We acknowledge that the word implementation has a very deep rooted meaning in the context of SAP. We constantly strive to excel in this area.

Our strength in implementation is simply vested in the strength and the quality of the consultants and business heads we staff.

Our senior people are all consultants in SAP who have worked with several clients in the past in different capacities cutting across industries and geographies. The depth and width of such experience is what we rely upon utmost.

While there are strong opinions that a particular methodology can be good for an SAP implementation, we stand for none except the one that is ideally suitable for the client and tailored for the client.

While we stand for the standard 5- phased approach, we also appreciate that the real differentiation comes in how each phase is executed by consulting companies.

The following steps are critical at the project kick-off stage

• In first capturing and validating the activities that are vital to the implementation.
• Mapping the activities to the resources required to fulfil them.
• Establishing communication channels and protocols for all members of the project team.
• Having a system in place for activity tracking to ensure that everyone is working as per the implementation methodology that has been articulated.

Implementations have long relied upon the use of "proven methodologies" and templates to accelerate and improve the repeatability of processes. The standard Templates based approach has often failed to adjust to the changing client environment and cover the vast business process requirements. We understand the need for a customized template based approach to do a proper Gap-Fit analysis during the Blue Printing Stage.

A thorough Blue Printing phase should culminate in an extended scoping, project planning and resource allocation for the Realization phase besides doing the obvious of detailed capture of Business Process Requirements and a Gap-Fit analysis.

Since this phase can lay the foundation for subsequent consulting embarrassments and client dissatisfactions care should be taken to have a keen eye to avoid such pitfalls.

Proper man power planning and resource allocation is the single most important factor to success in this stage. This is where the knowledge levels and quality of consultants play a major role. We also underscore the importance of allocation of the right resources from the client side; this largely depends on the level of importance that is accorded to the entire project and is an "executive decision".

It is recommended that by the inception of this phase the user community is reasonably empowered with SAP knowledge and diction and are not total aliens to the SAP world. This could be done outside the purview of the consulting firm through an SAP academy or a crash training course for a few key people on the client side who will act as process owners / facilitators. It will also form the base for SAP knowledge management and in fostering SAP champions within the client.

A SAP savvy client can always extract meaningful solutions while at the same time appreciate system / process constraints. Executive decisions from the client side can be expedited and the entire project can operate on transparent grounds with mutual faith.

We prefer to trifurcate the Realization phase into the 3 zones

1) Basic Prototyping with unit testing.
2) Extended Business Process Configuration with testing.
3) Integration Testing and finalisation of Change Management strategy and initiation of cutover strategy

Proper tracking of RICE (Reports / Interfaces / Conversions / Enhancements) is very important to the smoothening the finish of the Realization phases.

A proper estimation of time and resources can play a vital role in achieving the Realization deadlines.

It is often the most strenuous phase and can be and acid test for project management.

Also the data migration strategies and plans and participants should be in place at the fag end of this phase.

The importance of unit and integration testing is paramount and is also indicative of a major shift in the responsibilities from the consulting to the client side. The client personnel should be capable of charting and executing the various test scenarios. At this stage the client will become more confident in SAP with the learning curves of most client personnel charting an exponential trajectory.

Clear guidelines for transition from the Realization phase to the next will help one and all and will mark be a major inflection point in the entire project.

Typically a stage which is a test for end user confidence, User Acceptance Testing (UAT) is a signoff of all the major business processes and threads having been met in SAP. This is also the phase where SAP pervades the client as a whole stepping outside the realm of just the project teams. Change Management is ushered in to gear the company for the ultimate change to SAP from all or most hitherto legacy systems. Knowledge Management sessions from consultants to core teams and more importantly core teams to end users will be a critical part. We advocate "Train the Trainer" method where the client SAP folks spearhead the entire SAP Knowledge Management Brigade within the company.
The User community should also take the onus of data ownership and migration with technical assistance from the consulting firm.
The cutover strategies and plans should be in place and process owners should be familiar with what transactional and master data is going to enter SAP.
Proper data migration, testing acceptance and confidence levels of the client in SAP will be the key to a Go-No Go decision.

Go Live and Post Go Live.

The client shifts gear to SAP from legacy systems on the go-live date. A proper strategy would be required to have a successful go-live. The impact of the go-live would also depend largely whether it is a Big-bang approach or not. We recommend a phased approach with leverage to fine tune subsequent roll-outs.
The post go-live should be a healthy hand holding session for a gradual transition of complete SAP ownership from the consulting company to the client.

We look at an implementation in the following ways

• First and Foremost as a Consulting Challenge in meeting the Business Process Requirements of the Client.
• We believe in the saying "Well begun is half done". Proper scoping and planning of the project will be quintessential for its success.
• Apt choice of consultants with ample domain and technical expertise to form a potent team for project execution and management.
• Team, meaning, consultants as well as the process owners & core team members from the client.
• Executive sponsorship for the overall SAP project at the highest level from the client, demonstrating total commitment.
• A die-hard belief in the Product of SAP as a tool that the worlds leading business houses have employed, not without a reason
• A realistic approach to the product, that it is not a magic box that can deliver everything in the universe despite its vast application width and depth. Begging the question, can one product meet all the business process requirements of every client in the globe?
• We acknowledge that SAP in its evolution has successfully added more and more features to address the ever increasing business process needs of clients while not compromising on the standards of Best Business Practices.
• The benefits of the implementation should unfold right through all phases of the project and should be tangible and substantial for a reckoning of the return on investment on the SAP project.
• Whenever a critical business process is at stake as a consulting firm we believe in walking that extra mile. Quid Pro Quo the client should be in a position to understand system / process limitations and help arrive at an optimal solution.
• We also believe in making the entire project an enjoyable affair by adhering to reasonable but challenging targets and timelines for deliverables.
• Top most we want the client to be a good reference at any point of time.

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