SAP Project Management


What Is SAP Project Management?

ERP systems are large and complex, involving many modules that include functions from across the organization. Managing the implementation and ongoing maintenance of these systems involves project management. This is where SAP Project Management comes into play. Starting with the implementation, a project management team must make plans for infrastructure, timeline, resources, cost, and integration with other systems and technologies. With ERP implementation projects taking between one and two years, a team of dedicated resources to oversee the project is an integral part of its overall success.

What Is SAP Project Management?

ERP systems are large and complex, involving many modules that include functions from across the organization. Managing the implementation and ongoing maintenance of these systems involves project management. This is where SAP Project Management comes into play. Starting with the implementation, a project management team must make plans for infrastructure, timeline, resources, cost, and integration with other systems and technologies. With ERP implementation projects taking between one and two years, a team of dedicated resources to oversee the project is an integral part of its overall success.

Ongoing maintenance of systems can often be just as complex. SAP project management must plan for functions like moving data between development, test, and production instances, connections between production instances in multiple locations, or the potential centralization of data from distributed instances. In addition, SAP project management teams must plan for downtime for patching both in the ERP instance and in the underlying platform, potentially adding new modules, extending or customizing existing features to provide new functionality, and keeping teams up to date on upcoming features in new releases. With most SAP sites having dozens or hundreds of instances, there is no substitute for a project management team responsible for this.

Key Considerations for SAPinsiders

  • Project management is key to the initial and ongoing success of large SAP projects. The Eczacıbaşı Group is one of the biggest manufacturers of bathroom products in Europe, and when they decided to redesign and update their SAP systems, one of the biggest factors behind their success was their effective project management. Starting with a thorough evaluation of their existing systems and processes, they ensured that they involved members of their business teams at all levels of the process. But having an overall project management team that met regularly to handle any critical issues that came up was a big part of the project’s overall success.
  • With an effectively run project, it’s easier to make your SAP system near perfect. Organizations often aim at ensuring that their SAP implementation is good rather than great in an effort to save time and resources. But this two-part article by Kurt Goldsmith says that, for SAP project managers, achieving a great SAP implementation may actually be easier than a merely good SAP implementation. Consider some of the tactical differences that you can aim for in order to achieve that great implementation, and how to be open minded about the project. Whether you’re implementing a new ERP system, or something much more focused, Goldsmith has great points to help you as a project manager.

7 results

  1. Near-Perfect SAP Is Easier to Achieve than Good SAP Is: Part 2

    Reading time: 17 mins

    In this Part 2 of his Lessons Learned series, SAP simplifier Kurt Goldsmith walks project managers through achieving Near-Perfect SAP projects. What does that mean? Whereas good = easier and great = hard in other contexts, Kurt’s decades of SAP experience have taught him that good = hard while great = easier when it comes…
  2. Near-Perfect SAP Is Easier to Achieve than Good SAP Is: Part 1

    Reading time: 13 mins

    In this Part 1 of his Lessons Learned series, SAP simplifier Kurt Goldsmith, SAP Solutions Director for Tata Consultancy Services, walks project managers through achieving Near-Perfect SAP projects. What does that mean? Whereas good = easier and great = hard in other contexts, Kurt’s decades of SAP experience have taught him that good = hard…
  3. Are You Keeping Up with the Velocity of Innovation?

    Reading time: 4 mins

    The new digital reality, rife with increasing competition and a rapid rate of change, demands the reinvention of existing business models — and sooner rather than later. What if you could not only successfully navigate a swift transition to this new business reality, but also thrive in it? Learn how SAP Digital Business Services helps…
  4. Use Solution Manager Attributes to Help Manage Project Work

    Reading time: 11 mins

    Manager IBM’s D. Russell Sloan walks you through how custom attributes can help you better organize, plan, manage, and monitor work activities during a project. Key Concept Document attributes (e.g., person responsible, document status) provide a way to describe not only the content and ownership of documents, but also help you manage the design, development,…...…
  5. Q&A: How to Ensure Your ERP Project Goes Smoothly

    Reading time: 8 mins

    Management Find out which areas of an ERP implementation are the biggest roadblocks to an on-time and on-budget project and get tips on how to best structure your own project. With many companies loosening the IT purse strings, enterprise IT projects are on the rise. According to the latest forecast from analyst firm Gartner Inc.,…...…
  6. An Overview of cProjects Integration with SAP ERP HCM

    Reading time: 15 mins

    Management SAP’s Collaboration Projects (cProjects) may appear complex as it involves integration with multiple SAP modules and spans multiple SAP systems. However, with a closer look and step-by-step instructions, you will discover that it is a simple and user-friendly application. Key Concept SAP Collaboration Projects (cProjects) is a Web application used by project managers and…...…
  7. Collaboration Projects: An Overview of Business Process Flow, Configuration, and Integration

    Reading time: 20 mins

    At first glance, Collaboration Projects (cProjects) appears to be complex. However, you’ll discover that it can be easy to configure and use. Find out how cProjects can help you manage your projects, and learn how the Workforce Management and middleware integration synchronizes front-end applications with back-end SAP ERP Central Component modules. Key Concept Collaboration Projects…...…