Marlize Claasen is Accenture South Africa's executive director for SAP Systems Integration—right at the cutting edge, where the ability of technology to help business gain competitive advantage is most on the line.
While enterprise systems like SAP have established themselves as primary enablers of business across the world: Accenture High Performance Business research indicates high performers are taking their use of enterprise systems to the next level, to gain a march on competitors
More importantly, high-performance businesses are finding that, properly harnessed, enterprise systems open up unexpected avenues to value by making data far more visible—so enabling meaningful analysis of that data.
"The ability of executives to base their analysis and subsequent decisions on facts is changing the way business works," Claasen observes. "Accenture's role therefore extends way beyond just helping to implement these applications. We help them get the most out of their SAP systems to outperform competitors into the future—that's what high performance is all about."
Realising more value from an enterprise system investment is one of the challenges confronting Claasen and her team; another is the worldwide shortage of skills in this area. In this respect, Accenture's position as an employer of choice is critical, as is its extensive global pool of SAP talent, not to mention its close relationship with both vendors. "We have Accenture Innovation Centres at both companies," Claasen says. "That makes Accenture one of the places experts want to work."
Claasen graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce in Computer Science, Accounting and Cost Accounting, giving her a clear understanding of the all-important interface between business and technology. She has been with Accenture for a decade, preceded by a two-year stint as an accountant and systems analyst in the public sector. She is single, and enjoys watching sport and relaxing with friends—"my family," as she says. For her, the key to success is a positive attitude backed up a commitment to honesty and fairness.
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