business performance Archives - Innovate. Integrate. Transform. Run.

Will SAP HANA Lead to a Big Data Revolution?
Will SAP HANA Lead to a Big Data Revolution?

Will SAP HANA Lead to a Big Data Revolution?

By Bill Wood|December 17th, 2012|

Many people focus on HANA as a competitor to Oracle, and it is. Even if HANA adoption and sales were to completely devastate SAP's biggest competitor (Oracle), that would not be HANA's biggest impact. The HANA product has the potential to disrupt entire industries in the context of Big Data. Unlike Big Data, I have been skeptical about the benefits and use of social media in the enterprise, writing about it in Why Social Media Marketing Success Is Elusive for Business and Social Media Fads and [...]

Building an Effective SAP ERP Delivery Organization
Building an Effective SAP ERP Delivery Organization

Building an Effective SAP ERP Delivery Organization

By Bill Wood|November 5th, 2012|

There are generally three major components for improving SAP delivery. These three components can improve SAP and technology delivery in general while impacting corporate business performance and marketplace success. Delivery Approach Delivery Methodology IT Organizational Development The following content is written with a focus on SAP; however, it can be completely generalized to virtually any IT organization. You need a careful focus on the delivery approach. Here there are two key paradigms [...]

Steps to Achieve SAP IT Convergence
Steps to Achieve SAP IT Convergence

Steps to Achieve SAP IT Convergence

By Bill Wood|August 22nd, 2011|

My last post on SAP IT Convergence is About Business Focused Integration provided an overview of Business - IT Convergence and why it is important. This week, we look at some of the key principles around creating SAP IT Convergence, including some steps on the path to convergence. ========================= What Is the Difference between Business to IT Alignment and Business - IT Convergence? Convergence and alignment have an important distinction. Business to IT alignment works to mature the IT [...]

SAP IT Convergence is About Business Focused Integration
SAP IT Convergence is About Business Focused Integration

SAP IT Convergence is About Business Focused Integration

By Bill Wood|August 15th, 2011|

Enterprise SAP IT organizations pose a problem as they are focused on SAP and IT. They lose sight of their purpose, which is to promote the broader objectives of the enterprise. An SAP-centered IT organization's whole existence is about ensuring business benefit, focusing on enterprise goals, strategies, and objectives. Somewhere between the SAP sales cycle and the SAP go-live, the concept of business benefit gets lost and is never found again. By the time you go live with the SAP application, [...]

Do You Know When To Do SAP Custom Development?
Do You Know When To Do SAP Custom Development?

Do You Know When To Do SAP Custom Development?

By Bill Wood|April 11th, 2011|

Use SAP Best Business Practices For Commodity Processes But More Carefully Evaluate Competitive Processes The debate and discussion around SAP best business practices usually assumes an “either-or” mindset. Either you use the SAP best business practices as they are, or you abandon them (for more background on SAP's "Best Business Practices," see What are SAP Best Business Practices Anyway). Several commentators suggest you should not do a software vendor’s “best practices” because you adopt the [...]

SAP ROI through Strategic Business Transformation
SAP ROI through Strategic Business Transformation

SAP ROI through Strategic Business Transformation

By Bill Wood|January 31st, 2011|

Many business ideas and paradigms have been proposed over the years. Some of them turn out to be fads, while others have enduring legacies. While many have merit, they all have one thing in common-- they are supposed to address the marketplace in some way. Whether or not they stand the test of time depends on how well they help businesses compete in a globally competitive marketplace. Enduring business ideas generally become part of an accepted business strategy. One example is Michael Porter's [...]