Smart Communications Inc., the country’s leading wireless services provider, became the first Philippine customer to receive SAP certification as a Customer Center of Expertise (Customer COE) for SAP Solutions.  SMART’s certification followed a successful completion of SAP’s skills auditing process in December 2008.  This is a significant milestone for SMART and affirms their ERP systems standards organization-wide.  SMART’s certification also means that the Philippines can be included in the list of countries with an SAP-certified Customer COE.

“Given that SMART is a very dynamic organization, having an IT system which can adapt to the changing needs of the various business units is a must.  The system and solutions must also be simple and easy to use by our employees.  As a Certified Customer COE, the company’s IT Group has instilled the discipline and has grown in maturity as a result of using SAP solutions in its operations.  The team has honed its skill to evolve the SAP solution, making it continuously relevant to the business environment, while maintaining the stability of the systems used in daily operations,” said SMART chief wireless advisor Orlando B. Vea.

SMART COE team, called the IT Corporate Systems Department, spearheaded the integration of various stand-alone systems within the company, and delivered enabling solutions. The team handles ERP-related implementation, maintenance and continuous improvements in support of business requirements.

SMART chief information officer and IT Group head Wilma Cruz said “With SAP, the database of ERP-related transactions has been centralized, simplifying the solution landscape not only for SMART, but also for the PLDT (Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.) Group.”  For instance, the Finance teams of the PLDT Group are now utilizing the SAP business consolidation system quite extensively to support the continuing expansion of the Group, as well as the need for Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.  Furthermore, the Human Resource Management and Development, Logistics, Purchasing and Properties Facilities Equipment departments are benefiting from the system. Aside from SMART, parent company PLDT, ePLDT, Inc. and other subsidiaries also use SAP.

A Customer Center of Expertise can serve as the single source of truth – and hub – for functional collaboration between the business and IT units, and between the organization and SAP, with SAP Solution Manager providing the necessary infrastructure. “The Customer COE can help increase the transparency of business processes, and limit downtime to boost system and process availability,” said Jennifer Ligones, Country Manager, SAP Philippines.

In order to achieve primary certification under the Customer COE, there were five key areas that were reviewed, namely contract management, support desk, information management, coordination of innovation requests and service planning. “Customers should really leverage the Customer Center of Expertise as this ensures business continuity, innovation and protection of investment, business process improvement, and the reduction of total cost of operations,” said Juergen Reinhardt, Vice President of SAP Active Global Support in South East Asia.

“SAP is truly proud to count SMART as the first Customer COE certified customer in the Philippines.  This is a milestone for both SAP and SMART because it affirms our commitment in pursuing excellence in the implementation and ongoing use of SAP. We hope more companies follow this lead moving forward,” Ligones added.