The City of Cape Town's use of SAP solutions is the biggest public sector implementation of SAP ERP in the world.
According to Rudy Abrahams, manager of the City of Cape Town's SAP ERP support centre, SAP is a mission-critical system for the metro and has been used by the city for about 10 years. "We are heavily invested in SAP. If SAP is down, the city is down and we can't get our jobs done," he says.
He describes the city's implementation of the SAP product suite as "exotic", as it was reorganised and tampered with to fit its unique needs. "All of our operations are working together in a uniform way through SAP," he adds.
Through SAP, the city can report on and record all work done; it allows the mayor to login and monitor what each department is doing; and enables the city to respond better to queries or complaints from ratepayers, says Abrahams. "When you implement any system, you need to make sure it fits into your unique needs in order for it to be successful."
Although Abrahams is not personally presenting a paper at the upcoming Saphila 2012 conference, he is attending and will be supporting three of his colleagues who will be sharing some information about how the City of Cape Town is using the SAP product suite. "For me, Saphila is a means to reward my staff for work well done and also to learn about how to create better IT functionality, and in doing so, to become a better government.
"Many have lauded us for our implementation of SAP's solutions, and Saphila is a chance for us to share our experiences and also to gain knowledge through listening to the experiences of others," says Abrahams.
For Abrahams, the kind of interactions that one will have at a conference like Saphila offers value that cannot be experienced in the workplace. He adds that because Saphila is "a little closer to home" than other conferences, the value of this event is immeasurable.
To find out more about Saphila and to register, click here.
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