Its March already!!

I can't believe its March already. Spring is in the...past. It seems we are going to go directly into summer. The temperature was upto a balmy 87 degrees in some parts of the bay area. We appear to be heading for a long summer. My travel will pick up again later this month with Account Reviews and more changes within the organization coming up. At the moment the changes some within and others outside the organization appear to be really keeping the tempo of work heading in the northerly direction.
One of the Account Team Leads has decided to retire after long service to SAP and IT in general. I did not get much of a chance to work with her but I enjoyed what little time we did get. I think the account team is going to miss her watchfulness and general presence.
With one person, one account becoming the latest mantra, as opposed to a team of Support Alliance Manager/Support Advocate, I think there are going to be some more interesting dimensions that will get added in to the mix of things especially with the topmost accounts. There is more governance which is good. Also, there is the push to get help for administrative stuff that people don't look forward to at times. If these things get in place, the team can make the formula successful.
Had a very interesting conversation with an SAP VP about Open Source and its future with regards to SAP. I completely see Open Source being the center piece of IT showroom today, not tomorrow. There are issues and concerns but I don't think those will stick around for long. I think SAP will do well to understand how market is using Open Source and operate to become a player that contributes to the direction in which this phenomenon is heading as opposed to staying singularly committed to proprietary software. Customers are not concerned about whether the code is proprietary or Open Source. They are concerned about the quality of the end product. If Open Source can take us there better than the alternatives then SAP should simply say "..so be it" and get a move on.

Slowly but Surely

Things are certainly shaping up within the organization. There was a great deal of moving and shaking but it has been getting better and I suspect things will stabilize, albeit at a slow pace. Stability, once achieved, only means that the clouds of change are gathering yet again though. The good thing so far, is that change management at SAP has been done right. My current Team Lead will be moving on to other responsibilities at the end of this month and I know I will need to work very hard to work on the account she is handing over to me. Some travel is in the cards as well. As early as next week, I will be in Houston and NSQ. After that a trip to Oregan would probably materialize at the end of the month. I am looking forward to both these trips and should have better insight into the accounts once I am through.

Today would be the first day when I would be able to see some daylight upon leaving office as days are getting longer now since its my better half's birthday and I made some plans to have dinner with her at this very nice restaurant in Los Gatos. It should be a hoot!

Everyone's taking off

Is it just me or is there some amount of guilt that comes with taking time off. If its just me, I have to say Christmas is the easiest of times for not feeling so bad. If not, perhaps you would agree with what I am about to say as well.
Everytime I take time off, there is a twinge of guilt. As if, I don't believe that I have earned the time off and instead should be at work doing just that, ...work. Its usually the hardest in the first few days unless I get really busy in something else like I did during thanksgiving. Christmas however, makes the most sense for this because you are not alone. Usually it means, empty roads and abandoned offices. In the Bay Area, it means that your neighbours will leave and leave you in charge of their cats or other such charges in case you don't have plans to get out of town. One reason perhaps is that a good chunk of Bay area population does not have family living here. They are mostly living elsewhere, which is why it is moderately rare to come across someone who is a true native of the Bay Area.
People at SAP started leaving on vacations early this week and most of the folks in my group won't be back until the early part of the first week in January. I will probably take my occasion to work from home on a couple of days but will come into the office on occasion if only to enjoy the office all to myself.

Happy Holidays!!!

Missed work

I know, I know...How could I miss work, right? Frankly that IS what happened. I missed work. The thanksgiving vacation was used up in fixing my backyard and even with my wife's help it was a big project. We essentially pulled all the plants out and lined up red bricks in the backyard. I buffered Saturday and Sunday as the days to relax, but only managed to get that later half of the day on Sunday to relax. Come Monday, my wife and I both wanted me at the office at the earliest.
I walked right into some important projects related to one of my customers and had a bunch of internal calls to set up the positioning. I happened to have made acquaintance with another gentleman who goes by Rahul, and is involved in positioning services from SAP. I think it would be excellent if I continue to work with him in the future on this and other accounts. Apparently there are more changes in the organization that I am in at SAP afoot. There seems to be a plan in place at this point for execution and I think key players are deciding on their places on the table. 2007 should be very interesting!

Good to be "Back in Black" (font)

Unlike the Aussie group, I have very little energy left to shout about but the past few weeks have been very interesting. I am a little travel weary at this point but all is well in the end and that is what counts.
I am going into a training tomorrow that will last through Friday. The training has me all excited since the last time I took it was well over four years ago and apparently this training course has an SAP bend to it. It is tailored for SAP goods and services so it would be good to go through it and recognize some of the patterns I am going to be needing help with in the very near future.
I have to say that selling is not the most enjoyable acitivity for me however, in the area I am in currently, this is a tool that will increasingly become more important. I have done plenty of selling work in the past to know that its not as bad as it is made out to be in some circles. However, it is now more important than ever simply because Support is going to be vitally linked with services and in fact that is what I think will change and save Software Support in the long run as far as the US is concerned. Support does not have a place to hide from outsourcing in the modern software industry and this is what will become the saving grace for Support Professionals: Positioning Services Effectively.

Working from home

As much as I would have liked to work from home today, I was not able to do so. I have not received the secure ID card I lost a couple of days ago or atleast realized then, that I had misplaced it. The wife wanted me to work from home and I almost wished I could. Had a very conference call concentrated schedule throughout so I figured I might be better off working from the office. SAP is fairly relaxed about working from home as opposed to from the office and that is great when you have a 10 month old running around the house. I have noticed myself to be more productive when I am at home however, there are certain things you just cannot do from home. Hence, I sit here, at my desk, blogging :-)

Goodbye Abbu (Urdu for Dad)

Last night Musharraf's book kept me up for a lot longer than I wanted to and by the time I hit the sack it was already 1 AM. I woke up to the alarm screaming its loudest and literally jumped out of the bed to shut it. I am lucky that my neighbour is out of town these days, otherwise, I would have started the day with an unpleasant incident. My little one was already up and moving about. This morning he did the cutest thing. Usually he likes to cling to me when I leave for work trying to hang on but today he waved his hand saying goodbye with a smile, as he has learnt to do for our guests when they leave. I felt very proud at how quickly he learns what to do and saddened by the fact that he had to learn to say goodbyes at such an early age. Work is usual so far. My colleague who works with me on an important account is going on vacation tomorrow and she and I will probably ruffle through some stuff so that I can handle things the right way. I just heard news that one of the Team Leads in my group has decided to take up a different role. Some new changes in the group are astir, it seems.