FIXING Stupid SAP Vendor – Partner Selection RFI – RFP Processes

By |February 21st, 2011|

I am always amazed at how much time, energy, money, and effort companies spend on the SAP Request for Information (RFI) and Request for Proposal (RFP) processes. Many companies spend months, and in some cases even years, evaluating, analyzing, and preparing for an RFI or RFP. During the RFI and RFP preparation stage, senior management and staff are involved. At times, a dozen or more employees may be involved. When you add it all up, it can easily cost your company tens of thousands, hundreds o [...]

More on Stupid SAP Vendor – Partner Selection RFI-RFP Processes

By |February 14th, 2011|

This is a follow-up from last week's post on Why SAP Vendor – Partner Selection RFI Processes are Stupid. Next week's post will provide insight, suggestions, and ideas on how to ensure your SAP RFI or RFP processes achieve the best possible results. SAP is a COTS (Commercial Off The Shelf) business software application. In the COTS world, solid financial statements may indicate an SAP partner or vendor who has mastered the art of "squatting" or "lock-in." They may routinely custom code non-miss [...]

SAP ROI through Strategic Business Transformation

By |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 [...]

Global SAP Instance Consolidations

By |January 24th, 2011|

Over the last several years, a number of companies have undertaken a global instance consolidation. And it's no wonder why-- a global SAP consolidation presents opportunities for significantly reducing Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). However, this type of system consolidation also brings numerous change management issues to address. As you embark on your consolidation, you will find that some major issues are easier to resolve, because the hard decisions around processes and scope were resolved [...]

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 [...]

SAP Success Factors for Vendor Selection – Responsibility Matrix 2

By |October 18th, 2010|

Based on a combination of the academic literature [FN1] and my personal experience, I have put together the following SAP and ERP Critical Success Factor Responsibility Matrix. The large “A” indicates a primary responsibility, a small “z” indicates a secondary responsibility, and a blank field indicates no direct responsibility. This is part of the continuing series on managing the SAP vendor relationship to ensure SAP project success. To do so, you need to review the SAP critical success facto [...]