This blog series will explore some of the more interesting conversations I’ve had regarding SAP S/HANA installations, moving to the cloud and data strategies with SAP Solution Architects, Enterprise Architects and Senior Executives. It will highlight some standard practices to consider before embarking on a company-wide undertaking.
Since companies began riding the wave of implementing ERP solutions 30 years ago, be it SAP or Oracle, technology has changed. Old technology cost more, choices were limited, and the user experience was not as "friendly" as today. These monolithic programs usually ran way over time and way over budget for reasons too great to list here.
In today's age, we are all highly interconnected operating in real-time. We consume data and information as we never before. Data is now known as the new gold and the race is on to capture it more effectively and to make better decisions as a result, resulting in stickier customers, or faster and better-managed organisations.
Expectations have changed. Employees expect their user experience to be simplified and faster, and customers crave and anticipate new and tailored customer experiences for their money. With all the change and so much information and options in technology available to us, how will organisations and leaders de-risk moving from their old ERP to new available SAP, Oracle/Netsuite or even WorkDay, ERP Cloud Solutions? Will they go to the cloud or will they stay on-premise for their production environment? A robust business case underpinned by the strategic focus of the company will help to answer these important questions.
As we fast approach 2020, my question is have we learnt the lessons from massive budget and project blow-outs? And, will Clients get what they expect out of their new ERP solutions when they do move to S/HANA? If they do choose to move to S/HANA, clients have until 2025 (at this stage) until ECC and even those on 4.6 will no longer be supported by SAP. Does this matter? Will the Install base use providers like Remini Street to support their maintenance and provide support focuses on other IT projects which bring out a different ROI - or will they decide that moving to S/HANA is the safest option?
For the purpose of keeping this first post brief and interesting, I will look at one simple but important tactic to employ when looking to successfully navigating this SAP implementation.
Common Language
Using the same language (for obvious reasons) is imperative as it helps everyone involved (to talk the same and) understand why things are changing. Upgrades, conversions and re-installations - it's all a bit confusing. So to start with - having a clear message of what the project is and what it is about will indeed help everyone to get on the same page (sharing familiar and clear communications) - communicating right from the start. This should occur before talk of the new implementation begins, and especially before engaging a Systems Integrator or consulting organisation for a strategic consulting piece. This is important because they will bring their own flavour and thoughts to the conversation and if project super users and sponsors (internal team) start first with a common framework or dictionary of terms, they will be better served when they do start. This should also be applied to knowing what modules and customisations you currently have, to what the new SAP S/HANA current solutions has and what is included on the roadmap. Clients need to be aware of the changes and that some modules will no longer be supported or might be in the future, or might be called something else as it’s packaged as a different offering. SAP frequently changes how they reference different modules and offerings.
From what I have heard, read and seen, SAP S/HANA is more of a completely new installation than a brownfield or upgrade, requiring skilled SAP Consultants who have the technical and functional knowledge of the new S/HANA solution to have a successful implementation program. Maybe SAP has been using the term upgrade or conversion so it is seen to keep it more in-line with their previous upgrade terminologies and process, as well as de-risking the idea of customers moving away from SAP to potentially different solutions that suit their needs better with faster ROI. I am sure before 2025 there will be other names for it when moving to S/HANA as the new guard at SAP make their marks.
Thanks for reading. Hopefully, this was useful, at a minimum some interesting talking points - I look forward to your comments and discussions on using a common language when going to SAP S/HANA.
Some other fascinating reads were;
COMMUNICATION KEY TO SUCCESS: CREATE A COMMON LANGUAGE WITHIN YOUR ORGANIZATION
In the coming posts I will explore continue the conversations and review articles on;
What does success look like?
People, Process, Technology
Data Strategy
Cloud Strategy
