Figuring Out IT’s Future in an Organization

By |October 23rd, 2012|

"What is the value proposition for IT in your organization?" IT can be just a service organization that provides a commodity service (and is outsourced to a cheaper provider), or it can identify where to add value to an organization, to the business, and to business leadership. Hallmark does not sell greeting cards-- you can buy the same card cheaper at the grocery store. Rather, Hallmark sells an environment of empathy and customer intimacy. Similarly, exemplary restaurants do not sell food. R [...]

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 [...]

Untangle SAP Software Licensing

By |July 9th, 2012|

A while back, I read a self-serving post on LinkedIn from a company that promoted how “wonderful” Oracle is for having a public price list, and how terrible it is that SAP and others do not. The main complaint was that SAP lacks transparency. However, while SAP does not publicly publish a price list, the company does have a pricing structure that is regularly updated and quite thorough. Additionally, the post failed to mention Oracle sales tactics. The company virtually gives their software awa [...]

SAP Contract Requirements for a Center of Expertise

By |July 2nd, 2012|

  Most, if not all, of new SAP contracts and agreements contain provisions that require customers to create a “Center of Expertise” (or CoE). This is a customer’s, and SAP’s, first line of maintenance support. The CoE terms and conditions define a great aspiration that your organization will support “efficient implementation, innovation, operation and quality of business processes and systems” based on the Phase 6 RUN SAP ASAP Methodology. Good luck with all that! Returning to realistic [...]

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 [...]