Successful SAP

implementation strategy
By Manoj Pillai
Solution Architect
Introduction
In today’s time as organizations are growing larger and bigger, the problems of SAP system development since there is varied and
processes and business functions are also multiplying rapidly. To conflicting needs and requirements most of the time.
streamline all this complex workflow structure, companies are now
As per the survey done, the projected statistics reveal astonishing
drifting towards ERP implementation to simplify their things. Since
facts
the market is flooded with different ERP flavors (SAP, JD Edwards,
PeopleSoft… to name a few) one needs to be wise and careful in • 35% of the projects are successfully completed
choosing a correct ERP system that suits their business needs. • 45% are unsuccessful either due to budget overrun or unable
to deliver the required functionality within the stipulated time
Talking about SAP in specific – any SAP implementation is frame, or else completely fail to deliver
considered as a vital organizational ERP process because it • 20% of the projects are cancelled prior to the completion
integrates varied organizational systems, facilitates error-free stage.
transactions and reduces effort in production stage. A successful Hence, it is highly recommended for the companies as well
SAP implementation offers amazing benefits to the organization as the stake holders to sincerely consider these factors, such
as well as shares an attractive array of features with their as – client’s requirement, existing business processes and
customers. Few of the perks, the organization loves to enjoy are: organization’s vision for growth as they plan to implement any
reduction in costs (which includes inventory, raw materials and flavor of ERP into their line of businesses.
production), customer lead time and resource management. In this document, we will briefly discuss over the following points:
In general, implementing a SAP system is not a simple task • Understand the key inputs for successful SAP implementation
by itself because, typically, companies who deploy SAP are • See how the constrains/challenges can be identified, isolated,
either categorized as large scale or too big and very often, such assigned and addressed
organizations possess several heterogeneous and distributed • Learn about the strategy of successful implementation
units all across the globe. This brings in a lot of diversity among • Get an overview of the various measures undertaken for
the system stakeholders – who significantly exacerbates the implementation and more

As per the survey done, the projected statistics reveal astonishing facts – Only
35% of the projects are successfully completed whereas 45% are unsuccessful
either due to budget overrun or unable to deliver the required functionality within
the stipulated time frame, or else completely failed to deliver and rest 20% of the
projects are cancelled prior to the completion stage.

Overview
An organization aims to adopt SAP implementation to meet these following objectives
• An integrated system that operates in (or near) real time without relying on periodic updates
• A common database that supports all applications
• A consistent look and feel across all business areas
Also, the management is capable enough to gauge the success of SAP implementation based upon these criteria’s mentioned below:
• On-time delivery
• Deliver within the allocated budget
• Deliver the expected functionality
• Acceptable to the users (and hence used)
During the time of deployment, if a project fails to satisfy any one or more of these above listed criterias, then, it is obvious that the
project status reflects as a failure. On a close examination, it is observed that, these failures are actually associated with the
socio-technical system and not attributed to the failure in technology.

Successful SAP implementation strategy Mphasis 2

Phase-wise criteria for successful Implementation strategy
Apart from the standard set of tasks, this whitepaper also shares a list of other detailed activities. To make it more clear and for better
understanding, the stage wise implementation is depicted below.

ERP Program Delivery Best Practices: ASAP

1
4 5 Continuous
Project
Preparation 2 3 Final Improvement
Preparation Go-Live &
Business Realization Support
Blueprint

Note: Details of box color code for the activity chart are as below
Important and decision making activities Migration activities
Validation and preparation activities Training and documentation activities
Data management activities System configuration and documentation activities

a) Project Preparation
Purpose: Initial planning and preparation for the Project Preparation
implementation. Activities

In this stage, from the beginning itself – each and every Every resource
resource should get clarity over the project and their goals, i.e.,
business transformation underpinned by SAP implementation should get clarity
and not that this implementation would change the local Setup of Local Program
business processes. Ideally, a project team comprising of over the project Organization
experts and heads of each business area associated with the
company help a lot in driving this underlying message.
and their goals, Adaption of Strategic
Framework
As per the best practices, firstly, business process should i.e., business
be thoroughly evaluated and then streamlined before the Establish OCM
implementation process even kick starts.This would ensure that transformation Procedures + Responsibilities
the implementation would be as per the defined design norms
and business leaders shall maintain control over the processes
underpinned Early Adoption of Best
once the implementation begins. by SAP Business Practice Processes
Any kind of proposed change in the processes needs to be
discussed, should undergo a review and then finally get it implementation Training and Documentation
Strategy
approved by the respective Business owners. and not that this
This handpicked approach of defining the business process Infrastructure Requirements
in line with the best industrial practices helps in completing implementation and Design
time oriented tasks, such as: configuration, documentation,
testing, and training in addition to the risk of failure. Also,
would change Data Management Standards
and Implementations
it helps in aligning the business processes with statutory and the local business
regulatory compliance segment by strictly adhering to the
Data Cleansing
digital governance guidelines. processes. and Data Preparation
Key Points
Completion Check and
1) Defining project goals and objectives (ROI). Prepare for Next Phase
2) Having a business project team comprising of key players like
business heads.
3) Re-engineering the complete business process along with the documentation of
approved processes before the implementation starts.
4) Implementation team should have a panel of experts related to business requirement,
such as, systems and business processes.
Successful SAP implementation strategy Mphasis 3
b) Business Blueprint Business Blueprint
Purpose: To derive on common understanding of how the Activities
company intends to run SAP to support their business.
Basically, the Business blueprint phase is the most critical
step during SAP implementation. In this stage, various
parameters pertaining to implementation design, such as: General
consulting, customizing and support play a very crucial role Program Management
to cater our business needs.
OCM Organizational
In this stage,
Ideally, in this phase, the entire set of discussions
and correspondence act as a base platform for SAP
Alignment + Change Analysis
various
implementation. By default, all the details that are mapped
related to the business processes should reflect in the
Early Adoption of Best
Business Practice Processes
parameters
documentation file. Overall, the success of this phase is pertaining to
strongly determined with an effective closure at this point. Training Planning
Considering these facts, implementation team should include
implementation
these list of activities while finalizing the business process for Local Business Blueprint
Documentation
design, such
configuration
• Linking current processes to the organization’s strategy as: consulting,
Security Requirements
• Analysing the effectiveness of each process customizing
• Understanding existing automated solutions
The standard configuration component highlights business Infrastructure Planning and support
requirement gaps which is quite important as it showcases play a very
the dependent requirement as well as the target to deliver a
System Operation Stategy
customized solution syncing up with business objectives. crucial role
Business process gaps requirement can be fulfilled by three
ways, as mentioned below:
Data Cleansing to cater our
and Data Preparation
a) Using in-built enhancement option, such as: exit, function business needs
modules, etc. Completion Check &
Prepare for Next Phase
b) Rewriting the part of the process using ABAP to work in
the existing system as per business requirement
c) Interface to third party system

These processes constitute to varying degree of customization with first one being the most preferred option whereas the other
two are more invasive and expensive to maintain. Alternatively, there are non-technical options, too, i.e., changing the existing
business process to another version that matches the current or desired SAP requirements, provided it meets the business
objective and fulfils the organization needs.
Key points to understand the difference between Configuration and Customization are:

Configuration Customization
Mandatory Optional
Stable and predictable behavior Less stable and unpredictable behavior
Configuration changes survive upgrades to new software versions Customization changes are sometimes overwritten by software versions
Upgrade, modification and enhancements. It is the product manufacturer’s upgrade, modifications and enhancement. It is the customer’s responsibility,
responsibilities and increases testing activities
Improves organization acceptance Improves user’s acceptance
Reduces time and resources to implement and maintain Increases time and resources required to implement and maintain
Rigid and complex to meet the organization goal and objective with changing
Flexible and adaptable to meet future organization goals and objective
times if the same is not considered during initial phase of design

The final stage of business blueprint should include an overview and presentation of all the frozen processes along with requirement
GAPS. Also, at the same time, it should propose a customized solution to their end users keeping these objectives in mind.
The same should be attended by all key stakeholders so that the evaluation and sign-off is done after discussion and review.
The session would also include the details of risk and impacts of customized solution for the business to review and confirm.
If the volume or complexity of the customized solution affects the timelines, the same should also be highlighted along with proposed
impact on time as well as cost.

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Key Points
1) Mapping of details related to business process i.e. whether to use standard configuration or customization method.
2) Considering the statutory requirements while mapping the business process such as: declaring company inventory valuation
methodology to the statutory authority. The same is vital because in case you fail to deliver.
3) Validation of details, substitution, alerts and workflow should be captured against existing, well defined and approved business
processes.
4) Various reporting requirements should be duly defined with standard details or else customized attributes against each process.
5) Various integration points should be identified and defined such as: direct integration (Integration with PLC), database integration
(SFC automated system like DCS), enterprise application integration (web services, API) and custom integration with any legacy
application or third party software.
6) Authorization and access control should be defined at each and every step based upon the approved business policy as well as
requirements.

c) Realization
Purpose: Implement the business process requirements based on the blueprint.
Realization
At the end of this blueprint phase and before the start of realization stage, an overview of all
the master data templates should be provided so that the same can be published later. Activities
The overview should share significant details of data which would further enable the compiling
process to take place in its required format. After which, sufficient time is available for data
cleansing based upon the volume and business requirements. General
While configuring a SAP system, organization performs a string balancing act between the Program Management
way they want the systems to work and the pattern in which it was designed to work. Typically,
SAP systems comprehends of many different types of settings which helps in modifying the OCM
system operation later. During the system configuration stage, business heads and experts
should keep a strict vigilance on the statutory requirements and must sincerely adhere to it. Early Adoption of Best
Business Practice Processes
The structure of the Realization phase is split into the following steps:
• Define the organization structure
While Training Preparation
• Configure the various business process
• Customize the business process requirement configuring a Configuration and Development
(ABAP development ) SAP system,
• Generate the unit test scripts and cases Unit / Process / Integration /
• Unit Test and issue resolution
organization Business Acceptance Testing

• Generate integration test scripts and cases performs a Infrastructure Implementation

• Integration Test and issue resolution
string balancing
• Generate a mock GO-LIVE plan. Data Preparation and
At the end of Realization stage, it is mandate to finalize
act between the Data Migration Simulation

the data migration strategy so that it becomes easy to way they want Cutover Planning and
migrate from any database to another one without any Preparation
hassle. The migration planning is fractionalized as per the systems to
Business Transation
these following steps:
work and the Planning for Cutover
• Determine migration timing
• Freeze the toolset
pattern in which Completion Check and
Prepare for Next Phase
• Decide on migration-related setups it was designed
• Define data archiving policies and procedures
to work.
Key Points
1) Adoption of best business practices for configuration.
2) Generation of plan for data collection and training.
3) Documentation of all customized objects within the business process.
4) Finalization of Mock Go-Live strategy.

Successful SAP implementation strategy Mphasis 5

d) Final Preparation
Final Preparation
Purpose: To complete the final preparation that incudes Activities
testing, end-user training, system management and cutover
activities, to finalize the readiness to go-live.
In this phase, the key change happening with respect to the
traditional procedure is to go for Mock Go-Live plan. General
Data migration and cut over strategy – both of them should Program Management
be put to test before the project runs into the Go-Live phase.
This step not only helps in rectifying the errors present in data OCM
collection but also it enables the user to plan out for corrective
actions before the actual Go-Live session gets alive. End User Traning
Success of SAP implementation depends upon the end
user training and acceptance. Hence, it is imperative for
Cutover Management
the end-user to undergo a training session and complete it
successfully. The training program comprises of business
process flow details, various integration points and their Business Simulation
dependency, to name a few...
The end-user documentation should consist all the details End User Practice in the
such as: integration points, validation of details and types of System
errors with root cause analysis report.
Infrastructure Finalization

Data Migration to Production

Mock Go-Live plan Pre-Go-Live Operations

Final Cutover and Controlled

Process Go-Live

Completion Check and

Key Points Prepare for Next Phase
1) Mock Go-Live and end-user training
2) Data migration and cut over strategy
3) Data volume and hardware integration testing
4) Documentation clearly specifying the details of location wise
business process owners with primary contacts.

Successful SAP implementation strategy Mphasis 6

e) GO-LIVE and Support Project Closing
Purpose: To move from a project-oriented, Activities
pre-production environment to live production
operation.
Project’s success or failure gets strongly nailed down at
General
this last stage of implementation. Business users should
Program Management
ensure that they swiftly adapt to system without impacting
any delay / concerns as they execute the business
OCM
process task.
It is commonly observed, post Go-Live – every user
looks upon the implementation team to avail some extra System Support
support and prompt guidance which further leads to
delay in response. Eventually, team size comes into the Business Support
picture for the same reason. Smaller team size affects the
business processes very badly after the implementation
as they cannot address the concerns of all the users. Project Closing
Ultimately, it leads to a situation where in the quality of the
implementation is widely spoken among the end user’s
community.
To avoid such situations, primarily, the standard warranty
support model should be changed where the issues or
This kind of agility smoothens
concerns are directly raised in the ITSM tool itself. Firstly, up the entire transition
all the bugs that are raised in the tool, should be primarily
evaluated by the location process owners, if they fail process and the ownership
to resolve, then it should be re directed to the support
team. In any case, it is mandatory for the support team would be successfully
to have correct information with them, which comprises
of process owner details tagged up with their evaluation transferred to the process
remarks.
ITSM tool accommodates precise and accurate reports to
owners as well as business
track down all the issues which are logged under different users to enjoy the privilege
categories such as: User awareness, Master data,
Configuration, Hardware etc. Running the reports after a of SAP implementation as a
week or once the system stabilizes, helps in appraising all
the issues reported under the User awareness or Master whole.
data category. The same should be segregated and
accordingly respective action needs to be initiated.
This kind of agility smoothens up the entire transition
process and the ownership would be successfully
transferred to the process owners as well as business
users to enjoy the privilege of SAP implementation
as a whole.

Key Points
1) Formation of location specific and business process wise
team to be the primary support.
2) Design and publication of war room strategy as per business
requirement.
3) Evaluation of support team performance and plan corrective
action on bi-weekly basis.

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Best Practices

Project Preparation Business Blueprint Realization Final Preparation GO-LIVE

Draft Solution vision Configuration UAT

AS-IS & TO BE Master Data and
Governance Customization End-user training
Activity Gap Analysis Transaction Data
Project Team Unit Test Data cleaning
Change Management Migration Support
Project Plan System Integration Cut over Planning

Execution &
Budget Preparation Phase Planning Phase Design Phase Testing Phase
Support Phase
Estimate 10% 25% 25% 20%
20%

Define - Project Goal Standard Business

Success Standard End-user Training Quick Issue resolution
Project Plan Process based on Best
Factor configuration Data Migration User acceptance
Project Team Practices

Non-involvement of Improper Inadequate Inadequate support

Highly for business
Failure Risk Key stakeholder in documentation User training
Customized critical process
Factor defining the project Gap analysis without Erroneous requirement
solution
scope, plan and team. due justifcation Data migration and issue resolution

Conclusions
To conclude, presently, there is no complete solution which exists that can eliminate the failure of SAP implementation in totality.
In spite of knowing the reasons, the failure proportion still remains constant because most of them get same treatment although there
are different types of failures that arise through various combination of factors.
The most important concepts derived from this whitepaper are:
(A) SAP implementation doesn’t work out if we adopt traditional methodologies
(B) The most critical phase of the project lies in the earliest, budding stage where the
business blueprint and project preparation play a very crucial role.
Also, the gist of this whitepaper shares significant guidelines (listed below) which should be followed by the project delivery team
before they kick start with SAP implementation:
1) Define and develop a clear objective for SAP implementation
2) Review and align all the processes with respect to best business practices
3) Formulate the necessary change management mechanism which will not only help in overcoming the impact of project changes
that are made but also assist in evaluating the risks associated with it.
These suggestions and tips may not guarantee 100% success but if they are not given appropriate consideration, then the chances of
failure are likely to be greater than they could be assumed.

References
• SAP Implementation strategy by Mphasis

• White paper: Key issues in ERP system implementation by Gordon Baxter School of Computer Science,
University of St Andrews, 15th February 2010 (LSCITS)

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise_resource_planning

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAP_implementation

Successful SAP implementation strategy Mphasis 8

 Manoj Pillai
Solution Architect

Manoj is working as a Solution Architect in SAP practice. He is being

associated with Mphasis for over 10 years, possessing experience in
different roles such as Project Manager, Functional Consultant,
Team Leader and as a Mentor.
He is also actively involved in SAP internal training and tool/accelerators
development.

About Mphasis
Mphasis (BSE: 526299; NSE: MPHASIS) applies next-generation technology to help enterprises transform businesses globally. Customer
centricity is foundational to Mphasis and is reflected in the Mphasis’ Front2Back™ Transformation approach. Front2Back™ uses the exponential
power of cloud and cognitive to provide hyper-personalized (C = X2C2 = 1) digital experience to clients and their end customers. Mphasis’
TM

Service Transformation approach helps ‘shrink the core’ through the application of digital technologies across legacy environments within an
enterprise, enabling businesses to stay ahead in a changing world. Mphasis’ core reference architectures and tools, speed and innovation with
domain expertise and specialization are key to building strong relationships with marquee clients. To know more, please visit www.mphasis.com

For more information, contact: [email protected]

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