Now you can drive innovation for SAP by optimizing your current roadmap strategy. Find out how, in an informative thought leadership panel on SAP support services, featuring Constellation Research analyst Ray Wang, T-Mobile’s Senior Director of Product and Technology Erik LaValle, and Rimini Street SAP Support Services Leader Jennifer Perry.

If you’re like most companies, your budgets are already stretched to the limit. Meanwhile, CIOs and IT leaders are under unrelenting pressure to drive innovation for SAP and manage the high cost of SAP support services. Not surprisingly, SAP seemingly wants you to follow its roadmap, timeline, and SAP strategy regardless of the impact on your company’s innovation.

In this engaging panel discussion, you’ll hear Ray’s views on the state of SAP support services today and the growing challenges facing IT leaders. Plus, Eric will discuss T-Mobile’s practical approach to achieving critical innovations, flexible solutions, and superior customer experiences by leveraging Rimini Street support services for SAP.

Speakers

Ray Wang
Ray Wang
CEO
Constellation Research

Ray Wang serves as Principal Analyst, Founder, and Chairman of Silicon Valley-based Constellation Research Inc. Ray co-founded and co-hosts DisrupTV, a weekly enterprise tech and leadership webcast, and he is the author of the popular business strategy and technology blog: A Software Insider’s Point of View. He has held executive roles in product, marketing, strategy, and consulting at Forrester Research, Oracle, PeopleSoft, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, and Johns Hopkins Hospital. His bestselling book, Disrupting Digital Business, published by Harvard Business Review Press, provides insights into why, since 2000, 52% of the Fortune 500 have merged, been acquired, gone bankrupt, or dropped off the list.

Ray is a dynamic keynote speaker, insightful research analyst, and seasoned industry commentator, working with clients to transform their business models using exponential technologies. He has spoken at tech conferences worldwide, including presenting keynotes in front of tens of thousands of people, along with intimate executive settings such as Davos. His clients include a majority of the Fortune 500 and Global 200.

Ray is often quoted in media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, FoxBusiness, CNBC, Bloomberg, CNN, CGTN, Tech Crunch, Business Week, and Fortune. He is a three-time winner of the prestigious Institute of Industry Analyst Relations (IIAR) Analyst of the Year Award and has held the number-one slot in the AR Power 100 list several times over the past 10 years. During his short breaks from traveling 500,000 miles a year, Ray lives in Silicon Valley.

Erik LaValle
Erik LaValle
Senior Director of Product and Technology
T-Mobile

Responsible for overseeing an end-to-end portfolio across a US$13bn supply chain of 5,000 stores, Erik LaValle joined T-Mobile in early 2017. His team fields the technological requirements associated with T-Mobile procurement, both for external sales and internal consumption.

Highly experienced both academically and professionally in his field, LaValle spent the first 18 years of his career as an industry consultant, which he credits as being highly formative, “it’s in my nature now to look for those big business challenges, to understand what the outcome is intended to be and then to find the technology needed to solve that problem.”

Reflecting on the best way for culture and leadership to achieve optimal outcomes, LaValle is in favor of collaboration infused with a profound understanding of values and the route towards attaining them. “Every company has a unique culture. The role of leadership is to understand what that culture is and then to leverage it by steering resources in the direction of the desired outcome. It also requires great understanding, flexibility and receptiveness to change on the part of leadership.” Therefore, he champions establishing a clear vision, taking an empathetic approach, and maintaining a strong collaborative ethic with employees.

Jennifer Perry
Jennifer Perry
GVP & GM, SAP Services
Rimini Street

Jennifer Perry is responsible for the delivery and management of all SAP support services for Rimini Street clients. She leads a global team of technical and cross-functional experts who provide solutions for SAP’s Business Suite and BusinessObjects. Having worked in the retail industry for many years, Ms. Perry brings with her a keen sense of client success and satisfaction.

Ms. Perry’s career spans 21 years of IT experience with Fortune 100 and 500 companies in various industries, including many years of hands-on experience as a certified SAP implementation consultant. Prior to joining Rimini Street, Ms. Perry served in various roles starting out as an SAP implementation consultant in the manufacturing, insurance, natural gas, media, retail and telecom industries. She moved on to building and running global development teams responsible for implementing, upgrading and supporting all aspects of the SAP footprint.

Hari Candadai
Hari Candadai
GVP of Thought Leadership and Strategy
Rimini Street

Hari Candadai is a seasoned marketing professional with more than 18 years of experience in global product marketing and corporate marketing management, including running a successful marketing strategy and consulting firm. Before joining Rimini Street, Hari held various product marketing and management roles in global companies including Siemens, Remedy, BMC Software, Nokia, and, most recently, Ariba, where he led the company’s global product marketing strategy and execution.

Designing, developing, and executing highly differentiated market positioning and messaging, successful go-to-market strategies, and competitive leadership plans have been ongoing themes in Hari’s success. He has consistently demonstrated his leadership by building strong customer relationships and effective partnerships across marketing, sales, and customer-facing teams. He is the author of several white papers on disruptive software and services models and, as one of the chief evangelists for independent support, is a frequent speaker at industry conferences globally.

Hari holds an MBA in International Marketing from SV University, India and an MBA in Marketing and Corporate Strategy from the University of Mississippi.

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