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How to Choose the Right SAP Implementation Service for Your Organization

 

As digital transformation becomes more disruptive in enterprise settings, businesses must implement the right technologies that connect people with processes and operations.

According to a recent McKinsey Global Survey on digital strategy, many organizations recognize that their companies’ business models have become obsolete. Only 11% believe their current business models will be economically viable through 2023, while another 64% say their companies need to build new digital processes to help them get there.

For today’s enterprises, it’s not about if they need modernized digitization, but rather how soon they can implement the strategies needed to take them into the future.

SAP implementation is vital for an organization’s success, sustainability, and ability to handle the intricacies of business operations and data management.

However, ERP implementation can be overwhelming, especially if you don't know what to expect. So, how do you choose the right SAP implementation service partner for your company?

This post will give you a brief overview of SAP, its features, and the benefits that SAP implementations can bring to your organization.

What Are SAP Implementation Services?

SAP implementation services are services provided by an experienced team of developers to help companies effectively deploy SAP solutions, create an efficient work environment, and unlock strategic business outcomes from their SAP investments.
For ERP implementation to be successful, businesses must handle it carefully with the appropriate planning, knowledge, and experience.

What Are the Benefits of SAP Implementation Services?

Organizations going through a digital transformation need expert resources and reliable solutions to protect their assets from data breaches during migration.

The complexities of SAP implementation can be a bit overwhelming for any organization. However, with the right SAP implementation team, you can seamlessly install and integrate systems, and reduce errors, redundancies, and data loss when undertaking a new SAP implementation project.

The proper implementation services also help organizations capitalize on new opportunities with SAP to enable core business transformation. These services include modernizing on-premise legacy systems or transforming to S/4HANA, SAP's next-generation ERP suite. , SAP's next-generation ERP suite. , SAP's next-generation ERP suite.

Want to know more about SAP Implementation services? Contact us to learn how Protera can help.

ERP Implementation Stages

SAP implementation is a complex process that involves various phases, including planning, preparation, execution, and go-live. Each stage provides steps to ensure the proper implementation of your SAP system. The following is a brief outline of these critical phases:

1. Situation analysis - Before assessing the SAP implementation services available, you must first understand your business needs. What are your goals for implementing or upgrading your mission critical systems? What functionality does it need to support? How will this impact your employees and customers? Which departments or processes are using them most frequently?

2. Planning/preparation - Once you better understand your business and technology requirements, it's time to start preparing for the implementation. Your plan should include:

  • Goals and objectives. What do you hope to achieve by implementing SAP software?
  • Deliverables. What are the significant milestones that need to be reached before completion? When will they be completed?
  • Risk management strategy. Have you identified and mitigated potential risks throughout the process? The more prepared you are for potential problems ahead of time, the less likely they'll become actual issues once work begins in earnest.

3. Cloud Adoption Plan - The SAP implementation business blueprint includes the modules essential to your business and a map of the current business process landscape. At this stage, your SAP implementation partner will conduct a series of workshops and meetings to ensure precise project implementation and effective training.

4. Implementation/testing - Your SAP implementation partner will ensure your new services are in sync with all other processes. They will customize and fine-tune the system to ensure it meets all your business requirements. Q/A testing teams assure everything runs smoothly. Once the SAP solution is built, your service provider will test it for functionality, performance, and security before being deployed in production.

5. Final preparation - Your implementation provider will train management and staff according to the new processes for their specific department. They will ensure that any data migration processes are complete and all system modules and components, such as data sources and interfaces, work as expected without impacting users or processes.

6. Go live - This is the day your organization goes live with your systems on cloud and begins using it as part of its day-to-day operations.

Be prepared for any potential issues, as there might be several moving parts and employees who aren't yet proficient in using the new system. The SAP implementation services partner will continually monitor the system and provide hyper-care support for any hiccups during the transition.

Implementation Strategies

  • Big bang - Implementation of all modules is done at once and all users simultaneously move over to the new system.
  • Phased roll-out - the deployment of software, features, and modules is done over an extended period of time.
  • Parallel adoption - the organization continues to use legacy systems alongside the new ERP system for a determined amount of time.
  • Hybrid approach - This approach combines elements of the other implementation strategies to test the system before committing to using it across the entire enterprise.

Contact us to learn how Protera can help with SAP Implementation services.

How Long Will an SAP ERP Implementation Take?

The amount of time it takes depends on several factors:

  • The number of systems/applications
  • The number of locations
  • Current business processes
  • The number of users
  • The type and amount of data that needs to be migrated that needs to be migrated
  • The complexity of the system that needs to be installed

Finding the Right SAP Implementation Provider

Your organization and its needs are unique. The right SAP implementation service company should be able to show you how they will tailor their services to meet those needs. Consider the following when looking service providers:

  • Services - A reputable SAP implementation consulting company should provide a wide range of services to fully support your project. These include everything from initial planning and design through custom development, testing, and deployment to post-implementation support.
  • Certifications and training - When seeking a reliable partner, you should also look for service providers that are SAP certified and knowledgeable of any industry-specific requirements.
  • Experience - As with any other business relationship, it is essential for you to work with an experienced partner who has the people, processes, and relationships in place to be successful- especially look for deep engineering relationships with the top-tier hyperscalers.
  • Support - A good SAP partner should offer the tooling and flexibility to match your timeline and the support to customize your needs and meet your organization's unique goals and ROI objectives.

How Protera Can Help

Enterprises going through digital transformation need a partner who can create an SAP landscape that supports their business now and in the future. Protera uses a well-orchestrated cloud adoption framework backed by automation to reduce cost and complexity, accelerating critical application migration and modernization.

In addition, we excel at implementing even the most complex systems and offer services to ensure the most effective business outcomes. Whether it is a complete SAP migration, SAP HANA upgrades, SAP S/4HANA transformation, or total data center modernization, our advisory and implementation services are designed to guide you through the entire process.

In Conclusion

Your SAP implementation project ecosystem should operate seamlessly and smoothly and be a powerful competitive asset that future proofs the business. The key to a successful project is having experienced professionals and a dedicated partner on your team who knows the ins and outs of ERP.

Profitable business transformation occurs when every part of an organization, from internal management and staff to its external partners and customers, is agile and interconnected. Leadership and implementation specialists need to ensure that mission-critical information is flowing seamlessly across their entire enterprise ecosystem, thus allowing all users to engage and interact in ways that advance the organization’s goals and initiatives.