SAP project Archives - Page 13 of 15 - Innovate. Integrate. Transform. Run.

Realizing SAP Business Benefit
Realizing SAP Business Benefit

Realizing SAP Business Benefit

By Bill Wood|August 26th, 2009|

When implementing or upgrading SAP, too often I encounter vendors and consultants who believe they are more qualified than they actually are. Think of backyard mechanics who changed the oil on someone's cars and checked the tire pressure a few times, then somehow think that qualifies them to do engine overhauls on Formula 1 race cars. Similarly, why do you expect old-style implementation vendors and consultants to transform your business into a competitive powerhouse by only addressing cost-foc [...]

SAP Development Practices That Carry Huge Costs
SAP Development Practices That Carry Huge Costs

SAP Development Practices That Carry Huge Costs

By Bill Wood|August 15th, 2009|

Anyone who has implemented SAP for any period of time has seen the classic three-tier system environment. You have a Development landscape, QA landscape, and then a Production landscape. In a classic scenario, you do your prototyping, system setup and design, and first-pass validation in the development landscape for the appropriate client. When it comes to development environments, a consistent pattern has emerged where the Basis team will ignore the potential for large profits to save a few p [...]

Protecting the SAP Project’s Budget and Timeline
Protecting the SAP Project’s Budget and Timeline

Protecting the SAP Project’s Budget and Timeline

By Bill Wood|July 11th, 2009|

For years I have heard stories about blown SAP budgets and blown SAP project timelines. Personally, I have experienced a few project overruns [FN1], and a few where we came in under budget. However, I can’t say any of the projects were ever early. While I believe that coming in under budget is often possible, reducing the time frame is much more difficult because of the planning and coordination processes. You need to adjust all of the parallel work streams and get the coordination and [...]

Why SAP Projects Fail to Deliver ROI and How to Change It
Why SAP Projects Fail to Deliver ROI and How to Change It

Why SAP Projects Fail to Deliver ROI and How to Change It

By Bill Wood|July 8th, 2009|

One reason businesses deal with failure of results in SAP implementations is lingering memories of the Y2K effect. At that time, businesses everywhere simply wanted to install ERP systems to take care of the looming potential crisis over the millennial changeover. After Y2K, the brief downturn in demand for ERP systems, along with the tech bubble burst in the stock market, created additional pressure. Unfortunately, they also overlooked SAP's full potential throughout the chaos. Because of this [...]

Change How You Look at SAP to Create ROI
Change How You Look at SAP to Create ROI

Change How You Look at SAP to Create ROI

By Bill Wood|February 20th, 2009|

After participating in several ROI-focused projects, I learned many lessons. A few of those projects achieved great results, but unfortunately many more were mediocre. I will begin a series of articles on how to achieve value and ROI from an SAP implementation. For many years, a lot of literature, guidance, case studies, success stories and methods has discussed using SAP to automate processes and reduce costs. Unfortunately, a company may struggle to find help to achieve revenue and profitabil [...]

A Cautionary Tale About SAP Knowledge Transfer
A Cautionary Tale About SAP Knowledge Transfer

A Cautionary Tale About SAP Knowledge Transfer

By Bill Wood|February 3rd, 2009|

I spent the first few years of my SAP career on SAP training and documentation. During this time, I covered most of the major SAP modules [FN1], which was an invaluable experience for me. That time in front of a classroom doing SAP courses helped me gain an understanding of the user perspective, the client perspective, and how to facilitate effective requirements gathering sessions.Many SAP trainers do not have the luxury of specializing in a single module. Usually, you learn the transactional [...]