An excursion into SAP Transportation Management at valantic

Thomas Pongratz is 38 years old, comes from Lower Bavaria, and has been at valantic since March 2018. As Managing Consultant, he takes us on an excursion into SAP Transportation Management, reports on the fast-moving nature of information technology, the challenges arising from this, and why he especially appreciates the team spirit and hands-on mentality at valantic.

How was your start at valantic?

Even my initial contact with my valantic colleagues was super. I was especially excited about their relaxed manner and start-up flair. My desire at that time was to establish and advance the topic of SAP Transportation Management, and valantic offered me precisely this opportunity.

What do you especially like about valantic?

At valantic, I especially like the team spirit and hands-on mentality. We work together and we have a common goal: we want to inspire customers and give them our best. There is no elbowing other people out here, that’s very important to me personally.

What are the challenges of your job?

The challenges of my job are certainly the fast-moving nature and dynamics of information technology. The release cycles for SAP software products are getting shorter, so that we constantly have to expand and freshen up our consulting knowledge in order to advise our customers as well as possible.
In addition, we work on large international projects. Of course these are especially exciting, but their requirements are also complex. Here, close cooperation with the customer and with subproject managers for the various SAP modules is an important success factor.
Last but not least, I keep encountering strong foosball players in the office, so that one match or another can be very challenging.

What do you do as Managing Consultant in the SAP TM sector?

As Managing Consultant in the SAP TM sector, I provide the specialized leadership for the team. Of course this also includes training of our new colleagues and internal trainings.
In project business, first we formulate a system demo tailored to the customer’s needs in order to provide insight into future processes and give the look & feel of the software. Similarly, we conduct requirements workshops, develop solution architecture, and then implement these. We always work closely with our customers and we are in constant contact with one another.

In addition to project business, as an SAP consultant, of course I also have to keep an eye on what’s happening on the market, watch for the latest trends, attend critical trade shows, and test all the new software functions.