| Topic Name: |
IT & Change Management |
| Message Name: |
Abysmal Continued |
| Date Posted: |
02/25/2002 |
| In Reply To: |
I'm a former change management consultant for Andersen. The internal level of integration between change and ERP package team varied, but SAP faired the worst by far. Despite a formal methodology, the SAP team did not integrate well with change or other service lines for that matter (IMO this is why Andersen elected to dissolve its SAP practice).
SAP consultants would focus entirely on the technical implementation & lose sight of the fact that the client is paying for and expects to see the improvements in operations and business performance that was hinted at by the engagement partner. Technically the implemetation would be flawless and a really nifty application would be added to line worker's desktops. The problem would be that little attention and resources would be focused on getting line workers to understand: a)what business problem is being solved by SAP, b)how is their individual job being impacted & what new skills do they need, and c)what is their role in seeing that SAP gets up and running and helps improve the business. I had to fight internal battles for adequate resoucing to just do the basics. On one occassion I argued that at one remote we should test workers to verify that they had the requisite computer skills to |
| Message: |
undertake SAP training. I was told not to worry since they wuld be just using time and expense reporting. The client pulled its internal instructors off the line in order to teach the course, classrooms were arranged, students arranged their workloads in order to attend training, and the day of training finally arrived. Turns out that 3/4 of the class had never used a computer and that the client had to scramble to pull a basics course together. As a result, a lot of time and expense was wasted, production was delayed even more, etc - the cost of the implementation has just shot up needlessly not to mention the ill will that was built towards the acceptance of SAP as a productivity tool. This is what change mgmt is supposed to circumvent.
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