Members Who Inspire | Susan Zortea

 How did you first hear about SAPinsider?

My first introduction to SAPinsider was when I first started using SAP 20 years ago. I started off working in the FI/CO modules and SAPinsider had special events that helped us learn what we could do with our modules.

If you had four more hours in your day, what would you do with them?

If I had 4 more hours to my day, I would spend two of them researching new ways for governance to be useful at my organization, which is the module I am working on. The other two hours I would use to be more social. This virtual environment has really impacted my social life and I would want to spend more time to restore my connects with colleagues, friends and even family.

Why are you a member of SAPinsider?

Because I love the learning and networking opportunities my membership provides me! I have been fortunate to meet others working on the same projects and field as me and have found value in meeting others working in completely different fields and projects. I have been fortunate to meet SAP Executives, influential visionaries and have made several friends through my SAPinsider membership. If you haven’t joined yet, I highly recommend it!

What is the most serious issue facing our profession today?

Because we are now all remote, it’s harder to connect with other coworkers to get what needs to get done more efficiently. What would take me 5 minutes to go to a peer’s office to solve a a problem, now takes 25-30 minutes to solve the same issue. Because of that, budget cuts due to the pandemic and how very little face-to-face we have each other, the workplace has become less human-centric and has caused many people to worry about job security.

Tell us about a time when how you had a problem at work and used your SAPinsider membership to solve that problem

When I was working on the FI/CO modules, we were trying to figure out a way to change our global currency and local settings because the dollar was becoming less advantageous to have as the group currency. We looked to SAPinsider and found plenty of articles to helps with this challenge. We even reached out to some of the authors of these articles because we had some additional questions. We received a response back from them! Which to me, was extraordinary. I never thought we would get a response, but we did. The information I received and continue to receive from SAPinsider is truly fantastic!

Name one person who has had a profound effect on your life and tell us about it.

Hmmm… It would have to be my current manager, Roberto Bayon, our Senior Director of Finance. He has been a great leader and mentor to me throughout the years. Technical knowledge is great, and I have been very fortunate to have other managers teach best practices and technical knowledge. Roberto on the other hand, has taught me to become a better manager and what it takes to be a true leader.

What advice would you have for the next generation of SAP users?

I didn’t become an expert overnight! It took me 10 years to truly become comfortable to call myself an “expert” in my field. I would advise the next generation of SAP users to continue their education and continue to learn. It’s your job to stay up to date with whatever field you decide to specialize in and subscribing to resources like SAPinsider really help give you that competitive edge.

What has been the most rewarding part of your job?

What has and continues to be the most reward part of my job is teaching and mentoring my team and colleagues how to be experts. There is nothing more fulfilling than helping others become comfortable with their skills and rise up to become leaders and problem solvers.