Field report Master's thesis: PEERS - Not just a phrase

At the end of his Master's degree, Philipp Lemp was accepted to write his Master's thesis in the area of business analytics at s-peers and to get to know the company better for six months.

First points of contact with s-peers AG

s-peers AG is a highly specialised Swiss consulting firm with a focus on SAP Analytics. My main reason for applying was the particular attraction of gaining detailed insights into solutions relating to data, reports and predictive analysis in an environment of experienced experts.

Literally a bit exotic was certainly the nature of my application: at the time, I was spending my semester abroad in Malaysia. But this in no way stood in the way of contacting me, including my interview request and sending all the necessary documents - thanks to an "online application interview", it was even possible for me to introduce myself personally to s-peers from faraway Southeast Asia via video conferencing.

My master's thesis was on the topic of geovisualisation. Specifically, it was about the development of a component that allows the analysis of geodata for rescue operations.

I gained IT experience in advance during my bachelor's degree in business informatics - more specifically in the area of SAP logistics. This was the ideal basis for me to successfully expand my expertise in operational processes and applications to include the scheduling area as part of my master's thesis.

A particularly exciting aspect was, of course, predictive analyses, which derive precise predictions for future events from existing and collected past values with different attributes (e.g. weather, traffic volume, calendar week).

These models can be used to depict a wide range of scenarios, such as the number and location of sites, optimisation of working time models for rescue forces or the number of emergency vehicles required.

Admittedly, I initially had some reservations about writing my Master's thesis at a consulting firm for SAP Analytics. But these quickly gave way to an enormous enthusiasm for the company and its innovative projects in diverse business areas.

My master's thesis was therefore the ideal way for me to get to know s-peers comprehensively - and at the same time for me to realise what I actually want to do professionally in the future. So I was very pleased that my successful Master's degree was promptly followed by an attractive job offer with independent project activities.

My daily work as a Junior Consultant

Since completing my master's thesis, I have been working as a junior consultant in the "Data Workshop" division of s-peers. My work is mainly divided into the following tasks:

• Data preparation and structuring at database level
• Logical information linkage in the context of business processes
• Structure of data models
• (Visualised) provision of information for the different departments in a company

What I particularly like about my job

Again and again I am impressed by the processes, interlocking and networking within an organisational structure: these control business and entrepreneurial processes in a significant way. And the results from sectors such as services, production or trade flow directly into our daily lives.

I am particularly fascinated by the diverse and agile changes - triggered by different market influences or also by regulatory or legal provisions. Equally interesting for me are the networking of IT-supported applications and the effects on different areas of the company.

The personal responsibility and self-organisation in the varied s-peers projects are nothing new to me - or rather, they are exactly my thing: For example, since my youth, I have enjoyed planning events independently in my local sports club and also taking on (organisational) responsibility in other ways.

The close and efficient cooperation within the s-peers team is very important to me. Through the intensive exchange with colleagues, we always coordinate all relevant project aspects (technical, economic, process-related) individually to the respective customer needs.

The collegiality is not only professional, but also personal: I was so well accepted into the department that I now have the feeling that I have been working in the company for a long time. In addition to the great working atmosphere among colleagues, this is also due to great team events and after-work sessions, where the focus is on the shared idea of "peers".

At s-peers, "work-life balance" is not just a phrase, but is actively lived and promoted - in the best sense of the word: because only when "work" and "life" harmonise with each other as holistically as possible do mutual synergies arise that inspire and satisfy on both a professional and private level.