Starting out in industrial engineering, Robert Hennecke found himself “bitten” by “the computer” and bugs in information systems in general in the mid-1990s.
And during evening studies – with the aim of obtaining a bachelor’s degree Information Systems Trading – that he received a phone call out of the blue asking if he wanted a job as a SAP Consultant Trainee.
“I didn’t know SAP except how to spell it,” Henneke admits. “But that seemed to be enough in the 1990s.”
After starting out as a SAP Basis Administrator, he moved into contracting and found his services being sought after by the world’s leading diamond company, De Beers.
Then came a stint at Chevron, a “fantastic opportunity” that allowed him to travel the world. With a new wife at home and two young children to look after, however, Henneke needed stability – and thanks to one more phone call, his career took off in a new direction with Pick n Pay.
“The SAP world is relatively small; everyone knows each other,” he says. “So when a friend told me about this new opportunity, I jumped at it.”
Over the years, Heneke has advanced admirably through the retailer’s IT ranks, from SAP Basis Administrator to Team Leader and then Senior Manager. He is also continuing his education with a Masters in Business and Administration.
These days, he is head of SAP cloud services, technology and development at Pick n Pay, making him instrumental in the company’s recent cloud migration using AWS, which saw a strong partnership with Lemongrass formed.
Clearly, there are many challenges – both technical and practical – that Henneke must overcome in his current role.
Chief among them is the lack of digital skills, which senior executives in the business world have been increasingly vocal about in recent months.
“The cloud gives you all these tools and services—a myriad of them—and it feels like new ones are coming out every week,” Henneke explains. “It’s like we have this toolbox and we need to create something, but we don’t have the people to create it.
“Recruiting qualified people in this industry is no easy. We, at the southernmost tip of Africa, are far from the developed world and therefore most skills gravitate towards Europe.”
While he hopes a breakthrough is close, Henneke is also desperate for the retail industry to recognize the importance of having developers with skills in the cloud and similar technologies: “I think we’re on the cusp of breaking this as an industry, but not we are not there yet.”
Faced with these obstacles, Henneke recalls a piece of advice his mother gave him that he considers important both professionally and personally.
“She said, ‘They can take away everything, but they can’t take away your education,'” recalls Henneke, who himself has all sorts of qualifications. “And that’s definitely something I try to instill in my kids.
“People don’t realize that education is what will take us further in life and is the way to get out of trouble.
“The world is always in turmoil and new technologies can help us. How to get it? Through education. So for me it’s a very important pillar in my life.”
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