’s-Hertogenbosch (NL), 21 December 2011 – The members of SAP User Group Executive Network (SUGEN) have elected Don Whittington, member of the Board of ASUG (North America) and Richard Thorpe, member of the Board of AFSUG (South Africa) into their leadership team.
SUGEN is a global network of fifteen independent SAP user groups who cooperate globally and create a single ‘voice of the customer’ providing SAP with a sparring partner on all strategic subjects that matter to SAP customers. The global network is chaired by Tonnie van der Horst from VNSG (the Netherlands).
The two new members of the leadership team were elected for a two-year term by the other SUGEN members during the bi-annual SUGEN meeting in Madrid. Van der Horst: “The current leadership team is happy and proud to welcome Don Whittington and Richard Thorpe in our team. The leadership team is truly global now with members from four continents. We will be able to achieve more results in the area of the strategic topics for 2012 such as the license model, in-memory computing and knowledge transfer.
The SUGEN leadership team now consists of:
- Tonnie van der Horst – VNSG (the Netherlands)
- Otto Schell – DSAG (Germany)
- William Khalil – SUG-MENA (Middle East/North Africa)
- Don Whittington – ASUG (North America)
- Richard Thorpe – AFSUG (Africa)
Don Whittington, VP & CIO at Florida Crystals Corporation says: “ASUG is pleased to continue its support of SUGEN and I am honoured to represent the ASUG Board of Directors on the SUGEN Leadership Team.
Richard Thorpe, Strategic Advisor at the City of Johannesburg: “As a passionate supporter of the User Group network, I am excited to be elected by the members of SUGEN to the Leadership Team and see my role being to assist User Groups globally in ensuring that customers gain the maximum value from their investments in SAP.
Per Högberg from SAPSA (Sweden) steps down as member of the leadership team after a four year term, starting at the inception of SUGEN in 2007. “We sincerely thank Per Högberg for his resolve to grow SUGEN and make it a success in the past years, says Van der Horst.
