Well, you've finally arrived. After years of struggling, or perhaps, even less time than you ever expected, you've been formally assigned the role of SAP BW Project Manager! Congratulations! In the past, you may have been able to keep your head down and just build beautiful dashboards, or write efficient code. You may still do that, but, psst, want to know a secret? Your boss now expects you to deliver the project "at a profit". You probably already know the three primary dimensions of your project management job:
The Three Big Project Management Dimensions (but you know there are really 3 more)
If you're already a PMP or just an experienced Project Manager, you'll already know how to compute the various 'standard' measures of the project, such as EVA, BCWP, etc. I want to tell you how to manage your project cost day-to-day to hit your cost target and be a profitable project manager.
5 Surprising Reasons Enterprises Don’t Use An ERP
Whether yours is a fixed-price implementation or time-&-materials contract, you will want to do these ten things:
- Hire your team.
Your number one secret to success is to make the team selection yourself.
It is fine if you are provided a batch of candidates, but you must do the hiring yourself.
This is time consuming but critical work.
- Hire the very best consultants you can find.
Then fix the budget issues this might engender.
- Ensure your team members arrive on time.
A fixed price contract has an underlying assumption that your full team will be available on the first day, not mid way through.
If not, you will not make your budget.
- Build and refine your project plan (using MS Project), and put in resource rates. Learn to use it right and you can start to trust it when it says you won't make it or if it says, you going to blow through your budget.
- Set up your time and expense tracking.
Most consultancies have online systems.
You need to have those figures in your own spreadsheet (ask me for my template if needed).
- Ensure all time and expenses are submitted on a weekly basis.
Never, ever, ever let it slip for 2 months, and you know who you are:(
- Make sure your team is getting paid on time.
If they do their Time&Expenses on time, they expect to get paid on time.
Your biggest enemy is project turnover.
Not getting paid on time directly increases this rate.
- Resist the urge to say yes.
Customers rightly want as much as possible for the least amount possible.
However, especially with a fixed price project or even one with T&M, better to kill add-ons.
You don't really have the information at hand to do a proper business case most of the time.
- Be aggressive with the Change Request Management Approach.
You won't win any popularity contest, but see item 7.
- Stay aware of and involved in other projects that impact you.
For instance, if they are 'implementing' the core R/3 system, it is unlikely your data will be ready on-time nor that you really should be in there on a fixed price project.
Many Factors Affect Fixed Price ERP Implementation or a SAP BW Project
Of course, many other factors are involved in delivering a successful SAP BW Project, or a SAP Project in general. Many customers might actually be uncomfortable with the knowledge that the SAP Project Manager is actually focused on delivering a profit to his employer, and that the goal of the project, i.e., to deliver a business benefit to the customer, is a co-number one priority.
However, experience indicates that if there is to be any 'extra' leeway granted by the service provider, showing a profit, both on-going and projected, along with a very tightly managed project cost management approach, helps tremendously in securing those resources.
In the SAP BW Project Cost Management world, which is all about datawarehouse concepts and how to deliver their benefits to the customer, scope is very difficult to nail down 100%. In fact, it is basically not done. If you would like help in getting your Project Cost Management techniques down, drop us a line.