A RISE Implementation

A Vehicle Manufacturing organisation recently embarked on an SAP Transformation project to upgrade their existing SAP ECC solution to a new RISE with SAP Cloud Solution. They elected to adopt SAP standard business process for the majority of their landscape with the exception of their Warehouse module, which a ”lift and shift” approach was agreed upon to keep the impact to a minimum. The changes in this area being an upgrade on their current Warehouse device infrastructure along with implementing Vehicle Management and Marine Traffic modules.

Engaged Business Consultants were brought on to the project from an advisory perspective to aid in building an internal Organisational Change Management (OCM) capability within the organisation as well as guide the adoption journey to the new solution during the course of the project.

An internal SAP team was seconded to the project to serve as Change Agents for the new Solution and lead the adoption of the end user base to the new solution by following industry OCM practices. This team was upskilled by an Engaged OCM Consultant.

The OCM journey commenced with a Change Impact Assessment phase where an As-Is vs To-Be analysis was conducted with input from key Business Stakeholders down to a process level. The findings were documented, impacts and gaps were identified, rated according to severity and solutioned for by the Change Agent team. Based of the outcomes of this assessment a training curriculum and approach was developed.

A blended training approach was agreed upon where end user training would be deployed through multiple mediums dependant on the respective target audiences. This included classroom facilitator led training, e-learning courses developed on the SAP EnableNow authoring tool, reference guides and Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) documents where business context was added. Engaged provided Training Developers to capture System simulations that were packaged in e-Learning courses structured for their End User target audiences. The development process was managed and tracked by the Engaged OCM Consultant.

The end user training phase commenced two months prior to go the Go-Live date with the internal Change Agent team leading the classroom training sessions. A buffer for for post go live training was catered for where refresher or on the job training was required as well as for topics where a just-in time approach was deemed best, such as Month-End closing training.

A key aspect of the OCM approach was to deploy effective and continues communication and engagement with the business throughout the lifecycle of the projects. This started with kick off sessions where the business was taken through topics such as the purpose and approach of the project, the timelines and critically their required involvement during the project. The deployment of “brown bag” sessions where short engagements during lunch or coffee breaks to demo exciting new applications or functionality that came with the SAP Cloud solution were very well received. Communication was deployed through email blasts, desktop flyers and info monitors that were stationed around the offices and canteens. This led to the business being well informed and prepared for Go-Live period.

As a whole the OCM initiative was a success with several key factors playing a role. Some of these being secondment of an internal team towards the Organisational Change Effort, the adherence of this team to industry Organisational Change Management practices, effective communication and engagement from this team with the business network throughout the project as well as having an end user base that was matured and accustomed to SAP practices and principles having been on SAP ECC prior.