Hi there,

This is my first SDN blog so I hope it's been a worthwhile exercise writing it. I am an SAP Talent Visualization by Nakisa (TVN) consultant, who any of you from the TVN forums may recognise as one of the leading contributors. I have done several implementations at various clients and have worked closely with Nakisa over the last 18 months in helping them to expand their product base and raising awareness of TVN in the UK marketplace.

TVN is a new and exciting growth area of SAP HCM ERP and one that has been all the buzz in the last 18 months. My first blog is going to focus on TVN OrgChart.

OrgChart is one of the key components of the TVN product suite and the one we most often implement for clients. It is a very popular tool and brings many benefits to our clients depending on their business needs. These have included:

• Identification of data errors and data cleansing

• Validating the organisation structure build during an SAP implementation

• Providing non-SAP or limited-authorisation users access to SAP information

• Personnel identification and contact directory

• Proof of concept for legacy system data migration

• Business transformation enabler

Implementing and developing OrgChart can be relatively straightforward, but the key - like with any SAP solution - is integrating it into business processes. OrgChart would fit nicely into any organisation's HCM portfolio, but it can be an expensive tool to purchase just to be used on an ad-hoc basis.

The client doesn't always know what they can get from OrgChart or how it will benefit them fully, so it is the consultant's role to help them establish their needs. Knowing the product really well is a huge advantage because, due to it being highly configurable and customisable, there is a lot that can be done with it. A lot of companies choose to go it alone with implementing OrgChart, but they soon find there is a limitation to what they can do with it.

I love the new user interface in TVN2.0 and I think this makes it much easier to use and much better to integrate into the portal. It makes it much more attractive for clients and their staff and this helps integrate it into the business. Integration is key if data integrity is to be upheld within an organisation. HCM master data is integral to a number of other modules and OrgChart is probably the best tool out there to keep business HCM data up-to-date and as accurate as possible.

So... that's it from me for now. I just wanted to introduce TVN OrgChart slightly from more than a product angle as I think most people in SAP world get the gist of what it does. I could write pages on OrgChart, but I think this is good for a starter. Hopefully there will be more to come!

However, if you want to know more you visit the SAP TVN page at sap.com:

http://www.sap.com/solutions/solutionextensions/talent/index.epx