SAP Center of ExcellencePart 3 of 3

Stages and Components of the SAP Center of Excellence

To wrap up this series, we will take a brief look at the post go-live or production support environment. One academic study I reviewed on ERP project success factors defined the three production stages of Acceptance, Routinization, and Infusion (see The Top 5 ERP Success Factors by Project Stage from 22 Critical Success Factors).

These three terms fit the requirements for SAP production system stages as you move toward an SAP Center of Excellence, so I’ll use them for reference rather than inventing new terms just to be different. However, I have defined them in my own way below, which may or may not be completely consistent with the academic literature.

The ultimate goal of an SAP Center of Excellence is Business Transformation.

SAP Center of Excellence Model for Business Transformation

I am less concerned about terms and phrases here than I am about the focus and objectives of the effort– feel free to call it an SAP Center of Excellence, or an SAP Business Transformation Center, or an SAP Business Support organization.

Your SAP staff must be proactively engaged with the business community.

Here is a high-level SAP Center of Excellence Model for Business Transformation after you are live in your SAP environment:

Acceptance – go-live and productive business use of the system (heavy change management)

  • Training
  • Process Documentation
  • Help Desk
  • Internal Collaboration (structured Instant Messaging, Forums, and other structured or unstructured information capture)

Routinization – the overall acceptance and sustained productive use of the system (system stabilization)

  • Knowledge capture (Wiki and Forums)
  • Troubleshooting methods and Company Best practices
  • Process overviews, refinement, and business/system adjustment
  • External Collaboration (Forums, Customer Channel feedback, marketplace intelligence, vendor collaboration, collaborative product or service development, etc.)

Infusion – long-term acceptance and use of the system, as well as additional functionality additions (refocusing on business and SAP to business alignment, i.e. strategic direction).

  • Rotating IT staff assignment into business organization (throughout the process chain)
  • At least once a month, work in the department business process area of responsibility
  • FAQ Development (Wiki and Forums)
  • Enhanced or new system functionality
  • System and Process Change Risk Management

SAP Competency Center or SAP Center of Excellence Conclusion

Enterprise applications such as SAP are more important than ever in today’s globally competitive and economically sensitive era. IT departments cannot simply serve in a more passive support role. In today’s global economy, your SAP and IT support staff cannot wait for the business requirements to come rolling in. For the health and welfare of your business and your SAP or IT organization, you need to ensure that your SAP staff is proactively engaged with the business community. That engagement must take the form of an active partnership as they look for new and better ways to use technology for competitive advantage and process improvements.

As for the future, this type of alignment among all of the IT functions, under the banner of the CIO, is beginning to take place [FN1]. While SAP Competency Center management and development can focus on the operational excellence business proposition (better, faster, cheaper, more automated), the SAP Center of Excellence framework is more closely aligned to the innovation and customer focus value propositions.

———————————-

[FN1] A four-part series on the current and future technology leadership landscape, including the direction of technology and the pressures CIOs face now and in the future.

Part 1: What is the Proper Relationship for the CIO, CEO, and CFO?

This post considers what the changing business and IT landscape means to the CIO, IT Director, IT Manager, and other key technology decision makers.

Part 2: CIO, CFO, and CEO Alignment – Why ROI is Lacking from Today’s System Landscape

This post provides an overview of the current system landscape and the focus on business processes, contrasting that with the emerging trend of the customer focus value proposition. This piece also looks at the future business landscape and how the technology focus and direction will be permanently changed, no matter what happens with the economy and global competition.

Part 3: Changing the Direction of SAP, ERP, and IT Applications to Focus on the Customer and Innovation

A brief review of the supply side and the demand side of business shows that unless you have lots of customers (demand) to fill a bigger and bigger pipeline (supply), an operational excellence business model collapses. While it is hidden during good economic climates, any disruption in those economic conditions that fails to fill the capacity pipeline points out the glaring insufficiency of the operational focus to technology.

Part 4: Future Technology Landscape Alignment for the CIO, IT Director, or Key IT Decision Maker

The final part of the series looks at the emerging technology landscape and what the future holds. It lays out an emerging technology landscape model, which has some realignment and components already in use by some of the world’s most successful companies. The article explores a new alignment of technology with the customer facing processes, and the use of social or collaboration tools across the enterprise with a clear business objective. The driver for the future change will be because the business does not see the revenue generation prospects of technology–- they fail to see the possibilities of promoting customer retention, customer acquisition, innovation, and marketplace analytics. The new technology model looks to change that dynamic.

———————————

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

An explanation of the differences between an SAP Competency Center (sometimes referred to as an SAP Center of Expertise) and an SAP Center of Excellence. As Peter Drucker wrote either, Do Things Right or Do the Right Things.

Toward an SAP Center of Excellence or SAP Competency Center – PART 2

A more complete and thorough explanation of the differences between the SAP Competency Center (or Expertise Center) and the SAP Center of Excellence (or the Business Transformation Center). An understanding of the operating differences and how the Competency Center is focused on reactive processing of areas such as help desk tickets, problem resolution, data correction, and knowledge transfer.

Toward an SAP Center of Excellence or SAP Competency Center – PART 3

Business model application of steps, techniques, and methods to produce an SAP Center of Expertise or an SAP Business Transformation Center. The major business transformation steps on moving from an SAP Competency Center to an SAP Center of Excellence.

Related Posts: