Service Snapshot: SAP Optimisation and Leverage

SAP provides massive opportunities for change and improvements in processes. For many organisations early decisions in a SAP roll-out have impacts that are not optimal. It can be difficult to see a way out. Our specialised consultants can help find the way, and understand how to map this cost-effectively.

Penumbra will give you a fresh perspective and a new appoach.

Challenge

Fully realising a Return on Investment with SAP can be more complicated than expected.

Many organisations find it difficult to admit to mistakes made early in blueprinting stages of an SAP deployment. Some key decisions that seem to make sense from a top-down perspective can have profound effects on people working operationally with SAP, requiring extra effort and workarounds.

The associated effort and frustration is not accounted for in the roll-out success stories, but these are the realities that people work with, often citing SAP as being the root of all the problems.

It is all too easy to see such stories as a sign of partial failure, and often people are just told to get on with it. Sometimes process improvement projects such as SixSigma and Lean approaches can define radical changes in process that do not seem to be compatible with SAP.

We have seen situations where organisations were not made aware during design and implementation of:

• alternative methods of working with SAP,
• alternative configuration options
• the ability to simply use the system in different ways

Whilst occasionally it can be difficult to find quick wins, our experience shows that through a creative approach, new ways of looking at the problems will offer new opportunities for change.

We have found that given the opportunity, organisations welcome the ability to be shown alternative approaches, without having to enter into a context of blame and responsibility.

Solution

It is often important to get an alternative view, and a fresh approach in order to find new opportunities for improvement. Penumbra has a pragmatic approach to technology. This is particularly the case when working with systems like SAP.

At Penumbra we have worked on major SAP implementations, acting for and on behalf of organisations, as well as gate-keeping and refereeing between the business and third party suppliers. We have been asked to remedy implementations that have gone wrong and set them back on course. We have worked with interdisciplinary teams to troubleshoot implementations and define new methods and processes to allow the business to perform better.

By using talented and passionate individuals we can offer a solution that is far more cost-effective than involving large teams of consultants.

Whether an organisation is involved in

• intractable master data problems,
• bad process mapping,
• costly workarounds by front-line staff,
• staff resistance to change,
• or simple system inflexibility

Penumbra can help.

Benefits

We bring this type of experience to bear, along with our ability to manage implementation changes in unusually small teams, to allow organisations to:

• See some creative alternatives to the current state
• Understand how the available options will affect their business
• Make real choices with a cost-effective approach
• Drive greater return on investment

Furthermore, linking with our Research group and our Organisational Development group, we can help organisations

• identify exactly what is not working well,
• help to develop a willingness for change.

For some new approaches to SAP Optimisation and Leverage, call us at Penumbra.