SAP@Audi – mapping and transforming business processes
SAP House: for the entire Group
SAP is everywhere. SAP is behind almost every important core or business process across departments. It starts with digital clocking in at the factory gate, continues with automated payroll and payment of suppliers and does not even end with the commissioning of marketing agencies.
SAP therefore provides a kind of backbone that makes many processes, both cross-group and cross-brand, possible in the first place.
Driving this development forward and mapping the corresponding business processes by means of SAP solutions or in-house software developments is the task of SAP House. The IT specialists working here consistently digitalize and automate employee-related functions and processes in their product teams. IT HR, Procure2Pay, Order2Cash, Hire2Retire and many more teams work together to position AUDI AG as a modern employer where transformation is lived in every process.
SAP for transformation
Upheaval and transformation are part of our SAP world: new legal specifications or new standards, such as social security procedures or in IT security, require continuous renewal and development. In addition, significant transformation is taking place in all SAP domains. This means large-scale changes, because SAP is so fundamentally integrated at Audi. As part of the NEXT:IT strategy, which is leading Audi IT into the future, IT specialists from the individual domains are represented in all major transformation programs.
“Always exciting configurations.”
A core area in SAP House is the Procure2Pay domain. Here we deal with supporting all purchasing processes that are mapped by means of SAP applications. We also work closely with the individual departments – especially Procurement – and the Business Partner Managers from IT.
“In terms of training, I’m not only a computer scientist but have also trained, for example, as a systemic coach. I just love making sure that people in teams work well together. That’s what I do as a Product Team Lead. I support my team, clear any obstacles out of the way and ask the right questions. Each workshop and each coordination meeting is, in principle, another new configuration with new interface partners. And that’s exactly what makes it so exciting.”
Daniela Kobel, Team Lead SAP Procure2Pay
To the interview with Daniela
3 questions to a SAP team leader
What does a typical working day look like in your team?
My remit as Product Team Lead is actually very broad. First and foremost, I make sure every day that the people in my team can work in the best possible way and that the logistical process functions properly. So, for example, every morning in our daily meeting we review what is actually important now. What is urgent? What’s coming up? Where is support required? Each workshop and each coordination meeting is, in principle, another new configuration with new interface partners and not only with members of your own team. And that’s exactly what makes it so exciting. None of the projects operates in isolation. In addition, I look after budget planning, the development of agile team structures and, of course, I’m also responsible for the delivery performance of the products provided by my team.
What would you look for in a new colleague to work in your area?
He or she doesn’t need to be perfect, because none of us is. But they should have a sense of humor and the necessary desire for life-long learning. I’d also include curiosity, creative drive and being a team player, because we always contribute to an objective together in the group and we have no ‘lone wolves’. Of course, SAP skills are important as a foundation; in addition, you should understand the products and what a SAP architecture looks like. Apart from that, we’re especially looking for people who work well together in a team and contribute different qualifications. That’s because in SAP House, we usually always cooperate across departments.
What are the greatest challenges for SAP Procure2Pay now or in the future?
We face challenges in traditional issues such as the cloud, but the issue of ‘Mobile First’ is also becoming increasingly important, i.e., being able to work from any location and being supported as well as possible when doing so. It’s a development that we observe across all SAP domains. Not so long ago we were doing everything on paper and now it’s at the touch of a button and from a mobile device. A key challenge, however, is the highly integrated SAP landscape – no project runs without being coordinated with sister domains such as maintenance, finance or master data management.
"Visible, highly functional and customized."
The area of IT HR within SAP House oversees a variety of software products for our fellow Audi employees in various teams. From payroll and pensions through to company cars – software solutions are made available here around the clock which are tailored to requirements in conjunction with the relevant departments. The users should always be able to view and/or change their own data. The result is highly functional products that we employees use every day and that make our daily working lives easier.
“Everything we do is also visible, whether clocking in digitally in the morning, remuneration statements on the HR app or booking a vaccination appointment in the Audi Health Center via our registration tool. As a Product Team Lead within SAP IT HR, I’m very proud of this high functional and future-oriented HR process landscape. And my team is doing a really great job with customized SAP solutions, like the other six teams in SAP IT HR.”
Winslow De Klerk, Product Team Lead SAP IT HR
To the interview with Winslow
3 questions to a SAP Product Team Lead
What does a typical working day look like in your team?
SAP business processes are partly predefined or standardized by legislation or certain norms, and the solutions can be adapted to our own requirements. In our day-to-day business, therefore, requirements are often brought to us which we firstly have to evaluate: what is technically possible, how can things be brought together and where are the difficulties. A mock-up is then created which is checked by IT Security, Data Protection, the Works Council, and the IT Committee. Sometimes it can also simply be just a couple of super lines of coding that make an application all the quicker. What always counts in the end is the result. That’s precisely why, in addition to our day-to-day business, we also always try to create as much ‘freedom’ as possible in order to regularly deal with new topics and new technologies so that we continuously improve elsewhere.
What would you look for in a new colleague to work in your area?
It’s important that new colleagues bring a positive attitude, a certain creativity and plenty of curiosity. We see ourselves, first and foremost, as service providers. We implement what is on a requirements specification. But in the end, what we help to shape at Audi and how we do it is much more important. This is less about an obligation to deliver than about collaborating intensively with the other departments – be it as part of design workshops or brainstorming sessions.
It’s also enormously important to want to develop yourself and acquire qualifications, whether through self-learning, going on courses, training or taking part in pair programming. At the same time, we enable our employees to develop in accordance with their wishes and interests. Our own development direction is clearly towards clean code, object-oriented programming, and SAP SuccessFactors. That’s why new candidates should ideally have a basic knowledge of SAP-(cloud-)based solutions. Here, in particular, we’re currently looking for technical expertise or specialists who would like to develop in this direction. Of course, if someone has proven SAP experience and has certain interests, be it in the field of master data or learning solutions, then naturally they are also welcome to join us when vacancies occur.
What makes working at SAP IT HR special and what makes you particularly proud?
Everything that we do is also visible and tangible for Audi employees. The pride then comes spontaneously when, for example, an employee or you yourself see how the payroll you helped to design is running smoothly month after month. I’m particularly proud, above all, of the stable, very good and future-oriented HR process landscape. And my team, like the other teams within SAP IT HR, is doing a really great job.
