SAP Consulting Services for Business Results and ROI

By |August 8th, 2011|

The previous post took a hard look at the types of consulting services you need for a high-speed SAP project (see SAP Consultants for High Speed SAP Projects). Consultants who work on SAP projects in the small- and mid-sized business space develop excellent breadth of SAP experience across an entire area. This week, we will look at the other side of that coin: consultant skills from large, long-term type SAP projects and what their experience provides. Consultants on the larger, longer-term SAP [...]

SAP Project Manager – SAP Program Manager, Lessons from the Trenches

By |July 25th, 2011|

This is a continuation of the previous post that addressed early requirements for good SAP project management (see Effective Results from SAP Project Managers – SAP Program Managers). SAP Project Management Responsibility Above all else, a manager’s primary responsibility is to ensure the success of those they are responsible for managing. Overall success of any initiative is directly tied to the success of those responsible for delivery of that initiative. This is especially true in fast-paced [...]

Effective Results from SAP Project Managers – SAP Program Managers

By |July 18th, 2011|

In all the years I have been involved with SAP, I have often puzzled about what creates a quality project rather than some of the horrors they call SAP projects. I have seen a few go really well, a few not so much, but most were mediocre. I have often asked myself “Why? What makes the difference between a good project and one that is nothing short of a mess?" One key item that stands out is project management. Even with the most talented and dedicated resources, bad project management can ruin [...]

Do You Know When To Do SAP Custom Development?

By |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 [...]

What are SAP Best Business Practices Anyway

By |March 7th, 2011|

Over the last couple months, I have seen a few posts debating the use of software “best business practices.” The basic takeaway is that if everyone uses the standard delivered “practices,” no one has competitive advantage. While this may be true for many software applications, two components of SAP make this idea misleading. Many of these commentators fail to recognize that SAP refers to different things as "best business practices." The key types of SAP best business practices involve the proc [...]

Expert SAP Consulting to Reduce SAP TCO and Improve SAP ROI

By |January 10th, 2011|

  This is a follow-up to a previous post that introduced a fascinating study on expert performance (see Successful SAP Project Team Composition – Technicians or Experts?). The author insightfully noted that expert performance requires not experience alone, but a very special kind of experience. Expert performance requires a focused type of continuous achievement that goes beyond mere time of experience or practice. The study’s authors noted that the difference between the amateur and the [...]