Abstract: In this post, the author of the blog describes his motivation for creating a comprehensive manual for the implementation of SAP S/4HANA and provides an insight into the challenges involved. In doing so, he emphasizes the importance of a structured approach and many years of experience in project management.
Hello – my name is Christian Schütte. I am the owner and managing director of sapXperience GmbH. Over the past 20 years, as a project manager, I have led a large number of SAP projects to success – without exception and regardless of whether on the part of the system integrator or on the customer side. I also count as a success those projects that I deliberately stopped because the organization was simply not mature enough to use the SAP system. By the way, I am just as proud that today I can count all my former customers among my references. And that almost all of the project managers who worked with me on the customer side were promoted during or after our joint project.
KEY SUCCESS FACTORS
A certain focus was decisive for the success of each of my SAP projects: The customer, what was feasible for him and the uncompromising safeguarding of his benefit were always in the foreground. For me – also as a project manager on the consulting side – it was irrelevant whether the project yielded the optimum (greatest profit) for the consulting company.
I therefore had to deal with the respective management often enough.
TODAY THE FOCUS SEEMS TO BE ELSEWHERE
I have essentially only managed SAP projects over the past ten years in which I was the third, fourth or fifth project manager in each case and ultimately led them to success. So before me, at least two project managers tried their hand at each project and failed – at the customer’s expense. The external employees involved were rather happy about the longer course of the project, because it washed more turnover into their pockets.
THEREFORE: METHODS, TOOLS, PRINCIPLES AND COMMUNICATION
When I took over the respective projects, I quickly realized why my predecessors had failed. It was always the same: the complete absence of methods, tools, principles and communication. Innumerable SAP implementations were approached again and again completely in the “freestyle procedure”, without building on the experiences made so far in a regulated and structured way. Such a thing is actually unbelievable – because precisely the structured application of experiences is one of the essential contributions that a customer can rightly expect from a system integrator who is called in and usually paid dearly!
FREESTYLE HAS ALREADY TAKEN UP FAR TOO MUCH SPACE
Occasionally, I also took on projects for SAP system integrators in which the in-house project manager had failed. When I asked them what the situation was regarding uniform implementation methods, structures and tools within the company, I received the same answer – sometimes directly from the responsible managers of the consulting firms – in unison: “We did not. With us, every project manager does it the way he thinks it is right, and then it just depends on his individual experience.” Unfortunately, in the meantime I have had the sad experience that these were no exceptions, instead, they now seem to be the rule.
FOR ME THAT WAS THE LIMIT
As a project manager, I participated in internal management calls from consulting firms, where other project managers were asked to create a few additional error situations in their project or to advise the customer in such a way that the estimated budget is used up in any case. Many companies working in my guild obviously try to over-benefit their customers!
THE CORE OF MY MOTIVATION FOR THIS PROJECT
(Maybe the claim is too missionary, but something has to be done in this situation!)
I can’t and don’t want to influence the methodical motivation as well as the basic moral understanding of the SAP consulting guild in any way. That’s why I’ve decided to give you – the affected customers – the necessary tools with this blog project, so that you can make sure that you won’t also be cheated by your consulting partner.