IT Management Archives - Page 7 of 22 - Innovate. Integrate. Transform. Run.

ERP II & ERP III – SAP Business IT Revolution
ERP II & ERP III – SAP Business IT Revolution

ERP II & ERP III – SAP Business IT Revolution

By Bill Wood|October 31st, 2011|

The day after I released my last post (SAP IT Governance – Achieve Business IT Engagement), techrepublic.com published a review of the CIO future direction. While I do not agree with all of the Gartner conclusions they published, I certainly agree with the “new CIO manifesto” (TechRepublic: Get drastic: 15 IT best practices to kill). Reading through the comments left on the TechRepublic post was enlightening. However, most of the comments focused on the details of one or two points of disagreem [...]

Protecting Yourself from SAP Consulting Fraud
Protecting Yourself from SAP Consulting Fraud

Protecting Yourself from SAP Consulting Fraud

By Bill Wood|October 17th, 2011|

One of the most pervasive problems with SAP or any other ERP project is the sheer amount of fraud. SAP fraud is so rampant with substantial financial effects, it would be seen as organized crime in any other industry. I have previously written about SAP consulting screening methods and required skills, but one key method filters through the con artists: simple experience verification. Few Staffing Firms Do Any Type of Skills or Experience Verification Many organizations that employ SAP periodic [...]

Where Does SAP Offshore Development Make Sense?
Where Does SAP Offshore Development Make Sense?

Where Does SAP Offshore Development Make Sense?

By Bill Wood|October 10th, 2011|

If you are capable of providing detailed design specs without any deviation or thought required, offshore development is a great option. The instant your SAP design requires a measure of experience and insight to make judgment calls, or to look for data or processing that is not explicitly spelled out in detail, you are headed for huge hidden costs. The level of detailed spec design work by SAP functional consultants merely shifts the development time and costs to the higher-priced resources th [...]

Hidden SAP Offshore Development Costs
Hidden SAP Offshore Development Costs

Hidden SAP Offshore Development Costs

By Bill Wood|October 3rd, 2011|

My experience with SAP offshore developers is that no matter how detailed your spec, their lack of experience with standard SAP transactions and functionality prevents them from properly testing their own creations. Their results are more than just full of bugs; oftentimes, the system crashes when attempting to do even basic testing. Repeat testing by expensive functional resources happens so frequently and consumes so much hidden time from parallel project activities that entire project timeli [...]

SAP Offshore Development Project Experience
SAP Offshore Development Project Experience

SAP Offshore Development Project Experience

By Bill Wood|September 26th, 2011|

There is a time and a place for everything-- even SAP project offshore activities. Unfortunately, in the quest to save money, the wrong approach can sound good on paper but cost you far more than the sales pitches would lead you to believe. The SAP offshore sales pitch uses enticing rates, such as receiving an offshore developer for about 15-20% the rate of an onshore resource (about 1/5 to 1/7 the price). The initial reaction to all of the sales pitches is “Wow, that will save us a bundle!” Ho [...]

How the SAP Consulting Peter Principle Works
How the SAP Consulting Peter Principle Works

How the SAP Consulting Peter Principle Works

By Bill Wood|September 12th, 2011|

Most of us working in business for any period of time have heard of the “Peter Principle.” Dr. Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull formulated this concept in their 1968 book The Peter Principle, a humorous treatise which also introduced the "salutary science of Hierarchiology." [FN1] While the exact quote is slightly different, many interpret this as meaning that people tend to rise to their level of incompetence in organizations built on hierarchies. As an important caveat before getting into t [...]