Imagine if enterprise application support in the workplace was as easy as online shopping – personalized service available at your convenience, including Google Search, across your choice of devices, and intuitively embedded in the applications you use every day.
This is the vision of SAP’s Next-Generation Support, which aims to expand from traditional back-and-forth IT ticket incidents with a new level of on-demand, omnichannel innovations specifically tailored to digital business.
“People using technology at companies expect the same kind of delightful experience they have in their personal lives,” said Andreas Heckmann, senior vice president and head of Support Delivery at SAP. “With Next-Generation Support, SAP is committed to continuous innovations that will achieve our vision, aligning support with the way people actually work, providing an intuitive, contextual, self-service approach with real-time interaction that reflects our hyper-connected world. We’re excited about taking the next steps forward in this ongoing journey supporting our customer’s investments in SAP.”
SAP’s Next-Generation Support provides real-time interaction that reflects a hyper-connected world
According to Heckmann, this latest wave of Next-Generation Support brings the right information and the right experts immediately to where customers are working in the system, accelerating problem resolution times in sync with real-time business demands.
Personalized Context Transforms Support
One of the most important innovations Next-Generation Support offers customers is the ability to access support directly from applications using built-in support for SAP S/4HANA Cloud. This highly intuitive, seamless support is based on SAP CoPilot, the company’s digital assistant technology.
“Someone working in an application will be able to press a button, and a window will pop up providing immediate support options. They don’t have to leave the system, make a phone call or go anywhere else,” said Heckmann. “They can quickly find fast answers whether it’s from relevant articles in our knowledge base, an immediate conversation with the best available enterprise application support expert, or a scheduled appointment to talk at their convenience.”
Heckmann added that there will be demos of built-in support for SAP S/4HANA Cloud at the Digital Business Services Campus at the upcoming SAPPHIRE NOW event this month.
Customers Super Positive on Access to Experts
Next-Generation Support expands on the already available Expert Chat, providing customers with direct access to SAP technical support experts via the new Schedule an Expert services.
“These requests aren’t sent to first-level, generic support people,” said Heckmann. “Customers will be able to directly connect with the experts who can actually solve their problems. They can either start an Expert Chat, or Schedule an Expert to make a 30-minute appointment to talk. Customers have shared super-positive feedback from our pilots already.”
Heckmann said that customers to date have solved more than 60 percent of their incidents averaging over 80 percent satisfaction ratings using Expert Chat.
Self-Service Speeds Up Everything
Customers can also opt for an entirely self-service support model with Guided Answers. Essentially a search engine with predefined problems and solutions, Guided Answers helps people quickly ask questions and narrow down answers based on information collected from other customer experiences.
WhatsApp and Google Reach People Where They Are
Responding to customer requests for familiar search and tools, Next-Generation Support will allow people to find SAP-specific information in Knowledge Base Articles using Google Search. Over 70,000 articles have been indexed to date, providing customers with fast access to answers. SAP is also piloting customer subscriptions using WhatsApp Messenger to share tips, bug resolutions and other information targeted to their interest.
“Customers love having the ability to find articles using Google Search because that’s the tool they use every day,” said Heckmann. “In addition, people are bombarded with so much information that they may not see what’s most important. Using WhatsApp, we can send them updates on the topics of greatest relevance to their individual role and department’s business objectives.”
Future plans include providing mobile access to support, as well as smart search integration with social media.
Follow me: @smgaler
