ERP - Centre of Excellence

Life After SAP Go-Live: Building a Workshop for the Creation of a Center of Excellence

In part I, I recounted how, back in 2001 there was a dearth of intelligence regarding the best practices for post-implementation SAP.

In part II, I recounted how SAP peer groups have provided the best source of post-implementation strategies and advisory.

After having gathered some information from a variety of SAP clients, I began building my first Center of Excellence workshop in 2003. The first question, of course, was “where to begin”? It is important to note that the notion, and even the term “center of excellence”, varied from company to company. Back in 2002, SAP still pushed the concept and practice of an SAP competency center. My first source of best practices and organizational planning was Delta which ran a Customer Care Center (CCC).

Each firm seeking to create a center of excellence is starting from a unique point and so the first step was to measure the current level of SAP maturity prior to launching an organizational build-up. Using a tool that I had previously developed, I came up with an SAP maturity model: **(to view SAP Maturity Model, open attachment at the end of the article post) The point of the model is an evolution from the initial implementation and stabilization to an evolving Center of Excellence. Clients seeking to create one are advised to first measure their current SAP maturity in order to measure the gaps that exist. Such an assessment points out what first steps should be addressed.

My belief is that a successful center of excellence will necessarily be characterized by:  An optimization of business processes that drive business benefit continually  An optimization of end user competency and employee fulfillment of business processes  Continued coherence and integration of functionality and data through all process chains. The essential purpose of the Center of Excellence is to drive applications maturity and increase effective applications deployment. Applications are not deemed mature until their evolution is guided by business results (read=business metrics). Thereafter, it was a matter of isolating the various organizational clusters into manageable “domains”, including: Enterprise Domain: Defines how program and process are planned and managed. This includes higher management (i.e. enterprise program management) and business process owners. Enablement Domain: Defines how end users are prepared and supported. This includes end users, power users, help desk, and change management support.

Applications Domain: Defines how applications are configured or programmed and functionally integrated. This includes software configuration and programming staff. IT Support Domain: Defines how integrated applications are supported and promoted to production. This includes core IT staff. (**to see Enterprise Program Management Flow Chart, open attachment at the end of the article post) This organization does not have to be housed in the same office or even in the same location. As such, there are untold variations of virtual Centers of Excellence. The shortest effective duration for the workshop is two days.

Day One: AM Introduction and Workshop Logistics Presentation: An introduction to the principles, functions, and uses of an SAP Center of Excellence with a focus on gaining Business & IT alignment and measurable business benefit PM Current Organization Gap Analysis: a structured analysis of your firm’s current organization compared to a Center of Excellence destination yielding a prioritized list of gaps to be addressed. Goal Setting: a determination of key goals to be addressed in the mapping of a new organization. Specific goals relative to business & IT alignment, end user competency, the state of SAP applications, infrastructure, and sustainability will be established.

Day Two: AM Draft Center of Excellence Organization: a high level positioning of the Center of Excellence within your firm’s over-all organization followed by a domain by domain outline of new organization. PM Map Transition: plan the transition from your existing organization to the new Center of Excellence with a focus on organizational readiness and on individual job descriptions and individual transition requirements.

The most difficult aspect of this workshop for clients is in gain a full appreciation of how business-centric the organization must be. There remains in most organizations a stubborn view that SAP is about information e new Center of Excellence with a focus on organizational readiness and on individual job descriptions and individual transition requirements. The most difficult aspect of this workshop for clients is in gain a full appreciation of how business-centric the organization must be. There remains in most organizations a stubborn view that SAP is about information technology and is therefore in the hands of IT.

In fact, SAP should be about supporting positive business outcomes through the continuous improvement of business processes. The second most difficult aspect is in establishing a metrics-based core. Without this, there is no way of truly knowing if the Center of Excellence is serving the firm. From previous research, I have found that the majority of firms report only incremental improvements after going live with SAP ERP Software. A thriving center of excellence will compel you to constantly refresh your to-be vision and the dial up your benefits. We’ve come a long way since 2002.

For more information about centers of excellence and The SAP Green Book, click here www.michaeldoane.com Michael Doane has 35 years of enterprise applications experience. He is the author of The New SAP Blue Book, a Concise Business Guide to the World of SAP and The SAP Green Book, Thrive After Go-Live. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it