Paul Drage has been transforming retail organisations for 20 years in his role as an SAP S/4HANA Programme Manager. Paul recently went live on SAP Network+ to share five things that can hugely influence the success of an S/4HANA implementation in retail. Here’s a summary of what we learned:
To get Paul’s full, detailed advice on implementing S/4HANA in retail, click here.
Know your WHY
The success of S/4HANA programmes is largely influenced by the water cooler conversations in your organisation. So, with this in mind, is there a really simple elevator pitch that everyone in the programme can get behind to understand why this transformation is happening? Everyone from the chief executive to the shop floor.
Whatever it is, it needs to be shared and understood by everyone.
Effective internal and external resourcing
You need highly respected and influential internal people to join the programme. Those that really want to be on the project, will stand behind the elevator pitch and see it as a growth opportunity. These are going to be your change agents.
The challenge is often that the business can be reluctant to let these people go. But bringing these people into the programme will accelerate it – as it will bring key perspectives to the design/planning process and encourage teams to be supportive of the transformation.
And when looking externally, it’s critical that you’ve understood the skills gaps, have clear deliverables and partner with an organisation that can talk your language and won’t pull the wool over your eyes.
This is not an IT upgrade
When businesses begin a transformation from ECC to S/4, it can sometimes be treated like an iphone upgrade. So, a lot of businesses will begin the design phase with an agile/hybrid methodology – thinking this is the most appropriate. But the reality is that SAP doesn’t work by itself – it has an ecosystem that it needs to connect to – so a waterfall methodology is much more effective in the design phase.
This will help you ensure the design works for all of the key processes (end-to-end, across all platforms). The commonality between all processes will be the data – the key to success is getting the data model right. And then once you get into delivery, then it’s okay to consider agile and hybrid methodologies so you can see tangible benefits early.
Clear governance is critical
Once the transformation begins, people can get really excited and go into the design phase without clear governance. But it’s critical that the business teams driving the transformation are also in control of governance and sign off on what it will mean for their teams.
They need a crystal clear understanding from day one of responsibilities, accountabilities (RACI), budget control processes, the communication plan, planning approach etc. Without these, things can spin out of control very quickly. Having this governance in place will prevent scope creep.
Start early
Although the data model and integration standards will change from one implementation to another – there are certain things that can be done upfront. For example, getting data formatted correctly for the new system, removing duplicate products and vendors, engaging with suppliers and agreeing the key design principles. Getting these things done upfront will accelerate progress.
To get Paul’s full, detailed advice on implementing S/4HANA in retail, click here.
