• Control on scope
• Strong support from executive management
• Buy-in and involvement of business in the project
• Planned and adequate training
• Effective change management
• Cleanliness of data to be migrated
• Strong and experienced vendor team
• Dedicated core team from the client
• Optimized timelines for the implementation
• Effective cutover plan
• Need based big bang vs. phased implementation approach
• Covering as Many Functions as Possible Within the Scope of the SAP Implementation

• Well planned cutover dates with time for freeze of data
• Regular and milestone backups
• Need based technical or/and functional upgrade
• Adequate training for the new version
• Testing of objects getting affected by upgrade
• Appropriate hardware for the new system
• Correct methodology for upgrade based on business needs
• Identify the right upgrade team comprising of Technology staff, Functional staff, Key Users, Training staff and others
• Timing the upgrade considering the System downtime
• Adjustment of modification done to standard SAP OBJECTS

• A centralized, robust application management and administration solution
• SAP Solution Manager combines tools, content, and direct access to SAP to increase the reliability of solutions and lower total cost of ownership.
• With SAP Solution Manager, you can be sure your entire SAP solution environment is performing at its maximum potential.
• The toolset addresses your entire IT environment, supporting SAP and non-SAP software and covering current and forthcoming SAP solutions.

• It supports the connection between business processes and the underlying IT infrastructure.
• As a result, it eases communication between your IT department and your lines of business

• Commitment and ownership across the client organization
• CITI understanding of the client Landscape
• Complete alignment with clients IT strategy
• Resource capabilities
• Commitment to Service Levels
• Ability to continuously improve the effectiveness of the services
• Transition Approach and Ramp up/Ramp down capabilities
• Effective Change Management
• Efficient communication and escalation process
• Knowledge management procedures
• Key personnel dedicated to the engagement

• The most-frequent inquiry to Gartner from SAP enterprises is “What is best practice for post go-live support of SAP applications?” …
  • These business applications are highly integrated and
  • must keep pace with changing business needs over a 10-year-plus life cycle and at an acceptable TCO.
• To respond to these challenges, most pioneering SAP customers have deployed their own SAP Competence Centers (CCs)
  • to retain SAP product skills within talented experts in their own organization that know how SAP products have been specifically configured to enable their own business processes.

Secret of Success

• Quote from Derek Prior, Gartner Group, at recent conference in Cape-Town:
  • “If I have found one thing in common with all successful SAP implementations, it is that all of them have had a competency centre,” he said.
  • “It has to be a prestigious place to work,
    • in order for businesses to retain the skills necessary to quickly change or extend implementations.

Purpose of CCC

• Central point of contact for the organization with SAP
• Permanent centre of excellence in SAP systems for the organization to support:
  • Implementations
  • Enhancements
  • Maintenance
  • Quality of business processes and systems

Typical Scenario

• Support Desk
  • Application Support
  • Technical Support
• Contract Processing
• License Auditing
• Information Services
• Coordinate Development Requests
• Internal Marketing
• General Consulting
• SAP Programming
• User Training
• On-going implementation support
• New Implementations

• Business process optimization
• Rollout of best business practices to the members of the corporate group
• Consolidation of expertise
• Standard solutions across the corporate group
• A central source of information
• Recognized port of call for users in the corporate group who have questions about any aspect of SAP
• Close proximity to the users and the ability to provide tailor-made support
• Dedicated information just for CCC is available in SAPNet’s CCCNet
• Employee training and qualification at the TeamSAP Academy
• Reduced costs thanks to in-house expertise
• Close partnership with SAP
• Cost of Maintenance
  • Without CCC: 17% of List Price of SAP software
  • With CCC: 17% of Contract Price of SAP software
• Ability to lodge development requests with SAP
• Repository of knowledge of organizations’ SAP system
• Links business knowledge with SAP customization
• Source of advice of SAP for all business units
• Close linkage with SAP for support, eg SAPNet – R/3 Frontend (OSS)
• Access to SAP Support Academy Training (-30%)
• Access to OnLine Knowledge products
• Participate in Ramp-up validation testing of new products
• Access to SAP Online Knowledge Transfer sessions
• Benchmark Reports from other CCCs
• Participation in Customer Reference Program

• The SAP CC is responsible for second-level support of all live SAP applications, enhancement of these applications and acting as an expert internal SAP knowledge center.
• A team of business “power users" is also needed as the first point of contact for end-user problems.
• This team is expert in the actual business processes and present in local business units.
• A single IT help desk is usually deployed to act as one point of contact to capture, log and track all problems needing first-level support.
• Large amounts of dedicated server infrastructure are needed for the SAP applications; some enterprises choose to outsource this operation at the SAP Basis level.