Streamlining SAP S/4HANA Training with Savantis
Meet the Authors
Key Takeaways
⇨ SAP S/4HANA training can be especially difficult for companies with multiple acquisitions and subsidiaries around the world.
⇨ Savantis offers training services and software, rolling out education in waves, timed out with deployment milestones.
⇨ Savantis offers a specific four-part framework to evaluate the success of its Learning Management System.
Deploying a new instance of SAP S/4HANA is a significant undertaking for organizations of all sizes. These enterprises must ensure that they are prepared before beginning the deployment. This preparation should extend beyond the technological aspect of the deployment and include the human element. Companies should ensure that all members of the organization are prepared to utilize SAP S/4HANA to the fullest extent possible. SAPinsider’s Deployment Approaches to SAP S/4HANA 2023 research report found that 39% of respondents said that the education and training of internal resources was a major factor affecting the SAP S/4HANA deployment timeline.
SAP S/4HANA training can be especially difficult for companies with multiple acquisitions and subsidiaries around the world. This was the case for Apple Leisure Group. The hospitality conglomerate is made up of a number of different organizations worldwide, operating on multiple back-end systems in multiple languages. For assistance, ALG turned to Savantis.
Savantis
Savantis is an IT services and solutions provider, targeting mid-sized businesses. They aim to benefit customers by implementing SAP software in weeks, rather than months or even years. This speed contributes to overall scalability and functionality for clients.
Many organizations simply roll out SAP S/4HANA fully, then train workers on it once the process is completed. However, Savantis deploys training in waves, as it did with ALG. Savantis rolled out its training sessions in unison with the S/4HANA go-live dates across the dozens of different companies ALG operates, offering customized practice frameworks for each entities business plan.
Savantis deployed its materials through a Learning Management System, which is a software application that allows users to administer, document, track, and deliver educational courses or training programs. With this LMS, Savantis offered ALG’s workers a blended approach of on-site training, remote meetings, and web-based instruction.
Training Approaches
Reaching each individual worker one by one can be difficult and time-consuming, so Savantis opted for a Train-the-Trainer approach. This means that a select few individuals from ALG were trained, then empowered to share their knowledge with other co-workers at their location. These trainers are provided with the course materials and the LMS. All of ALG’s trainers were able to pass on their knowledge successfully.
This is an especially important point for international companies like ALG. With dozens of properties across multiple different countries, the company needed a bilingual approach – English and Spanish – for training all employees. Also, differing courses are assigned to users based on their roles at the organization.
Results
By the end of the deployment, Savantis was able to train 150 different SAP users at ALG across six different countries, using 35 different solutions. ALG also has ongoing access to the LMS, which allows new employees to receive the same training, providing greater consistency throughout their workforce. Savantis estimates that this training scheme saved ALG more than $2 million.
Companies often struggle to put a true value on a training program. Savantis offers a specific four-part framework to evaluate the success of its Learning Management System:
- Reaction: The users’ reaction to the training itself.
- Learning: Did the user actually learn anything?
- Behavior: The degree to which the learning is applied in the work environment.
- Impact: The degree to which real business benefit is derived.
Savantis is able to determine how much understanding and retention a given employee has from their training, ensuring that the program is effective and employees can effectively utilize SAP S/4HANA.
