By Nathan Dukes
The SAUG today announced the launch of their CIO Council, which will provide a forum for executives to network, share knowledge and be a collective voice for CIOs in communicating with SAP.
Additionally, the SAUG CIO Council is expected to encourage further engagement with c-level executives and provide SAUG members a channel for influence on SAP product and policy both within ANZ and globally.
“The SAUG CIO Council is an initiative to deepen knowledge sharing and networking opportunities for CIOs. It will serve as a forum for driving direct feedback to SAP on issues of key importance to the SAP customer base,” said Grahame Reynolds, SAUG Chairperson.
The council will be lead by a steering committee of volunteer CIOs, who include:
– Owen Coppage, CIO and Group General Manager, Customer Operations, AGL.
– David Bough, CIO, National Foods.
– Dennis Lewis, CIO, 7-Eleven Stores Pty Ltd.
– Sharron Kennedy, CIO, Energy Australia.
– Olaf Pietschner, CIO, Origin Energy.
John Dousset, SAUG Committee Member and Principal Application Architect at Australia Post, will serve as the SAUG Liaison.
The CIO Council is open for membership to all C-level, Vice President or Director level executives at SAUG member companies.
The first Council meeting will be held on 17 March 2010 in Brisbane.
Speakers presenting at the inaugural meeting include Mark Edward Ross, CIO for SunLife Financial Group, and Mike Foster, Group Executive Director of Sales & Business Development for Fujitsu Australia, who will both present on cloud computing.
Mark Hettler, Director of Field Services, SAP ANZ will also present on Enterprise Support and the re-introduction of Standard Support.
“We’re hoping to get 25 SAUG member CIOs to our first event in March,” said Reynolds. “This is a great opportunity for SAP customers to be heard on a global scale, as SAUG is now more involved with SUGEN (SAP User Group Executive Network) than ever before.”
SAUG members can apply for council membership on the SAUG website. There is no additional charge above the SAUG membership fee for CIO Council membership.
The CIO council is one of several initiatives the SAUG is undertaking in 2010.
