The current project management for S/4 Hana

All IT departments have gained a lot of experience through the projects and have developed knowledge in project management. There are often proven standards of processes and checklists from the past that ensure successful implementation. It is only when projects threaten to get out of hand that some mistakes become apparent. One essential point must be considered even before project management is carried out: to take all dependent developments into account.

In the past few years, we were used to the fact that the general conditions hardly changed at all, or only slowly. But in the past two years alone, we have been taught otherwise. Not only the number, but also the speed of the framework conditions has increased massively, which has a direct impact on project management. Currently, the main issues are the interrupted supply chains, lack of human resources and the economic impact caused by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

However, there are also wrong approaches in project management that cause considerable problems. Here is an example from personal experience in S/4 projects: In most cases, the S/4 project is initiated by the IT or SAP department and set up in program management as an IT project. It is only during project management that the business departments are formally involved and earmarked for collaboration. However, this already preprograms failure, because the added value should lie in the business and not in IT. Therefore, after the project has been approved by the decision-makers and before the S/4 project management has been defined, an appropriate time window must be planned for convincing the business departments. The advantages must be clearly communicated and the change requests must be taken into account accordingly. Without the motivated cooperation of the specialist departments, most S/4 project goals will be missed and the effort will usually be significantly exceeded.

In project management, the SAP Activate method has proven itself well, even if there is room for improvement. I would recommend putting all the major phases out to tender individually to ensure that the consulting companies also provide the necessary knowledge for the phases concerned through hearings. A particularly large amount of time should be planned for the Explore phase, in order to pick up and motivate the specialist departments accordingly, as already mentioned. The greater time spent in the Explore phase often shortens the Realize phase.

The right project management methods are also crucial for a successful project. In the S/4 transformation, both the waterfall method and the agile method (or more recently the two methods as a hybrid approach) are used. Each project manager has his or her "hobby horses." The important thing here is to use all methods unerringly and to train employees accordingly.

The subject of project management knows no boundaries, but the outcome still depends on people. The profiles and knowledge of the project manager and staff are still crucial. Without social competence, assertiveness, motivation and the specialist knowledge, the corresponding S/4 projects cannot be implemented successfully. This brings us right into the middle of the current headlines about the lack of human resources. IT and SAP have been affected by these for quite some time, but due to the current framework conditions, most industries are now.

The S/4 transformation has already been strongly influenced by the pandemic, but the current framework conditions result in further challenges. Only qualified people, planned framework conditions and the right project management lead together to the goal.