Posts - Page 20 of 43 - Innovate. Integrate. Transform. Run.

How the SAP Consulting Peter Principle Works
How the SAP Consulting Peter Principle Works

How the SAP Consulting Peter Principle Works

By Bill Wood|September 12th, 2011|

Most of us working in business for any period of time have heard of the “Peter Principle.” Dr. Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull formulated this concept in their 1968 book The Peter Principle, a humorous treatise which also introduced the "salutary science of Hierarchiology." [FN1] While the exact quote is slightly different, many interpret this as meaning that people tend to rise to their level of incompetence in organizations built on hierarchies. As an important caveat before getting into t [...]

SAP IT Convergence Beyond Business to IT Alignment
SAP IT Convergence Beyond Business to IT Alignment

SAP IT Convergence Beyond Business to IT Alignment

By Bill Wood|September 6th, 2011|

In the new global business age, organizations need to leverage technology organization expertise for business benefit more than ever. Too often, technology organizations focus on technology for the sake of technology, rather than for how it might improve products and services or how it might create more customer focus. In today’s competitive global economy, filled with international economic instability, no part of the enterprise can afford to move very far from what pays the bills. If your SAP [...]

Integrating Business Stakeholders as Part of SAP IT Convergence
Integrating Business Stakeholders as Part of SAP IT Convergence

Integrating Business Stakeholders as Part of SAP IT Convergence

By Bill Wood|August 29th, 2011|

A while back, I had a conversation with an IT executive from one of America’s largest companies. I was interested in his perspective as a hard-working senior level IT insider. We started discussing the role of IT and business as well as the future of business and technology. In the process, I relayed my passion for how IT needs to integrate with the business and how the future was going to change significantly (see e.g. What is the Proper Relationship for the CIO, CEO, and CFO?). From that disc [...]

Steps to Achieve SAP IT Convergence
Steps to Achieve SAP IT Convergence

Steps to Achieve SAP IT Convergence

By Bill Wood|August 22nd, 2011|

My last post on SAP IT Convergence is About Business Focused Integration provided an overview of Business - IT Convergence and why it is important. This week, we look at some of the key principles around creating SAP IT Convergence, including some steps on the path to convergence. ========================= What Is the Difference between Business to IT Alignment and Business - IT Convergence? Convergence and alignment have an important distinction. Business to IT alignment works to mature the IT [...]

SAP IT Convergence is About Business Focused Integration
SAP IT Convergence is About Business Focused Integration

SAP IT Convergence is About Business Focused Integration

By Bill Wood|August 15th, 2011|

Enterprise SAP IT organizations pose a problem as they are focused on SAP and IT. They lose sight of their purpose, which is to promote the broader objectives of the enterprise. An SAP-centered IT organization's whole existence is about ensuring business benefit, focusing on enterprise goals, strategies, and objectives. Somewhere between the SAP sales cycle and the SAP go-live, the concept of business benefit gets lost and is never found again. By the time you go live with the SAP application, [...]

SAP Consulting Services for Business Results and ROI
SAP Consulting Services for Business Results and ROI

SAP Consulting Services for Business Results and ROI

By Bill Wood|August 8th, 2011|

The previous post took a hard look at the types of consulting services you need for a high-speed SAP project (see SAP Consultants for High Speed SAP Projects). Consultants who work on SAP projects in the small- and mid-sized business space develop excellent breadth of SAP experience across an entire area. This week, we will look at the other side of that coin: consultant skills from large, long-term type SAP projects and what their experience provides. Consultants on the larger, longer-term SAP [...]