OREANDA-NEWS. November 09, 2015. It’s been said that all roads lead to Rome, something that’s particularly the case this year for human resources (HR) professionals charting their company’s journey to cloud-based software.

I’m referring to this year’s SuccessConnect Europe 2015 event, taking place next week in Rome on November 9 -11. To be sure, the buzz about putting HR in the cloud is unabated, but what sets this event apart is the hands-on insights from companies and experts on how to make the journey for greatest business impact. Mike Ettling, President of SAP SuccessFactors, will keynote during the three-day agenda, showcasing organizations that have already discovered what happens when HR can focus on creating dynamic workplaces, remarkable employee experiences and developing leaders who make a difference.

“The impact of digitization is everywhere, and it’s as much an issue for HR as for any other part of the business,” said Ettling. “HR is in the midst of significant transformation. We see that transformation as a journey, not just a destination. Success requires rethinking our approach to HR. While some are just imagining a world in which transformation is eased by technology, freeing up people to do more meaningful work, at SuccessConnect Europe we are going to show people exactly how they can successfully make this transformation.”

Here is a sampling of the many global companies from a wide variety of industries that will be in Rome this year to share their journey to the cloud:

Teva Pharmaceuticals: For this 100-year old company, using SAP SuccessFactors wasn’t just an HR project. Anat Markus, Vice President of IT for Global HR & Corporate Functions, will join Ettling on stage to share Teva’s transformation journey, including how HR partnered with IT and the business to effect incredible change management.

Bertelsmann: Learn how this global media, services and education company is digitizing learning and collaboration for 100,000 employees across a decentralized organization using SAP SuccessFactors Learning, SAP JAM and the Open Content Network, an extension that connects with MOOCs, one of my favorite digital learning opportunities.

Lufthansa standardized and simplified HR processes by creating a worldwide shared service HR organization for 120,000 employees. Gain insights from their lessons learned using the SAP SuccessFactors HCM Suite, including SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central.

Pirelli: Find out how this tire manufacturer built a global, integrated, hybrid HR system across 34 countries, boosting process efficiency and effectiveness with the SAP SuccessFactors HCM Suite.

The Emirates Group: As the world’s largest international airline, The Emirates Group needed to take a strategic approach to employee education in order to meet its industry’s demanding service and compliance requirements. This session shows why SAP SuccessFactors Learning was the natural choice to support the company’s vision.

Merck KGaA, a renowned healthcare and life sciences company with 40,000 employees in 60 countries, is about to become the first DAX 30 company to manage all its HR processes through the SAP SuccessFactors HCM suite of solutions. Experts from Merck will describe their company’s journey to integrate and simplify HR processes, and take HR to the cloud.

There’s much more, especially considering SuccessFactors recently achieved a significant milestone of 1,000 cloud-based human capital management (HCM) customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). The journey to the cloud is inexorable but finding the best path is a highly individualized process. What’s certain is that innovators at SuccessConnect 2015 are leading the way to transformation.