Keywords: SAP, SAP BusinessObjects, SAP survey, Service Market Place, Computer Weekly, Alan Bowling

Improvements needed to SAP technical support, survey shows

Susie West | News | 16 May 2012

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Improvements must be made to the technical support functions at SAP, according to a new survey.

A poll of SAP BusinessObjects users in 96 companies in the UK and Ireland revealed that 57% have reported difficulties with the Service Market Place support portal.

A further 63% of users have cited difficulties for finding the relevant support information they need, leading 40% to call for improvements to SAP's technical support.

The survey by the UK & Ireland SAP User Group, seen by Computer Weekly, suggests that while many businesses use SAP for its widespread use, it can be lacking in some areas.

Speaking to the news provider, Alan Bowling, chairman of the User Group, said that there is still work to do in supporting and communicating with customers.

"What is encouraging is that more existing SAP users are now starting to see the combined value of using BusinessObjects, which wasn't necessarily the case last year," he added.

Indeed, despite issues over support functions, SAP's BusinessObjects service - which offers business intelligence solutions to optimise performance through sharing information via business networks - has seen significant take-up.

As many as 21% of SAP users adopted BusinessObjects in 2012, a rise from 7% last year.

Encouragingly, two of SAP's facilities in Ireland have received a €110m investment and part of the funding will be used at its Dublin base to expand its global support divisions, as well as boost services and sales.

The nonprofit UK & Ireland SAP User Group aims to exert influence over the software company and represent the opinions of companies that use SAP, as well as provide clear information on products and services.

Almost 90% of the organisations surveyed said that being able to have an influence over the future incarnations of the BusinessObjects product would add value to their organisation.