July 2010 - Innovate. Integrate. Transform. Run.

Toward an SAP Center of Excellence or SAP Competency Center – PART 3
Toward an SAP Center of Excellence or SAP Competency Center – PART 3

Toward an SAP Center of Excellence or SAP Competency Center – PART 3

By Bill Wood|July 28th, 2010|

Part 3 of 3 Stages and Components of the SAP Center of Excellence To wrap up this series, we will take a brief look at the post go-live or production support environment. One academic study I reviewed on ERP project success factors defined the three production stages of Acceptance, Routinization, and Infusion (see The Top 5 ERP Success Factors by Project Stage from 22 Critical Success Factors). These three terms fit the requirements for SAP production system stages as you move toward an SAP Cen [...]

Toward an SAP Center of Excellence or SAP Competency Center – PART 2
Toward an SAP Center of Excellence or SAP Competency Center – PART 2

Toward an SAP Center of Excellence or SAP Competency Center – PART 2

By Bill Wood|July 27th, 2010|

Part 2 of 3 SAP Competency Center – Doing Things Right VS SAP Center of Excellence – Doing the Right Things The SAP Center of Excellence approach assumes a dynamic organization that is experiencing a fair amount of change, at a pace that causes the organization to stretch. This is usually the case with growth-oriented companies that are seeking new competitive methods and ways of operating in a challenging global climate. The SAP Competency Center approach assumes a fairly stable business model [...]

Toward an SAP Center of Excellence or SAP Competency Center – PART 1
Toward an SAP Center of Excellence or SAP Competency Center – PART 1

Toward an SAP Center of Excellence or SAP Competency Center – PART 1

By Bill Wood|July 26th, 2010|

Part 1 of 3 Is There a Difference Between an SAP Center of Excellence, SAP Competency Center, or SAP Expertise Center? A while back, Michael Done and I were talking about his SAP Green Book-- thriving after going live with SAP [FN1]. As the conversation progressed, it was obvious to both of us that although he has been advocating for an SAP Center of Excellence for quite some time, few companies had succeeded in creating one.Our conversation started a lengthy thought process about our careers wi [...]

Series on SAP Competency Center or SAP Center of Excellence
Series on SAP Competency Center or SAP Center of Excellence

Series on SAP Competency Center or SAP Center of Excellence

By Bill Wood|July 21st, 2010|

THREE-PART SERIES ON DEVELOPING AN SAP CENTER OF EXCELLENCE. You probably already knew that a "Competency center" is focused on SAP application support such as help desk functions, system stabilization, troubleshooting, etc. But did you know that a true "Center of Excellence" is focused on the business and business drivers? The key goal of a "Center of Excellence" is to integrate not just the application, but the application support staff into the business. Business Transformation from [...]

Where do you Start with SAP Return on Investment or SAP ROI?
Where do you Start with SAP Return on Investment or SAP ROI?

Where do you Start with SAP Return on Investment or SAP ROI?

By Bill Wood|July 19th, 2010|

See Part 1 - SAP Implementation Is an Investment Not an Event How much is it going to cost, and how long is it going to take? That is the classic approach to SAP implementations. However, this approach is not enough today, as the marketplace is demanding more from their IT dollars. Now the marketplace has questions about measuring cost reductions, process improvements, and customer retention/acquisition. These are all important discussions. Your money has to work for you in your business-- and [...]

SAP Implementation is an Investment NOT an Event
SAP Implementation is an Investment NOT an Event

SAP Implementation is an Investment NOT an Event

By Bill Wood|July 12th, 2010|

A while back, I talked to a pair of executives who were trying to determine whether or not their SAP implementation cost was higher or lower than their competitors. They wanted benchmarks or some other way to know if they were in line with the marketplace. The CFO was worried that they might have paid way too much for their SAP implementation. After talking for a few minutes, they realized that they were looking at the question the wrong way. While they were asking about how their expenditure c [...]