Realizing SAP Business Benefit

By |August 26th, 2009|

When implementing or upgrading SAP, too often I encounter vendors and consultants who believe they are more qualified than they actually are. Think of backyard mechanics who changed the oil on someone's cars and checked the tire pressure a few times, then somehow think that qualifies them to do engine overhauls on Formula 1 race cars. Similarly, why do you expect old-style implementation vendors and consultants to transform your business into a competitive powerhouse by only addressing cost-foc [...]

Using SAP to Improve Revenue and Profitability

By |January 17th, 2009|

For years, CIOs have been under pressure to cut costs, improve operational efficiencies, and automate the enterprise. CIOs who implement SAP have largely been effective at streamlining the back office. They have also succeeded at optimizing the extended supply chain because SAP supports execution activities well, therefore reducing costs. However, times are changing. For IT and SAP to successfully grow revenue and profitability, a business needs to understand where technology fits into the puzz [...]

Planning For a Smooth Go-Live: Part 3

By |October 24th, 2008|

3. ERP or SAP Process issues Let me start with a caveat to this section. No matter how good, thorough, experienced, or conscientious a consultant or a core team member is, a project will always experience a few process gaps, and an occasional completely missing process discovered at go-live. Now that the caveat is out of the way, process problems can occur for many reasons: inexperienced consultants, company employees who miss some of the process exceptions, inadequate training, insufficient in [...]

Effectively Scope Your SAP Project

By |May 17th, 2007|

Over the years, people have written hundreds of articles, documents, and warnings about scope setting, scope control, and scope management with ERP and IT projects. Project scope is one of the biggest ERP project risk factors. Yet, a project may lack practical insight on setting or managing scope. SAP provides all of the tools and resources to do the job correctly--even before an RFP is issued. Since the mid to late 90's, SAP has provided an extensive implementation toolset that many do not ful [...]