This mid-market property management company was surprisingly reasonable. With $6 million already invested in their Phase 1 ERP implementation, they hadn't finished their blueprint and a critical design decision had stopped the project in its tracks.

SAP was called in to review the design. They recommended a change that had the support of several key team members. But the system integrator was unwilling to embrace the proposed change. They were following a static work plan and the change would have required significant rework.

The problem with predefined implementation plans is that they are inherently inflexible, and they tend to keep users at a distance while the consultants go about configuring the system. They can work for industries where it's been done many times before. But that was not the case, so there was greater risk that something could go wrong.

Property Management is a relatively new vertical market for SAP and customers are still learning how to configure the system to best facilitate the functionality and reporting mechanisms.

Every building is a separate entity, so it makes sense to create a new company code for each building. Frequent, ongoing changes to the organization structure within SAP is unusual, but certainly an acquire-to-retire business process could be defined to incorporate org. structure changes with master data setup.

The client preferred the advantages in the proposed design, so they fired the SI and brought on a new team. Our first priority was to develop a new work plan around Conference Room Pilot (CRP) sessions rather than traditional design and playback sessions. We also brought on an MDM lead to implement data governance policies and integrate master data processes with changes to the organization structure in SAP.

The new approach worked as expected. Following the old plan, users were unclear on whether the proposed design would work and felt uncomfortable with the process. But now they were responsible for leading the CRP sessions and were able to see the impact of their design decisions first-hand.

The teams quickly adapted to the new project plan and the simple set of metrics we developed to track progress. Unity was restored and we were off and running.

If you are up against a stalled or failed IT project, give us a call. A comprehensive IT project review can be conducted in a day or two. You'll then have the insight and means to correct the problems and get back on track. Also take note of our Business Intelligence for the Mid-market try before you buy, no risk engagement.