SAP PartnerEdge | FOR INTERNAL SAP AND PARTNER USE ONLY

Partner Mentoring and Partner Coaching Services

Gain Skills, Overcome Obstacles, and Differentiate Your
Offerings with Consulting Expertise from SAP
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Table of Contents

3 Expertise on Demand Is Just a Call Away

3 Increasing Know-How and Protecting the
Bottom Line
3 Partner Mentoring Service
3 Partner Coaching Services
5 Proactive and Reactive: Partner
Mentoring Versus Partner Coaching
6 Designed for You – Based on Your
Feedback

8 Partners Are Moving Forward

8 Ramping Up for New Opportunities
8 Mitigating Risk for Upgrades and
Migration Projects
8 Tackling a New Payroll Project
8 Gaining Real-World Insights to Expand
into the Customer Experience Market
8 Getting a Second Opinion on
Design Decisions

10 You Can Reap the Benefits Too

10 Learn More

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© 2021 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.

Expertise on Demand Is Just a Call Away

The market for SAP partner expertise is reaching new heights – and much of
this growth is driven by the SAP® Cloud portfolio. As an SAP partner, you want to
seize this opportunity by quickly acquiring the expertise you need to serve your
customers effectively. Partner mentoring and partner coaching services from
SAP can help.

INCREASING KNOW-HOW AND PROTECTING
THE BOTTOM LINE
Maybe you’re breaking into new markets and
need to ramp up to chase new deals. Or maybe
you’re in the middle of an implementation and
have hit a configuration challenge.
Whatever the case, partner mentoring and partner
coaching services from SAP can help you deliver.
These services are designed to give you and your
consultants practical know-how that goes beyond
classroom learning and certifications. Such “street
smarts” help you mitigate risk and protect your
bottom line. With access to expertise on demand,
you can cut through complexity, speed project
timelines, and consistently deliver what your
customers expect.
See the infographic. Read the blog.
PARTNER MENTORING SERVICE
Our partner mentoring service is designed to give
you the knowledge you need in the area of your
choice at a price you can afford. If you’re new to
an SAP solution or competency area, partner
mentoring helps get you up to speed.
As a valued partner, you get consulting advice
and guidance directly from an SAP expert. This
enables you to build a relationship with your
mentor expert as they join you on regular calls
throughout the project lifecycle.
Engagements can be customized to fit your needs,
but a typical schedule includes either a one-hour
remote meeting every week for three months or
six weeks of two-hour weekly calls. You can get
mentoring support from the following roles:
project manager, solution architect, technical
architect, or integration advisor. Partner mentor-
ing is available for all SAP solutions.
See the partner mentoring video.
PARTNER COACHING SERVICES
While partner mentoring helps you prepare for
what’s ahead, partner coaching services focus on
specific challenges you face in a current project.
The goal is to bypass complexity to help you
mitigate project risk, speed final delivery, and
keep your customer satisfied.
You can talk with different coaches about your
topic of choice – as and when you need to. These
services – which can be used across multiple proj-
ects as you choose – cover a wide set of topics,
including technical, functional, integration, and
project management questions. You get 10 remote
slots – 30 minutes each – to use over six months.
Slots can be combined for longer, more in-depth
questions. Partner coaching is available for
SAP S/4HANA® Cloud, SAP Customer Experience
solutions, SAP SuccessFactors® solutions, and
SAP Ariba® solutions. Other topics may be avail-
able upon request.

See the partner coaching video.

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© 2021 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.

Top Five Reasons for Partner Mentoring and Partner Coaching

Ramp up on Dive in now and Improve delivery Mitigate Increase sales

emerging get training just readiness project risk competitiveness
technologies in time Overcome Prepare to Gain the expertise
Get up to speed Seize new obstacles to succeed with you need to land
with machine opportunities as deliver what your new opportunities – more deals and
learning, advanced they emerge – customers want in and find solutions differentiate your
analytics, the and skill up with a timely manner to problems for organization in
Internet of Things, expertise on projects currently the market

1 2 3 4 5
blockchain, demand underway
and more

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© 2021 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.

PROACTIVE AND REACTIVE: PARTNER Both offerings address areas of concern to you.
MENTORING VERSUS PARTNER COACHING As such, they have similarities – such as built-in
Partner mentoring can be seen as proactive – flexibility to meet your needs. However, they also
helping you master a technology, solution, or have distinctive features, as summarized in the
competency area through an ongoing relation- table below.
ship with a mentor. Partner coaching, on the
other hand, is more reactive – helping you
address a specific implementation challenge
with an expert who specializes in that topic.

Partner Mentoring Partner Coaching

Assigned expert Designated mentor chosen from
the following roles: project manager,
solution architect (for functional
advice), technical architect, or
integration advisor
Calls Weekly one-hour virtual meetings
for three months or weekly two-
hour calls for six weeks
Preparation time More than one hour for your mentor
to prepare for or follow up on each
one-hour call
Language Language of your choice
Coaches vary based on the topic of
your choice, with sessions covering
functional solution, configuration,
integration, technical, or project
management questions
Ten 30-minute virtual meetings
held anytime over six months
More than one hour for your coach
to prepare for or follow up on each
30-minute call
English or Chinese*

Solution area focus Any SAP solution Available for SAP S/4HANA Cloud,
SAP Customer Experience
solutions, SAP SuccessFactors
solutions, and SAP Ariba solutions
*Other languages are available upon request.

Partner mentoring and partner coaching are

designed to help you take on whatever
challenge you face – because when you
succeed, we succeed.

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© 2021 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.

 A Whole Lot More
Than a Support Desk
DESIGNED FOR YOU – BASED ON YOUR FEEDBACK
As part of ongoing efforts to understand partner needs,
we approached more than 80 partners about how we could Partner mentoring and partner
best support them. The feedback we received pointed to coaching services differ from an
a streamlined process for connecting with SAP experts to issue-resolution desk. If you or
answer questions directly and help with initial projects using your customers have an issue,
a new technology or solution. you can simply continue to run
it through established support
The partner mentoring and partner coaching services are channels. However, those chan-
our response. At SAP, we know our partners perform more nels are not intended to answer
than 80% of our implementations. Thus, partner readiness how-to questions or advise on
across SAP offerings is a key priority for us. These new ser- architecture, design, or project
vices are designed to help you take on whatever challenge management. Partner mentor-
you face – because when you succeed, we succeed. ing and partner coaching are
designed to address these
Access Through the Partner Benefits Catalog – Or by E-Mail types of questions.
To simplify your access to partner mentoring and partner
coaching, we’ve made them available (in some countries)
through the partner benefits catalog as part of the
SAP PartnerEdge® program. For details, search for the
keywords “mentoring” or “coaching” on the catalog (S-user
login is required). Alternatively, contact SAP by e-mail.

Or read this blog for more details.

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© 2021 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.

Who on Your Team Benefits?

Who in your organization would seek out partner
mentoring and partner coaching services? Let’s
have a look.
PRACTICE LEADS
If you’re a practice lead responsible for large
budgets and multiple projects, teams, and
offices, partner mentoring and partner coaching
services from SAP can help you:
• Minimize risk across projects, get your teams
ramped up faster, and protect your margins
• Increase your competitiveness by continuously
updating your catalog of service offerings with
new skills
• Build trust and strengthen your relationship with
SAP by using services that add to your skill set
• Maintain confidentiality (SAP will not interact
with your customers, except at your request)
CONSULTANTS AND PROJECT MANAGERS
If you’re a consultant or a project manager,
partner mentoring and partner coaching services
from SAP can help you:
• Learn new skills and take classroom training
into the real world
• Go beyond documentation for in-context advice
and solutions
• Innovate by ramping up on new technologies
and the latest solutions from SAP
• Build confidence, reduce stress, and deliver on
time with access to SAP solution expertise

SERVICES SALES
If you’re selling services, submitting bids, and
closing deals for your organization, partner
mentoring and partner coaching services from
SAP can help you:
• Reduce risk and drive greater financial certainty
with more-reliable project schedules, predict-
able costs, and fewer escalations, overruns,
and delays
• Overcome roadblocks to successful
implementation
• Instill confidence in your ability to solve problems
and take on new opportunities
• Enhance your implementation skills, helping
you deliver in ways customers expect

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© 2021 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.

Partners Are Moving Forward
Many SAP partners see the value in partner men-
toring and partner coaching services from SAP.
Partners have identified numerous ways these
services can help upskill their organization and
protect the bottom line. Here are some of their
plans.
RAMPING UP FOR NEW OPPORTUNITIES
One of SAP’s highly experienced niche consulting
partners focuses on analytics and planning solu-
tions from SAP. This partner is expanding and
has completed training and certification on the
SAP S/4HANA Finance solution for group report-
ing – but has yet to perform an implementation.
As soon as this partner wins its first project, it
plans to build its knowledge base using partner
mentoring. The company is looking forward to
regular meetings with an experienced mentor –
believing this will help it avoid pitfalls and stream-
line the implementation project. The cost of the
service is built into the partner’s project budget.
MITIGATING RISK FOR UPGRADES AND
MIGRATION PROJECTS
Another SAP partner has completed multiple
upgrades and migrations involving the
SAP Commerce Cloud solution. This partner
knows serious challenges sometimes arise during
a project – challenges that can cost time and delay
project completion. With partner coaching for
SAP Customer Experience solutions, the partner is
securing fast access to experienced SAP coaches.
These coaches use their networks of contacts
in SAP to provide targeted advice and resolve
challenges quickly. The result is reduced project
delivery risk and protected margin.
TACKLING A NEW PAYROLL PROJECT
An experienced SAP partner with a track record
of successfully delivering projects involving
SAP SuccessFactors solutions plans to sell its
8 / 10
first payroll implementation. Building too much
contingency into its services proposal will make
the proposal less competitive. Instead, the com-
pany plans to use partner mentoring and lean
on SAP experts for its first project – a more
affordable option than recruiting a new consul-
tant. The partner believes that proactive advice
at the start of the project is key to making better,
faster design decisions.
GAINING REAL-WORLD INSIGHTS TO EXPAND
INTO THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MARKET
One experienced partner with expertise imple-
menting SAP S/4HANA wants to enter the market
for SAP Customer Experience solutions. To build
competence, this partner is completing the requi-
site training and then plans to implement these
solutions in its own organization. It intends to use
partner coaching for SAP Customer Experience
solutions to gain targeted assistance with any
challenge or design decision that arises. The
partner feels that an experienced coach will help
bring training to life with real-world insights and
field expertise.
GETTING A SECOND OPINION ON
DESIGN DECISIONS
Another experienced SAP partner has taken on a
project with the SAP Enterprise Portfolio and
Project Management package. The explore phase
has resulted in some tricky design choices. Now,
the partner is using partner mentoring to get a
second opinion on the solution before project
sign-off. Answering questions on functional spec-
ifications, the mentor can guide the partner to
solutions that are as close to standard as possi-
ble. The mentor is there throughout the project,
providing guidance and expertise. This approach
also helps the partner instill customer confidence
by demonstrating a strong relationship with SAP.
© 2021 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.
“Using the partner
coaching service from
SAP Services and Support,
we were able to quickly
address complex project
issues and help drive
customer value with
a reliable expert
in the background.”
Vaideeswaran S, Director –
Enterprise Applications,
Blueprint Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Early Adopter: Blueprint Technologies Enhances Its

SAP Solution Knowledge

See the video. Read the story.

Based in India, Blueprint Technologies Pvt. Ltd. is a professional services company that helps its custom-
ers drive digital transformation with SAP solutions. To keep up to date on the latest technologies from
SAP, Blueprint engaged experts from SAP for guidance, best practices, training, and solution validation.

Blueprint used the partner coaching service for SAP Customer Experience solutions to address particu-
lar project questions. On another project, facing complex business processes and integration challenges,
it sought guidance for implementing the SAP Commissions solution. Blueprint also uses partner coach-
ing services across a number of projects to confirm best practices and validate complex solutions.

3-hour
Reduction in effort for a manual process
30-minute
Time savings in executing a particular
business function

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© 2021 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.

You Can Reap the Benefits Too
Partner mentoring and partner coaching services
are designed to help you succeed. They’re afford-
able, flexible, and focused on your needs. Many
SAP partners use them to move forward, remove
logjams, and enter new markets with new areas
of expertise. We understand the market for
implementation consultants is competitive,
and we want to give you the expertise you need
to differentiate your organization, win more
customers, and protect your bottom line.
The benefits you’ll receive with these services
are as varied as the markets you enter and the
projects you take on. But here are a few high-level
advantages many partners expect to realize:
• Greater street smarts to complement book
learning and certifications
• Lower project risk to protect your margin
• Reduced support tickets and fewer escalations
• More-reliable estimates and timelines
• Better customer experiences
• Improved customer satisfaction and higher
renewal rates
• Ongoing service opportunities and revenues
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The goal of these services is practical rather
than academic – to help you succeed with your
real-world implementations. We aim to help you
move from book smarts to street smarts – so
you can consistently execute to the best of your
abilities.
LEARN MORE
To learn more about partner mentoring and
partner coaching services from SAP, visit the
partner benefits catalog and search for the key-
words “mentoring” or “coaching” (S-user login is
required). Alternatively, contact SAP by e-mail.
Or, for further details, explore some of the links
below:
• Overview infographic
• Overview blog
• Partner mentoring video
• Partner coaching video
• Blueprint Technologies story:
video and business transformation story
© 2021 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.
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