9 Games ERP Consultants Play

By |January 14th, 2013|

  Most people in the ERP industry agree that software consultants can play a major role in helping their clients successfully implement a new ERP package. While some consulting firms have more expertise than others do, at least most firms try to operate with their client’s best interest in mind. However, many firms within the ERP industry are outright thieves. They will not hesitate to take advantage of their clients with consulting games to pad their own wallets. In fact, some firms are [...]

Where Does Agile Fit in SAP Projects?

By |November 12th, 2012|

After offering insight based on my personal experiences around "Agile Project Methods for SAP ERP Projects?" I wanted to highlight a few areas where Agile does work: Design sessions Development efforts (i.e. coding) Data conversions Once you begin to move beyond these areas, you quickly encounter dependent workstreams that need much more coordination. Those additional dependencies make it difficult to apply Agile methods. While Agile tends to emphasize the one-week to one-month "sprint," I woul [...]

Agile Project Methods for SAP ERP Projects?

By |October 29th, 2012|

Looking at the "Agile Manifesto" and how Agile methods have been applied generally involves small, discrete, "digestible" work and task components. Juggling the number and complexity of dependencies on a full-scale SAP ERP project involves management and coordination efforts, which completely go against the idea of pure Agile methods. ====== ERP projects tend to have too many moving parts and dependencies for Agile, as the methodology provides too little control and coordination. The level of c [...]

SAP Change Management Program Success

By |July 30th, 2012|

Lots of literature, information, and resources focus on change management for successful enterprise application projects. To address SAP change management, the SAP Activate Methodology provides resources, tools, and templates, along with guidance for Change Management during your SAP project. Even though the Activate methodology and various other resources provide some great information, the high-level guiding framework always seems to be somewhat vague. For example, businesses receive a consta [...]

Achieve Business Benefit Through SAP Prototype Demonstrations

By |July 16th, 2012|

SAP Conference Room Proof of Concept Pilots Proof of Concepts with frequent early prototyping drive project costs down. Consider the old saying: “an ounce of prevention can avoid a pound of cure.” Proof of concept pilots during the project are a rarely mentioned SAP critical success factor. Early in my SAP career, the disruption these prototype sessions, conference room pilots, etc. would cause used to frustrate me. My thought was, "I have a job to do and don't have time for this." No one ever [...]

There is Life after the SAP Go Live

By |June 25th, 2012|

One of the areas that academic literature, consulting firms, and most system integrators rarely address is the organizational acceptance, full use, and assimilation of the SAP package. To the extent the system integrators or consulting firms do mention post production support, they generally only do so in the context of managed services or outsourcing. They do little to help companies develop a thriving production environment with your own resources. One of the biggest problems I see anywhere i [...]