Poole College Team Places in Final Four at 2018 SAP Co-Innovation Event

A team of four NC State Poole College of Management students placed fourth in the 2018 SAP Co-Innovation Event, sponsored by Deloitte. The event was held at Deloitte University in Westlake, Texas, August 3-5.

The three-day event drew 64 students from SAP University Alliance programs at 16 U.S. universities, to compete in a challenge using SAP software to address a real-world business challenge. NC State Poole College is a member of the SAP Alliance.

Strengthening knowledge, gaining insight

The Poole College team members – now seniors in accounting – are Ryan Gorman, Emilie Vincitorio, Hammad Siddiqi and Isabella Tavoletti. Each had completed the enterprise resources systems (ERP) course (ACC 440) this past spring, taught by Marianne Bradford, professor of accounting in Poole College’s Department of Accounting and faculty coordinator for the SAP University Alliance at NC State.

“I am so happy to have had the opportunity to participate in the Co-Innovation Event,” Vincitorio said. “After taking Dr. Bradford’s class and interning at a company which utilizes SAP, I was interested in applying what I had learned in the classroom and cubicle to our case. The experience has taught me about the potential to have a fulfilling career in consulting by helping companies and individuals reach their goals.”

To prepare further, Vincitorio said, “A lot of my studying this summer consisted of re-reading Dr. Bradford’s book, “Modern ERP,” researching the benefits of implementing SAP, and reviewing the pre-event reading materials sent to us by Deloitte.”

Tavoletti said, “The competition really opened my eyes to the real world of consulting. It was a great opportunity to apply what we have learned in school in a case that we could potentially see in our future careers. I really enjoyed networking with the Deloitte and SAP employees as well as the students from other universities. I am glad our team worked so well together and was able to finish in the top four.”

Gorman said he also “conducted independent research regarding ERP systems landscapes, including cloud and hybrid ERP, and reflected on past work experience in accounting internships where the companies were using ERP systems.”

About the experience, Gorman said, “The SAP Co-Innovation event … was the best avenue to demonstrate what I’ve learned about ERP systems over the past year, as well as put my presentation skills to the test in front of Deloitte professional practice directors and SAP vice presidents. I heard about the opportunity (from) Dr. Bradford, and received great feedback from my brothers in Alpha Kappa Psi about their experience from the event in years past. The case competition provided great insight on what a day in the life of a Deloitte consultant would look like, and was overall a fantastic learning experience.

Hammad added, “Going to the SAP Co-Innovation Event was an amazing experience. I am highly interested in ERP systems and that is why I participated in this event. I was able to benefit from my IT Audit internship at Blue Cross NC and Dr. Bradford’s book, as these resources helped me understand how ERP systems work. Taking part in this event further solidified my plans to go for the MAC (degree) with a concentration in IT,” he said.

“I am very proud of another Top 4 finish for NCSU PCOM team at the Deloitte SAP case competition. The team worked very hard and were able to apply what they have learned about enterprise resource planning, business processes and SAP to produce a solution from the case that was innovative and technically sound,” Bradford said.

About the team members

• Gorman is an accounting major with a concentration in information systems and is also in the business analytics honors program.
• Siddiqi is an accounting major with an internal audit concentration
• Tavoletti is double majoring in accounting with a concentration in financial analysis and business administration with a concentration in marketing
• Vincitorio is an accounting major with a concentration in information systems