We know that an SAP S/4HANA project requires fore­thought as well as flex­i­bil­i­ty and patience. We also know that bumps in the road are inevitable, and the best way to han­dle them is to be prepared. 

In this three-part series, we dis­cuss com­mon fac­tors that lead to failed projects. We break down the steps an orga­ni­za­tion can take to avoid fail­ures as well as how to plan for bet­ter deci­sion-mak­ing. ASUG News sat down with John Belden, project exe­cu­tion audit prac­ti­cal lead at UpperEdge, an orga­ni­za­tion that helps cus­tomers nego­ti­ate their deals with SAP and sys­tems inte­gra­tors (SIs).

John has more than 30 years of expe­ri­ence imple­ment­ing SAP sys­tems. In the first part of this series, he iden­ti­fied com­mon traits that can lead to a failed project and the ear­ly first steps orga­ni­za­tions can take to avoid them. In the sec­ond part, he dis­cuss­es the crit­i­cal first steps an orga­ni­za­tion should take for the imple­men­ta­tion phase. He also cov­ers who should be at the table and how to plan for high-lev­el deci­sion-mak­ing and set bud­get expec­ta­tions. In this final arti­cle in the series, we dis­cuss how to part­ner with the right SI, what role the con­sul­tant should play, and con­sid­er­a­tions for change management. 

Sharon: What should cus­tomers con­sid­er when part­ner­ing with a sys­tems integrator?