3 Development Phases for SAP Center of Excellence Maturity

By |May 14th, 2012|

Before we get into the substance of how to build a next-generation IT organization that is integrated with business, we need to take a quick review. Last week’s post on SAP Service Provider to Business Peer Through Center of Excellence Maturity proposed the direct maturity of the SAP IT organization. Here, we discussed the three stages of Organizational Change Management Inside the SAP IT Support Organization. These stages create clear distinctions between SAP Service Delivery versus Value Deli [...]

Removing SAP Project Barriers to Realize ROI and Business Benefit

By |August 2nd, 2010|

As long as the application consultants’ limited understanding of your business drive your SAP implementation, it will only reflect their SAP capabilities. If you want more, then your project focus must become business driven rather than vendor and consultant driven. Frequently I see or hear SAP consultants, even those who claim to be “Platinum” level consultants, who really do not understand the extent of the capabilities of SAP as a business process and systems platform. Even though these Plat [...]

Toward an SAP Center of Excellence or SAP Competency Center – PART 3

By |July 28th, 2010|

Part 3 of 3 Stages and Components of the SAP Center of Excellence To wrap up this series, we will take a brief look at the post go-live or production support environment. One academic study I reviewed on ERP project success factors defined the three production stages of Acceptance, Routinization, and Infusion (see The Top 5 ERP Success Factors by Project Stage from 22 Critical Success Factors). These three terms fit the requirements for SAP production system stages as you move toward an SAP Cen [...]

Toward an SAP Center of Excellence or SAP Competency Center – PART 2

By |July 27th, 2010|

Part 2 of 3 SAP Competency Center – Doing Things Right VS SAP Center of Excellence – Doing the Right Things The SAP Center of Excellence approach assumes a dynamic organization that is experiencing a fair amount of change, at a pace that causes the organization to stretch. This is usually the case with growth-oriented companies that are seeking new competitive methods and ways of operating in a challenging global climate. The SAP Competency Center approach assumes a fairly stable business model [...]

Toward an SAP Center of Excellence or SAP Competency Center – PART 1

By |July 26th, 2010|

Part 1 of 3 Is There a Difference Between an SAP Center of Excellence, SAP Competency Center, or SAP Expertise Center? A while back, Michael Done and I were talking about his SAP Green Book-- thriving after going live with SAP [FN1]. As the conversation progressed, it was obvious to both of us that although he has been advocating for an SAP Center of Excellence for quite some time, few companies had succeeded in creating one.Our conversation started a lengthy thought process about our careers wi [...]

Leading Change (and Change Management)

By |May 17th, 2010|

“Leading Change” is clearly more difficult than realizing that change is needed. If you want to validate the prior statement reflect back on all of the “change agents” that have crossed your path over the years, ask yourself the following question: "How many of them have truly succeeded?" While we’ve heard a lot about change of late as it relates to our current political landscape, the power of real change is trivialized when it becomes little more than a political sound-bite. Whether in busine [...]