Approyo Founder & CEO, Christopher Carter is passionate about SAP technology that provides value to people. His venture, Approyo is a reflection of his passion and decade-long expertise.
Approyo provides full SAP service technology with extensive capabilities in hosting and managed services, upgrades, and migrations for customers, running any SAP supported core functionality. With over 300 SAP environments under management around the globe, the company supports businesses from production landscapes to migrations onto SAP HANA and SAP S/4 HANA.
The Initial Story
With a love for technology, Christopher Carter started his journey when he attended the Georgia Institute of Technology. In college, he began working with SAP and in that time he realized how much he enjoyed working with innovative solutions. Years later, he was inretirement for a very short period, until he heard about SAP’s announcement of SAP HANA. He saw great potential for this solution and decided to jump back into the SAP space, thus creating Approyo.
Unique Factors
Christopher Carter says, “We strive hard to deliver the best quality service possible. We work with partners and customers on a global scale and are able to provide a variety of services, tailored to the needs of each business. Our experts are available 24 x 7 x 365 to take care of our customers, and we hold multiple SAP certifications. Our partners allow us to expand our solution offerings even more so. Since SAP is our main focus, we hold quality expertise in this field, and we make sure that every SAP project is delivered on-time and on-budget.”
Hurdles on the Way
Christopher Carter says that he is always prepared for a challenge. The whole basis of Approyo is to solve problems, so him and the team are both are very much prepared for challenging situations. “Specifically working in the cloud computing space, you must give your employees the tools they need to succeed. Meaning, we make any type of training or certification available to them. It is important to give them the proper training so that you can take more of a hands-off approach when it comes to their daily tasks. At the same time, I does oversee the entire business and hold meetings with both the executive sales team and Service Delivery team to ensure that operations are running smoothly. Be a leader, but do not be power-hungry.”
Leadership Principles
Treat everyone fairly and equally in the workplace. Give the same opportunities to everyone, whether they’ve worked at the company for a day or a year. Never stop learning. Although every business hires employees to take care of certain tasks, you should have knowledge of them as well. Be passionate about your purpose. If you don’t believe in the mission and the vision of your company, who else will?
The biggest failures in Professional Life and Learning
Christopher’s biggest challenge was the first company he had owned. When he had to close its doors, he felt like a failure. He hadn’t envisioned it ending that way and he had really high hopes for its success. Today, Christopher Carter looked back on how he ran that business and changed many things when he went forward with Approyo. It’s never too late to learn.
Road Ahead
Throughout 2020, Approyo experienced great growth and success. Future plans are focused on even more growth. The team is looking to grow their customer base, their partner network, and later on, their solutions offerings. They are looking to add new innovative artificial intelligence technology, and custom solutions to the market place.
In Christopher’s Words
What does success look like?
Success looks like happy customers to me. If our customers are successful, then we are successful.
Great Accomplishment
My greatest accomplishment professionally is Approyo. Building this company from the ground up was no easy task. It took time to build up our team, perfect our services, and find the right clients, all while learning and growing as a CEO. In my personal life, my greatest achievement is my family who gives me purpose and the drive to be the best I can be.
Leadership Style
I like to lead by elevating and helping my staff improve. I don’t like to be a dictator; instead, I work on hand with them so we can all be successful together. I realize that employees have their own lives and individual goals and want to help them reach them as much as my own.
New Ideas
One of the biggest things, Christopher Carter wants to change in today’s technology landscape, is partnerships. He believes that partnerships are rising in popularity, but he would encourage businesses to partner with a large network of leading companies. It’s important to build each other up, even if we are competitors at the end of the day.
Vision in Life
Christopher Carter’s vision is to grow Approyo to be one of the leading Cloud Solutions Providers in the world. His passion for technology and for this company is what keeps him driven. His strong team that delivers successful projects keeps him motivated, and most importantly his family gives him a reason to work harder.
Characteristics of a Leader
Integrity and empathy! Every leader should be honest and straightforward. This builds trust among internal staff and leads to better communication and teamwork. It is also important for leaders to have empathy and compassion for their staff. Taking a step back and understanding your staff’s needs and workloads, allows for better productivity.
Best Advice
To appreciate how far you’ve come. Sort of a “stop and smell the roses” type of saying. Looking back at my life, I am extremely grateful for all that I have achieved and been given. With that, I move forward with a positive outlook, always.