Pause.  (Thought bubble appears).

Why don’t I have access?  I used to be able to create purchase orders.  I need to be able to do this.  Why is my manager stopping me from doing my job?

(Sound of pencil snapping).

“Rob, can I borrow your SAP password to create this purchase order?  Need to get this invoice paid today, otherwise the vendor is not going to deliver the stock we need!”

Sound familiar?  Read on as we share our years of experience to help ensure that your organisation’s expenditure in SAP includes a comprehensive governance framework to ensure that this situation doesn’t occur.

Oh, and what’s the likely cost to your business if you get it wrong?

$3.08 million.

That’s the average loss to an organisation which experiences fraud, according to a recent KPMG report,[i] which also found that 91% of frauds are carried out by an individual with no known history of dishonesty, and 2012 saw an 82% increase in individual frauds exceeding $1 million.  And you’ve just spent how much on that SAP implementation or security remediation project?  Our tips below will help ensure that your investment is secure, so you’re less likely to become the next statistic in the news.

Tip 1: Integrate Security in every SAP project, from Blueprint onwards

Data governance is typically given top priority in any SAP project, and security is often the last thing to be considered (or sometimes even scrapped until after Go Live, which is painful!)  Yet it’s just as important, and should be integrated in every project, right from the Blueprint phase.  This requires executive sponsorship, team integration, effective stakeholder engagement and training, which are just as important as effective access control and risk analysis tools, such as SAP GRC.

Tip 2: Mix business with Security, consistently

It’s critical that SAP Security is not viewed as a technical IT function, separate from the business requirements…that inevitably results in “Damned security!” frustration.  Functional Consultants need to dovetail their design with the goals of Security, then work with the business to ensure that practical solutions result, meeting the needs of the business while providing the required governance.  This is where expert change management guidance will help bring the parties together effectively, and assist with facilitating quality process mapping and business validation, and role design and role mapping that everyone understands well before the access is provisioned.

Ultimately, proper security governance facilitates Best Practice business processes, and ensures that these are sustained, which results in your SAP return on investment being realised over the long term.

It might sound obvious, but don’t forget to engage with the Internal Audit team also!

Tip 3: Test effectively

Security is often overlooked during the Test phase of a project (or unable to be tested, if the role design was not considered early enough).  SAP Best Practice is to conduct User Acceptance Testing with the security roles which will be used in Production, to provide a comprehensive testing regime (both positive and negative testing) which will minimise the number of unexpected access restrictions (or segregation of duties risks) arising at Go Live.

Don’t compromise your SAP system

Case study:

A greenfield implementation was running behind schedule, with process mapping and security role design partially incomplete when UAT commenced.  As a result, testing could not be done with the final roles.  The result at Go Live?  A large number of users could not perform key tasks, so the decision was made to drastically broaden the Production roles to allow the business to function.  This in turn exposed the business to high fraud risk for the interim period.  The resulting role re-design, re-mapping and re-provisioning into the Production environment consumed time and energy which should have been spent bedding down the system.  The total costs subsequently blew out.[ii]

Nobody likes to have something enforced which they don’t understand the rationale for, yet security is often imposed as a “rule” without explaining the reasons why.  This is a critical piece of the engagement exercise, which should commence early and ideally expand to an organisation-wide cultural acknowledgment of security principles and their practical application, in the same way that safety awareness is embedded in today’s organisations.  Executives and the governance team should also be included, to drive engagement and demonstrate commitment from the top.

Furthermore, cultivating a culture of awareness among staff enhances even the best system controls.  In Australian organisations, 35% of fraud is detected through a tip off, both by internal and external sources and through formalised whistleblower programs.[iii]  Training staff in what to look for and identifying the ‘Red Flags’ of fraud is an invaluable fraud mitigation and detection tool. All organisations, regardless of size, should consider a security awareness training program, including:

Educate staff to build vigilance

• Fraud awareness
• A whistleblower program that staff trust
• Maintaining and promoting fraud reporting channels
• Data security

It’s not just about fraud.  The Age of Data is by definition also the Age of Data Breaches.  The average cost of a data breach to an Australian enterprise increased to $2.72 million last year,[iv] and if your business is managing sensitive customer data with SAP CRM, your security framework can’t be limited to the SAP ECC system.

Tip 5: Finish strongly

As Go-Live approaches, project teams have to set up new users, provision access and perform final checks, and ensure that user accounts activate on day one and not before.  These activities all need to be perfectly timed to ensure minimal disruption to the business, and if security is understood and integrated with the project team’s objectives, success is far more likely.

Tip 6: Ensure that the security model is sustainable

After Go Live, there are inevitably alterations to roles required, so all changes must go through a rigorous risk analysis and acceptance process to ensure that the good work done in role design is not unwound.  A sustainable governance model should include regular “Working Group” meetings, with Role Owners, Risk Owners and Internal Audit involved.  The SAP GRC toolset provides ample reporting capability for review of risks and mitigating control compliance, but this only yields value if the information is reviewed regularly.

Case study:

An operational manager of a large manufacturing company had detailed knowledge of the invoicing systems which enabled them to create fraudulent invoices inflating the costs of regular supply of goods and services from a third party. In addition, the employee had responsibility for the management of asset disposal, and had the ability to write down stock to minimal value. This stock was then sold on the secondary market for a significant profit.

The total estimated loss was in the range of AUD 8 million. [v]

In an era of exponentially increasing data and interconnected IT systems, the potential for misuse of data is increasing correspondingly.  Likewise, there are more and more technical and consulting offerings; some tried and true, others recent and untested.  Recognise the limits of your expertise and engage trusted help early, where you need to.

With the correct application of the latest risk analysis and management tools, combined with a strategic and practical change management program to achieve implementation and sustainability, not just installation, you’ll achieve the best possible security outcomes.

Don’t think of it as money spent; think of it as $3.08 million saved.

The post Effective SAP Security through Engagement appeared first on Adapt2 Consulting.

As SAUG members will know, this is the flagship event in the SAUG calendar, and highlights this year include:

Keep up to date with the latest in SAP

• 8 keynote presentations and 45+ customer presentations covering over 20 SAP solutions

• Dedicated SAP HANA Workshop, presented by Jeff Word, VP Product Strategy, Database & Technology, SAP

• 25+ service and solution providers in the Exhibition area

As with all SAUG events, it’s a great opportunity to network and share learnings, and the Welcome Networking drinks on Wednesday 11th September provides an ice-breaker to unite fellow SAUG members, SAP customers, SIG Leads, SAP Mentors and others.

The agenda promises an enticing mix of  tech news, world-renowned SAP experts, and case studies from both the private and public sectors.

Registration is available at the SAUG National Summit 2013 webpage and closes on the 9th September.

The post SAUG National Summit 2013 – Sydney 11,12 September appeared first on Adapt2 Consulting.

With WPB you can push help content to the user, directly in SAP

What is it?

Formerly datango Performance Suite, the leading product in the workforce enablement space, SAP acquired the software (and staff) in February 2012 and had it re-branded for sale as SAP Workforce Performance Builder by March 2012.  Enhancements were swift, with 17 languages and other functionality added to customise it for optimal SAP integration.

It consists of 4 components:

• Instant Producer – simple, intuitive recording by any key user or SME
• Producer – enhanced content development
• Manager – content revision, versioning, and reporting
• Navigator – content-sensitive help pushed to the user directly in SAP

This video overview explains the product in more detail.

Why is it so promising?

• It’s customised for SAP, therefore has higher content accuracy and quality than other tools, which means less editing and lower development costs;
• It offers rapid content creation with more formats from a single recording than other tools;
• It has been built with mobile learning in mind – single source content can be used for both desktop and mobile playback without the need for a separate recording;
• It’s integrated within SAP, allowing field-level help to be pushed to the user, rather than the user having to open another application (which aligns with the way learning is headed, as outlined in this Inside SAP article on learning trends); and
• It’s excellent at creating content for other software applications as well, giving added value and facilitating consistent content across your suite of learning materials.

More importantly though, SAP has a brilliant roadmap for the product, so the functionality is going to get better rapidly. Major releases will occur every year, and support packs will be released quarterly.

The 9.2 release, due in March 2013, will integrate with Solution Manager, so that process changes recorded in SolMan can be directly exported to the Manager component in Workforce Performance Builder. Quicker updates and neat integration – nice.

Like to know more?

Adapt2 Consulting staff are certified to train SAP Workforce Performance Builder and we are very passionate about its potential.  If you are interested in learning more about Workforce Performance Builder, seeing a demonstration, or receiving training, contact us.

If you like the content on our site, use the LinkedIn Follow button at the top of the page to have our blog posts delivered directly to your feed.

The post SAP Workforce Performance Builder software is gaining momentum appeared first on Adapt2 Consulting.

SAUG – Keep up to date with the latest

The SAUG Canberra Forum has been scheduled for the 13th of March 2013, at the Canberra Park Hyatt.

As SAUG members will know, this is an invaluable, one-day annual event.  It provides a forum for more than 150 public sector professionals to discuss challenges unique to their SAP landscape.  It’s a great opportunity to network and share learnings.

Attendees will include representatives from Australian federal, state and local government agencies. Whether you are an SAP program director, a business process manager or a solution architect, this event will provide information that is valuable to your role.

Speaking places are available, which can benefit you, your organisation, and other SAP professionals.  Submit a speaker form early to secure a place.

Registration is available at the SAUG Canberra Forum 2013 webpage.

The post SAUG Canberra Forum – 13 March 2013 appeared first on Adapt2 Consulting.

The new solution from SAP helps customers minimize those risks that could lead to catastrophic events and compromise business continuity, not to mention managing smaller events – similar goals to that of the existing incident management solution, which for ECC6.0 users is part of the Environment, Health and Safety module.

Successful deployment…provided there is effective change management

The standard solution is very popular with large mining companies, with it recently being rolled out by miner MMG for their sites in Queensland and Western Australia.

What’s new about the latest offering is the fact that it’s part of the SAP rapid-deployment solutions suite, which come packaged with software, pre-configured content and pre-defined services that streamline the implementation process at a fixed price and within a designated timeframe. According to SAP, companies can have a full system up and running typically within 90 days with fewer costs and risks.  This will appeal to smaller organisations who wish to enhance their OHS system capability quickly with limited resources.

Other Rapid Deployment Solutions currently available from SAP include health and safety, product and safety, stewardship, product life-cycle management and energy management.

These new SAP solutions, which offer short implementation timelines, are fantastic news for customers.  However, they make the need for effective and engaging change management, communication and training more acute than ever.  There is virtually no room for error with these timeframes, and regardless of the technology, the key remains, as always, user adoption.

Considering a project which needs to succeed under tight time pressures?  Ask us for help.

The post SAP’s Rapid Deployment Solutions Suite Increases appeared first on Adapt2 Consulting.

– Anon.

This article is featured in Inside SAP magazine’s Summer 2012 edition – click to view the magazine

You’ve just started with a new employer and have had the safety induction, been introduced to the key people and have been shown your work station.  You’re excited, nervous and wondering what to expect next.  The company runs SAP, so applying your initiative, you search through the intranet for support content, but you are unable to find any online SAP training materials, guides or any useful information.  You have been assigned a buddy, Joe, who gives you some old printed materials, which he advises are about 40% out of date.  Your boss asks you to get going in SAP.  As you have no access yet, Joe lends you his user ID…and he lets you watch him, as part of the two-day handover.  Joe’s very disenchanted with the company, seems to be disorganised and does not seem to follow the correct processes.  You’re very nervous to transact in the live system, as you know that you will be held responsible for any mistakes, once Joe is gone.  The only form of support is an online Helpdesk service, but requests for help take days to be answered and only provide a transactional answer – without explaining the process.

After a week, your level of confidence hasn’t improved. It seems like everyone you meet has their own system “workaround”.  People openly grumble about SAP, and the quality of data is poor and getting worse by the day.  Excel is being used to produce management reports. You are surprised that even the most basic tasks in SAP seem like an enormous challenge for people, and yet, you’ve seen the system work so well elsewhere. What makes the situation even most astonishing is that the implementation project concluded only a year ago, and was reported to have cost around $50m. You wonder whether this company is really for you…

Owning intellectual property is like owning land. You need to keep investing in it again and again to get payoff.” -  Esther Dyson

This all-too-familiar scenario arises easily, and it starts with the project handover.  Training is the item most often identified as the single greatest determinant of success, during post-implementation project reviews [i], yet it’s still the item which is most likely to have funds de-allocated during an implementation.  If training and change management is not done effectively for Go Live, the project obviously suffers.  However, it is the Business As Usual (BAU) training environment that is the key to realising the return on the investment over the long term.

Providing quality, ongoing training does not have to be expensive. By applying the latest learner-centric approaches, it costs less than ever before.  The ubiquity of screens (PCs, laptops, tablets and phones) in today’s workplace means that users are more comfortable with training content and support materials being accessed online and printed only when required, or never.  Content is thus more easily updated as the system is enhanced, compared to the “printed manual” approach of ten years ago.  The latest tools for recording eLearning simulations, such as SAP Workforce Performance Builder, are all about rapid development of content, requiring less expertise for developers, and also permit field-level, context-sensitive help and process guidance.  This means that process and business rule help is pushed to the user directly when they are populating fields in SAP, without having to invoke help menus.

Maintain your learning ecosystem to get the most out of your IT investment

The result is better training support for learners, integrated in the system, demonstrating the “why” and the “how”.  A linked LMS or training portal (such as KnowHow) further enhances the overall learning experience, delivering relevant courses directly to users, and participation and completion can be easily monitored. And by capitalising on the use of social media, wikis and forums, users can generate and update shared materials; such as a user forum where upcoming changes can be announced, or questions asked.  This enables self-help and cultivates engagement, while ensuring that the management team has visibility of process adherence.  It’s cheaply available, now.  And rather than incurring the overhead and inefficiency of permanent training staff, expert trainers can be called in for on-demand sessions only as required, for example, when there are multiple new starters or a process has changed.

The result of all this is a training ecosystem which is targeted, easily accessible and up-to-date; as a result, users will use it and be effective in the system.  Calls to the helpdesk go down, user productivity goes up, data quality is retained, and you have a platform for future enhancements.  In short, the very benefits the project was intended to deliver.

The right training keeps a business running smoothly

Clearly, the maintenance of BAU training content and business processes is critical to achieving the return on your SAP project spend.

At Adapt2 Consulting, we believe that attending to the upkeep, using the latest approaches, will deliver years of productivity gains from your systems and people, at a fraction of the cost of inaction.  Need help?  Ask us how.

The post Maintaining your SAP Investment appeared first on Adapt2 Consulting.

Could this be love?

Apparently, over 60% of songs are about love and relationships. Love is certainly something worth singing about, especially if you are in love. But what if you love SAP…what do you listen to then? There are no SAP love songs, are there?

Well, actually, Yes there are. As the year draws to a close, and everyone is starting to think more about Christmas parties and summer holidays than work, and perhaps, after an arduous year, questioning their love of SAP, I thought it would be timely to dust off and share a couple of rather obscure tracks which you may not have come across before.

The first is a lovely ballad called SAP Is What You Need, by the curiously named Me and the Heat, (who are, according to their Facebook page, one of the most successful bands in Germany). The Germans may have cracked the ERP market worldwide, however, the same cannot be said for their music industry. Still, it’s a pure love serenade… best enjoyed with a glass of red wine, a fireplace, and a well-thumbed copy of something thick from SAP Press, it really has the power to bring a tear to your eye…

“….You are so proud to appear, now, in the world wide web….”

“But where the hell’d you get your business…… intelli-gence…?”

Indeed.

Now, if syrupy lyrics are not your thing, fear not, as I have another gem for you, this time a snappy little rap number called ERP of the Century. Brought to you by a creative agency called Morsekode, it went straight to the top of the charts worldwide. Or should have….

“…1972, five crazy cats sprung a rung from the big blue….”

“…Netweaver..? You best believe ‘er…she’s bringing it together cleaner than beaver cleaver”

On that note, I’m signing off for the year. Wishing everyone a safe and happy festive season from Adapt2 Consulting, and a very successful 2013. If you find yourself having any doubts, just remember, SAP is what you need.

- ERP of the Century used with the permission of Morsekode – thanks guys. Lyrics by Angelique Mastoroudes.

The post From the Archives – SAP Songs appeared first on Adapt2 Consulting.

SAP vs. Oracle in India – who will win?

Oracle and SAP are going head-to-head for market share in India, where enterprises are spending more than ever before on technology.

In the past few weeks, California-based Oracle, once a pure database specialist, has published advertisements specifically targeting the clients of SAP, the world’s largest business software maker.

India is the main game for global growth opportunities. According to research by Gartner, India will spend an estimated US$3.5 billion on enterprise software in 2012. Further raising the stakes, Gartner believes that India will be the fastest-growing enterprise software market for at least the next four years.

Cloud adoption in India, which has been slow until now, will start seeing “healthy adoption” in the country by 2013-2014, according to Gartner. This could give SAP the edge, due to its emphatic push into this space.

One thing is for sure – the fight is one to watch.

The post Oracle, SAP fight for market share in India appeared first on Adapt2 Consulting.

The new products include the Product Stewardship Network and EHS Regulatory Documentation OnDemand. Both are based on the idea of sharing information so that it only has to be collected once – data about supply-chain materials, in the case of the Product Stewardship Network, and data about environmental safety regulations, in the case of the EHS Regulatory Documentation OnDemand.

The Product Stewardship Network is a network that enables manufacturers and suppliers to collaborate and collect information more easily about the substances in their products.

“Think of it like LinkedIn for product compliance,” says Dieter Haesslein, vice president of sustainability solution development at SAP. “Basically, companies can connect with each other and keep them updated” on what’s in their product.

Currently, it can be difficult for manufacturers to get a detailed list of the materials in their suppliers’ products, mostly because suppliers are overwhelmed with these types of requests, he adds, with some SAP customers receiving thousands of these enquiries a month.

With its Product Stewardship Network, SAP hopes to cut out those thousands of emails – and countless hours – by giving suppliers a place to publish that information once for all of their partners to see, instead of having to send it separately to everyone.

Basic membership – which enables suppliers and manufacturers to connect with each other, share product data and get regulatory information — is free, but SAP is also offering additional services – including mass uploads of product data, bulk supplier invitations and tech support – starting at $160 per month.

At Adapt2 Consulting, we are looking forward to widespread adoption of SAP’s Environmental Compliance (EC) Solution – something that has been around for a while but doesn’t get much airplay. When the mandatory carbon reporting thresholds come down, organisations will have to adapt to this very quickly.

The post SAP offers new environmental reporting solutions appeared first on Adapt2 Consulting.

Clearly, SAP is leading the way in mobile enterprise apps, in response to mobile application development becoming a top concern for enterprises and their CIOs. According to the 2012 Gartner CIO Survey, 61 percent of respondents plan to enhance their mobile capability during the next three years, with 48 percent believing they will become leaders by fully adopting innovative mobile solutions.[1] Read the full news article here.

SAP Mobile Solutions are coming soon – if you aren’t already using them. What does this mean from a change management, training and user-adoption perspective? As with any component in a technology deployment, you must ensure that your Change Strategy considers the integration of mobile solutions from the very beginning of the project, permitting early user involvement to allow opportunities for feedback into the design and deployment of the apps. And of course, don’t overlook the unique training requirements of using mobile solutions.

[1]Gartner, “Magic Quadrant for Mobile Application Development Platforms,” William Clark, Ian Finley, Song Chuang, April 26, 2012

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