Offering targeted services, assets, and tools to support deployment and adoption while ensuring business continuity, SAP Enterprise Support—included with all cloud subscriptions—is a digital support experience aimed at driving the success of SAP users everywhere. But to keep pace with the demands of rapidly changing digital environment, the role of SAP Enterprise Support is evolving at SAP, from back-office function to strategic enabler.
Rather than waiting to experience issues with the functionality of their SAP solutions, SAP users’ organizations are increasingly turning to support models that emphasize independence, speed, and continuous learning. The Support Accreditation learning journey reflects this shift toward self-enablement, offering businesses a structured course and assessment to adapt their approach to resolving support requests to the demands of a rapidly changing digital environment.
For insights into the learning and assessment program, ASUG recently spoke with Joseph Keaney, a key architect of Support Accreditation; in his role at SAP as Head of Support Center Network — Ireland & UK, Keaney is directly involved in efforts to help both customers and partners build the skills they need to take advantage of SAP support tools and resources.
“This is not just about supporting business needs today,” he explained. “It’s about understanding the business requirements of tomorrow for our customers and partners.”
Focusing on “easy-to-consume” support that empowers users beyond simple issue resolution and assesses their broader business goals, Support Accreditation was developed to train both SAP customers and partners in all available support services and tools from SAP, turning them into active participants in guiding their organizations’ overall relationships with technology.
The training provides a blueprint for moving from dependency to self-sufficiency in SAP Enterprise Support, whether an enterprise is leading a digital transformation, managing cloud deployments, or focusing on maximizing the value of pre-existing technology investments. It is available to all SAP customers and partners at no additional cost, Keaney said.
Empower users with self-service
For SAP, delivering a support program centered on self-service is aligned with a much broader shift toward improving customer experience with artificial intelligence. “Being one of the first organizations to run AI large-language-model use cases to improve customer experience and engineering efficiency, we strongly believe in empowering our customers with the best-in-class self-service tools and building a proactive framework for support,” Keaney explained.
The program has been architected in step with UX best practices and utilizes a modular structure consisting of concise learning units, natural-language prompts, regular calls to action, and multi-format learning materials (such as one-pagers, how-to guides, video explainers, and quizzes) that will fit into users’ busy schedules. On-demand access means trainees can move at their own pace, starting, pausing, and resuming as needed while focusing on specific products or topics relevant to their organizations.
Generative AI plays a central role in both the content and the future direction of the Support Accreditation training, Keaney said, and a dedicated module about AI-guided support will introduce learners to the ways AI can deliver faster, smarter, and more predictable support experiences, equipping them to effectively leverage AI-driven support tools at work.
SAP is exploring additional AI-driven enhancements to the learning experience, aimed at providing more interactive guidance, content, and personalization, as well as case-smart summarizations.
Upon completion of the course, learners receive immediate recognition in the form of a record of achievement or badge. “We’ve seen a sense of pride among individuals who have completed the accreditation,” Keaney reflected. “People have decided to showcase it on their own LinkedIn profiles, and this automatically creates awareness amongst fellow peers and also within the industry.”
The training applies to all SAP products, ensuring a consistent support experience across the portfolio. SAP regularly updates it with 1-3 releases per year to encompass new technologies and offerings.
In the near-term, SAP will continue to add dedicated units that give users a broader overview of newly released SAP functionalities, as well as enhanced units on generative search and SAP Cloud Application Lifecycle Management, according to Keaney.
Support with business impact
Given the business impact that user empowerment and enhanced CX can achieve, Support Accreditation is increasingly being seen by SAP as a strategic enabler for enterprises. It has also become a key tool for partners, according to Keaney, who points to a “massive uptake” in this trainee demographic, as partners seek to better understand SAP products relevant to their sales and customer priorities.
Qualtrics surveys at the end of the courses provide direct insight into trainee experience; Keaney says that Support Accreditation currently has a 98 percent positive experience rating from participants.
“Our vision for support is centered around proactive personalization and customer empowerment,” added Keaney. “Support Accreditation is a direct extension of that vision, equipping every single SAP user, whether internal or external, with the knowledge to engage meaningfully with SAP tools and services. It ensures our customers and partners are not just recipients of support but active participants in their own digital transformation journeys.”