Achieving Smooth SAP Change Management by Targeting Three Birds with One Stone

Every organization using SAP has likely gone through a change management process at least once. While a necessary step in the digital transformation journey, it can be filled with challenges that may disrupt efficiency and process stability, delaying projects and affecting end-user experience.

To find out more about key pain points in SAP change management and how to prevent and address them, SAPinsider spoke to Franz Hiltscher, director of SAP solutions at REALTECH, a leading SAP management software provider.

Most common challenges

The first major challenge that organizations face during SAP change management is the reliance on manual workflows. While a common and known method of gathering data, Excel is frequently used manually, making the process time-consuming and prone to errors. In particular, Hiltscher explained, “it can lead to delays, bottlenecks and inconsistencies due to human mistakes and fragmented data handling.”

Another common problem that organizations face is the quality of SAP transports, also known as a package of data transfer from one SAP installation to another. According to the SAP solutions director, it is crucial to ensure that only fully verified and complete transports are integrated into a company’s systems to prevent stability and security issues. Otherwise, IT leaders may face risks such as critical objects, incomplete transports, poor code quality, collisions and overtakers and object dependencies.

The final challenge that Hiltscher described is the lack of integration. “Many companies orchestrate SAP change management in ITSM tools such as ServiceNow or Jira. However, they often struggle with the challenge of continuously synchronizing tasks between these systems,” Hiltscher stated. “This process is not only labor-intensive and time-consuming but also prone to errors.

“While integrating SAP into broader ITSM workflows offers significant benefits, achieving the desired flexibility, transparency and efficiency requires focused automation.”

Smoothing SAP change management process with automation

So, what is there to do for organizations? According to Hiltscher, in today’s world, you can actually ‘kill two birds with one stone’ – in this case, even three.

Designed to target key SAP change management challenges, REALTECH’s automation solution SmartChange for SAP software deployment is one example of a product that could help IT leaders build the right strategy.

For instance, if you are struggling to move away from reliance on manual workflows, SmartChange can address the challenge by automating workflows and defining a clear order of tasks, enhancing speed and efficiency and reducing error risks.

Similarly, with transport quality issues, the software is designed to address all risks associated with it by offering automated import prevention of incomplete transports, predefined security and performance standards, collision checks for transport requests and cross-SAP line dependencies between transports, allowing you to influence both the sequence and the way they are grouped.

The third challenge – or bird – can also be targeted with SmartChange. Specifically, the software provides an integration framework that connects SAP with ITSM tools such as ServiceNow or Jira, allowing a smooth information flow and process automation.

After all, who doesn’t appreciate simplicity and straightforward processes? With the right solution for your organization, SAP change management does not have to be a pain – it can be a smooth ride toward another digital transformation success story.