The presenters at this conference hold a good balance between customers and SAP employees. What is great about this conference is that you can take in all you wanted to find out about SAP solutions in a lot of detail. It’s nice to spend time catching up on their company, their projects and their families. There are so many people walking the halls, but, from my view, it is always like a gigantic family reunion as you run into customers (well, by now pretty darn close to friends) that you have worked with for a long time. The ASUG Annual Conference website can be found here.ĪSUG’s spring conference can be described by one word: BIG! Since all of the SAP solutions are showcased in both tracks and on the large show floor, it is a lot to take in. More information about ASUG can be found either at ASUG’s main page or at the SAP Service Marketplace ASUG site. There are smaller meetings by chapter or SIG throughout the year and throughout the country. Let’s talk about the ASUG Annual Conference next.ĪSUG, of course, is the Americas’ SAP User Group.ĪSUG’s main conference cycles, by and large, are the main spring conference, covering all of SAP’s solution offering, and the fall Forums, which were started in this form last year, but are really a consolidated form and continuation of the SIG meetings of years prior.
This is certainly also a show where you will find presentations that allow you a look forward in the SAP world. While there are some introductory sessions on Sunday and in the individual tracks, this show brings the greatest value to those who want to deepen their component know-how. On the show floor, you may have other customers listening while you talk to the SAP person – Meet the Experts gives you private time with them.įinally, partners and their presentations and exhibits round out the show.Īll in all, you will be most happy at this show if you are actively involved in either business planning or project work for any SAP NetWeaver components and in general have an aptitude for technology. The show floor hours are somewhat limited, so plan accordingly if you have specific questions.įor more in-depth discussions, utilize the Meet the Experts times that are offered.
Presenters are SAP employees, partners and customers.įrom a show floor view, the SAP product experts from Product Management are there to discuss one-on-one with attendees the individual SAP NetWeaver components at “pods” (SAP lingo for demo areas), where you can see feature-function close-ups. The review cycles here ensure that listeners walk away with a tight alignment to the description of the sessions, which during last year’s event produced some phenomenal audience satisfaction numbers. You can find some recommendations on who the attendees targeted are on this page.įrom my own experience, the presentations at this event fall under the tightest possible scrutiny before they are ever submitted to be presented and then put on a CD. Last year’s show, from my perspective, was a tremendous success with great attendees and great sessions. It is the joint work of SAP Insider and SAP, starting out with a focus on SAP Business Information Warehouse and SAP Enterprise Portal, but now showcasing all of SAP NetWeaver. Let’s start with the SAP BW & Portals conference. Since there are very few people I know – with the possible exception of me ? – that get to go to all of the above events (especially all within the first half of the year), I want to give you some insights on these events that may make it easier to decide which one to attend if you haven’t been to any or only to one or the other. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, from May 11-13, 2004. The next in our time sequence is the ASUG Annual Conference, which is held at the Atlanta Convention Center in Atlanta, Georgia, from April 18-21, 2004.Īnd finally, concluding the big events for the first half of 2004, is SAP’s own SAPPHIRE, which this year is being hosted at the Ernest N.
The first one starts on Monday – the SAP BW & Portals 2004 event at the Gaylord Palms in Orlando, Florida, which will run March 15-17, 2004 and is a collaboration between SAP Insider and SAP.
Which one is the one for me, you may ask? Three months of shows ahead of us here in the Americas.