Using Your SAP Steering Committee for Business Transformation

By |March 14th, 2011|

How Long-Term SAP Steering Committee Integration Changes the Enterprise One of the biggest benefits of an SAP implementation is the business transformation it can bring. At first, the changes and challenges are uncomfortable, even downright painful. However, in the mid- to long-term, SAP brings about a business culture transformation. When ongoing steering committee involvement enables that transformation, business to IT convergence occurs. Over time, this convergence of business and technology [...]

What are SAP Best Business Practices Anyway

By |March 7th, 2011|

Over the last couple months, I have seen a few posts debating the use of software “best business practices.” The basic takeaway is that if everyone uses the standard delivered “practices,” no one has competitive advantage. While this may be true for many software applications, two components of SAP make this idea misleading. Many of these commentators fail to recognize that SAP refers to different things as "best business practices." The key types of SAP best business practices involve the proc [...]

SAP ROI through Strategic Business Transformation

By |January 31st, 2011|

Many business ideas and paradigms have been proposed over the years. Some of them turn out to be fads, while others have enduring legacies. While many have merit, they all have one thing in common-- they are supposed to address the marketplace in some way. Whether or not they stand the test of time depends on how well they help businesses compete in a globally competitive marketplace. Enduring business ideas generally become part of an accepted business strategy. One example is Michael Porter's [...]

SAP System Vendor Project Success Criteria & Factors 2

By |November 8th, 2010|

This is a continuing post in an extensive series on achieving SAP project success. For the complete series, please see the Additional Resources list at the end of this article. Last week's post looked at some of the key factors around the type of consultants you need for success, your project approach, and the structure around the project. This week, we will continue exploring details around the SAP critical success factors (SAP CSF’s) as they relate mostly to SAP project scope and SAP project [...]

Toward an SAP Center of Excellence or SAP Competency Center – PART 1

By |July 26th, 2010|

Part 1 of 3 Is There a Difference Between an SAP Center of Excellence, SAP Competency Center, or SAP Expertise Center? A while back, Michael Done and I were talking about his SAP Green Book-- thriving after going live with SAP [FN1]. As the conversation progressed, it was obvious to both of us that although he has been advocating for an SAP Center of Excellence for quite some time, few companies had succeeded in creating one.Our conversation started a lengthy thought process about our careers wi [...]

Series on SAP Competency Center or SAP Center of Excellence

By |July 21st, 2010|

  THREE-PART SERIES ON DEVELOPING AN SAP CENTER OF EXCELLENCE. You probably already knew that a "Competency center" is focused on SAP application support such as help desk functions, system stabilization, troubleshooting, etc. But did you know that a true "Center of Excellence" is focused on the business and business drivers? The key goal of a "Center of Excellence" is to integrate not just the application, but the application support staff into the business. Business Transformation from [...]