Managing CRM implementation projects is complex. Whether you are considering implementing mySAP for the first time or upgrading from mySAP CRM 4.0 to mySAP CRM 2005, you have a number of areas to evaluate to ensure project success. Some of the key points to consider for mySAP CRM projects include:

• Obtain and maintain executive support for the project
  
  
• Align key internal functions or business units on goals and mission of the project
  
  
• Accurately link the mySAP CRM project to higher-level business strategies
  
  
• Focus on creating return on investment (ROI) instead of “capability building”
  
  
• Create an integrated plan for project implementation

In addition, mySAP CRM offers several varying technical approaches and requires skills not previously required in mySAP ERP implementations. What’s more, user adoption of mySAP CRM is critical in realizing benefits and this area can be challenging with mySAP CRM implementations. mySAP CRM is evolving rapidly and projects face a relatively new and complex architecture.

With these goals and challenges in mind, you will discover that the keys to the success of your mySAP CRM implementation are communication and planning. Here are nine tips to guide you through the process and help you develop best-practice implementation strategies.

Tip 1. When beginning your mySAP CRM project, develop a structured approach to defining a business case. This approach, consisting of five steps, should establish quantified benefits and accountability. The process outlines the critical areas and tasks you should follow to create a successful business case:

• Step 1: Identify business value opportunities
  
  – Estimate cash flow impacts
  
  – Determine benefit equations
  
  
• Step 2: Establish baseline data
  
  – Understand key value drivers for the business
  
  – Evaluate trends and projections
  
  
• Step 3: Quantify value opportunities
  
  – Calculate project net economic returns
  
  – Analyze scenarios, sensitivities, and risks
  
  – Assess non-financial impacts
  
  
• Step 4: Validate benefits with stakeholders
  
  – Establish stakeholder agreement and ownership for benefits
  
  
• Step 5: Finalize the business case
  
  – Communicate the end-to-end story of the business case
  
  – Create project plans based on value opportunities in the business case

A benefits logic map (Figure 1) is a valuable tool that you can use in the first steps of defining your business case. Begin creating your benefits logic map by starting with your organization’s key opportunities for reducing cost and increasing revenue. Start with high-level cash flow generation goals and then break them down into smaller parts to identify improvement opportunities.

Figure 1

Benefits logic map

Tip 2. Implement CRM initiatives in a targeted manner. A good way to approach this is to break down your implementation planning process into four steps:

• Step 1. Think big. Use a roadmap to broadly define desired CRM capabilities, architectures, and value. Focusing on when and how the mySAP CRM system will deliver business value ensures ROI targets are a primary objective of the rollout schedule.
  
  
• Step 2. Start smart (phase 1). Gather and analyze your CRM requirements, deliver phase 1 capabilities to limited users, and deliver value quickly. For example, start with a pilot rollout to a limited geographical or process scope to establish learning and collect valuable feedback to ensure success for later rollouts.
  
  
• Step 3. Build fast (future phases). Quickly roll out the CRM system to larger user communities and expand the breadth of capabilities delivered. Use lessons learned, and potentially resources, from the early releases to facilitate these later phases. Consider outsourcing opportunities to quickly develop capabilities.
  
  
• Step 4. Scale for value (CRM vision). Continue to expand the capabilities and reaffirm the project’s direction periodically.

Figure 2 depicts the steps graphically to give you an idea of the time frame involved with each step.

Figure 2

The four steps you should take to get the most out of your mySAP CRM implementation

Tip 3. Assess which mySAP CRM components and modules you want to implement. Tie the business case value opportunities back to the specific mySAP CRM modules and applications required to enable them. Your implementation project might include, for example, CRM Enterprise, Field Sales, E-Selling, Analytics, and Handheld. For each component you want to include in your project, detail the functionality you plan to use (e.g., Contract Management, Opportunity Management, Campaign Management).

At this point, you should also determine the user interface (UI) approach for your project (e.g., SAPGUI, People-Centric UI, E-Selling, SAP NetWeaver Portal, Field Sales). Understanding the specific application components your team wants to include allows you to assess the implementation work effort, technical architecture, and required skills.

Tip 4. Assess the to-be system’s landscape and integration points. As you select the CRM components for your project, you should keep track of the technical infrastructure requirements to support them. It is also important to be aware of interface requirements, architecture, and tools. Integration approaches are a key consideration in delivering CRM projects:

• Implementing and supporting interfaces drive a significant portion of the effort in IT and directly impact total cost of ownership (TCO)
  
  
• The integration approach of the solution landscape is a key driver in skill sets required
  
  
• With the advent of service-oriented architecture (SOA), you have more options than ever to consider
  
  
• You should define the to-be system’s landscape and the integration approach prior to planning and estimating the mySAP CRM project

Tip 5. Assess change management and human performance requirements. Organizational change management is one of the most critical components of any CRM implementation, and is often one of the most overlooked. Lack of executive support and stakeholder alignment are usually a direct result of poorly executed change management and communications.

Change impacts can span the entire internal organization, as well as the customer organization, so change management must span the internal and external stakeholders. A structured approach to implementing and managing change is essential to minimizing impacts on the organization. A robust change management program consists of the following core elements:

• Communication and sponsorship: The communication plan serves as a framework for the management and delivery of information. The sponsorship plan details levels of project sponsorship and identifies areas of communication focus and support, by individual.
  
  
• Audience assessment: To understand the audience and stakeholders, you should conduct an audience impact assessment on organizational entities impacted by mySAP CRM.
  
  
• Performance/job impact: Conduct an analysis of overall performance focusing on the expected impact of the new technology on operations (including a definition of operation measurements), changes to roles/responsibilities, and key success factors.
  
  
• User training plan: Design, develop, and deliver a robust training process to enable the realization of benefits.
  
  
• Implementation plan: This plan should document when the users receive hardware and training and when they go live with the application.
  
  
• User support plan: You need a plan for providing post-conversion user support for mySAP CRM to determine ongoing user support.

Tip 6. Create the mySAP CRM estimate using a detailed, bottom-up estimating model. This is critical to establishing the baseline work effort and scope for your mySAP CRM project. You should measure future scope changes and evaluate them against this estimate. Don’t underestimate the amount of time required to set up the system’s landscape. Allow time for setting up the CRM Middleware, performing the initial setup and load, and establishing the business content for the portal. You need to perform this process in each client, so ensure this is built into the plan for all development, QA, training, and production systems.

Tip 7. Build in learning curve time for SAP staff new to mySAP CRM. It takes time for people who are used to SAP R/3 to become familiar with some of the configuration approaches, data model differences, and development techniques (e.g., object-oriented programming) in mySAP CRM. Allow additional time for your R/3 configuration team to learn mySAP CRM configuration.

Tip 8. Expect and plan for gaps. The CRM space is traditionally highly tailored to unique processes and user preferences. This is often a result of the fact that most CRM capabilities are customer-facing and have evolved based on specific customer requirements and ways of doing business that do not easily change.

My experience shows that out-of-the-box CRM applications usually do not meet all requirements of most projects, so you will need to plan for some customization. Budget time for gap assessments and for custom development to tailor the application to your business requirements. The ROI calculation for gaps and enhancements may result in reassessing business requirements and reducing in development.

Tip 9. Plan to frequently engage business owners throughout the project lifecycle. Involve the business owners in designing the new processes and solutions. Schedule interactive sessions for the business owners to view the application during design, build, and test stages. Get users involved in user acceptance testing as early as possible in the overall project lifecycle. Engage users as champions to roll out the new application and deliver training.

Jeffrey Wooledge

Jeffrey R. Wooledge is a senior manager in the Global Business Solutions practice of Accenture focusing on mySAP CRM. He is based out of Accenture’s Chicago office. He has been helping clients achieve their business goals using SAP-based solutions since 1996.

You may contact the author at Jeffrey.R.Wooledge@accenture.com.

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