The Source

Dec 10 2021

Maximise Your ROI with an SAP Change and Release Management Plan

Twice a year, SAP SuccessFactors releases a major update. These releases enhance security, add new features, and improve the software’s functionality. Yet, despite the benefits, many businesses fail to deploy updates – they are satisfied with the current state of their solution or determined to avoid downtime.

The problem is, if you are not embracing biannual release updates, your organisation is missing out on potentially game-changing features. With a robust SAP change and release management plan, you can maximise your ROI and mitigate the risks associated with downtime.

Here’s what you need to know about SAP SuccessFactors software updates.

What Are SAP SuccessFactors Update Releases?

Like other software, SAP SuccessFactors releases regular updates that enhance security and improve functionality.

Some are smaller scale. Patch updates, for example, respond to bugs and defects and do not lead to downtime. You can expect patches during SAP SuccessFactors scheduled maintenance weeks. If a critical application issue occurs or a new threat leads to a significant vulnerability, SAP may release unscheduled ‘hot fixes.’

Other update releases are major and take about seven-hours-plus to deploy. Before 2020, major updates were released four times a year. However, SAP has rolled this back to biannual updates in response to customer feedback. Now, you can expect a major release in the first and second half of the year during the contractual maintenance windows.

Your SAP SuccessFactors solution is inaccessible during deployment, and your jobs and reports will be put on pause.

Before go-live, SAP SuccessFactors gives you a five-week preview period during which you can check out and test the new enhancements and functionalities. From there, you can decide whether to implement new features universally or optionally:

Universal features are automatically applied across your system.
Optional features require administrative permission, which can be granted in Admin Tools or Support.

Why Update Your SAP SuccessFactors Solution?

Running a business is no easy task, and you are likely balancing deadlines, juggling priorities, and trying to keep your staff and customers happy in the process. Software updates can fast slide to the bottom of your to-do list – how can you start to think about the next update release from SAP when you haven’t yet implemented features from previous releases?

SAP SuccessFactors updates are disruptive and can have far-reaching effects on your workflows and business systems. Plus, you’ll need to give your team the time and space to wrap their head around what’s new. Despite this, you shouldn’t let new releases gather dust.

New updates come with new features. If you don’t embrace updated functionalities, your SAP SuccessFactors solution will fast become outdated, and that means depriving your organisation of value – value that you are paying for.

Update releases leverage new technologies and innovations to solve problems and improve the end user’s experience. Updates could fast-track you toward your strategic business and HR goals, render time-consuming tasks less resource-intensive, and ultimately save you money.

In short, if you want to squeeze the most value out of your SAP SuccessFactors investment, take advantage of major update releases.

programmer working in a software developing company office — Leverage SAP SuccessFactors Update Cycles to Maximise ROI

How to Leverage SAP SuccessFactors Update Cycles to Maximise ROI

Define Your SAP Change and Release Management Plan

A formal SAP change and release management plan is critical to maximising your update’s ROI. For one, you won’t be caught off-guard when release time rolls around, which means you’re less likely to shelf updates for some undecided time in the future. Staff can prepare for downtime, too, minimising the impact of disruption and keeping your clients happy. Plus, with predetermined roles and an airtight schedule, teams can work through updates, testing, and the aftermath of deployment like clockwork, resulting in less confusion and more action.

Here are three tips you can use to streamline your change and release management plan:

Prioritise communication with end-users. They should know exactly when to expect downtime. If possible, localise time zones in your internal communications. You don’t need daylight savings throwing a spanner in the works.
Acknowledge that scheduled jobs and reports will pause and restart after the update is complete.
Make sure that mission-critical tasks and items are not scheduled or due at the same time as the release. SAP aims to minimise disruption by deploying updates on Friday night and Saturday morning, but this will depend on your location.

What’s more, with a release management plan, you can align your SAP SuccessFactors updates with other software updates across your organisation. By executing as many updates as possible at the same time, you can reduce overall downtime.

Decide Which Features Your Organisation Will Benefit From

Maximising ROI doesn’t necessarily mean enabling every new feature the minute it’s released. Perhaps your organisational goals don’t align with some of the new functionalities, or maybe your team is in the thick of a high-priority project and doesn’t have the capacity to investigate new enhancements.

Always read the ‘Release Details’ document from SAP SuccessFactors, which contains essential information about upcoming updates. You can find out more about releases via the SAP SuccessFactors Release Information portal, too.

If you are unsure how your business could integrate new releases, browse the process library documents for SAP SuccessFactors solutions. This library gives you access to industry best practices, process summaries, use cases, process flows, and more. Using this information, you can determine whether your organisation is leveraging the full potential of its HR solution and, if not, what to do about it.

Always Undertake Pre-Release Testing

SAP allows you to enable and test upcoming changes within a preview environment five weeks before the production upgrade is executed – take advantage of this and iron out any kinks before go-live.

Get More Out of Your SAP SuccessFactors Solution

Implementing updates can prove challenging when you and your team are focused on the day-to-day running of your business. But with the right support, you can take advantage of new features, functionalities, and enhancements with minimal downtime. Better yet, you can maximise ROI by scheduling software updates to occur simultaneously.

Get in touch with our team today if you are ready to level up how you use your SAP SuccessFactors platform.

Nov 19 2021

How to Migrate an On-Premise SAP HR and Payroll Solution to SAP SuccessFactors

The business landscape is evolving, and with it, the workforce. HR and payroll must keep up by embracing more flexible systems that cater to today’s increasingly hybrid and remote world. Many SAP on-premise HR and payroll customers are moving to the cloud-based SAP SuccessFactors, a process that delivers a wealth of benefits, such as:

Increased agility, enabling you to better manage a remote or hybrid workforce
Improved flexibility, ensuring staff are remunerated in line with their contractual agreement
A single source of truth, making sure teams across your organisation are working with unified, real-time data
Actionable insights, allowing staff, HR managers, and executives to make data-backed decisions

Despite the growth-enabling potential of cloud-based HR and payroll, migration is often a sticking point. The process can take a significant amount of time to execute, regardless of whether a complete re-implementation of payroll is required. That’s where migration tools, backed by SAP expertise, come into play.

Migration tools – namely SpinifexIT’s SAP-compatible Easy Migration solution – help teams copy and migrate HR and Payroll data in record time, saving valuable resources and reducing stress. Out-of-the-box testing functionalities and data anonymisation further streamline the moving process.

We’ll walk you through the three-step implementation process below. But first, let’s take a closer look at Easy Migration.

What Is Easy Migration?

The Easy Migration solution minimises risk while accelerating your SAP SuccessFactors migration. The software copies the data and payroll configuration from your legacy on-premise SAP system. It then runs tests between your legacy and the new system to validate the data and configuration before go-live.

Easy Migration can move all employee information – including current and historical payroll results and infotypes – across to your new system. Built-in reports ensure your payroll executions perform as expected post-migration.

Conventional migrations from on-premise to cloud HR and payroll can take three to six months from start to finish. SpinifexIT’s Easy Migration can reduce that timeframe down for the initial build transfer to days.

How to Migrate from SAP’s On-Premise HR and Payroll to SuccessFactors

The migration process can be broken down into three main steps: copying payroll configuration, copying employee data and validating payroll before going live. Each of these phases is de-risked and accelerated by the migration tool. Here’s how the process unfolds with Easy Migration.

pensive diverse colleagues working on paper draft in office

Step 1: Copying Payroll Configuration

Conventional timeframe: 2-3 months

Easy Migration timeframe: As little as 2 days

Overview: This step encompasses copying your existing payroll configuration, migrating that configuration, and creating a test system.

Breakdown: Easy Migration comes with an in-built replication tool, complete with tables that tailor the migration process to each country’s requirements. You are able to decide what is migrated to your new system and what is not. This might include Infotype Setup, Payroll Configuration, Payroll Area Configuration, Time Evaluation, and more.

The Easy Migration replication will detect the relevant configuration for your country and migrate this across. Then, it will update the tables and store this information on a Transport, which means it’s ready to migrate to your test and production system.

For peace of mind, the process can be run in test mode first, empowering you to iron out any kinks before going live. Plus, the migration is traced through audit tables, giving you full visibility over the process.

Benefit snapshot:

Quickly create test and development systems
Preview what will happen before the live run
Monitor audit logs to detect issues before they cause damage

Step 2: Copying Employee Data

Conventional timeframe: 1-2 months

Easy Migration timeframe: As little as 3 days

Overview: This step encompasses converting data from your legacy system to SuccessFactors, validation of your data, and payroll runs.

Breakdown: Easy Migrations allows you to copy employee data between systems, with no in-between steps. That means you can migrate a sample of ‘test employees’ to your development system to check whether the payroll execution performs as expected. You can scramble that data, too, to reduce privacy risks and concerns.

Benefit snapshot:

No manual data extraction
Fuss-free payroll execution testing
Scramble data to protect employee privacy

Step 3: Validating Payroll

Conventional timeframe: 4 days

Easy Migration timeframe: As little as 4 hours

Overview: This step encompasses the conversion and validation of historical data.

Breakdown: You can undergo several pre-delivered tests to ensure your new system is functioning as expected. Crucial tests include the Pay and Year-to-day reports, which compare the payroll results from your two systems, underlining any discrepancies. Then, when you are happy with your results, it’s time to push the new system live.

Benefit snapshot:

Connect legacy and new systems with ease
Easily compare payroll results with automatically highlighted differences
Drill down your tests to track key metrics

Do Migration Tools Keep My Data Safe?

While we cannot speak for all migration tools, SpinifexIT’s Easy Migration adheres to SAP’s robust privacy and security measures – because your data is safe with SAP, your data is safe with Easy Migration. Additional privacy measures – such as the ability to anonymise employee data and payroll results – ensure your business’s most sensitive information is protected throughout the migration, testing, and go-live process.

Migrate to SuccessFactors Without Days of Work and Hassles

Easy Migration’s solution is 100 per cent compatible with SAP, which means modernising your HR and payroll doesn’t have to be time-consuming, resource-intensive, or high-risk. By seamlessly connecting the legacy solution with your new system, you can migrate, test, and execute with total peace of mind.

Take advantage of the benefits of the cloud. Get in contact with our team today to kick-start the process. We know SuccessFactors inside and out, and we leverage the game-changing features of Easy Migration to get you on the cloud and running fast. But, migration is just the beginning. We help you thrive today, tomorrow, and beyond.

Nov 01 2021

Moving SAP’s HR/Payroll On-Premise to the Cloud with SAP SuccessFactors

Business is changing, becoming increasingly focused on flexibility, agility and mobility. The workforce is changing too, as staff members begin to expect more from their employers and the systems they work with. This means HR and payroll also need to change, keeping pace with this ongoing evolution. With SAP SuccessFactors, traditional HR models are moving to the cloud, unlocking a wealth of benefits in the process.

The Benefits of Cloud-Based HR/Payroll Solutions

You already have on-premise HR and payroll systems in place, so why do you need to migrate this to the cloud? Take a look at some of the key advantages of cloud migration with SAP SuccessFactors.

A Comprehensive Approach to Remote Workforces

Perhaps the primary advantage of cloud-based HR/payroll solutions is the increased agility they provide. The workforce is becoming more dynamic, with remote teams operating across disparate locations and partners collaborating in real-time across national and continental boundaries. The COVID-19 pandemic has also accelerated the pivot towards home-based work, with a large number of employees now spending significant proportions of their working week outside of the traditional office.

All of this puts strain on HR teams. These teams may find that their resources are spread increasingly thinly as they work to support a dispersed working model. With the cloud-based SuccessFactors solution on their side, HR personnel can manage distributed teams wherever they are found, reducing the time, effort and expense associated with this.

Improved Flexibility for On-Premise Teams

While a dynamic, remote workforce is becoming a common fixture in business, traditional on-premise teams still have a role to play. As we shift towards remote agility, we cannot forget about headquarters- or office-based teams, and HR personnel need to support these team members in the right way.

A cloud-based solution improves flexibility and support for these teams. The SAP solution integrates seamlessly with existing on-premise solutions, ensuring that no legacy capability is lost during migration to the cloud. Meanwhile, HR departments leverage advanced time tracking and attendance features that provide more capability for the in-office environment, supporting more flexible working practices while ensuring staff members are equipped and remunerated according to their contract requirements.

Centralised HR Data Source

The cloud-based HR/Payroll solution represents a central pillar of truth for human resource data. This is crucial as businesses grow and evolve over time, ensuring that all departments and teams are working from a unified dataset that is updated in real-time.

Via the staff member portal and mobile app, teams can ensure that all their information is correct, relevant and up-to-date. From the HR end, human resource teams manage and verify this information, achieving a growing data source that scales alongside the business. The centralised solution can be configured and localised to meet the specific needs of the business.

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Effective C-Suite HR Reports

HR data needs to be more than just data — it needs to be a leverageable source of information with actionable insight at all levels. This means providing the applications and portals that staff members and HR managers can use to access the resource and backing this up with higher-level operations such as C-suite reporting.

This is one area in which SAP’s cloud-based HR solution can make a great deal of difference. At the C-suite level, executives can commission reports that draw upon up-to-the-minute data, gaining a supreme vantage point from which to view and analyse operations. In this light, the SuccessFactors platform is inherently useful for businesses from the top-down, enabling all stakeholders to get more from human resource procedures and data stores.

Cloud HR/Payroll in Action: SAP SuccessFactors Use Cases

How does the solution work in practice? What will migration from on-premise HR solutions to the SAP SuccessFactors cloud platform look like for your business? Let’s examine some use cases to learn more.

Providing and Managing Timesheets for Remote Teams

Employees need to be remunerated for their time. Businesses need to ensure that remuneration is delivered fairly and efficiently, streamlining the operational procedure. This is where mobile timesheets from the SAP SuccessFactors platform come in. Timesheets can be configured, customised and delivered without delay. From the employee side of things, staff members can complete and submit their timesheet via a mobile device, attaching any supporting documentation or resources.

Timesheets can then be approved, managed and audited by HR teams and by managers at other levels. The result is a far more efficient and transparent process for all stakeholders.

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Employee Mobile Access

Employees need to be able to do more than simply complete and submit timesheets. They will also need to manage and edit their existing HR data and complete other actions such as requesting leave. Traditional on-premise models have made this difficult and inefficient, but secure cloud platforms have revolutionised employee-HR interaction.

SAP SuccessFactors goes further, providing a dedicated employee app that integrates with the platform via a secure connection. Employees can use this to manage data and complete other business-critical actions without compromising data security.

C-Suite Report on the Move with Enhanced Mobility

We’ve already touched upon the benefit of a cloud-based solution for C-suite level reporting. However, executives and upper management teams also need to leverage the flexibility and agility of modern solutions. Reporting has always been possible with on-premise HR solutions — albeit slowly — but a forward-thinking solution needs to do more.

With SuccessFactors, C-suite level reporting is achievable on demand and on the move. Secure integrations with tablet and mobile apps mean that reports can be configured and commissioned with just a few taps of the touchscreen, putting insight at executives’ fingertips.

Modernise HR with SAP SuccessFactors

Moving your HR solutions from an on-premise model to the cloud becomes a seamless process with SAP SuccessFactors. Integrations with legacy solutions make sure of this, while innovative features unlock a wealth of potential for businesses.

Reach out to our team today to get started with this solution. We are the SuccessFactors experts, supporting you as you implement a more efficient, more effective, future-focused HR model for your business.

Oct 11 2021

What Can Employees Do with the SuccessFactors Mobile App?

SAP’s mobile-first strategy has unlocked a wealth of opportunities for its enterprise users. Rather than relying upon desktop platforms and other static solutions, organisations can improve the experience they provide by leveraging mobile software, such as the SuccessFactors Mobile App. In turn, operations become far easier to manage and the employee experience is greatly enhanced.

The mobile experience has also become critically important, particularly as the workforce in Australia and New Zealand grows younger and becomes increasingly comprised of digital natives. Smartphone penetration in Australia is expected to surpass 80% of the population in the coming years, making an offering like the SuccessFactors mobile app in the modern workplace.

Let’s learn more about the specifics of this mobile app, approaching it from the point of view of your team members as we examine what employees can do with the SuccessFactors application.

Manage HR Data

Within the SuccessFactors mobile app, employees can access the Core HR area. This is a portion of the mobile app that is designed to be employee-facing, giving team members the tools they need to manage their data and ensure it is up to date. They can achieve this via the Employee Self Service — or ESS — a feature that is built into the app. From here, team members can access and update personal information held in their Employee Central People Profile.

Complete and Edit Timesheets

The SuccessFactors app supports the completion, editing and submission of timesheets, ready for approval from management teams. Employees can complete their timesheets digitally, ensuring that all of their working hours are properly recorded and that they are remunerated for their time according to their contract. These timesheets are then viewable in the Manager Self Service — MSS — area of the app and can be approved or queried.

Case Study: Outsourced IT Maintenance

sap successfcators mobile app adobestock 8116129

For organisations that need to outsource specific aspects of their work, the importance of this timesheet feature becomes acutely evident. While some businesses may have a very simple salary structure, plus any required overtime, more dynamically structured firms will need to be able to manage timesheets from both sides, i.e. from the HR/management side as well as from the employee side.

Let’s take outsourced IT maintenance as an example. If an organisation has an ad hoc arrangement with a third party IT maintenance team, they will need to pay for the work carried out. This can become confusing with traditional timesheet solutions, as errors or discrepancies may not be noticed until after your company pays for services. With the SuccessFactors app, maintenance workers can edit and submit timesheets in real-time, gaining swift approval and eliminating errors along the way.

Request Leave

Employees are able to submit leave requests via the SAP SuccessFactors app, inputting the dates and duration of the leave and identifying the type of leave required. This leave may be part of the annual leave provided in their contract, or it may be a different kind of leave, such as paternity or maternity periods, which employees are legally entitled to. The employee can support their leave request with any documentation that may be required — for example, medical documents and doctor’s notes in the event that sick leave is required. Management can provide swift approval for leave requests, or ask the employee to provide further information — interactions that can be picked up in real-time via the app.

Access Pay Statements

It is useful for employees to be able to access digital pay statements and payment records. They can achieve this in the Employee Central area, using the Payroll Information feature to view pay statements. This feature is provided alongside the SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll, and the system will need to be properly configured and integrated before team members can gain access to payroll data via the application. Employees will not have access to Year to Date Gross and Net data via the Employee Central area, although this data will still be viewable by management and HR teams.

Complete Performance Goal Actions

The Mobile Performance and Goals area of the SuccessFactors app is primarily for management teams to create performance goal plans and to conduct and manage performance reviews. However, employees will be able to complete actions when prompted. If the employee is required to view and confirm goal and performance review data, they can use the mobile application to carry this out.

Access Training and Learning Features

The Learning Features area of the mobile application is similarly geared towards the creation and management of training and learning programs. However, employees will also be able to use this area to manage course enrolments and to approve and sign off on actions that have been completed.

Employees will be able to access learning and support content via this area of the app. The Learning Features section of the app integrates with Continuous Performance Management — CPM — to form the Improved Learning and Talent Experience feature, supporting the ongoing development of personnel.

Case Study: Logistics Fuel Benefits

To understand how the app’s training and learning features work in practice, we can examine a case study from the logistics industry. Employees in the logistics field have specific training and learning pathways based on the requirements of their role — a driver, for instance, will have different learning objectives to those of a maintenance worker. Employees can access specific learning modules and content based on their own needs, ensuring that only relevant content is delivered to them.

This is just one example, of course. The training and learning feature is broadly applicable and can be leveraged across a wide variety of different industry sectors.

Support Your Employees with the SAP SuccessFactors Mobile App

Digital technology puts a great deal of power into your hands — and into your employees’ hands too. With the SAP SuccessFactors mobile app, you can provide the very highest levels of support to your team as they go about their work.

Reach out to us today to get started. We are SuccessFactors experts, assisting you as you make life easier for your team members and achieve a better way of doing business.

Sep 14 2021

How to pick a SAP SuccessFactors implementation partner

If your company has decided to go with SAP SuccessFactors for your human capital management (HCM) solution, you’ve made an excellent choice. As a one-stop shop where you can manage everything from recruitment to succession and everything in between, SAP SuccessFactors has everything you need to find and engage the top talent in your industry.

But now it’s time to choose an SAP SuccessFactors Implementation Partner. Your choice of a partner can make the difference between a successful implementation and abject failure.

Set your eyes on course for success when you follow a few easy tips to help you find an implementation partner whose goals fit your own.

Check for SAP Certifications

SAP certifications form the foundation of trust between a company and an implementation partner. SAP makes your decision easier by rewarding partners with three certified consultants and three satisfactory client references with a ‘Recognised Expertise’ designation.

SAP awards implementation partners at the company level this designation for excellence in any of four modules, which include:

Recruiting and Onboarding Solutions
Talent Solutions
Learning Solutions
Employee Central and Payroll Solutions

Individuals, on the other hand, can earn certifications at either the Associate or Professional level. To qualify for an Associate certification, a person must have taken and passed an SAP SuccessFactors course on a specific module.

To earn certification at the Professional level, the consultant must have completed training in their chosen module at the Associate level and led three SAP SuccessFactors projects during the past three years.

The consultant’s client must verify that the applicant’s projects were successful. Additionally, the applicant must stay current on certification and delta assessments to make sure that their training is up to date, including the latest SAP features, for their chosen module.

Look at Potential Partners’ Depth of Experience

Like the proverbial nail that fell out of a horse’s shoe and gave rise to events that turned the tide of an entire war, single points of failure can increase your risk of overall failure significantly.

Ask your prospective partners whether they have multiple consultants with certifications and a solid record of success in each SuccessFactors module. Additionally, since SAP modules share data and connect with each other, does every member of your potential partner’s team understand how to take the best advantage of that process?

Assess Your Prospective Partner’s Cloud Mindset

As a 2014 SAP blog post pointed out, many SAP SuccessFactors partners have difficulty adjusting to working in the cloud. That fact hasn’t changed, even though cloud-based solutions are becoming more common.

Unfortunately, some providers still think in terms of on-premises solutions. Getting up to speed with the capabilities and deployment of cloud solutions makes a partner a better choice for a company that’s focused on the future.

But that’s not all. Without a cloud mindset that thinks, “How can I expedite the implementation process by moving most of the process into the virtual realm?” your partner won’t be able to bring the full power of the cloud to bear on your implementation.

Make sure that your interviews cover your prospective partner’s cloud experience. If their corporate resume includes mostly on-premises implementations, move on to the next candidate. You need a leading-edge partner to optimise your SuccessFactors solution for the 21^st century.

Ask Yourself, “Will My SAP Implementation Partner Be a Good Cultural Fit?”

Capability is one thing, but can you form a successful working relationship with your prospective partner? A SuccessFactors implementation isn’t a one-off happening.

Your SAP provider may be working with your teams on an ongoing basis – tweaking your solution to your every need, helping you scale when you’re ready, and adding new capabilities. And don’t forget the support you’ll need along the way.

For that reason – like any other ongoing business relationship – your chosen partner should fit in well with your company culture. Bring some of your other employees in on the interview process so that you can get a better sense of whether a potential partner will be a good fit with your company culture.

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Determine If the Prospective Partner Focuses on Educating Its Customer’ Teams

During the interview process, ask each prospective partner how important it is for them to empower your teams with the knowledge and skills to manage the solution going forward. Ask them to provide evidence (and client testimonials) that they focus on knowledge transfer from their teams to yours.

If their conversation revolves around their company, you can bet that they’re probably not focused on your needs. They’ll be likely to work for their own long-term benefit (and bragging rights) rather than your own.

On the other hand, if the partner’s representative focuses on your needs and shows you how they’ve empowered their other clients’ teams to maximise the benefits they get from their solution, put them on your shortlist. They’ll likely look out for your teams’ success, too.

Look at Your Resourcing Requirements for the Project

What benefits do you want to get out of your SuccessFactors implementation? Whether it’s global experience and capabilities, experience in serving clients from your industry, or extensive support, you need to learn whether a potential SAP partner can meet those resourcing needs.

Choosing a partner with niche experience can bring a rich range of benefits to your partnership. If they have specific industry experience that can help you get the most out of SuccessFactors, they might be a better option than a partner without any knowledge of the day-to-day challenges you face.

Even more importantly, you need to meet their consultants personally. Are they on the same wavelength as you in terms of their willingness to work with your teams and deliver the resources you need?

Look at a Potential Provider’s Ability to Customise Your Solution

Even though you selected SAP SuccessFactors, there isn’t only one way to implement the solution. SAP Activate is the gold standard methodology for SAP SuccessFactors implementations. However, how it is used can significantly differ from partner to partner, project to project. Some important questions you should ask your potential partner are

Do they have a best practice template solution?
Do they use accelerators? These can include a template solution, test scripts, integration frameworks and more.
What does the partner expect your team to do? For example, their standard could require a customer to have their own test manager. Do you have one? If not, how does that impact the price and timing?
Can the partner be flexible on the delivery model to align with your business? Yes, they can implement the module in ten weeks, but do you have the resource availability to keep up? What about your endorsement cycles internally? Does it allow you enough time?

Make sure that the implementation partner you choose understands your needs and will deploy only what you need. However, your needs could change – so choose a provider that can fortify your solution in the future.

Ensure That Your Partner Can Provide Proper Governance

Don’t make the mistake that so many companies make – looking only at the solution. In addition to focusing on the solution itself and how your partner can optimise it for your needs, look at a potential partner’s governance capabilities.

During your interviews, ask what your partner can do to mitigate risk, manager, and user issues. Do they have the capability or desire to work with you on escalations? Will one of their representatives be willing to sit on your steering committee to advise you on proper governance?

With all the sensitive data human resources and payroll departments handle, robust security is a must. Additionally, when you combine that risk with that of remote workers and bring-your-own-device policies, you need a partner with the experience to provide robust governance and teach your teams proper security protocols.

Put an SAP Expert in Your Corner

The Discovery Consulting team has helped companies in a broad range of industries find, hire, and inspire world-class teams with customised SAP SuccessFactors solutions. Get in touch with us today to learn how we can help you steer your company into the future.