Implementing SAP HR
When trying to decide whether to choose mySAP, or an HR specific
software package to replace their existing Human Resources
and Payroll systems, most companies will have similar questions
and sometimes even apprehensions in regards to choosing mySAP
HR. The uneasiness associated with the idea of going through
a mySAP HR implementation evolves primarily around three main
factors: the length of the implementation, the costs associated
with it and the resulting, often painful, organizational changes.
This article has a closer look at how organizations should
approach a mySAP HR project, proposing solutions that should
be adopted prior, during and after the implementation to ensure
a smooth transition and hopefully dissipate some of the concerns
HR managers still associate with the idea of implementing
mySAP HR.
TIME FACTORS
Length of the Implementation
"How long will it take
to implement mySAP HR"?
this question has
been posed to me many times by potential customers during
pre-sales demonstrations. The answer is that it depends on
the type of organization, the size of the implementation and
the effectiveness and experience of the consulting firm chosen.
But it is reasonable to say that for a mid-sized organization
with about 20.000 employees, the implementation of the mySAP
HR modules, Personnel Administration, Time Management and
some Organizational Management, from scoping to cut-over,
should take between four to eight months - provided they have
a team of experienced consultants and a fairly standard implementation.
If you add Payroll to that, the project time frame should
lie between six to nine months. Unfortunately, you may have
heard about industry cases, where such implementations took
over a year, clients grew increasingly frustrated with the
external consultants and costs started to exceed far beyond
the original budget. There are many reasons why implementations
may take longer than planned and even though this is not the
norm, it is important to pay attention, prior to project launch,
to a number of factors that will ensure that the implementation
is carried out smoothly within an acceptable and adequate
time frame.
State your Project Goals and
Objectives. The very first precaution companies should
take before starting a mySAP HR implementation is to state
clear Project goals and objectives. In order to state clear
project objectives, organizations have to undergo a needs
analysis and assessment. Some of these needs might include
having a database providing instant access to employee information,
including training performance, compensation and benefits;
being able to run customized reports, a reduction of the duplication
of data with the payroll department, increasing payroll efficiency
and accuracy etc. Once these needs are established - with
input from all parties involved, not just HR and Payroll,
but also IT and Upper Management, - the project goals have
to be stated. What do you expect the new system to do? Which
functions are essential? Start by stating goals in the form
of: e.g. the new HRIS and Payroll system must be able to produce
accurate and on-time payroll data, it must be able to track
employee absences etc. Of course, starting this process requires
knowing your business - you have to do your homework before
being able to establish project goals. If you don't know your
business well enough, then you won't understand how mySAP
or another ERP system can help you and you won't be able to
ask the right questions when choosing an implementation partner.
Having clear objectives will ensure that the implementation
has a clear focus and expected outcome - these objectives
will help design a project plan, ensure team members remain
focused and constitute a control measure for project leaders.
Commitment to achieving the
goals by all parties involved. The people involved
in a mySAP HR implementation are the different departments
concerned (HR and Payroll), their key users, the project team
members, the IT department, Line Managers and Upper Management
as well as external Consultants. It is vital that all these
people, with different personal objectives and possible change
management issues "buy into" the new mySAP HR system.
Project sponsors and Line Managers have the critical task
of choosing the right people and briefing them about the expected
project outcome. Project goals have to be stressed continuously,
some companies have even pinned them down in the project room
as a steady reminder. Prior to project launch, project team
members should be properly introduced and it is very helpful
to organize team activities to lay the groundwork for a solid
group dynamic. It is equally important to have Line manager's
commitment to the project goals since they are the one's promoting
it to their employees. Managers having objections and refusing
to co-operate need to be identified in advance. Having a committed
project team and motivated Line Managers will reduce strain
on behalf of the employees, add value to the organization
and ensure a smooth and on-time implementation.
Choosing the right implementation
partner. As mentioned above, identifying needs helps
HR and Payroll professionals eliminate the wrong implementation
partner very quickly, freeing up time to give more careful
attention to those that might make for a better fit. After
clearly having reviewed what solutions the Consulting firm
proposes to your project goals and objectives, there are a
number of questions that should be asked to a potential implementation
partner which include: · Within what time frame can
this implementation be done? · What is your implementation
strategy and methodology? · How much will this implementation
cost us? · How much experience do you have with this
type of implementation? · What are some of the issues
you foresee and how can we deal with them efficiently? ·
How many consultants are required to perform the job and what
is their background? · How much experience do you have
with upgrade issues? · What is your availability for
technical support after go-live? · What experience
do you have with training required for HR and payroll and
how long does it take? It is also useful to ask for references
and ask these references questions to determine how the consultants
have responded to any problems. Organizations facing a mySAP
HR implementation need a business partner that will be there
to support them. Another crucial question would be to ask
specifically about support procedures. Having an implementation
partner with technical excellence in mySAP HR rather than
a consulting firm with a broad skill set but lacking specific
HR and Payroll knowledge will speed up the implementation
time and save costs.
Choosing the right project team
members. Choosing employees who will play an active
part in the mySAP HR project is often tricky. Project sponsors
and Line Managers want to have a motivated team - which requires
picking dynamic people and filtering out those wary employees,
afraid of change. At the same time project team members need
to be familiar with the business processes, quick and eager
learners, good team players and possessing both analytical
and IT literacy skills. These employees need to be identified
at an early stage and properly briefed about their new responsibilities.
This process starts by familiarizing them with the corporate
goals, the project goals and if available yet - the project
plan. It is very useful to prepare project job descriptions
so that there are no surprises and employees will have a clear
understanding of the expectations. At this point, it is important
to stress the fact that they won't be expected to perform
their normal jobs on top of the mySAP project and give them
a chance to express their concerns. Organizations need to
ensure that project team members have an adequate replacement
for their normal job and that they will return to this job
after the project goes live. Many organizations have special
rewards for employees performing well in their new roles,
which is an additional motivation. Stressing the importance
of supporting each other and taking quick decisions is equally
critical. Having a motivated, curious project team working
well together will reduce the project time.
Ask other companies.
To ascertain the proposed time frame is within the norm, ask
other companies how long it took them to implement mySAP HR.
Choose a company that is close in size, having implemented
the same modules. Ask them if they were satisfied with their
consulting firm and if the project time frame was respected.
This is an excellent indicator of how much time is involved
and will further allow you to select a partner.
Prepare a precise Project plan.
Preparing the project plan is a task carried out by the Project
manager(s). Whichever tool or software he or she might choose
to use, the following information should be included: A list
of all the tasks, a deadline for each of the tasks (milestones),
person(s) responsible for the task, control phases and a weekly
and daily Meeting Schedule - when, who, where and purpose?.
There should be active participation from IT and HR/Payroll/Benefits
user departments in the scooping of the project, the project
formation phase, issue resolution and definition of critical
success factors. This project plan has to be distributed to
all project team members and daily meetings need to take place
to ensure everybody knows what areas they are supposed to
be working on and Project managers can monitor the progress.
These meetings are essential as well to identify problem areas
and take immediate corrective action.
Adopt an effective Issue resolution
method. When issues are identified - and there will
be issues every day - these need to be logged on a central
database, accessible for all the project team members. Issues
should be logged with the date, the person responsible; system
area affected and proposed solution. Project Managers need
to stress that team members must log all issues centrally
and view the database on a daily basis, emphasizing the importance
of mutual support: to solve an issue. Project team members
often need to work together and are dependent on the completion
of someone else's work. Project leaders must also ensure that
the issue database is updated with the implemented solutions
for future reference. Choosing the right project manager and
having an effective issue handling procedure will save a great
deal of time.
Choosing and understanding a
methodology. Whether an organization decides to choose
SAP's own methodology, ASAP (Accelerated SAP), or a different
method, possibly a combination of the two, this methodology
needs to be concise, understood and well communicated. Companies
having more experience with mySAP HR tend to adopt their own
methodology, many consulting firms also have their own methodology
and there is no right or wrong solution as to which one should
be adopted. What is essential though, is that the methodology
should contain a precise project plan, standards, templates
and guidelines for documentation, quality assurance procedures
and a support model. SAP's own methodology, ASAP, was designed
to support the rapid and efficient implementation of the R/3
system. This approach uses different tools and accelerators
via the Implementation Assistant tool. The Implementation
Assistant contains a road map containing the different steps
within the implementation (Project preparation, Business blueprint,
Realization, Final preparation, Go-live & support), Implementation
accelerators (e.g. authorizations made easy), a Question and
Answer database helping to define the project scope, an open
issue database and Business Process Procedures examples.
Creating a "favorable"
project environment facilitating communication and team working.
Prior to project launch, before project team members arrive,
the office environment has to be set up - this might seem
like an evident thing to do but all too often, time is lost
because team members have to constantly move from one room
to the next, not having a designated room, printers and phones
are not set up properly and there is a shortage of Pc's or
laptops for all team members. The project team should all
sit together in one room; every person should have a PC and
access to a phone and a printer. It is vital that project
team members can communicate directly with each other in order
to solve problems quickly and to ensure effective teamwork.
Extensive Training Required
'MySAP HR requires long training
which takes time and costs money'
. this is another
apprehension often expressed by HR and Payroll Managers. While
it is true, that mySAP HR does require thorough training,
this training period can be reduced to a great extent.
On-going training versus after
go-live training. Rather than waiting until the end
of the project, training should be carried out continuously
throughout the implementation. It is the responsibility of
the consultants to carry out on-going knowledge transfer and
to make sure that the project team members are fully trained
in their areas. This seems to be obvious, but situations where
client team members have very little involvement in the actual
configuration of the system should be avoided by all means.
This leads to an over dependence on the consultants - the
organization's objective must be to be almost self sufficient
shortly after go-live. It is again the responsibility of the
Project Manager to ensure that on-going knowledge transfer
takes place.
Have client project team members
train the users. To reduce costs and save time, end
users can be trained by the project team members. With the
new mySAP HR system in place, the roles, processes and jobs
will be different. During the implementation, project team
members should spend some time with the end users, training
them how to use the system so that they can get gradually
used it until go-live. The testing phase provides an excellent
opportunity to involve end users - they can help the project
team identify problem areas and learn how to use the system
at the same time.
Have training sessions prior
to project launch. Another option to reduce training
costs and time is to prepare the users prior to the project
launch by organizing workshops and training sessions. These
workshops have a number of advantages: project team members
can start being productive from day one, being familiar with
the software, end users can be given access to a 'sandbox'
client and start 'playing' with the system.
MySAP HR Is Not A "Quick"
Solution
Small and mid-sized organizations
often fear the fact that mySAP HR is not a "quick fix""
but a long term investment which they are not prepared for.
This is true. But, on the other hand, management needs to
look at the overall picture and corporate objectives. They
need to evaluate if a simple HR and/or Payroll package guarantees
that the organization remains fit in today's market place
where effective Human Resources in general become more and
more critical.
MySAP HR is a long-term solution.
In today's economy, employee retention has become a serious
issue. HR Professionals need to find the best talent and then
manage employees who have become more and more demanding.
Being able to provide accurate, on-time paychecks is just
one of many challenges HR have to face. MySAP HR meets those
challenges offering an integrated solution that provides standard
currency, regulatory, payroll, benefits, and time-management
capabilities for any type of organization. SAP's HR solution
supports integration with comprehensive analysis tools, and
provides a complete picture of the organization and the market
environment in which it operates. It also allows maximizing
the use of the Internet to enable collaboration and shared
decision-making between employees and HR managers, which saves
both time and money. So rather than adopting a quick solution,
that will most likely be out-of date in the future, Decision-makers
need to evaluate the benefits they could gain by implementing
a system that provides enormous breadth of functionality,
supporting everything from basic administrative payroll and
benefits functions to leading-edge personnel development and
compensation programs.
COST FACTORS
The next major apprehension associated
with mySAP HR implementations is the costs involved.
Cost of Consultants
Consultants can be expensive
- but paying attention to a number of factors, including controlling
the number of days consultants stay on the project and selecting
experienced consultants, can minimize these costs.
Careful preparation of a budget.
Project sponsors and Management need to spend sufficient time
preparing a budget and work out a sensible project plan together
with the consulting firm chosen. The budget should include
the number of days planned for each consultant with dates,
rates and the type of task. A good consulting firm will be
able to give accurate numbers of days - even though it is
impossible to predict an exact number of days. It is also
advisable to research how many consulting days other companies
required. By making this budget as precise and detailed as
possible and comparing the costs continually with the budgeted
figures, it is actually possible to stick to the budget and
maybe even save some money - on the other hand it also enables
you to monitor any major divergences and to take corrective
actions.
Fixed contract versus time and
material. To keep an eye on costs, it is sometimes
more prudent to opt for a fixed contract rather than time
and material. It is however important to keep some flexibility
since it is likely that additional consulting days will be
needed. Unexpected problems and complications can occur at
any time and Management needs to be prepared for this - and
have consultants on the project for extra days to solve the
problems. If you opt for a Time and Material contract, paying
the consultants on an hourly basis, make sure you have worked
out a concise project plan with an accurate estimation of
many days the consultants will be needed. Keep in mind, that
it is better to have one experienced 'expensive' consultant
who gets things done the right way the first time than two
or more inexperienced consultants with lower hourly rates
- quality will always prevail over quantity.
Choosing a firm with a track
record. This is probably the most effective way of
keeping costs to a minimum: choosing consultants with excellent
technical skills and extensive business process knowledge
that gets things done and solve problems quickly. With more
and more firms "out there", this is becoming an
increasingly difficult exercise and here again, a word-of-mouth
recommendation by other HR professionals is one of the most
trustful source available. Make sure you ask consultants for
references and their experience level. Another option is to
choose a smaller firm, specializing in mySAP HR and Payroll
only, providing consultants with the very specific skill sets
needed for an HR Payroll project. It may seem obvious to many,
but it is worth noting that the skill-set needed to be an
effective SAP HR consultant is very different from that needed
to be effective in the other modules of SAP (e.g. Accounting,
Logistics, etc). Spend some time with the consultants prior
to project launch - it is equally important to be able to
work with them in a team. Ensure that their work ethic and
professionalism is up to your standards.
Monitoring of progress on a
daily and weekly basis. As with time, costs can be
reduced by closely watching the progress being made. Project
team members should have a centrally logged action plan for
each day and update this plan, together with the issue log,
on a daily basis. Consultants have to discuss tasks for the
day with the client project team members and co-ordinate their
work.
Phased implementations (module
by module) help to monitor costs. To have better control
over implementation time and costs, mySAP HR can be implemented
in phases. Approaching an implementation step by step, users
have time to get familiar with the system before launching
the next module, which will ultimately reduce implementation
time. When implementing HR and payroll, the following phases
would be a good solution: Phase1: Master Data, Time Management,
Payroll, Benefits Administration, Organizational Management
and Payroll Phase 2: Personnel Development, Recruitment, Training
and Events, Travel Management and Compensation Management
- this phase can be broken down further. Phase 3: Employee
Self Service, Manager's Desktop
Costs of Employees On the Project
Team Not Able to Perform Their Normal Jobs During the Implementation
Another cost factor is associated with the fact a replacement
needs to be arranged for employees assigned to the mySAP HR
project. They cannot be expected to perform to jobs at the
same time.
Commitment of employees during
and after the implementation. In most cases, it is
possible to have project team members temporarily replaced
by their colleagues. It is the Line Manager's responsibility
to co-ordinate this exercise and to ensure that proper briefing
and task delegation takes place. It is vital that all employees
affected are committed to achieving the objectives set by
the project - even if they are not directly participating
- by supporting their colleagues and ensuring that the business
operations are run as usual.
Support and Commitment of Line
Managers and Upper Management. The role of Line Managers
cannot be stressed enough - these are the ones who need to
ensure that project team members can focus on the mySAP HR
implementation, that their jobs are carried out by a suitable
replacement and that the replacement person is aware of the
importance of his/her support. The role of Upper Management
is to make the Line Managers "buy into" the SAP
project, explaining what is expected of them. All too often
it happens that Line Managers are not given the full picture,
are therefore unsure about the outcome of the SAP project
and concerned how to run their department with less resources.
Gaining the support of Line Managers is a certain guarantee
for a smooth implementation.
Providing incentives and goal-based
awards to reduce turnover on the project team. Another
idea is to offer incentives to those employees who are committed
and hard working to achieving project goals. These incentives
could come in the form of a promotion, salary increase or
company benefits. This might make it easier for some people
to dedicate their efforts to the SAP project and be a motivation
for others to join the team.
Costs of Upgrading
The costs of upgrading might be an additional reason why
some organizations choose not to opt for mySAP HR.
Having a highly efficient, integrated
and automated system versus an out-of-date stand alone software.
Again - the question that organizations need to find an answer
to, is whether it is worth buying a small Payroll or HR package
which might need to be replaced within the next 3 to 5 years,
either because it is not sophisticated enough for the needs
of your business, does not offer suitable integration or might
be because it has become out of date and the vendor can no
longer offer technical support. The advantage of SAP's software
is that it keeps up with the latest technologies, laws and
regulations and your system will not need to be replaced.
Upgrades are "mini"
projects - much of it can be done in-house. Upgrades
are 'less painful" than implementations mainly because
employees are already familiar with the product and much of
the work can be done internally. Upgrades are not a system
replacement, but involve the implementation of additional
functionalities and the latest technologies. The costs of
upgrading are trivial compared to the costs of having to replace
a system every few years. They involve fewer, if any, consultants
for a shorter period of time.
Cost of Software, Licenses and ESS
Many mid sized organizations might be reluctant to invest
large sums of money into purchasing the software and user
licenses. The other question that arises is: should we purchase
SAP if we use it for HR only and Payroll only? Purchasing
mySAP HR might not be the right choice for small companies
with few employees - but when a company is large enough to
realize their need for an integrated HR and Payroll system,
then the following analysis should help them justify the investment.
Calculating ROI and cost savings.
To start evaluating cost savings, managers need to analyze
how much time is spent maintaining personnel records, recording
time, running and correcting payrolls, maintaining training
details on different spreadsheets etc. How much money and
resources are being used to pull information out of different
systems or converting data in order to run reports? How many
double and triple entries are being made just to preserve
the integrity of multiple systems and databases? After completing
this exercise, managers should then look at the savings attained
by using mySAP HR, which provides timely information, helps
to spot levels of absenteeism, low retention, career progressions
etc. Company-wide reporting enables managers to be proactive
rather than reactive. Tracking and managing employees' training
and development on a single system enables them to internally
promote and fill vacancies, reducing recruitment expenses.
By integrating external recruitment, position requirements
can be matched with applicant qualifications, also reducing
costs through decreased turnover. Downloading payroll results
and other cash flows out of payroll into accounting can be
automatic through an integrated system. This is only a brief
review of cost savings that can be achieved through mySAP
HR.
It also helps to justify a mySAP HR implementation by estimating
the ROI. However, attaching dollar values to time saved in
HR can be a difficult exercise. While it is fairly straightforward
to calculate expenses such as new software and hardware, consulting
fees and staff time, it is another story to calculate the
benefits side of ROI. As a starting point, executives need
to look at obvious dollar savings achieved through benefits
and employee administration self-service, time saved by running
customized reports from one system etc. But to fully evaluate
how much money can be saved through SAP, executives need to
take a closer look into HR processes, the new functions mySAP
HR offers to re-engineer processes, the reduced number of
people involved and shortened steps in a transaction. One
possible way of estimating ROI, is determining how much time
Managers, Hr and Payroll employees and IT support staff spend
on traditional processes, prior to the mySAP HR implementation,
by breaking down the steps and attaching dollar amounts to
each step in the process. Next follows an estimate of how
much money can be saved by re-engineering these processes
with mySAP HR. The same exercise should be conducted after
go-live, to measure the improvements achieved.
Intangible benefits.
Even though ROI is important, the importance of involving
end users up front and getting their input cannot be stressed
enough. Employee satisfaction contributes to the company's
bottom line and has a direct impact on employee retention,
performance and profitability.
Looking ahead: mySAP HR as an
investment benefiting the entire organization, not just HR.
MySAP HR can be extended to the whole organization. The advantage
of purchasing the software is that its functionality can be
extended as needed. If the primary objective was to have an
integrated HRIS and Payroll system and the implementation
was successful, the next goal might be to implement mySAP
Finance and Controlling or Sales and Distribution. The more
familiar the organization will be with the software, the more
likely it is to add extra functionality, extending mySAP to
the whole company in gradual phases.
Costs of Maintaining the System
Another fear associated with SAP is that the project never
ends
that it requires continuous maintenance by external
consultants who charge for their services.
Being self-sufficient will reduce
maintenance costs. This situation can be easily avoided
by having well trained users. If proper knowledge transfer
occurs during the implementation and adequate end user training
takes place at the same time, users will quickly come to know
the system very well and be self-sufficient. There will be
situations where they need external help to solve a system
problem but, chances are, the user will first use other sources
such as the SAP online help. However, a good consulting firm
would be willing to provide remote support at no or a minor
cost for their clients. Remote system support is an item that
should be discussed with the consulting firm prior to project
launch.
Designation of an in-house support
team. This is the responsibility of the Steering Committee
and Project managers. It is vital to have an internal team
of people providing technical support for the end users. Usually,
the team is composed of the former project team members who
know the system the best, together with IT.
Continuous training of users
to ensure efficient and effective use of SAP. Training
should not be reduced to a number of sessions during the implementation
and after go-live. It is important that end users continually
learn more about the system, growing gradually independent
of external or internal help.
All Non Standard Functionality Requires
Programming and Costs Money and Time
Depending on your business processes, the standard delivered
functionality might not cover all your needs and programming
is required. While this might happen, the amount of custom
programming (i.e. 'ABAP') and the costs associated with it
can be kept to a minimum.
Identify all non-standard processes
required prior to implementation. If you do your homework
properly in the form of a needs assessment, all required system
functionality should be detailed in the RFP or RFQ (Request
For Proposal or Quote) and consulting firms will propose solutions.
At this point, all business requirements not satisfied by
the standard mySAP HR functionality should be identified and
classified as essential and non-essential. Discuss each extra
functionality required with your consultant and evaluate alternative
solutions. Clarify up front how many days it requires implementing
this extra functionality and including this in your budget
and project plan. Wherever possible, opt for the standard
mySAP HR solution.
ORGANIZATIONAL FACTORS
Besides cost and time factors, a mySAP HR implementation
also involves organizational changes which might be an painful
thought for many people who are used to running operations
a certain way.
SAP's Software Often Forces Organizations
to Change Their Business Processes
While mySAP HR might involve a certain degree of business
process re-engineering this should be viewed as an opportunity
to improve business processes and making the organization
more efficient.
Definition of business processes
prior to project launch. To ease this process, again
- HR Professionals need to analyze their business processes
prior to project launch. Some HR departments might need a
strategic consultant to help them assess their business needs,
and make process changes. Make sure you know enough about
your business and your HR needs to so that you can ask intelligent
questions when you interview consultant candidates.
View it as an opportunity.
Your mySAP HR implementation should not be viewed as an 'IT'
project, and cannot be treated simply as a 'system replacement'.
It presents an excellent opportunity for the organization
to change and replace out-of date business practices, improve
their procedures and align these with the new system. MySAP
HR will automate many processes and employees will be able
to carry out many of the administrative tasks on-line. This
frees up time to focus on strategy, keeping up to date with
laws and retaining human capital It is necessary to involve
IT and HR departments in the business process re-engineering
process .
SAP Often Involves A Restructuring
of the Organization
While this can be the case, the restructuring can actually
help reduce costs. With the new mySAP HR system in place,
HR and payroll departments need to work together - mySAP HR
alone will not allow HR to increase the contributions it makes
to the bottom line of the organization. Costs need to be reduced
and processes optimized - this can only be achieved by having
all key players work at the same centralized location, rather
than being gathered around different offices. The overhead
for several decentralized HR departments versus one centralized
department need to considered as well as the fact that a centralized
department will allow the consistent application of HR practices
across the entire organization
Employees Have to Perform Different
and New Tasks Which Causes Stress and Resistance to Change
Some project team members and employees will undergo a certain
degree of strain during the mySAP HR implementation. These
include job strains associated with new responsibilities,
apprehensions related to losing their job over the new technology,
having to learn something they are unfamiliar with, having
to work on the mySAP HR project on top of performing their
normal job, having to work with new and different people,
having to work in a different office, having to work with
external consultants telling them what to do, etc
Project preparation essential
to deal with change management issues. To deal with
these issues, it is vital to clearly define roles and responsibilities
of all parties involved in order to set expectations. It is
also advisable to appoint an internal Change management consultant
who knows the organization and its employees and who has the
trust of these employees. To avoid the panic and rumors associated
with redundancies, talk to you employees, being truthful and
clarifying the situation.
Another commonly asked question is:
How Will mySAP HR Fit In With Other
Existing Systems?
Interfaces can be built and there are essentially two aspects
to the interfacing of SAP and non-SAP software. First, SAP
offers various types of object-oriented, functional, batch,
and message-based interfaces, including interfaces for electronic
documents. Secondly, with the Business Application Programming
Interfaces (BAPIs) SAP has standardized the business meaning,
of interfaces, in addition to offering interface compliance
with technical industry standards, including EDI, CORBA, and
XML. The BAPIs can be brought to your favorite programming
language and development environment.
Also, SAP has found a solution to one of the traditionally
most costly and time-intensive implementation tasks: migrating
legacy systems. In the past, the costs of data migration have
accounted for up to 20% of the total cost of a mySAP HR implementation
project. This cost has now been reduced thanks to the Data
Transfer Workbench tool enabling data transfer data without
little, if any SAP programming.
MySAP HR's Functionality Is Iincomplete
Or Not stable Enough; Some Areas Of Iit Are Too New And Unstable
Some parts of mySAP HR are new
and have a history of instability (net payroll & tax reporting
in particular). Much of the difficulty in these areas
though is a result of a mix of poor implementation, lack of
user training, and trying to force-fit existing business processes
into mySAP HR instead of changing them to work better with
mySAP HR.
Payroll and tax reporting are very complex processes and
are often the most difficult items to address in a mySAP HR
implementation. Most companies are reluctant to change their
payroll and payroll tax processes, and without a full understanding
of how mySAP HR's payroll operates they often encounter problems.
Taking the time to understand mySAP's process and then fitting
current processes into the mySAP framework can almost always
prevent the problems. The payroll portion of mySAP HR does
work well, but as with any automated payroll system it is
complicated and requires that you fully understand how to
use it. Once again, your success in this area rests on thorough
user training, making appropriate business process changes,
and leveraging experienced SAP Payroll consultants.
CORRECTLY IMPLEMENTED, THERE'S NOTHING
TO FEAR
Companies should not be afraid of implementing mySAP HR -
by avoiding certain pitfalls and paying attention to crucial
factors such as clearly defining the project scope, having
the whole company fully committed, supportive Line managers,
a fast decision making policy, a competent project team and
well trained users - you can implement mySAP HR with minimal
costs within an optimum time frame. This new technology will
make your organization more efficient, strategy focused and
ultimately more profitable, fit for today and tomorrow's economy.
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