A1 Implementations CIO

8/11/2019 A1 Implementations CIO

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3 Key Stepsfor ImplementingEnterprise Software Successfully

Deriving Competitive

Advantage from ChangeShepherding ChangePreparing for Change 4Introduction


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Advantage from ChangeShepherding ChangePreparing for Change 34

DEPLOYING A software application is one of the

most importantand challengingtechnological

leaps forward a company can make. Through theuse of centralized and integrated data, enterprise

applications bring consistency across multiple

departments. They help executives understand

how the company is functioning, at both a grand

and granular level, and enable employees to be

more productive.

Its a complex process. Enterprise applicationsspan departmental boundaries, impacting em-

ployees, the processes and procedures with

which they are familiar, and the companys tech-

nological infrastructure. A successful enterprise

installation requires a multifaceted perspective

accommodating all these areas, and has three

key steps:

nPrior to purchase, secure commitment from

upper-level managementbecause of the

potential financial and emotional impact.

nDuring deployment, build a team responsible

for shepherding change through the

organization.

n The third step is perhaps the most challenging

and exciting: you must enhance the application

for competitive advantage, whether throughcustomization or integration.

This document is designed to help companies of

any size work through this crucial but ultimately

fruitful process, with minimal disruption.

INTRODUCTION

2 CIO PLAYBOOK: Implementing Enterprise Software Successfully


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MOTIVATION TO CHANGE comes from a de-

sire to improve a given situation. In a company,

this relates to operational improvement and

increased employee and institutional efficiency.

Enterprise deployments can help companies re-

make and improve multiple processes. ERP ap-

plications, for instance, combine operational and

manufacturing information; supplier relationship

management applications combine inventory,

supply chain, and financial information; prod-

uct lifecycle management applications combine

R&D, sales, and customer support information.

CH.1PREPARING FOR CHANGE

3 CIO PLAYBOOK: Preparing for Change

To analyze information within or among theseapplications requires business intelligence.

These applications create more than incremental

improvement: they deliver a whole new kind of

competitive advantage. Thats why its so impor-

tant to explain to executives what an enterprise

implementation entails, in terms of time, money,

and other resources. When it comes to manag-

ing expectations, transparency is key: make surethe process is clear, easy to understand, and

communicated throughout.

Gaining Executive Commitment

Traditionally, enterprise implementation propos-

als come from CIOs and IT staff. They have the

clearest perspective on how overarching appli-

cations such as ERP can serve multiple depart-

ments and create consistency. But technologically

savvy C-level executives in finance or operations

also understand the benefits that enterprise-wide

applications can bring.

Given the time and money involved in an enter-

prise implementation, it is incumbent upon all

executives, no matter what their department, to

submit strong, clear arguments showing that the


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benefits far outweigh the risks involved in mak-

ing such a substantial change. These arguments

must answer the following questions:

What benefits will we derive from application

deployment?The value of an enterprise applica-

tion deployment must be framed in relation to

specific corporate goals. The discussion must be

tailored to the given companys particular situa-

tion, incorporating overarching business objec-

tives and established strategies.

How will it change the way we do business?Set-

ting forth potential scenarios related to increased

efficiency is one tactic, but its even more fruitful

to use examples of problems the company has

previously grappled with, and show how they

would have been avoided or reduced had an en-

terprise application been in place. Its important

to emphasize how work will be optimized and

improved, rather than simply changed.

How long is it going to take? Be clear with thetimetable. No executive is going to approve an

open-ended implementation, which is why its

important to establish three-month milestones,

spelling out what aspects of the project will be

completed within them. Note that a complicated

process requires contingency plans, because

while basic operations are the same, each com-

pany also has specific needs that must be ad-

dressed, especially relating to legacy and other

installed applications.

What are the potential alternatives and draw-

backs?Laying out other options, as well as their

costs, benefits, and drawbacks, is an easy way

to show why an enterprise implementation is the

best choice. It is more cost efficient to support an

integrated solution than multiple point solutions.

How will it affect our organizational structure?

An integrated data repository eliminates silos

of departmental information. Sharing data, and

understanding how colleagues may look at or

analyze data from different departments, requires

a higher level of collaboration and understanding

between workers. Employees should also be pre-

pared to learn how new work processes and data

flows will affect them.

What other companies either in our industry

or one of our size have done this, and how has

it affected them? To answer this, it is vital to seeand learn from other companies. Choose a ven-

dor that can provide extensive collateral regard-

ing the benefits organizations similar to yours,

whether in industry, region, or size, have gained

from enterprise implementations.

It is important to remember that the company

is making a commitment that involves structural


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5



CIO PLAYBOOK: Preparing for Change

changes in the way employees do their jobs. Ex-

ecutive commitment is crucial, because executives

will be communicating to their departments the

rationale of the decision. Executives must clearly

understand the payoffs so that they can inspire

employee commitment. (Well talk more about

communicating with employees in Chapter 2.)

An extensive array of executive workshops that

help with the initial communication process is

available from services providers. Scheduled at the

behest of the executive sponsors, these workshopsare specifically designed not only to communicate

the vision of what an enterprise deployment will

bring, but also to manage expectations of how it

will affect the company and ultimately benefit it.

SAP offers a daylong Organizational Change Man-

agement Executive Workshop to help executives

gain a strategic understanding of the SAP solu-

SOURCE: CIO Peer-2-PeerPanel Quick Poll, June 2009

Get C-level buy-in

Compile a cost-benefit analysis

Conduct an IT inventory

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

SURVEY: C-Level Buy-In Critical tion suite. The workshop highlights key features,

benefits, and potential impacts. It also discusses

the role C-level executives play in the successful

governance of an enterprise implementation. For

technical executives, there are workshops to help

enhance their understanding of the architecture

of ERP and enterprise applications and how they

will work within or improve a companys techno-

logical infrastructure.

Calculating Budget andResource NeedsA second, and equally important, component

of any executive commitment argument is cost.

Start by answering these questions:

How much is it going to cost?Its important to

be clear about the financial commitment involved

in an enterprise implementation: the initial pur-

chase price; the cost of integrating with existing

third-party or custom applications; and the cost

of services, maintenance, and support.

What are the measurable benefits?Provide a

rigorous, high-level perspective that takes into

account all the ways an enterprise application

can benefit a company. Spell out potential cost

benefits based on anticipated efficiencies. One

of the advantages of an ERP implementation, for

instance, is an increased optimization of busi-


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ness processes over time. Talk about the deeper

insights into customer preferences and patterns

and hidden revenue opportunities unveiled by

CRM. Calculate the time saved by the ability to

respond quickly to changing business conditions.

Finally, ensure the vendor you choose supports

ongoing business optimization.

What staff resources will it require? This is a cru-

cial question, because internal staffing costs out-

live initial application deployment. Its also impor-

tant to account for any resource costs that will be

necessary during the deployment including the

cost of hiring and training internal staff, but also

the cost of consultants and system integrators.

Answering these questions requires a detailedassessment of your current situation. In addi-

tion to the executive workshops listed previously,

services organizations can help you make these

assessments.

An initial assessment will not provide specific

insight into the total cost of ownership of an

enterprise application, but it will reveal business

processes ripe for improvement. The analysis

offers a preliminary view of what upgraded and

revamped business processes would look like, as

well as their value-add potential. It also calculates

the cost of and delineates the resources neces-

sary for making such changes. Walter Osbelt,

project lead for the ERP implementation at

Voestalpine, a 10.5 billion steel products manu-

facturer based in Linz, Austria, reports that his

company cut its operating costs by 64 percent

after deployment. This means that the project,

including the cost of necessary upgrades, paid for

itself in the space of six months, he says.

Only proposals soundly rooted in contextually

accurate figures can show the benefits and risks

of enterprise implementations. Assessments help

C-level executives make informed, insightful deci-

sions about how enterprise applications can sup-

port corporate goals and build a foundation for a

new level of competitive advantage.

After C-level executives commit their support

and a purchase decision is made, a new set of

challenges arises. The next chapter presents

ways companies tackle change management

and highlights how assistance can be most

effectively delivered. n

An initial assessment will not provide specific insight into

the total cost of ownership of an enterprise application,

but it will reveal business processes ripe for improvement.


7/197 CIO PLAYBOOK: Shepherding Change

CHANGE CAN BE DAUNTING, but the fact is

companies inherently seek change on a daily ba-

sis. This takes many forms: companies want more

customers; they want more sales; they want their

employees to be more efficient.

Getting ReadyWhat makes change daunting is that it is fre-

quently mishandled. Whether in terms of orga-

nization, communication or execution, there are

many ways it can go wrong. Thats why so many

companies set up groups, called program man-

agement offices (PMOs), to tackle change-relatedprojects. Like any other deployment a new

assembly line, a product launch an enterprise

implementation benefits from a clear structure.

This structure starts with strategic insight, incor-

porates step-by-step guidelines, and then sets up

governance procedures.

STRATEGIC INSIGHT.While enterprise deploy-

ments share commonalities, each company isunique. In order to gain the most value from the

ERP or other enterprise application, its deploy-

ment must be aligned with a companys strate-

gic goals. This involves a discussion of your top

priorities. Do you want to grow your customer

base, or increase sales to existing customers? Do

you want to optimize the logistics of your supply

chain? Do you want to reduce time-to-market by

increasing design or manufacturing efficiencies?

These goals are mapped to the enterprise soft-

ware in order to develop and prioritize a deploy-

ment schedule.

GUIDELINES. Next, you need to create a detailed

map of the project, one that encompasses sched-

ules and resources. This requires a strong foun-

dation in project management. SAP has found

that adherence to the principles set forth by the



CH.2SHEPHERDING CHANGE





Project Management Institute (PMI) works best.

Incorporate the all-important concept of metrics:

what constitutes success from a quantitative

standpoint? Without a target, you have nothing at

which to aim your resources. Based on your strat-

egy, this can be anything from increased sales to

reduced waste on the factory floor. To track these

metrics, SAP can develop dashboards that deliver

contextual information to anyone from a factory

worker to the CEO.

GOVERNANCE. This is an extremely crucialconcept, especially in a project as far-reaching as

an enterprise deployment. Thats why setting up

a program management office can be helpful: as

an impartial organization, it can deal with depart-

mental concerns regarding priorities and business

process changes. The PMO has an overarching

perspective of the project; it should also have in-

fluence within the company to institute its plans.

Compiling Initial AssessmentsMoving from the strategic to the tactical requires

a different level of focus and insight. A baseline

assessment takes into account available resourc-es, from the standpoint of both technology and

people. You should also examine your companys

IT resources to ensure you have the manpower

and expertise to support not only initial deploy-

ment but ongoing technical and training main-

tenance and support. Third-party services can

help determine whether you need to augment

your resources.

Change management requires stringent docu-

mentation. The assessment process provides

a clear representation of the infrastructure and

how it got that way, helping ensure fast, accurate

maintenance and monitoring.

In order for IT staff to support deployment and

ongoing maintenance, the assessment should also

provide insight into who needs to be trained and

on what aspects of the system. IT staff with exist-ing ERP or other application experience can be the

foundation of your first-tier support; they, along

with services consultants who focus on training,

can educate other members of the IT team.

In an ever-expanding effort, both the IT team and

external training providers such as SAP should

tackle the needs of the end users. Training ses-

What makes change daunting is that it is frequently

mishandled. Whether in terms of organization, com-

munication or execution, there are many ways it can go

wrong. Thats why so many companies set up groups,

called program management offices (PMOs), to tackle

change-related projects.





sions can be tailored for any level of education,

whether focusing on specific departmental so-

lutions or incorporating the broader purposes

of the enterprise application. We didnt face a

single go-live issue around training, said Anne

Tayac, change management lead at Givaudan

S.A., a flavors and fragrance company in Vernier,

Switzerland. Everything went smoothly, and ev-

erybody knew how to execute their transactions.

Defining Roles and ResponsibilitiesAn important part of the change management

process involves focusing on those who will be

most affected by new business processes: em-ployees. In a way, you need to embark on a pro-

gram of gaining employee commitment similar to

the one you used to gain executive commitment.

To ensure training is targeted appropriately and

done successfully, the program management office

(in conjunction with vendor consultants serving as

strategic advisors) needs to develop specific roles

and responsibilities for employees. But there mustalso be a strong effort to explain how the deploy-

ment is going to affect work as a whole.

That effort should answer these questions:

Whats going to happen? Employees need to

understand that the company is deploying a new

application, one designed to incorporate multiple

currently existing facets: manufacturing, person-

nel, inventory, logistics, and procurement, among

others. The changes they encounter will initially

be unfamiliar, but the application has an underly-

ing logic which creates a more efficient architec-

ture for the company as a whole.

When is it going to happen and how long is it

going to take?Be clear with the timetable, its

milestones, and expectations. Delineate which

departments will be affected in which sequence

and why that sequence was chosen. Note that a

complicated process requires contingency plans,

because while basic operations are the same,each company also has specific needs that must

be addressed, especially relating to legacy and

other installed applications.

How can I best prepare for this change?Be

straightforward with employees. Let them know

they should be open to new processes and proce-

dures, and that they individually and the compa-

ny as a whole will be more productive in the end.Inform employees that they must prepare for a

period of transition, but stress that it will include

both training and ample time for questions and

feedback.

This preparation, done properly, achieves mul-

tiple goals. It manages employees expectations

about the impact on their work. More importantly,





it shows them how their roles and responsibili-

ties tie into overarching corporate goals. Most

employees approach their work with a singular

focus, because thats how theyre compensated.

But giving them insight into how they contribute

on a wider basis makes them more aware and in-

sightful about how processes are being improved

and can be further improved in the future.

Training and Assessment ServicesThe best services organizations offer programs,

including initial assessment services and compre-

hensive training, for all elements of the change

management process. They also offer business

transformation services covering a variety of ar-

eas, including:

CIO POLL RESULTS:

Whats the most important thing to do in managing an ERP deployment?

IT STRATEGY AND ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN.

Based on a newly deployed enterprise applica-

tion, what is the optimal enterprise and techni-

cal architecture for your company and how will

it help you leverage the benefits of a service-

oriented architecture (SOA)?

BUSINESS PROCESS STRATEGY AND DESIGN.

How can an enterprise deployment help you

adapt or reconfigure your business processes

to the greatest advantage? This needs to incor-

porate best practices for improving business

processes including accelerating design, estab-

lishing governance, and putting in place ways to

continuously improve them.

STRATEGIC INFORMATION MANAGEMENT.

One of the biggest ways that companies can

derive value from an enterprise application is

through the companywide perspective it offers.

In conjunction with that, however, companies

need a strategy for master data management,

data warehouse, and business intelligencecapabilities.

ORGANIZATIONAL MANAGEMENT. The flipside

of obtaining business value is ensuring that the

IT department can easily and efficiently support

the enterprise application. Organizational man-

agement services offer best practices related to

application support and reducing total cost of

48%Understand

business

goals

25%Set viable

milestones

13%

6%

1% Iron-clad SLAs

7%

Agree uponsuccess metrics

Understand technical limitations

Other (please specify)





ownership. They also focus on minimizing risk

through strategies for effective change manage-

ment after the initial deployment.

VALUE REALIZATION. These specific services

offerings are designed to analyze your companys

particular needs and determine where you can

derive the most value from your deployment.

You can gain strong advantages from having an

outside group handle assessment and training.

Teams that follow best practices and that have

shepherded thousands of companies through

the enterprise implementation process can help

make your implementation as smooth as pos-

sible. SAP Services has developed strong meth-

odologies for transformation. As Hilke Roeder,

project manager for Merz Group Services, a

health and pharmaceutical company in Frankfurt,

Germany, notes, The migration specialists from

SAP had a firm grasp on the issues involved. We

were particularly impressed by their experience,

proven methodologies, and the detailed project

timeline they presented to us.

The next chapter looks at what happens after

initial deployment and how you can use your

new software to develop a strong competitive

advantage. n


12/1912 CIO PLAYBOOK: Deriving Competitive Advantage from Change

YOUVE ARRIVED AT the most exciting stage of

enterprise software implementation: configuringyour system to deliver competitive advantage.

Much of the work you did in the previous chap-

ters laid the groundwork for this phase. Your

focus on setting forth strategies, and then devel-

oping tactics and metrics to support and mea-

sure them, continues here.

Creating Project-SpecificRoadmapsPreviously, you created a roadmap for your

organizations strategies; now you need to lay

out project-specific roadmaps based on specific

modules within the enterprise application. Just as

before, this requires input and collaboration from

both line-of-business (LOB) employees and theIT department. LOB employees will key you in to

current business processes and how they can be

improved; IT staff can provide insight into infra-

structure support and integration requirements.

An emphasis on structured project management

continues at this stage. IT staff need to ensure

that modifications dont interfere with impor-

tant business cycles. LOB employees should be

told that they may need to offer input above and

beyond their traditional responsibilities. And the

IT department needs to develop a schedule for

configuration, testing, and final rollout.

The more information an enterprise system can

accommodate, the more valuable it becomes. To

optimize the amount of information, there must

also be work done in three key areas:

CH.3DERIVING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGEFROM CHANGE




13/1913 CIO PLAYBOOK: Deriving Competitive Advantage from Change



n integration of other modules

n integration of third-party applications

ncustom development

The same structures and processes used in deploy-

ment apply here. Thanks to the development of

service-oriented architectures (SOAs), highly stan-

dardized methods for bringing together dissimilar

software components, the complexity companies

faced in the past has diminished considerably.

With each of these development cycles, though,

the PMO must still emphasize scheduling,

departmental collaboration, and testing. This

ensures that corporate priorities are served andall those with pertinent roles and responsibilities

clearly understand whats happening and whats

changing. There are added considerations for

the IT department: How will it support these new

systems and business processes? What are key

system performance indicators (e.g., response

time, dashboard parameters)? Just like the

business side, IT has metrics to meet.

Though the configuration and integration phases

encompass a lot of new responsibilities, theres

one more thing to think about: the future. Both

business and IT staff should consider plans and

priorities. Taking into account plans for new busi-

ness processes will help simplify those incremen-

tal changes down the road.

How SAP HelpsSAP has capitalized on its role as the worlds

most experienced enterprise application de-

veloper, creating a solid set of procedures and

best practices that codify all the elements ofa successful enterprise implementation and

third-party integration. The SAP Services team

of consulting services specialists has extensive

experience. Combining both industry and tech-

nological insight, SAP is uniquely positioned to

help any company deal with the most challeng-

ing enterprise installation.

Using best practices that have been developedover time is the key to managing the many piec-

es of an enterprise installation. This is where the

Accelerated SAP (ASAP) methodology comes in.

Carefully phased and highly process-oriented,

its designed to both streamline implementation

projects and minimize disruption and risk.

ASAP incorporates a detailed set of templates,

tools, questionnaires, and checklists. For the IT

IT staff need to ensure that modifications dont interfere

with important business cycles. LOB employees should

be told that they may need to offer input above and

beyond their traditional responsibilities.

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14 CIO PLAYBOOK: Deriving Competitive Advantage from Change



staff specifically, there are technical guidebooks

and accelerators that help speed up the configu-

ration process. Using the information derived

from the ASAP process, the SAP Services team

can create plans (using the SAP Solution Com-

poser) and develop roadmaps for specific projectneeds (using SAP Roadmaps).

The information also feeds into SAP Solution

Manager, which helps underpin support not only

for the initial implementation, but for future up-

grades and ongoing enhancements as well. SAP

Solution Manager also tracks third-party product

interfaces. And since ASAP incorporates standard

PMI concepts, companies can implement proj-

ects faster (with time savings of up to 50%), less

expensively, more reliably, and with lower risk.

Other Development andSupport ServicesThe SAP Services team offers multiple ways to

help your company take advantage of your new

enterprise software system. They have extensive

experience in custom development, helping com-

panies extend their enterprise applications with

state-of-the-art capabilities. These capabilities

include the development and prototyping of SOA-

based applications, using SAP NetWeaver technol-

ogy. With the implementation of SAP NetWeaver

7.0, we will now achieve integration with third-

party systems and provide direct, round-the-clock

access for our supply network of pharmaceuticals

distributors and retailers in India, says Saby-

asachi Thakur, CIO for Mumbai-based All Indian

Origin Chemists & Distributors Ltd.

SAP provides training workshops for IT staff sothey can take over future development. The SAP

Solution Manager application helps companies

manage upgrades and other implementations.

Thanks to the configuration information stored

in SAP Solution Manager, and a strong process-

driven approach to new projects, you can deploy

and support new business processes and capa-

bilities faster and more efficiently.

CIO POLL RESULTS:

Whats the most important thing to do to derive a competitive advantage

from ERP applications?

37%Assure user access

to actionable busi-ness information

33%Focus on data

quality andaccessibility

10%

6%

5%Never customize ERP

9%

Ensure vendors applicationsalready work together

Follow vendors integrationguidelines

Other (please specify)

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The SAP Application Integration Service helps

customers develop and deploy efficient busi-

ness processes, no matter how distributed or

complex their application infrastructure is. SAP

Safeguarding for Integration Validation combines

tools and support expertise to ensure that inte-

gration projects provide maximum investment

value and minimum risk. When HSH Nordbank

AG, a 207 billion German bank, deployed SAP,

it chose SAP Safeguarding. It was the only sup-

port engagement able to offer the kind of spe-

cialized technical expert knowledge we needed,

says project manager Stefan Jckel.

SAP Enterprise Support is a combination of

services, tools and methodologies that provide

you with the assurance that your SAP software

remains stable and operational. SAP Enterprise

Support is designed to help you take full ad-

vantage of the integration of SAP and non-SAP

solutions, minimize risk, maintain business

continuity, enable innovation and address solu-

tion lifecycle management.

Information between SAP and its customers

flows both ways. SAP Services recently worked

with its SAP User Group Executive Network to

develop a list of key performance indicators

that will be used to measure the success of SAP

Enterprise Support services, particularly in the

areas of business continuity, business process

improvement, investment protection, and reduc-

ing total cost of operations.

Getting SAP Services involved with customiza-

tion and integration projects pays off in multiple

ways. While your team brings insight into your

companys strategic and tactical needs, as well

as your industry, the SAP Services team brings

extensive experience and insight into best prac-

tices for efficient and effective deployment. Its

a collaborative effort that results in a solution

crafted for your companys specific advantage.

The Foundation of SuccessAfter an enterprise application implementation,

your company can and should be different.

You should have better insight into information,

greater flexibility and agility regarding operations,

and more competitive advantage overall. An enter-

prise implementation is a strong foundation on

which your company can support and deploy new

and innovative businesses processes and achieve

its strategic goals. You will then be able to developnew strategic goals to constantly improve, per-

haps through growth or acquisition. Competitive

advantage is a constantly evolving target.

As you move forward, either through enterprise

system upgrades or corporate growth, you can

return to the guidelines and best practices out-

lined in this document and by your SAP Services

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consultants. The tenets they put forth promot-ing technical competence, communication, and

collaboration work as well in incremental situ-

ations as they do in initial implementations. The

insights you gain can become part of your com-

panys institutional memory, creating a corporate

culture of continuous improvement.

SAP Services offers a variety of assessment,consulting, and support services to accom-

modate companies in each phase of deploy-

ment.These services can be easily configured to

provide appropriate insight no matter what the

deployment: full enterprise application, other

business software, or upgrade.n

TABLE: THREE STEPS TO CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

Step Elements Goal

Preparation Set expectations for executivesand employees; gain clear under-

standing of how business pro-

cesses can be improved and how

individual roles might change

Clear understanding of strategic

and tactical intent; strong de-

partmental collaboration based

on corporate needs

Implementation Software deployment, configura-tion, integration with other appli-

cations;training of employees;precise internal communications

Establish foundation for cross-

corporate workflows and busi-

ness processes that increaseefficiency and insight

Optimization Establish metrics to audit pro-cesses, confirm benefits, and

identify potential incremental

changes as work progresses

Continuous improvement

and maintaining competitive

advantage


Advantage from ChangeShepherding ChangePreparing for Change 34SyndicatedArticles

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17

Most organizations use only 64 percent of their

enterprise systems core functions, according to a

recent Accenture survey.

About half said they dont need all the capabilities

while a fifth explained that they didnt make use

of all the functionality due to lack of time to learn

how to apply them, said Accenture.

The survey, which polled 300 senior IT profession-

als in UK and US at large enterprises, found that

around one third (37 percent) of UK firms - and 27

percent of US companies - have little or no data

sharing with their customers.

UK firms also lag behind their US counterparts in

terms of usage and adoption of enterprise sys-

tems, and appear more skeptical about the impact

of web 2.0, software as a service (SaaS), and

service oriented architecture (SOA).

For instance, 15 percent in North American firms

said that emerging technologies will replace

almost all of their current enterprise systems com-

pared to only seven percent in the UK. Still, most

respondents believe new technologies will replace

more than half of current enterprise systems.

Overall, 87 percent said they would increase or

continue with spending on enterprise systems,

including the use of new technologies like SaaS.

Most senior IT professionals see the value offered

by their organizations enterprise systems in terms

of enabling them not only to manage core busi-

ness processes, but to distinguish themselves

from their competitors, said Jeremy Oates, UK

head of systems integration and technology con-

sulting, Accenture.

While for some, a traditional perspective of enter-

prise resource planning (ERP) systems as mono-

lithic and inflexible still persists, three of every

four senior IT professionals believe enterprise

systems provide a competitive advantage and

strategic value for their organizations.

For those organizations that have been expanding

their systems and making strategic investments by

honing in on the business processes they support,

now is the time to work those investments even

harder, concludes Oates.

All contents IDG 2007 n

How to Establish aProject ManagementOffice When YourCompany DoesntWant One

What do you do when thebusiness partners you aretrying to help think PMOstands for painful meaninglessoverhead? You go stealth.

By Thomas Cutting

Your position has been overrun. Trapped behind en-

emy lines with hostiles lying in wait to expose you,

your only option is to go to ground, become part of

the crowd. Even allies from previous missions are

attempting to thwart your every move. Hidden in

the masses, you press forward, attempting to finish

the mission. Is it time to surrender to the chaos

or struggle on, collecting your paycheck until that

perfect job offer appears? Or do you persevere?

You will not surrender! Yes, you may be outnum-

bered, outgunned and weary to the bone, but you

know there is a better way to manage your project,

your sponsor and the business. Begin an under-

ground movement to develop a covert project

management office.

The purpose of a PMO is to bring people, processes

and technology together to consistently deliver

quality results. But what can you do when the peo-

ple you are trying to protect (management, busi-

CIO PLAYBOOK: Syndicated Articles

Syndicated Articles 34

Companies Use Only Two-Thirds of ERP

System Functionality

Most organizations use only 64 percent of their enterprisesystems core functions, according to a recent Accenture survey.By Computerworld UK staff

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ness or customer) think PMO stands for painful

meaningless overhead? Its time to go STEALTH.

Set your vision. When things are darkest, night-

vision goggles can allow you to focus, but without

a target, theyre useless. What are the pain points

that must be destroyed? Are projects dragging on

indefinitely and missing their mark? Do require-

ments show up like land mines during user-

acceptance testing? Reconnoiter the business,

discover users complaints, and set your vision to

eliminate them. Liberate the business, and you

will have strong allies.

Test the environment. Search for hidden allies who

can help your cause. If you are under fire, chancesare other project managers are engaged in simi-

lar battles. Management may be ready for a new

approach. Begin recruiting others to support your

vision. Let them help sharpen it.

Establish your objectives and plan. Sketch out

your attack strategy. How are you going to accom-

plish your vision? What steps will be needed? Lay

out an aerial view of the endgame. Does it have

processes to manage change, issues and risk? Do

you see templates for status, metrics to measure,

a communication plan? Remember, this is a covertoperation. Attacking too many places at once may

give away your position. Give the plan time.

Agree on standards. Identify a consistent ap-

proach for doing business. Issue management is

an easy target to start with. Define a recording and

tracking method. Risks might be next. A proactive

risk management approach can eliminate future

issues. These targets should not be difficult to ap-

proach. No need to publicly identify them. Snipers

dont advertise their operations.

Leave it flexible. Be consistent without becoming

rigid. Forcing a mission when resistance is high

only gets people killed. If one area prefers e-mail

status reports over Word documents, make sureboth methods cover the same key topics. Dont

fight an immovable force, and never blow up a

bridge you may need to cross again.

Train project participants.But dont hold a class

or give a lecture; be subtle. Make suggestions. Ask

leading questions. Plant ideas. Lead your team,

your manager and the business to do projects the

way you want them to. Act consistently and per-

form professionally, making them expect the best

of you. Set reasonable and attainable expectations

of them, raising their expectations of themselves.Start to win their hearts and minds.

Help others embrace the vision.Success is the

best propaganda. You dont need to trumpet your

achievements; people will start noticing. Create

and use metrics to show improvements. Share

your successes with others, and show how your

approach can work for them, too. Share the vision,

and get them involved in it.

In the end, there may be no heros medals. The

chaos may only be pushed back for a time. Buthere and now, you can make a difference as a

secret agent of change.

Cutting is a certified Project Management Profes-

sional and owner of Cuttings Edge. Contact him at

[email protected].

This version of the story originally appeared in

Computerworlds print edition.

2007 Computerworld Inc n

SAP: BI Tool Will

Help Create clear

Enterprises

Companies must achieveclarity to navigate out ofthe global recession and SAPintends to help them with itsBI (business intelligence) andERP (enterprise resource plan-ning) software, co-CEO LeoApotheker said during the

opening keynote of SAPsSapphire conference in OrlandoTuesday. By Chris Kanaracus

Companies must achieve clarity to navigate out

of the global recession and SAP intends to help

them with its BI (business intelligence) and ERP

(enterprise resource planning) software, co-CEO

Leo Apotheker said during the opening keynote of

SAPs Sapphire conference in Orlando Tuesday.

The only antidote against uncertainty is clarity,

he said.

Apothekers 75-minute address focused heavily

on a new BI application called BusinessObjects

Explorer, which is supposed to help average busi-

ness users easily navigate and mine company data

without the help of IT staff.

Were not just talking about a reporting tool,

Apotheker said. I am convinced it will fundamen-

How to Establish a Project Management Office When Your Company Doesnt Want Onecontinued

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tally change the way decisions are made in enter-

prises around the world. ... Were going to be able

to cross the chasm from, I think this is a good

decision to I know this is a good decision.

In a demonstration, SAP showed how users could

make natural-language queries to search for

information about the rate of head injuries in car

accidents during a certain period. Users can drill

down into the results to view statistics for certain

age groups, for example, as well as view it in vari-

ous formats, such as pie charts.

The Explorer tool combines the Polestar technolo-

gy SAP acquired by buying Business Objects, with

SAPs NetWeaver Business Warehouse Accelerator

software. It represents the first huge salvo in a

strategy to push BI to all users in a company, said

John Schwarz, CEO of the Business Objects portfo-

lio, in an interview.

SAP plans to make Web 2.0-style interfaces like

the one for Explorer pervasive across its applica-

tions, said Marge Breya, executive vice president

and general manager, Intelligence Platform Group

and SAP NetWeaver Solution Management, during

a press conference Tuesday. The company plans

to make more announcements in coming months,

she said, but she did not elaborate.

Also, Business Objects sizable Oracle customer

basewhich Breya said has traditionally repre-

sented 70 percent of its businesscannot yet

fully gain the levels of Explorer performance dem-

onstrated at Sapphire. Thats because SAP wont

be releasing an open accelerator compatible

with Oracle software until later this year, Breya

said. Of course, Explorer itself as a tool works on

Oracle today, she added.

Meanwhile, one SAP customer who has been beta

testing Explorer gave it a general thumbs up, albeit

with a few caveats.

Food manufacturer Sara Lee has connected the

software to a sandbox that contains 300 million

rows of data, and despite the scope of the data

store, performance has been strong, said Vincent

Vloemans, director of global information manage-

ment.

Also, the preliminary response among Sara Lees

business users has been very positive, he said.

Im getting questions like When can we have it.

But Sara Lee has not yet decided to purchase the

software, and there are substantial underlying

tasks to perform as well, he added.

This is giving us the horsepower [to analyze data]

but we need to have harmonized and structured

data underneath it.

The company also hasnt done a deep investigation

into security measures or protocols, he said.

But the tool does seem to have some clear posi-

tives, according to Vloemans. For one, it doesnt

require much training. If you can use a PC then

you can learn how to use it in one or two minutes.

Secondly, Sara Lee has a broad BI strategy, and

making changes to respond to user demands, such

as for a new type of report, is costly, he said.

Vloemans said he has a gut feeling, but is not

yet certain that Explorer could cut expenses over-

all, even weighed against the cost of preparing

the data to be searched by Explorer.

Meanwhile, Apothekers keynote also briefly

touched upon SAPs plans for on-demand soft-

ware, which include Web-based extensions for its

on-premise business applications. Extensions for

expense management and human capital manage-

ment are in the pipeline, he said.

SAP is also continuing to work on its Business

ByDesign integrated ERP suite for the midmarket.

The company has slowed the rollout of Business

ByDesign while it works to ensure it can make

enough of a profit at scale. SAP executive board

member Bill McDermott said in a recent interview

that the company would likely not ramp up Busi-

ness ByDesign until the end of this year.

However, a running Business ByDesign system will

be on display at Sapphire this week, according to

Apotheker.

Copyright 2008 IDG News Service. All rights

reserved. IDG News Service is a trademark of

International Data Group, Inc. n

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