sbogner's blog

SAP doesn't need enhanced. It is your business process that is wrong. (source)

A consulting friend Tweeted this phrase a few days ago and it immediately brought a smile to my face. It reminded me of the times I have configured, twisted and contorted SAP HR to fit a client's unique process requirements that they just had to have. Even though the SAP HR software had, in my opinion anyway, an already delivered, acceptable process, and I could see no value in the client's additional requirements, the client insisted we do the work to force SAP HR to do it their way.

If there are several ways to achieve the desired results, which don't adversely affect the company or employees, then why not adopt the one that fits best with the software and requires the least amount of work to implement and maintain?

Most times, when we force the SAP HR software to stretch and bend too much it ends up breaking in subsequent upgrades or support packs. Not every upgrade or every support pack breaks it, but often enough to keep us busy fixing the issues. And many times, after living with a twisted and contorted SAP HR process for a while, customers come to see the value in changing their process to more closely match SAP HR's framework.

Now, not every SAP HR standard process is worth adopting, and the system doesn't deliver many such processes as-is - much of SAP HR is like a book full of blank pieces of paper that need to be filled-in. Among experienced consultants and consulting firms there is some coalescence around a set of standard processes that work well (I'm trying really hard not to say 'best practices' because of the baggage that term carries, but that's really what I'm talking about). It is also good to see how other SAP HR customers are doing things, but keep in mind that the software changes over time, and what may have been a good process (or the only process) 5 or 10 years ago may not be so good now.

Before you spend resources on changing or enhancing SAP HR to fit your business process, consider the costs & benefits of doing so. Do you really need those extra things that are forcing you to enhance and change SAP HR? Are you prepared to accept the cost of changing the system and keeping it maintained for years to come?

SAP's HR software is really pretty functional and mature now. It has advanced so far from the early days – thankfully – and now it's no longer 'does it work?' but 'how do I make it work for me?' that gets asked. Since the software can no longer be blamed for shoddy implementations, there is much more focus now where it should be: upper management support for the project, and the quality of the people on the project teams. Those two are the most important things to get right if you want a successful SAP HR implementation.

Implementing any HR, Benefits or Payroll system causes a lot of change both for managers and for employees. After all, items such as Benefits and Payroll affect every employee, so getting it right is very important. As business processes are unearthed, defined, refined and rolled-out there will be resistance; and it takes a lot of effort to properly implement new processes. Having upper management support is most often the critical key to getting these new processes to stick. Without that support, business processes will be a mess, people will resist, and quality suffers. None of that has much of anything to do with the SAP HR software – it is all based on how much support you get from, and the tone set by, upper management.

While the SAP HR software has matured and improved, it still needs to be configured for each customer's specific needs. Due to its complexity, there are three or four ways to accomplish anything in the SAP HR module; and knowing which way is right for the customer requires consultants who have experience and communication skills. Without those skills, a great piece of software can miss the mark by a mile. Not only will it have operational problems, but your cost of ownership will also escalate. There really is no shortcut for getting the software correctly configured and customized: get good people on your project. How do you know if a given consultant or team member is 'good'? Ask other companies who the consultant has worked for – checking references is critical – and make sure they can work with your company's team members. Knowing which tables to configure, which switches to flip and so on isn't very useful if you aren't a good listener and don't work well on teams.

With the right support and people, you can position your project team for success in their SAP HR implementation!

Every now & then I get a question from peole I've worked with: Do you think I'd make a good consultant? Well, my answer most often is - to lean on an oft-repreated consulting phrase - it depends.

I decided to leave a my corporate job and start an independent consultancy in 1996. I've enjoyed it, have made a good living, and believe it was a good choice for me. Consulting isn't for everyone, and having done it for a while now I think I'm getting a better idea of why that is.

Do you get satisfaction from consistency, from mastering a skill or a job and advancing through an organzation? Do you find it comforting to have a stable and consistent team around you, a place of routines, a familiar culture you can both contribute to and leverage for your advantage? If you answered yes to these questions, I don't think you would enjoy being a consultant.

Are you sort of restless, becoming bored with a standard, static routine? Do you like to change things, improving them and finding joy in successful achievements? Do you like to help people, being seriously interested in improving your client's job, the department, the firm? Are you always looking - rather impatiently at times - for a way to improve the task at hand? Do you like to take things apart and see how they work, and then put them back together so that they work even better? If so, then you would probably enjoy the consulting profession.

I'm generalizing, of course, but I think there is a consulting mindset that seeks out this type of work. Not content with hunting or gathering itself, but interested in the process of hunting and gathering. Someone's has to do it(!)