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Sustained Business Value from SAP Business Software
Sustained Business Value from SAP Business Software

Sustained Business Value from SAP Business Software

By Bill Wood|February 20th, 2012|

From time to time, I review academic literature about the application of technology and offer my SAP experience-based perspective. A while back, I was reviewing one of these studies, which was about enterprise software. In this study, the authors made a key clarification. They recognized two types of implementations: problem based (i.e. address your “pain points”) or innovation based. Their suggestion was that some elements of both would be present on any large-scale IT project, but each type o [...]

SAP Landscape Consolidation
SAP Landscape Consolidation

SAP Landscape Consolidation

By Bill Wood|February 13th, 2012|

For any number of reasons, many companies that run SAP end up with fragmented and piecemeal landscapes. This problem happens for many reasons: roll-outs, independent Business Units, mergers and acquisitions, immature software procurement processes, lack of a Software Asset Management program, etc. The results can leave your SAP application and business solution looking like someone set off an explosion with scattered pieces everywhere. More and more, I am seeing companies work to consolidate on [...]

SAP IT Governance, SAP Program Management, SAP PMO Metrics
SAP IT Governance, SAP Program Management, SAP PMO Metrics

SAP IT Governance, SAP Program Management, SAP PMO Metrics

By Bill Wood|January 9th, 2012|

On this forum, the most frequent response from the project and program managers was a call for independence. However, when I raised the issue of project or program manager accountability, metrics, performance, and avoidance of project messes, no one addressed the problem. Is it any wonder so many business application projects and programs get into trouble, go over budget, and exceed the allotted time when the individuals responsible for coordinating and evaluating them don't want clear accounta [...]

SAP Consultants for Better SAP Projects
SAP Consultants for Better SAP Projects

SAP Consultants for Better SAP Projects

By Bill Wood|August 1st, 2011|

No matter what size company or organization you have, the type of consulting experience you choose will have a huge impact on the results of your SAP solution. For high-speed projects, consultants who have several small or mid-sized SAP project experiences tend to be more well rounded. They are skilled at delivering the more difficult SAP solutions with standard functionality and at a faster pace than their counterparts. Why Are SAP Consultants with Many Small and Midsized Projects Uniquely Qua [...]

Steering Committee Governance for an SAP Center of Excellence
Steering Committee Governance for an SAP Center of Excellence

Steering Committee Governance for an SAP Center of Excellence

By Bill Wood|July 11th, 2011|

This post is based on information from my ASUG presentation in Atlanta: Beyond Technology Alignment – Building a Center of Excellence (http://bit.ly/jJefxP). ------------------------- At the intersection of business and IT, you have convergence. At the place of convergence is where the Center of Excellence exists. ------------------------- One of the key SAP project success factors is to use a steering committee made up of key business stakeholders. They can meet once a week or once a month, bu [...]

Industry Specific SAP Consulting vs Deep SAP Application Experience
Industry Specific SAP Consulting vs Deep SAP Application Experience

Industry Specific SAP Consulting vs Deep SAP Application Experience

By Bill Wood|March 21st, 2011|

The need for industry-specific SAP experience is probably one of the most overrated ideas in the SAP consulting field. The most successful SAP implementations require integration of the business requirements with application functionality. To do this well requires three separate domains of expertise: industry expertise, application expertise, and consulting skills. One of those domains, consulting skills, is based on skills in change management, communication, process engineering, people skills [...]