4SAP Implementation (Risks )2

8/16/2019 4SAP Implementation (Risks )2

1/10

Top 10 Risks on SAP Project - Avoid or Manage Them Before They Turn nto

ssuesShare with your peers, friends or project leaders

inShare

Risks and issues are part of any and every major IT transformation project. When we put thisin perspective of large transformation projects like SA or !racle these risks and issues can"e huge which can collapse the entire project if not managed and mitigated in a timelymanner. #ost of these risks and issues discussed here are applica"le to any ITimplementation project. $owever, this article is "ased on my several years of e%perience inleading and overseeing large SA projects and also "ased on some of the projects that havefailed.SAP systems have been implemented successfully at 40000+ customers in the world and

most project failures are not related to the product or software but mostly tied to project

execution and your software implementation partner. This will ma%imi&e your chances of asuccessful SA implementation and you are more than welcome to discuss with me anyspeci'c (uestions you may have a"out managing risks on your SA project.

!ommon Risks on SAP Projects

These risks listed "elow are the ones that occur very fre(uently on a challenged or failedSA project. I will refrain from mentioning any client names throughout this article andsuggest that you assess the importance of managing each of these risks as it pertains toyour speci'c project.

Risk "1# SAP System not producing correct output or not $orking proper%y during &AT or post go-

%ive

)uring *AT or post go+live, your organi&ation reali&es that SA system is working correctlyfor certain "usiness scenarios "ut produced inaccurate results for "usiness scenarios withfew deviations. ou may also see une%pected "ehavior of the system such as ina"ility toe%ecute end+to+end "usiness process or cause systems short dump. This risk is common onSAP projects where business reuirements have not been captured in detail or poor uality

system desi!n durin! reali"ation phase. Ideally this may also mean inade(uate testing ofyour "usiness scenarios.


2/10

Risk #1 Mitigation -nsure that business requirements gathered during "lueprint phase are at

sucient level of detail that clearly descri"es your "usiness process with e%amples./erify that all "usiness re(uirements are reviewed "y the su"ject matter e%perts 0S#-1and approved "y the "usiness lead and2or "usiness process owner.

-nsure end#to#end business process in clearly documented in 3R) documents and

process 4ows covering the most common "usiness scenario as well as all the processvariants. /erify that each 3R) document is reviewed and accepted "y the S#-0s1.

/alidate that proper SAP software $t#!ap analysis is performed on each and every

"usiness re(uirement. -ach "usiness re(uirement that is classi'ed as 5't5 should havecorresponding SA standard functionality covering the re(uirement or 5gap5 shouldhave a RI6-7 o"ject that needs to "e developed to address the gap in the SA standardfunctionality. This will mean that you have 899: coverage of "usiness re(uirementswith either a standard SA solution or a RI6-7 o"ject.

%nte!ration and &ser Acceptance 'estin! 0*AT1 should "e very thorough to cover all

end+to+end "usiness processes. -ach test case should "e driven "ased on "usiness

re(uirements and "usiness process. In other words, each "usiness re(uirement should"e tested with at least one test case. #ost projects have test cases that only test mostcommon "usiness scenarios which leads to system malfunction when there arevariations in "usiness process inputs or process step. It is very important that the test cases cover most common business scenarios and all its variations that represent yourday to day "usiness operations.

-very SA project should have a high (uality requirements traceabilitymatrix 0RT#1 that will ensure that your RI6-7W functional designs and technicaldesigns trace "ack to meet all "usiness re(uirements associated with a speci'csoftware gap. RT# will also assure the "usiness that each "usiness re(uirements has aSA standard solution, RI6-7 and further on a test case to test each of these

re(uirements.

Risk "'# Project e(periencing fre)uent de%ays in de%ivera*%e comp%etions and s%ippage of

dead%ines *y the Systems ntegrator +S,

5Is your project experiencing severe delays with deliverables taking longer thanexpected;. Are project delivera"les su"mitted as complete not "eing truly 'nished andlacking details;.5 !ne common risk on SAP implementations is that your Systems Integrator

0SI1 may take longer than anticipated to complete project activities and delivera"les there "ymissing your project deadlines. If this happens, it can delay your project phase completionand also result in cost overruns. We have noticed that this risk mostly occurs when theproject work e


3/10

Risk #2 Mitigation 7irst and foremost, I would recommend that your SA project leadership and #!

should have a clear visi"ility to the progress of every key activity and delivera"lecompletion on the project. In order to achieve this, it is important to have a project planwith a good work "reakdown structure. This project plan should also "e ade(uatelyresource leveled to ensure that SA skilled, S#- and project architects are not over+allocated.

-%ample= 3lueprint phase work "reakdown structure for a sample "usiness process >?may look like the following=

()* usiness Process I. Re(uirement gathering work sessionsII. To+"e @+@B "usiness process designIII. >? 3R) 03usiness rocess Re(uirements C )esign )oc1I/. 7it Dap Analysis/. $igh level SA solution de'nition

/I. 3R) C re(uirements review and approval "y "usiness #! and program managers should review the weekly progress and identify any work

streams that are facing delays and likely to "e "ottleneck to overall project progress.Attempt to resolve the delays "y hopefully increasing participation of S#- or projectarchitects. It may also "e helpful if any outstanding unresolved items can "e de+prioriti&ed if these are not critical to "usiness operations.

rojects may also have SA skilled consultants that lack re(uired e%perience with a

speci'c SA module that is "eing implemented. In "oth these situations SA customerleadership is una"le to identify these kind of issues "ecause the leadership assumesthat your SA systems integrator is "ringing the "est and "rightest SA consultants tothe project. To mitigate this risk, it is e%tremely important that your project leadership

with the help of your SA project advisor 0third party SA project leadership e%pert1interviews all systems integrator resources especially the "usiness leads, solutionarchitects, SA consultants and team leads provided "y SI.

#ost often the delays in SA implementations are caused "y under allocation of SA

skilled resources on the project. -nsure that your project has well "alanced teams of S#- 0su"ject matter e%perts1 from your "usiness and SA solution e%perts. Try to keepthe resources from your SI like "usiness analysts or systems integration analysts tominimum that do not have any prior SA implementation e%perience. ou are "etter o


4/10

higher with products that have gone through multiple release cycles compared to those thatare just launched. We have seen projects where systems integrators lack in+depth e%pertiseof the modules that are "eing implemented. This result in poor (uality SA software 't gapanalysis during "lueprint there "y resulting in higher RI6-7W o"jects especially withenhancements. A few large enhancements can easily transform into custom developmentprojects there"y "lowing your project "udget out of the roof. I strongly recommend having aproject solution architect with in+depth module knowledge or having a senior e%pertconsultant from SA America2AD or your local division of SA to assure that your project isleveraging ma%imum standard delivered functionality.

Risk # Mitigation The "est way to mitigate this risk is to have representation of at least one senior consultantwith product e%pertise from SA America or AD. I usually recommend this on most projects Iserve as advisor especially where customer is implementing relatively new or industrysolutions of SA. If your project does not allow e%tra "udget for this resource, then one thingevery SA customer should do is to review the 't gap analysis output with SA and solicittheir feed"ack. This will help your project eliminate RI6-7W o"jects where SA might have

standard alternative solutions.

Risk "/# ack of *usiness su*ject matter e(perts causing project de%ays

3usiness team mem"ers from the company implementing SA play a very crucial role on theproject. -ach major "usiness process or operational area should "e represented "y at leastone su"ject matter e%pert who understands how the end+to+end "usiness process is handledtoday and also how this process needs to work in the future. Inade(uate "usiness S#- candirectly impact (uality and progress of re(uirements gathering, review and approval of to+"e

"usiness process designs and veri'cation of project delivera"les. It is very important toensure that your "usiness provides re(uired num"er of S#-s without jeopardi&ing youcurrent daily production operations.

Risk #! Mitigation

In project planning or "lueprint phase, meet with "usiness stakeholders to ensure

that each "usiness process or operational area is represented with e%perienced S#-. If re(uired num"ers of resources are not availa"le, then it may "e wise to split the projectinto multiple releases.

)o not supplement your "usiness S#- needs with "usiness analysts from your SA

systems integrator. !nly your S#-s and "usiness process owners understand "usinessre(uirements. It may not "e e


5/10


6/10

!n a very large undertaking like an SA implementation, the project leadership plays acrucial role in the success of your project. It is not uncommon to see corporate e%ecutives0level of vice presidents and senior directors1 in the project leadership who are slow decisionmakers, enforcing cum"ersome decision making process when not needed and creatingunnecessary political environment there "y causing "ottlenecks and impeding projectprogress. I treat an SA transformation initiative as a fast moving train and every projectleader should adjust and cope with the pace of this train rather than slowing it. What Iprecisely mean is that lot of decision on an SA project need to "e made very (uickly andissues should "e resolved in an e%pedited manner. This will help tasks and delivera"les oncritical path completed in a timely manner without a


7/10

Risk "4# 5ffshoring SAP design and *ui%d effort# s it cost saving or risk dou*%ing6 $ Tighter

contro% on resource ski%%s3 $ork )ua%ity and on-time de%ivery capa*i%ity

!


8/10

-nsure end to end SA solution integration with colla"oration "etween project teams

across various work streams. Independently report project progress to project sponsor and leadership. Also

proactively report o


9/10

It is very important that 5super comple%5 enhancements are estimated separately

and not "y the SI estimation tool. This will allow for accurate re4ection of work e


10/10

This is one area where I have hardly compromised when setting my e%pectations from the#! of the SA projects that I served. #! is the "ack"one of any IT transformation projectand most of what is mentioned here a"out #! applies to SA as well as non+SA projects.#! should serve as the source of truth to project an accurate project status at any point intime. It should provide full visi"ility to project status "y presenting the clear picture of workactivities, tasks and delivera"les progress. I e%pect the SA project manager and #! teamto work with individual "usiness, IT and other teams and their underlying workstreams togather correct work progress and re4ect the same in the project management tool such as#S roject. A highly e

Documents

4SAP Implementation (Risks )2