Case Study

SAP had strong knowledge management infrastructure — but well-curated static content couldn’t support how client-facing experts share knowledge in real time. With the rise of Facebook and Twitter, the gap was a missed opportunity. Equivalent tools were needed for use inside an 85K-person enterprise firewall.

Company & Position

Global Senior Director, Strategic Programs & UX Consulting, Operations Board Area (2010-2011)

Details

Two digitally-native team members were hired who understood social media before most of the organization did. They shaped the vision; together we built the business case and brought it to the executive team. The initiative covered four interconnected capabilities: Talk (micro-blogging), People (an Expert Finder designed internally and built with IT), Tube (video streaming), and an internal App Store for governed app distribution. Each required as much education as implementation.

Actions

• Built the business case, secured funding, and gained executive approval for the full suite.
• Led evaluation, selection, and configuration of Talk; oversaw design and IT build of People and Tube; launched the internal App Store.
• Established content governance, moderator roles, and usage guidelines for each platform.
• Executed a global launch to all 85K employees via webinars, intranet, and email.

Outcome & Impact

• Four enterprise social capabilities — micro-blogging, expert-finding, video streaming, and app distribution — deployed to all SAP employees, integrated with SSO and existing intranet properties.
• Global field and Communities of Practice gained the real-time knowledge exchange infrastructure that static content couldn’t provide.