Orlando might not be the most exciting of locations, but in just over a week the excitement levels will rise tenfold as thousands of SAP HCM and SuccessFactors customers, partners, vendors, and employees head on down for the highlight event of the SAP HCM calendar: SAP Insider’s annual HR conference. This year, HR2014 will be held at Walt Disney World® Swan and Dolphin in Orlando, Florida from 11th to 14th March. The pre-conference jumpstart day will be held on Monday 10th March. If you haven’t yet bought your conference pass then consider this $450 discount code that is valid right up until the conference. You can also get some information on the conference on the latest SAP HCM Insights Podcast that will be posted later this week.
Session Picks
As usual, there is a plethora of sessions and finding a selection of stand-out sessions is a difficult task. I’ve done my best to pick out a selection of sessions that I will be attending, and also the panel sessions that I will be moderating.
- Understanding the HR reporting landscape in a cloud, on-premise, and hybrid world by Danielle Larocca, SpinifexIT on Tuesday 11th at 10:30am
- Keys to integration with SuccessFactors Employee Central by Thomas Otter, SuccessFactors on Tuesday 11th at 10:30am
- Expert Panel: What you need to do immediately back at the office and next year moderator by Bill Kutik, HR Tech Columnist, Human Resource Executive with panelists Josh Bersin, Bersin by Deloitte; Christa Degnan Manning, HfS Research; and Lisa Rowan, HR, Talent and Learning Strategies on Tuesday 11th at 1:15pm
- Live demo: An up-close look at HR Renewal by Paru Sankar, SAP on Tuesday 11th at 3:00pm
- Panel discussion: The future of SAP ERP HCM — Predictions from the experts moderated by Steve Bogner, Insight Consulting Partner with panelists Darren Pithie, SpinifexIT; Luke Marson, HRIZONS; Jarret Pazahanick, EIC Experts; David Ludlow, SAP on Wednesday 12th at 8:30am
- Panel discussion: The great debate — On-premise vs. cloud moderated by Brandon Toombs, Toombs Consulting with panelists Sharon Wolf Newton, hyperCision and Steve Bogner, Insight Consulting Partners on Wednesday 12th at 10:15am
- SAP E-Recruiting or SuccessFactors Recruiting? A leading expert shares his thoughts by Mark Ingram, Ingram Talent/HyperCision on Wednesday 12th at 1:00pm
- Interactive discussion forum: Real-world lessons to deploy and optimize ESS and MSS applications by Jeremy Masters, Worklogix on Wednesday 12th at 3:30pm
- How leading HR organizations achieve service delivery success: A detailed look at the results of Towers Watson's 2013 HR service delivery and technology survey by Mike DiClaudio, Towers Watson on Wednesday 12th at 3:30pm
- Quick Fire Experts Panel: Ask your SuccessFactors implementation questions to real-life experts moderated by Luke Marson, HRIZONS with panelists: Amy Grubb, Cloud Consulting Partners; Rana Hobbs, Aasonn; Jyoti Sharma, HRIZONS; Atif Siddiqui, HRIZONS on Wednesday 12th at 5:00pm
- Panel discussion: Answers to FAQs about SuccessFactors Employee Central moderated by Luke Marson, HRIZONS with panelists Jyoti Sharma, HRIZONS and Joachim Förderer, SAP on Thursday 13th at 8:30am
- Implementing SuccessFactors Employee Central: Business drivers, challenges, benefits, and lessons learned by Jyoti Sharma, HRIZONS on Thursday 13th at 10:15am
- Increase the effectiveness of your HR decisions with workforce analytics capabilities from SAP by Frans Smolders, SAP on Thursday 13th at 1:00pm
- What can SAP HANA do for my HR organization? by Frans Smolders, SAP on Thursday 13th at 4:45pm
- Side-by-Side with SuccessFactors: A stepping-stone to the cloud by Wolfgang Dittrich, SAP on Friday 14th at 8:30am
Also, don’t miss the keynote address Harnessing HCM technology in a rapidly changing world to drive strategic business outcomes that will be delivered by SAP’s Shawn Price, President Global Cloud & Line of Business and David Ludlow, Group Vice President, Line of Business Solutions – HR.
Networking and other value-adds
As always, networking is one of the key benefits of attending the conference. Whether you want to network with your peers or with experts and thought-leaders, you can spend a lot of time picking the brains of folks who can help you learn and educate yourself on trends, products, tips and tricks, and what’s coming in the next 12 months.
The Ask the Experts sessions – held on Tuesday at 6:15pm and Wednesday at 2:15pm – are an ideal opportunity to speak to product and implementation experts about a variety of SAP HCM and SuccessFactors topics. A host of industry experts and thought-leaders that will be present at the 45 minute sessions over the two days, including the likes of Bill Kutik, Josh Bersin, Lisa Rowan, Danielle Larocca, Prashanth Padmanabhan, Peter Howes, Jarret Pazahanick, Steve Bogner, Joachim Förderer, Brandon Toombs, and many many more.
SAP and SuccessFactors’ product management teams will be delivering a number of roadmap sessions during the conference where you can find out detailed information on what’s due in the coming year. This can help you formulate your internal roadmaps and prepare for the next round of innovations. For those considering or planning to move to SuccessFactors, these sessions can help you prepare for the right time to take the leap. The key sessions are:
- The 2014 guide to SAP ERP HCM: Functionality, updates, and future roadmap by Paru Sankar, SAP and Ralf Wagner, SAP on Monday 10th at 9:00am
- A guided tour of SuccessFactors’ talent management solutions: Capabilities, innovations, and future direction by Mark Brandau, SuccessFactors on Tuesday 11th at 10:30am
- The 2014 guide to core SAP ERP HCM enhancements by Paru Sankar on Tuesday 11th at 10:30am
- A comprehensive and up-to-date look at the SAP/SuccessFactors integration roadmap and technology strategy by Prashanth Padmanabhan, SAP on Tuesday 11th at 3:00pm
- A detailed guide to leveraging the most up-to-date functionality and enhancements available for Employee Central by Eva Woo, SuccessFactors on Thursday March 13th at 3:15pm
Many SAP HCM and SuccessFactors partners will be exhibiting and this gives you a chance to look for potential partners and get advice on the various aspects of product implementations. Some of the leading SuccessFactors partners (such as HRIZONS!) will be exhibiting, along with the stalwarts of the SAP HCM world. There will be a variety of partner products for both SAP HCM and SuccessFactors on display.
SAP Press will be present as usual and you can get a selection of great HR titles, including the best-selling SuccessFactors with SAP ERP HCM book. All 3 of the authors will be present at the conference so be sure to stop by at booths 125 (HRIZONS) and 135 (Cloud Consulting Partners) to get your copies signed!
Summary
Don’t miss out on a great event and an opportunity to network with peers and experts. This is a great chance to get educated on the latest and greatest trends, products, and information. You can follow the action live on Twitter using the #HR2014 hashtag. As always, you can keep up-to-date with the latest and greatest from the world of SuccessFactors in the SAP and SuccessFactors LinkedIn group.