I’m not fond of keeping a cellphone with latest features, however, the one I’ve now does provide some of commonly-used apps which I use to stay connected with people in my circle. When I decided to buy a phone, I didn’t look for specific brands; my focus was mainly on its usage.
Why I told the story?
Well, the analogy is to explain what one could possibly do if s/he is involved on projects where the customer organization is
- replacing its IT solutions with SAP best practices,
- enhancing the new solution with its additional functionalities, or
- adding some third party tools to its existing solution landscape.
Migration, from AS-IS to TO-BE Solution
There could be different reasons for an organization to replace its existing IT infrastructure and/or solutions, however, generally it’s to benefit from the functionalities which are not supported by old setup anymore and are offered by some other tools.
Extension, from Basic to Advanced Functions
Typically the standard solutions come with sets of features by default. The customers, when they procure such solutions, understand that they can adjust these or enhance them further as of their specific business requirements.
Integration, of Existing with New Applications
Any business buying a new product or solution prefers it to be flexible enough to integrate with its existing solution landscape which may have third party tools. The applications, rigid, in their nature are purchased only in particular circumstances where the customers do not have any choice.
Business Scenarios, Your Role, SAP Tools
If you have to support an organization with any of its plan to implement SAP, enhance the solution, or align it with its other IT capabilities, I’d suggest you to make sure that
- The new solution is not a replica of the old,
- The functionalities are implemented incrementally, and
- The integration, inbound and outbound, is seamless.
To help its customers, partners, and consultants with any of the above-mentioned scenarios, SAP provides roadmaps which you can refer to drive the implementation or enhancement projects better. For details, please refer to the roadmap viewer, available at the link provided below:
https://go.support.sap.com/roadmapviewer/#
Have you been involved in any of such projects? What was your experience?