SAP & IT Outsourcing – RESULTS MATTER!

By |June 24th, 2014|

  Business today is looking for a way to provide shareholder value. Outsourcing has become a popular method to boost stock values because shareholders believe it will reduce costs. While your share price may increase in the short term, you may not see the cost savings, and your share price will suffer later as your cost basis increases. Unfortunately, the cost saving "dream" presented during all those sales pitches often become a "nightmare" of spiraling costs and management headaches. I [...]

SAP and IT Outsourcing – Vendor Management Considerations

By |May 7th, 2014|

  A common trend in IT is outsourcing. The allure of smooth sailing, fewer headaches, and lower cost generally capture senior leadership's attention. The sales pitches about all of the success stories are often compelling. However, just like calm (but murky) waters on a mild day hide the rocks under the surface, so do many of the outsourcing vendor claims. With some background understanding (and a lot of due diligence), you can avoid most of those rocks and navigate the waters. However, [...]

SAP & IT Outsourcing – Vendor Management Tactics & Strategies

By |May 7th, 2014|

In an outsourcing arrangement you have one of two approaches: work up front to reduce potential disputes or be prepared to deal with the fallout. The less aggressive you are with your outsourcing management, the more profitable you are to the outsourcing company. Does fallout mean you will be in court? Sometimes yes, but sometimes it means re-negotiating a contract, or worse still, skyrocketing costs which can exceed the original costs. Outsourcing Relationship or Arrangement The sales personne [...]

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 [...]

Overcome SAP-ERP System Integrator Sales Tactics 7

By |June 20th, 2011|

As we get close to wrapping up this series, we will take a short look at ERP and business software licensing. Fortunately, you have a number of strategies available to negotiate your licenses. One thing to keep in mind here is that there are two revenue streams for the software provider. The first is the license sale, and the second is the maintenance agreement. ERP – SAP – Business Software Licensing Negotiations One negotiating tip I learned a long time ago is to always ask for more than you [...]

Overcome SAP-ERP System Integrator Sales Tactics 6

By |June 13th, 2011|

This week’s post in the series deals more directly with the software selection rather than vendor selections. As we move toward the completion of this series, we need to consider a few more issues. Picking the wrong ERP business software package can be one of the factors that contribute to ERP project failure. Aside from evaluating the product fit to your business processes, you also need to carefully consider hardware, third-party software, development tools, scalability, and other factors tha [...]