This week on ASUG Talks, SAP Cloud ALM takes center stage. I am joined by two guests offering different perspectives about the solution. Bryce Lightner, Enterprise Solutions and Operations Architect at Woodstream Corporation, discussed his experience using the solution, while Sören Ruder, Chief Product Officer (CPO) and Head of Customer Experience & Solutions (CXS) at SAP, joined the podcast to articulate the value of SAP Cloud ALM and where it fits into the portoflio. 

Key Insights

• How SAP Cloud ALM helped Woodstream optimize its project management capabilities
• The impact SAP Cloud ALM can have on enterprises as they undertake business transformations
• How SAP Cloud ALM can also help organizations with their AI journeys

Related Insights 

• Read ASUG editorial's interview with Irfan Khan, President and Chief Product Officer of SAP Data & Analytics, about SAP Business Data Cloud

Leaders from the global SAP user groups DSAG, UKISUG, and ASUG joined the podcast this week to discuss the findings from the annual collaborative research projects the communities undertake. The three leaders not only discussed the similarities in SAP priorities, investments, and hurdles among their members, but they also parsed the differences in response among the global user groups. 

Key Insights

• The knowledge gap surrounding licensing of certain SAP solutions
• The split between private and public cloud environments among the global communities
• Security and customization concerns 

Related Insights

• Gains insights from SaskPower around its five SAP migration projects
• Dive into ASUG's recent change management and SAP Signavio research

In a special episode of ASUG Talks, we dive into several of clips from ASUG Talks episodes published throughout the year, covering topics ranging from cloud environments to IT professional development. Join us this week to hear clips from some of the podcast's most popular 2025 episodes. 

Episodes Included: 

• SAP's Thomas Saueressig on Public and Private Cloud, Enterprise Architecture, and AI Integration
• ASUG Talks Roundtable: Inside ASUG's SAP S/4HANA Adoption Research
• How Precision Drilling Drives Improved Asset Maintenance with SAP S/4HANA
• ASUG Talks Customer Success Story: How SA Power Networks Managed a Dual SAP S/4HANA Migration
• ASUG Talks Executive Interview: Philipp Herzig, Chief Technology Officer at SAP
• ASUG Talks Roundtable: The Changing Role of Enterprise Architects in Utilities
• SAP's Irfan Khan on SAP Business Data Cloud's Impact and Future Development
• ASUG Talks Roundtable: How Agentic AI is Reshaping the SAP Ecosystem
• Advice from ASUG Board Members: Building Resilient IT Careers in the Age of AI

If you have any comments (or pitches) for ASUG Talks Senior Producer, Jim Lichtenwalter, please email him at [email protected]. 

Related Insights

• Join the ASUG Communities team on Dec. 3 for a break down of the top insights from ASUG Tech Connect

In this live episodes of ASUG Talks, we answered your questions. ASUG CEO and Chief Community Champion Geoff Scott was joined by analysts Jon Reed and Joshua Greenbaum for an "ask me anything session." The three fielded questions submitted by conference attendees throughout the week, along with questions asked by the live audience. 

Key Topics: 

• The interoperability of SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC) with non-SAP data ecosystems 
• Industry-specific challenges barring organizations to adopted "vanilla" ERP systems without much customization 
• How public cloud environments free enterprises to focus on IT innovation

Related Content:

• Read our exclusive interview with Tim Way, VP and Chief Product Officer, Business AI Product Engineering at SAP America

This week on ASUG Talks, Isaac Feldberg, Senior Editor at ASUG, joins the podcast to discuss SAP TechEd and ASUG Tech Connect. These events share many of the same topics and themes--specifically focused on SAP developers and solutions like SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC). On the podcast, we chat through our biggest takeaways and what some of the main announcements from SAP TechEd mean for SAP customers. 

Key Topics: 

• The place of both generative and agentic AI in the SAP ecosystem 
• The announcement of SAP's foundation model built specifically for structured business data: SAP RPT-1
• Key customer stories from ASUG Tech Connect 

Related Content: 

• Read Isaac's coverage of ASUG Tech Connect and SAP TechEd
• Gain insights from  Etosha Thurman, Chief Marketing Officer for Finance and Spend Management at SAP

In an exclusive interview, Irfan Khan,  President & Chief Product Officer of SAP Data & Analytics, joined ASUG Talks to lay out the SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC) announcements coming out of SAP TechEd. Following up on his appearance on ASUG Talks earlier this year, Irfan also discusses the SAP customer community's reception of SAP BDC and how it fits into the software company's suite-first strategy. 

 Key Insights:  

•  How customers are leveraging SAP BDC
• How SAP BDC specifically helps customers with SAP S/4HANA adoption 
• What future development of SAP BDC might look like 

 Related Insights:  

• Read our insights from ASUG Tech Connect
• Listen to an episode of ASUG Talks focused on future-proofing IT careers
• Tune in to our exclusive with SAP executive board member Thomas Saueressig

 During a special episode of ASUG Talks recorded live at the recent Dallas-Forth Worth ASUG Chapter Meeting, Geoff Scott, ASUG CEO & Chief Community Champion was joined by a panel of current and former ASUG board members: Jamie Lee, Tony Caesar, and Craig Dalziel. 

The group focused on a timely and critical topic:  future-proofing IT careers.  With advances in AI changing the ways enterprises work and shifts in the industry job markets, it has never been more important for IT professionals to take steps to ensure they are continually improving their skillsets and expanding their knowledge base. 

 Key Topics:  

•  The need for knowledge workers to effectively leverage AI
• The importance of networking and building meaningful professional relationships 
• Understanding the business needs and using AI to meet those needs. 

 Related Insights:  

• Tune into an exclusive interview with SAP executive board member Thomas Saueressig: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/saps-thomas-saueressig-on-public-and-private-cloud/id1613357106?i=1000733593928

ASUG CEO & Chief Community Champion, Geoff Scott, sat down with SAP leader--and member of the software company's executive board--Thomas Saueressig. Overseeing the board area focused on customer services and delivery, Thomas possesses a unique perspective on what SAP customers require from their IT investments, and how SAP is working to drive innovation among its customer base. 

Key Insight

• How developers and business process analysts can leverage SAP BTP to drive innovation 
• How SAP's suite-first strategy helps drive faster AI project delivery, and--ultimately--better business outcomes 
• The importance of easy-to-adopt business solutions as enterprises contend with altering geopolitical and economic conditions

Related Insights

• Read our recap of the recent SAP Q3 2025 earnings results, including highlights from the call: https://www.asug.com/insights/q3-2025-sap-reports-steady-revenue-growth-driven-by-cloud-expansion
• Join us at ASUG Tech Connect on Nov. 4-6: https://events.asug.com/YkMrBb?utm_source=cross-promo&utm_campaign=atc_25&utm_medium=article&utm_content=reg&RefId=insights-reg

Recorded live on ASUG Best Practices for Oil, Gas, and Energy conference keynote stage, this special episode of ASUG Talks focuses on how enterprises in these industries are using SAP solutions to drive efficient and safe operations, while spurring IT innovation. This roundtable of IT experts--approaching these topics from different areas of their businesses--shared how their organizations are leveraging SAP, and steps attendees (and listeners!) should take to set the stage for success with their SAP investments. 

Key Insights: 

• How to prepare organizational data to be effectively used in finance, supply chain, and maintenance operations
• Ways SAP solutions are enabling OGE organizations to overcome industry specific hurdles 
• The place SAP Datasphere and SAP Business Data Cloud play in setting a foundation for AI solutions

Related Insights 

• Learn about how Align Technology's used RISE with SAP to adopt SAP S/4HANA: (https://www.asug.com/insights/inside-align-technologys-journey-toward-better-business-outcomes-with-rise-with-sap) 
• On Oct. 23, tune in to a ASUG Community Conversation focused on governing enterprise architecture in the SAP landscape: (https://www.asug.com/events/from-frameworks-to-impact-governing-ea-in-the-sap-landscape)

This week on ASUG Talks, we hear from another SAP customer that has leveraged SAP S/4HANA to drive improved business processes. Elisa Smith, Global Manager of Operation Assets at Precision Drilling, sat down with us before her presentation at ASUG Best Practices for Oil, Gas, and Energy. She not only detailed the organization's S/4 journey, but also detailed how the ERP platform helped spur better data governance and improved asset maintenance and management processes. 

 Key Insights

•  The challenges Precision Drilling overcame during its S/4 implementation 
• How the ERP platform helped addressed reporting gaps and provided users with improved real-time asset visibility
• The evolution of Precision Drilling's data strategy

 Related Insights

•  Learn more about ExxonMobil's digital transformation journey and insights: https://www.asug.com/insights/asug-best-practices-accelerating-transformation-at-scale-in-oil-gas-and-energy
• Gain insights from the SAP Connect conference: https://www.asug.com/insights/sap-connect-unveils-supply-chain-orchestration-intelligent-applications-as-sap-business-suite-takes-center-stage