SAP Development Requests Expedited through Customer Connection

SAP is rolling out a new process to handle small development requests. Under the old process, known as DRQ, authorized users submitted a requests through the SAP Services Portal. Customers can participate in the new process, named Customer Connection, by collaborating in a special area of the SAP Idea Place for their regional SAP User Group.

The DRQ process had needed improvement in order to prove effective both for users and for SAP. Users have compared the DRQ to a black hole in which requests disappear. There have been reports of development requests submitted through the DRQ process taking three years to run through the system, only to be returned as invalid. From SAP's perspective, the process needed to be improved so that they could focus on the most important requests first.

The old DRQ process was replaced by the Customer Connection process in 2011, and the German-speaking SAP User Group (DSAG), the Dutch SAP User Group (VNSG), and the UK and Ireland SAP User Group were the first SAP User Groups to participate in the new process. Americas' SAP User Group (ASUG) was beta-testing Customer Connection last year is kicking off the new program this year.

ASUG anticipates that the new program for development requests will run more smoothly:

The key difference between this process and the old DRQ is that ASUG is working closely in partnership with SAP to deliver ideas when SAP is ready to invest in developing them.

The response time to deliver requested developments in the new system should be six to seven months. Already, SAP has been able to provide a solution to a development request through the DSAG Customer Connection in six months.

Although the exact process for determining which development requests ASUG will submit as priorities to SAP is still being defined, an idea for a small change or enhancement must have at least five interested users in order for ASUG to pass it to SAP for development. SAP expects customers who submit development requests to commit to implementing the enhancements should SAP deliver them.

What about the requests that are not approved for development by SAP? June Keszeg, Director of Influence Programs at ASUG says there is still hope. "Even though an idea might not be taken as a Customer Connect project, it doesn't mean it gets lost… No good idea that has member support gets left behind." Craig Dale, CEO of the UK and Ireland SAP Group, offers more substantial recourse, pointing out that due to the collaborative nature of Customer Connect, even if a request is not suitable for development by SAP, a group of companies who need the same enhancement can split the costs to have a partner do the development instead.

Customer Connect is part of SAP's overall Customer Influence Program and is the proper channel to request changes or enhancements that can be delivered through Notes and Support Packs. SAP is working with customers and User Groups through its Customer Engagement Initiative to develop large-scale functional enhancements which will be delivered as part of SAP's new Enhancement Pack Strategy.