CWG Conference October 2006 in Marco Island, USA

By Michael Zarges, SAP AG

The recent CWG conference was held in Marco Island, Florida, USA from October 16th-18th. It was the biggest US conference ever with 123 registered attendees, about 2/3 of them coming from SAP customers. About half of the Attendees attended a CWG conference for the first time. This year’s conference motto was “The business of product configuration” indicating a gradual shift from technical topics to experiences and challenges around the business process involving configurable products.

The first two days with the general assembly was packed with 16 presentations in total. Highlights among the customer presentations came from Wilson Tool, Ericsson, Greenheck, Cooper Power, Schneider Electric, and Tennant. More of the presentations then in the past dealt with best practices around strategic planning for product options and price management. SAP presented new developments in CRM 2006s (Product Modeling Environment, Product Packages and general enhancements in the configuration area). Furthermore, we could welcome David Glessner (VP CRM Solution Mgmt) as the keynote speaker to give an overview about the value and positioning of mySAP CRM. Several partner presentations completed the program. Besides the presentations, there were several Questions & Answers sessions in which experts from SAP or from the audience helped to clarify tricky questions.

The third day consisted of multiple tracks with 17 in-depth-workshops covering a wide range of topics. Some customers also had the opportunity to participate in structured and recorded usability sessions in CRM 2006s.

Once more, the CWG conferences proved to be a great opportunity for customers, partners and SAP for intensive networking and exchanging ideas as well as tips & tricks. Moreover, the wonderful location at the sunny beach provided the opportunity for some after work fun such as playing Ultimate Frisbee.