I'm Vikas Periwal, founder of VP LLC. I've worked with SAP for more than 25 years, first as a consultant for global SAP systems integrators and then as an IT leader responsible for SAP inside large, global companies. Today I use that experience to help organizations get their SAP programs right.
I trained as a Chartered Accountant and started my career in finance and operations. That shaped how I see SAP: it is a business system first and a technology platform second.
In my early SAP years I delivered implementations, rollouts and support for clients in the United States, Germany, Spain, Belgium and India. I learned how integrators plan, staff and price their work, and where the pressure points are.
I then spent close to two decades on the client side at a global animal diagnostics and life sciences company. I led its SAP Center of Excellence and later its SAP architecture team. I also worked at a semiconductor memory and storage company, where I was the senior technology partner to Finance functions. Highlights from these roles:
Brought international subsidiaries onto a single global SAP instance
Ran SAP strategy and roadmaps for a 20-country landscape connected to more than 100 applications
Kept SAP current through frequent release upgrades, most recently moving from S/4HANA 2020 to 2023 on RISE with SAP while switching from a 4-4-5 fiscal calendar to monthly reporting
Led a multi-year S/4HANA brownfield conversion that improved system performance
Moved the full SAP landscape to AWS, cutting annual costs
Led a global team of SAP professionals and architects
Led the evaluation and adoption of enterprise analytics and AI platforms, including Snowflake and Dataiku, to give business leaders predictive insights and better decision support
Over the years I watched good companies spend heavily on SAP without independent oversight whose only goal was to protect their interests. Integrators brought talent, but they also brought their own priorities. I started VP LLC to be the advisor I often wished my own teams had: experienced, candid and on the client's side only.
Chartered Accountant (Institute of Chartered Accountants of India)
SAP Certified Consultant, FI/CO
Harvard Business School executive education: High Potential Leadership Program, Disruptive Strategy, and Negotiation & Decision Making
Bachelor's degree in Accounting and Finance, St. Xavier's College
Based in Portland, Maine. Working with clients across the United States, on site or remotely.