement, and construction (EP&C) solutions, on-site project management, just-in-time inventory programs, maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) solutions, in-house marine cable braiding, international and export services, counter service guarantees and 24-hour emergency service.
Summit’s growth required the company to automate systems, obtain detailed operational information for planning and analysis, improve information gathering across the company’s 19 locations, streamline costs, and improve sales management. Summit looked to SAP to align its business goals with the system’s reporting capabilities, including integrating back-office and financial systems.
As a result of its SAP implementation, Summit is more responsive and responsible to its customers and vendors all while increasing its internal efficiency. Summit has realized significant ROI in at least three key areas of its business: purchasing, chargebacks, and sales tax processing.
“With SAP, Summit has a powerful, scalable, long term business tool that will serve our customers, suppliers, and associates well and thereby enable long term growth and success,” said Victor R. Jury, Jr., President, Summit Electric Supply.
* Public Sector—Northern Kentucky University
Northern Kentucky University (NKU) is a growing metropolitan university of more than 15,000 students served by nearly 2,400 faculty and staff. One of eight state universities, NKU is one of the fastest growing schools in Kentucky.
To keep pace with rapid growth and meet its vision for the future, NKU needed to replace an aging administrative system (financial, human resources, and student administration) that no longer made the grade. The strategic initiatives could not be achieved without the foundation of robust, efficient transactional and reporting systems.
SAP provided NKU with the tools to automate many functions, process transactions in a timelier manner, reduce errors, and better utilize personnel. In addition, the tools have improved access to information and enhanced customer service. NKU has implemented a significant number of self-service applications across its landscape—including employee and manager self service (ESS/MSS), purchase requisitions, budget transfer routing/approval, student course registration, the advisor user interface—supporting NKU’s campus-wide “NKU Green” initiative by reducing campus paper output. Employees and customer services have been significantly improved due to increased availability of the SAP system overall, moving away from a batch-driven transactional system to an online real-time system available 24/7. The SAP based data warehouse will allow NKU to use Business Intelligence tools to effectively provide a framework for higher-ed analytics which is a significant value add for the university.
“Winning the 2010 ASUG Impact Award for Public Sector is a tremendous honor for Northern Kentucky University, as the award recognizes the tremendous efforts of a large number of staff across campus dedicated to our project,” said Tim Ferguson, Associate Provost Office of Information Technology and Chief Information Officer. “We now have a robust system for our HR, finance and campus management business processes that meets our current needs but also a foundation for the future as our university continues to grow.”
* ASUG Influence—Eastman Chemical Company
In order to recognize the impact that ASUG members have within the SAP ecosystem, ASUG is expanding its Impact Award to include a special category to honor those companies who actively contribute to its Influence program. Detailed criteria for the award will be published for the 2011 awards, but this year ASUG will bestow this distinction to Eastman Chemical Company in recognition of its engagement and contributions since becoming a member in 1994. Eastman is being honored as a leader in this area for its significant investment in a broad range of Influence activities including Influence Council participation and leadership, participation in the ASUG CIO Council, and participation in a new program introduced by SAP in 2009 called the Customer Engagement Initiative (CEI).
Eastman Chemical Company exemplifies a culture of innovation as seen by its employees who are empowered to identify areas of opportunity internally and work proactively within the SAP ecosystem to drive change. In 2009 Eastman participated in a SAP CEI discussion related to Recipe Management within SAP Product Lifecycle Management (PLM). As a result of their active involvement and openness in sharing some of their techniques, SAP was able to implement their ideas within a new release of the solution. In addition, Eastman employees participate in the CIO Council, are recognized leaders within ASUG’s Chemical Industry SAP User Group (CISUG), and maintain an active profile within the ASUG Influence Council program providing participants and leaders for the relevant councils.
“Eastman wants to ensure we receive maximum value from our SAP investment now and build a strong foundation for future growth. As an ASUG member we take advantage of many opportunities to work with SAP and other customers through ASUG Influence,” said Keith Sturgill, Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Eastman Chemical Company. “We leverage the connections we make in the community and through these activities to validate that the solution roadmaps and planned enhancements remain aligned to our priorities and emerging requirements. We are glad to be recognized as a leader in co-innovation and look forward to continuing to help drive new ideas forward.”
