SAP Project Resource Requirements

How to Plan Your SAP Project Resource Requirements [Consultation]

Table of Contents

How to Plan Resources for a SAP project

Whether you are a SAP Project Manager getting ready to do your first SAP ERP implementation or are a CIO or SAP Application Manager running the SAP CoE extending your existing SAP footprint, you will need to plan out your SAP Project Team Staffing Requirements.  Though the CFO will want to run the financials on both your SAP Project ROI and project cost, the CIO will be more focused on standing up the SAP team and determining how much it will cost.

 

SAP Project Staffing
Build a Successful SAP Project Implementation Team

Achieving Positive Project ROI

 

Unfortunately, the two issues, project ROI and implementation cost, go together, as sure as marketing and sales go together. 

When You Should Bring In Your SAP Project Manager

 

As a senior SAP Project Manager concerned with determining resource requirements for a project, especially when it comes to performing SAP resource requirements planning , it has been my experience that the process of determining the SAP Project Structure is happening during the Statement of Work development process, and the SAP Project Manager is brought in after the fact.  When it comes to developing a SAP project plan  and resource planning, SAP project plans are challenging and this approach is a huge mistake.

 

How to Plan Resources for a Project

 

Here's a summary of the process you should follow when determining SAP Project Resource Requirements.

 

  1. Pick Your Project Manager First!
  2. Organize Your Team.
  3. Get Your Environment Right.
  4. Budget for top SAP Skill-sets.
  5. Ask Yourself If You Can Reduce Project Risk by Spending More on High-End Skillsets.
  6. Ask Your PM to Help Fully Define the SAP Skills Needed then Budget for Them.
  7. Determine if Off-Shore is Effective.
  8. Some Caveats Based on Experience of Using Off-Shore.
  9. For Solution Extensions, Go Deep.
  10. Identify Your Target Internal SAP organization. 

This Process Works Much Better:

Let's dive into the details on each step or recommendation you should follow when determining resource requirements for a project.

 

  • Pick your project manager first!

    After all, the PM will be the one who has to make it work.  Afterall, when it comes to resource requirements, project management plays the key role.  When I put together a project plan, resources are key planning task.  This holds true whether it is a for large MRP implementation project plan or for a series of abap projects.

  • Organize Your Team.

    Have your project manager develop his SAP organization chart as part of the SOW development process.  This is completely different than what you typically see - a table in the SOW that says how many of each type of consultant will be required and budgeted for.  

  • Get Your Environment Right.

    Bearing in mind the large number of SAP project failures, and the fact that many are successes, then it is clear there is an ideal project environment that must be established. Success is path dependent it turns out. 

    In short, a class-room quality project environment, one engineered to work, is what you must set up.

  • Budget for top SAP Skillsets. 

    Though it may be an on-going debate as to what this means, deep industry expertise, SAP project experience coupled with on-going professional development, and unparalleled communication skills on the part of the consultants make or break your project.

  • Ask Yourself If You Can Reduce Project Risk by Spending More on High-End Skillsets. 

    This is closely related to the previous point. 

    You should be asking if you are spending enough to get the very best skillsets.  

    Of course, no one wants to pay more than they have too. 

    But if you’re interested in not having a failed project hung about your neck like milestone, you should focus on first finding out what the very best consultant skillset looks like, then finding out what it will cost you. 

    When you go the other direction, i.e., setting an ultra low budget for SAP consultant skillsets (which is what almost ALL recruiters out there claim is happening), and then trying to get candidates at that price, you generally are not going to get the best available consultants.

  • Ask Your PM to Help Fully Define the SAP Skills Needed then Budget for Them.  

    Here’s the thing, SAP is such an expansive solution, few people really know what it is in the box. 

    To complicate matters further, SAP long ago started to mix and match their solution licenses to support industry specific business processes, while the SAP Consultant Training offering is mostly module specific, with industry solution training offered less often (try to find complete MRO training or SAP Warranty Management training). 

    So now, in order to fully implement a cross-application business process, you will often need 2 or more SAP Consultants to truly have ‘coverage’ of what you are looking to implement. 

    How do you know when you are facing this situation?  See if you are licensing any Industry Solution bundles. 

    You may find you’re really going to need 3 or 4 SAP consultants to implement a complex process, such as Service Parts Planning or Sales & Operations Planning. 

    An additional level of planning complexity often arises with SAP customers who have been live for a long time and are on an older version of SAP who now want to implement an additional complex business scenario. 

    In these cases, we have often seen a need to make adjustments to the existing system configurations, which, unfortunately, may mean you need to find an even more senior consultant in order to find someone who can ‘reach back’ to that the release level you are going to need to work on. 

    Not sure if this applies to you - when is the last time you checked your MRP strategy settings?

  • Determine if Off-Shore is Effective. 

    It is no secret that much of the SAP consulting market has moved off-shore, so you will need to decide early on whether this option is right for you, the end customer.   

    It can work, allowing consultancies to make higher margins, though the question of whether the lower cost of off-shore filters through to the end customer. 

  • Some Caveats Based on Experience of Using Off-Shore. 

    The cost differential isn’t always enough to justify the additional management overhead.

    Companies that use off-shore resources have to also plan on having their own internal limited resources work odd-hours, as the off-shore model has now matured enough that they no longer adjust their schedule to yours.

    The communication channels multiply and the effectiveness of those same communications decline precipitously, which means additional project management time expenditure will be required.

    Any ‘profound knowledge’ gained by the offshore team about your business is lost once the project ends. 

    This may or may not be a relevant factor for your situation, but for many businesses, this can be a critical lost learning opportunity.

    As most off-shore operations are actually composed of many other entities, you will not be able to exercise much control over the quality of the resources.

    If your internal organizational management style is ‘must see it to trust it’, then this model will not work for you.

  • For Solution Extensions, Go Deep.   

    If  you’re already live, and your SAP project consist of extending your SAP footprint, you will want to find a SAP consultancy that focuses on niche areas, such as Business Intelligence, or vertically, such as EC&O or Petroleum.

  • Identify Your Target Internal SAP Organization. 

    If you are on your first SAP project, your SOW will typically say something along the lines of having 2 of your internal people for each external SAP consultant. 

    For many companies, this is far too simplistic to actually work with the available internal resources.  Instead, again using that SAP PM you brought on to guide you during the SOW development process, design both your implementation team and your post-go-live support team upfront.

The Project Before The Project

As you can see, the project before the project is where most of the initial conditions for success will be established.  So save yourself some hassle and get some help.

 

Request a  SAP Project Manager

 

 

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Lonnie D. Ayers, PMP

About the Author: Lonnie Ayers is a Hubspot Certified Inbound Marketing consultant, with additional certifications in Hubspot Content Optimization, Hubspot Contextual Marketing, and is a Hubspot Certified Partner. Specialized in demand generation and sales execution, especially in the SAP, Oracle and Microsoft Partner space, he has unique insight into the tough challenges Service Providers face with generating leads and closing sales using the latest digital tools. With 15 years of SAP Program Management experience, and dozens of complex sales engagements under his belt, he helps partners develop and communicate their unique sales proposition. Frequently sought as a public speaker in various events, he is available for both inhouse engagements and remote coaching.
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He also recently released a book "How to Dominate Any Market - Turbocharging Your Digital Marketing and Sales Results", which is available on Amazon.

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