Client Need

A privately owned global investment management firm with approximately $78 billion in assets across all major asset classes approached Knowledge Ridge for expert insights into the purchasing and implementation of ERP systems. This included insights on SAP and Oracle ERPs, evaluating and purchasing either or both of these systems for large enterprises. The clients required answers to questions on customer behavior when choosing either SAP or Oracle, the common concerns users of systems have, and the overall market landscape along with the major and alternative players in this space. The client also needed specific expert insights on why customers of SAP are reluctant to upgrade to the new S4 Hana SAP ERP system.

Knowledge Ridge Solution

Knowledge Ridge researchers selected relevant experts from IT Departments of large global organizations that used SAP and Oracle ERPs. This included CIOs, CTOs and IT Engineers, Deployment Managers, ERP Program Lead and Solutions Architects, VPs, and Purchasing & Procurement Heads from these organizations. They were phone interviewed to understand their direct involvement and were shortlisted based on their expertise and experience in providing a deep dive into evaluating and purchasing Oracle/SAP ERPs, the common concerns users of systems have, and the overall market landscape along with the major and alternative players in this space. Subsequently, experts were identified and shortlisted, and their biography was drafted as per Knowledge Ridge’s phone interviewing process. The final list of experts was sent to the client for their selection.

Knowledge Ridge Impact

Knowledge Ridge identified 14 experts from internal IT teams of major corporations and large multinational organizations. The client selected 10 experts and conducted hourly phone consultations with each of them. This resulted in the client gaining first-hand perspectives and actionable insights into the purchasing and implementation of ERP systems. Some of the selected experts shared their insights on all aspects of investments in the SAP and Oracle ERP Systems, while other selected experts shared expert perspectives on questions of customer behavior when choosing either SAP or Oracle, the common concerns people who use these systems have, the overall market landscape along with the major and alternative players in this space. Specific expert insights on why customers of SAP are reluctant to upgrade to the new S4 Hana SAP ERP system were also focussed on.