This book is your A-to-Z guide to outsourcing your SAP operations.
It explains every aspect relevant for decision-makers to decide if,
when, what. and how to outsource production support.
The author carefully ponders all outsourcing models - from
outsourcing targeted SAP solutions to complete landscapes. He
explains the pro s and the con s of every option, and helps you to
understand the risks and the potentials. Case studies from large
SAP organizations illustrate the different models and help you in
making decisions easily and quickly.
Yosh Eisbart began his SAP career in 1995 as a consultant for Ernst & Young (now Cap Gemini). Today, he s Director of the SAP Service Line/SAP Consulting Services at Comsys, an IT service provider and consulting firm with headquarters in Houston, TX. During his 14 years of SAP consulting he s worked on numerous SAP implementations across the globe and with only few exceptions every project has leveraged outsourcing in some capacity. Yosh is intimately familiar with the decision-making process, application, pro s/con s, engagement arrangements, relationship construct, etc. Yosh has been involved in both the decision on whether to employ this alternative (in numerous forms), and how it actually operates. Yosh also published on the topic of outsourcing and others multiple times (among others, for SAP NetWeaver Magazine) and speaks at conferences.
Inhaltsangabe
Foreword by Bridgette Chambers, ASUG CEO 15 Preface 19 Introduction 27 1 Who -- Determining Whether Outsourcing is Right for Your Organization 35 1.1 Corporate Culture and Executive Influence 37 1.2 SAP Components Best-Suited for Outsourcing 38 1.3 SAP Components not Best-Suited for Outsourcing 41 1.4 Limits of Full-Time Employee Hiring/Quick Hit Temporary Project Work 43 1.5 Organization Size 43 1.6 SAP as Software: Its Complexity, Integration, and Inherent Challenges 46 1.7 Summary: The Perfect Organization Best-Suited for SAP Outsourcing 47 2 Why -- Potential Reasons why Outsourcing Might Make Sense for Your Organization 49 2.1 Cost 49 2.2 Objectivity 50 2.3 Expertise 51 2.4 Inherent Standardization Advantage 54 2.5 Specific SAP Initiatives 57 2.6 Focus on Internal Core Capabilities 63 2.7 Reasons Why NOT to Outsource your SAP Operations 65 2.8 Summary 66 3 What is SAP Outsourcing? The Various Flavors 67 3.1 Baseline: The Various Flavors of SAP Outsourcing 67 3.2 Specific SAP Outsourcing Models 79 3.3 Summary 90 4 When -- Timing and Transition 91 4.1 Choosing the Proper Timeframe 91 4.2 Timing for Post-Production Support Outsourcing 92 4.3 SAP Methodologies' Impact on Timing 95 4.4 Managing Change 99 4.5 Control Advisory Board 103 5 Implementations and Upgrades 107 5.1 ASAP (Focus) Methodology 107 5.2 Outsourcing by ASAP Phase 111 5.3 Using SAP Solution Manager during Implementations 123 5.4 Using the Custom Development Management Cockpit (CDMC) for Upgrade Preparation 135 6 Production Support 139 6.1 SAP Production Support Models 139 6.2 SAP's Run SAP Methodology and its Advantages 144 6.3 SAP Enterprise Support 148 6.4 SAP Business Processes and Technical Areas that Work Well for Outsourced Production Support 151 6.5 Tools to Optimize your Production Support Center 153 6.6 Managing Work Effort 163 7 Global Delivery 171 7.1 The Basics 171 7.2 Center of Excellence (COE) 175 7.3 The Rise of the Customer Competence Center and the Center of Expertise 178 7.4 Summary 182 8 Engagement Construct 183 8.1 Primary Models 184 8.2 The Role of Key Management 196 8.3 Conclusion 201 9 Selecting a Partner 203 9.1 Understanding What You Need (not Want) 204 9.2 Overview of Various SAP Partner Types 204 9.3 Establishing Baseline Criteria 207 9.4 The Selection Process Lifecycle 213 9.5 The RFX -- Structured Deliverables Used in the Selection of a Partner 218 9.6 SAP Accreditations 226 9.7 Screening Process 231 9.8 Alternative Sourcing Models 234 9.9 Exit Strategy 239 10 Large Enterprise 243 10.1 Unique Large Enterprise advantages and their Maximization 243 10.2 The Role of SAP in the Large Enterprise World 248 10.3 Strong SAP Alignment 250 10.4 Bleeding-Edge SAP Technology 251 10.5 Large Enterprise Consultant Modeling 253 10.6 Summary 255 11 The Midmarket Space 257 11.1 Unique Midmarket Challenges 258 11.2 The SAP Super-Super User Alternative 263 11.3 Stretching your SAP Dollar: Outsourcing Options 265 11.4 Summary 273 12 The Value of IT Standardization 275 12.1 Why bother with standardization? 276 12.2 Implementing Strong IT Practices -- IT Process Frameworks, Industry Standards, and Other Tools 277 12.3 A Simple, Common Sense Approach to IT Process Standardization and Improvement 283 12.4 Standardization in SAP Environments 290 12.5 IT Processes -- Where to Start 292 12.6 Other Tools for IT Process Standardization 297 12.7 Summary 300 13 The Role of the Integration Manager 303 13.1 The Integration Manager: A Definition 304 13.2 An Integration Manager's Persona: Characteristics and Attributes 306 13.3 The Role of the Integration Manager and the Relationship to the Control Advisory Board 307 13.4 Necessity versus Nicety 311 13.5 The Integration Manager from your Offsite Partner 313 13.6 The Integration Manager's Counterpart: The Offsite Delivery Support Manager 315 13.7 Summary 315 14 Service Level Agreements 317 14.1 Establishing SLAs 318 14.2 SLA Supporting Tools 323 14.3 SLA Guidelines and Determining Factors 325 14.4 Summary 329 15 Conclusion 331 A Sample Request For Information Document 339 B Sample Request for Proposal 347 C Sample Statement of Work 361 D SAP Screening Process 369 E The Author 371 Index 373
