Some time ago, I put together a synthesis of SAP success criteria based on academic literature and my own personal experience. The table below is part of the list of SAP Success Factors for Vender Selection – Responsibility Matrix. For a more detailed explanation of each of the vendor-related items, see the posts listed in the Series on SAP ERP Project Success Factors.
In the prior series, we went through SAP success factors with shared responsibilities between the company adopting the SAP application and the integrator they use for the implementation (listed below), but today we will briefly review customer-specific success items (further down).
| No. | SAP or ERP Critical Success Factor | Company | Integrator |
| 1 | Senior Management Support (and steering committee makeup) | A | |
| 2 | SAP project champion | A | |
| 3 | Empowered business project team decision makers | A | |
| 4 | Company SAP project team (quality and time allocated) | A | |
| 5 | Experienced SAP consultants | A | |
| 6 | SAP project success criteria, goals and objectives | A | |
| 7 | SAP implementation strategy | z | A |
| 8 | SAP project management | A | z |
| 9 | SAP tools, templates, and resources | A | |
| 10 | SAP scope development | z | A |
| 11 | SAP scope management | A | z |
| 12 | Strong SAP project and business communication (inward and outward) | A | z |
| 13 | SAP change management | A | z |
| 14 | Business process engineering – interdepartmental cooperation | A | |
| 15 | Sufficient SAP training (user and project team training) | A | A |
| 16 | SAP system vendor and customer trust | A | |
| 17 | SAP system design decisions | z | A |
| 18 | Amount of custom ABAP or other SAP coding | z | A |
| 19 | Appropriate SAP software configuration (system settings) | z | A |
| 20 | SAP system change control process | A | |
| 21 | SAP data analysis and conversion | A | z |
| 22 | SAP test planning | A | z |
| 23 | SAP test development | z | A |
| 24 | Company end-user involvement and end-user testing | A |
Legend
A = Primary responsibility
z = Secondary responsibility (can influence success but provides limited control over success)
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The previous series did not address several of the customer-specific items where organizations should focus internal efforts. As part of the recent series on Organizational Change Management Inside the SAP IT Support Organization, we need to consider the SAP customer-specific items now. That list of items includes the following:
| No. | SAP or ERP Critical Success Factor | Company | Integrator |
| 1 | Senior Management Support (and steering committee makeup) | A | |
| 2 | SAP project champion | A | |
| 3 | Empowered business project team decision makers | A | |
| 4 | Company SAP project team (quality and time allocated) | A | |
| 6 | SAP project success criteria, goals and objectives | A | |
| 14 | Business process engineering – interdepartmental cooperation | A | |
| 24 | Company end-user involvement and end-user testing | A |
1. SAP Project Senior Management Support – 2. SAP Project Champion
You simply cannot overlook strong senior leadership support and a strong project champion for SAP project success. If the wider organization perceives that the project is important enough for executive leadership, they will see it as a key initiative to focus on. The Real Reason Executive Participation Creates IT Project Success has to do with the nature of their position, which deals with corporate strategy. The enterprise also needs an SAP project champion to cut through red tape, encourage organizational support, and marshal additional resources when needed. The best project champion would be at least one non-IT executive, so the organization doesn’t simply view the project as “just another IT thing.” The contribution of a well-respected and strong internal leader cannot be overlooked.
3. Empowered Business Process Team Members to Make Key Business Decisions About SAP Setup
If you want your SAP project to make any progress, then you must ensure that core team members from the business can make many of the important process decisions. Some decisions will have more widespread organizational impact, and the business users will need more senior-level managers to make said decisions. For example, one of the key reasons for Using Your SAP Steering Committee for Business Transformation is to mentor, guide, and direct business project participants in designing the future state business. This would include making “critical decisions which the project team is unable to resolve (escalations or key business decisions).” On the other hand, if they are so compliant or risk-averse that they will not make any decision without gaining consensus, you may be headed for problems with the project timeline and budget. This doesn’t mean you need an autocrat either– just someone who has enough organizational insight and connections to make the right decisions, escalate the ones that should be escalated, and offer an open line of communication to keep interested stakeholders in the loop.
4. Business Process Team Members Who Are Dedicated to the SAP Project Delivery and Success
Too often, I see core SAP project team members who are not assigned exclusively to the SAP project (whether from the business or the internal IT organization). While they are given the new role, they often still have their “day job” to continue overseeing and managing. This is a significant distraction from a serious undertaking. When an SAP project is done effectively, and what I call correctly, significant business change takes place. To help manage that change and ensure business users have their needs most properly represented, you need a full commitment to the SAP project.
Unfortunately, many system integrators are happy to have your business users commit to just part time on the project. Lack of participation helps the system integrator increase their billing, allows for excuses for missing dates, and provides them the opportunity to push any solution they deem you should have. Because core team members from the enterprise have divided attentions, they cannot ensure the same level of quality as if the SAP project were their only focus.
6. SAP Project Goals and Success Criteria
A while back, I read an article that included a study of several hundred companies who had implemented enterprise applications. The companies were asked whether they had defined business-related goals and success criteria. The referenced study suggested only 4% of companies who implement enterprise applications complete the entire process of defining goals and success criteria, and then actually follow up on seeing that they achieved the promised benefits.
To achieve Sustained Business Value from SAP Business Software, you need to incorporate a Change Management Program within the SAP/IT Organization itself that is focused on Achieving Business Value from SAP Investment. Another key part of the goals and success criteria is to Change How You Look at SAP to Create ROI, because SAP Implementation is an Investment NOT an Event.
14. Business process engineering – interdepartmental cooperation
This is directly related to the first three items in this list:
- Senior Management Support (and steering committee makeup)
- SAP project champion
- Empowered business project team decision makers
Because of the nature of the integration in SAP, some of the data entry responsibilities change for both upstream and downstream process steps, which may be in different departments. The SAP implementation also creates significant process changes and responsibility changes. All of these changes require a focus on processes, communication, and cooperation. Because this can also be an area of political friction among departments or leaders, you must have a strong executive SAP project champion. That executive sponsor can reduce some of the interdepartmental disputes.
24. Company End-User Involvement and End-User Testing
Even a great implementation effort can turn into a painful disaster at go-live– especially if end users are not prepared to use the new system, security and authorizations are a mess, and testing was not thoroughly performed. Unlike other systems that were built in silos with less integration, a data or process mistake in IT that testing misses can have significant up and downstream effects. Additionally, unwinding and correcting the error can prove to be challenging.
For all of these items, I only touched the surface. However, these items are vital for a successful SAP project, so you should not ignore any of them. Every one of these items is completely within the control of the enterprise or organization that implements SAP.
I wish you luck on your SAP journey. Be sure to pay special attention to all of these success criteria for your SAP project, which are provided in more detail in the Series on SAP ERP Project Success Factors.
