ERP Project Planning – Getting Real (Part 1)

By |February 28th, 2010|

When the client is not heavily involved, expect plenty of project surprises and no ownership of responsibility. The ingredients for optimal success require active client participation at every stage of the project-- from project planning to project closure. Anyone who has been around ERP long enough understands that meaningful client involvement in the project is critical for success. However, many implementation projects start with the software consultants developing a project plan in a vacuum [...]

Protecting the SAP Project’s Budget and Timeline

By |July 11th, 2009|

  For years I have heard stories about blown SAP budgets and blown SAP project timelines. Personally, I have experienced a few project overruns [FN1], and a few where we came in under budget. However, I can’t say any of the projects were ever early. While I believe that coming in under budget is often possible, reducing the time frame is much more difficult because of the planning and coordination processes. You need to adjust all of the parallel work streams and get the coordination and [...]

Planning For a Smooth SAP Go-Live Part 1

By |October 27th, 2008|

  After you have done all the research and gone through all the trouble to make your project a success, four key areas can still cause trouble during your SAP go-live: 1. SAP Security and Authorizations. 2. Master Data. 3. Business process changes, process gaps (missed processes and exceptions). 4. SAP ABAP Custom Development. While each of these areas consistently cause trouble at go-live, resolving the first item (Security and Authorizations) and the third item (Process issues) should [...]

Planning For a Smooth SAP Go-Live: Part 2

By |October 25th, 2008|

2. SAP Master Data Ideally, your master data processing should begin early in the process. During the blueprint phase, you should identify legacy data sources, raw legacy data extracts, and key data requirements or data settings. Even though it won’t be perfect, you should determine an initial scope, and experienced developers should be able to point you to the type of raw data records they will need to begin working with. When you begin your SAP project, you should immediately ask for SAP mast [...]