ERP Education: Losing Our Religion

By |January 17th, 2011|

Most ERP software packages are designed around industry-accepted business practices, operating philosophies, and techniques that have evolved over many years. Today, the issue is not businesses have a body of knowledge with supporting software tools; the question is, are clients educated enough to see the value or understand the proper use of the tools? The short answer is no.   Education versus ERP software training Many have lost sight of the difference between education and software tra [...]

SAP System Vendor Project Success Criteria & Factors 5

By |November 29th, 2010|

This is the final post in the series on SAP project shared success criteria. Doing this entire topic justice has been more of a challenge than I had originally anticipated. At some point, I will put it all together in a PDF e-book. This series leaves you with a lot to digest but over the years these items generally make up the foundations for a very successful project that is able to transform your business. This series has been challenging but interesting and I am glad it is complete. In a few [...]

SAP System Vendor Project Success Criteria & Factors 4

By |November 22nd, 2010|

I had intended to wrap this series up with this post, but because I haven’t done much review of the SAP System Change Control Process, this post will address that topic in detail. The last few SAP critical success factors will have to wait for the next post. Many of the steps, insight, techniques, and other suggestions I have made were gleaned from the SAP ASAP methodology and my experience with the various toolsets that SAP provides to their customers and vendors. This post will address this S [...]

SAP System Vendor Project Success Criteria & Factors 3

By |November 15th, 2010|

The other day, I made a post to SAP’s Community Network on how to ensure customers get the best SAP business software integrator for their money. One of the comments to that post suggested that I was advocating for customers using only SAP as their system integrator. In my response, I stated that my goal is to encourage SAP customers to get educated so they actually achieve value and ROI from their SAP business software projects. My response sums up why I started this site and what the posts he [...]

SAP System Vendor Project Success Criteria 1

By |November 1st, 2010|

Using the success criteria table laid out in SAP Success Factors for Vender Selection Responsibility Matrix 2 as a starting point for shared SAP project success, we will look at some strategies, tactics, techniques, and ideas for managing these shared responsibilities. By more aggressively managing these shared SAP critical success areas, we can set the correct tone and expectation for the SAP project. [FN1] This series will look at the things you should expect from your SAP system vendor, and [...]

SAP Success Factors for Vendor Selection – Responsibility Matrix 2

By |October 18th, 2010|

Based on a combination of the academic literature [FN1] and my personal experience, I have put together the following SAP and ERP Critical Success Factor Responsibility Matrix. The large “A” indicates a primary responsibility, a small “z” indicates a secondary responsibility, and a blank field indicates no direct responsibility. This is part of the continuing series on managing the SAP vendor relationship to ensure SAP project success. To do so, you need to review the SAP critical success facto [...]