Posts - Page 12 of 43 - Innovate. Integrate. Transform. Run.

SAP Third Party – Indirect Usage Licensing Part 2
SAP Third Party – Indirect Usage Licensing Part 2

SAP Third Party – Indirect Usage Licensing Part 2

By Bill Wood|December 3rd, 2012|

For those who may not be aware, SAP is not the first company to require user licenses for third party or “indirect usage.” This requirement is becoming more commonplace, and some companies are quite aggressive with it. This follow-up to my previous post on SAP Third Party – Indirect Usage Licensing Part 1 will address real opportunities here. Over the years, SAP has set itself apart by aggressively pursuing sales while generally maintaining good customer relations. SAP's strategy is a balancing [...]

SAP Third Party – Indirect Usage Licensing Part 1
SAP Third Party – Indirect Usage Licensing Part 1

SAP Third Party – Indirect Usage Licensing Part 1

By Bill Wood|November 26th, 2012|

Many SAP customer license contracts contain either a direct or an indirect reference to SAP’s third party usage licensing requirements. That requirement is referred to as “indirect usage” and carries a hefty potential financial penalty. The basic idea is that if you use any non-SAP system to access SAP data, the user of that external system must acquire an SAP Named User License. I understand SAP's argument that if you use portions of the SAP software (BAPIs, RFCs, Function Modules, etc.), you [...]

Storms Coming on the Salesforce.com Cloud Front
Storms Coming on the Salesforce.com Cloud Front

Storms Coming on the Salesforce.com Cloud Front

By Bill Wood|November 19th, 2012|

Salesforce.com financial clouds I recently ran into a post from a pretty well respected investor blog over at “Seeking Alpha.” The basic takeaway is that the Salesforce.com cloud business is not all it is hyped up to be and that shareholders may be in for a seriously rude awakening [FN1]. -------------------- The way it is described there sounds a LOT like Enron accounting. They called it a Ponzi Scheme and here is how it works: Employees receive stock options INSTEAD OF cas [...]

Where Does Agile Fit in SAP Projects?
Where Does Agile Fit in SAP Projects?

Where Does Agile Fit in SAP Projects?

By Bill Wood|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 [...]

Building an Effective SAP ERP Delivery Organization
Building an Effective SAP ERP Delivery Organization

Building an Effective SAP ERP Delivery Organization

By Bill Wood|November 5th, 2012|

There are generally three major components for improving SAP delivery. These three components can improve SAP and technology delivery in general while impacting corporate business performance and marketplace success. Delivery Approach Delivery Methodology IT Organizational Development The following content is written with a focus on SAP; however, it can be completely generalized to virtually any IT organization. You need a careful focus on the delivery approach. Here there are two key paradigms [...]

Agile Project Methods for SAP ERP Projects?
Agile Project Methods for SAP ERP Projects?

Agile Project Methods for SAP ERP Projects?

By Bill Wood|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 [...]