In 1998, I published the first edition of The SAP Blue Book, a Concise Business Guide to the World of SAP. At that time, there were very few books about SAP and none that covered the basics of SAP best practices. The book has been revised five times since then and, since it helps to de-mystify SAP, it continues to sell quite well and its wide circulation has helped me to widen my network of contacts and to attract clients in need of SAP advisory.
On September 29, 2009, The SAP Green Book, Thrive After Go-Live will be available at http://www.michaeldoane.com/. A few weeks later, it will also be available through Amazon. My intended readership is anyone with a stake in post-implementation SAP success. To my knowledge, no other such book exists.
My initial intent was to write this book in 2001. However, once I began my research into the best practices for post SAP Go-Live, I realized that the vast population of firms with SAP software were still very immature in terms of their deployment. As such, proven best practices had not entirely emerged.
While the Blue Book was written for anyone who has a stake in its success, the accent is acquisition and implementation. The Green Book was written for firms that seek to get the most of out of their SAP investments through enlightened organizational structures and adherence to proven best practices.
In short, the Blue Book addresses an SAP wedding and this book addresses the SAP marriage.
In the chapters “SAP Marital Counseling”, I outline remedies for SAP deployment pain-points that result from “imperfect” implementations. Subsequent chapters provide guidance for rationally assessing your firm’s SAP maturity (from stable implementation through a thriving center of excellence), how to build and sustain a center of excellence, strategies and rationale for outsourcing non-strategic tasks such as help desk and Basis support. As one Basis guy was heard to mutter “maintenance blows.”
I provide a lengthy chapter on “Weathering a Global Fiscal Crisis with SAP” as well as guidance for “The Care and Nurturing of SAP End Users”. For the latter, as readers will note, I am somewhat obsessed since end user support is the most neglected arena in all of SAP-dom.
Clients who are weary of SAP sales pressures should benefit from “From Supplier to Advisor: A New Chair for SAP” and I further provide a short, cautionary chapter “Intelligent Business Intelligence”.
If the book had been written entirely from my viewpoint it would necessarily be somewhat suspect. There are no renaissance people in SAP and we are all necessarily somewhat specialized. I therefore tapped serious input from among a group of people I’ve worked with through the years:
Michael Connor is founder and CEO of Meridian Consulting (www. meridian-us.com) and a significant contributor to The New SAP Blue Book. We have been sharing intelligence and collaborating with clients since 1997.
Jon Reed has been advising clients and consultants for more than fifteen years and is now the recognized leader in the field of SAP career guidance. We have been working together in the SAP fields since 1995. His website is www.jonerp.com
Joshua Greenbaum is an independent industry analyst who writes for SAP publications and is a valued advisor to upper management at SAP, Oracle, and other enterprise applications software firms. His website is http://ematters.wordpress.com/
Mark Dendinger has led a number of successful SAP systems integration firms since 1995 and has extensive contacts with SAP America and a vast network of SAP consultants.
Kay Tailor is an accomplished SAP architect/technician who has been active in the SAP fields since the mid 1990’s.
Wade Walla is the founder of Group:Basis and has a considerable ability to demystify “the technical”. http://www.groupbasis.com
Dane Anderson has worked as an IT outsourcing provider and since 2003 has been a prominent industry analyst covering the IT services and outsourcing marketplace.
John Ziegler was one of the first group of non-European consultants at SAP America. He has managed dozens of SAP projects since 1992.
Bill Wood has spent fifteen years helping clients go live with SAP. His website is http://www.r3now.com
While the Blue Book was written for anyone who has a stake in its success, the accent is acquisition and implementation. The Green Book was written for firms that seek to get the most of out of their SAP investments through enlightened organizational structures and adherence to proven best practices.
In short, the Blue Book addresses an SAP wedding and this book addresses the SAP marriage.
In the chapters “SAP Marital Counseling”, I outline remedies for SAP deployment pain-points that result from “imperfect” implementations. Subsequent chapters provide guidance for rationally assessing your firm’s SAP maturity (from stable implementation through a thriving center of excellence), how to build and sustain a center of excellence, strategies and rationale for outsourcing non-strategic tasks such as help desk and Basis support. As one Basis guy was heard to mutter “maintenance blows.”
I provide a lengthy chapter on “Weathering a Global Fiscal Crisis with SAP” as well as guidance for “The Care and Nurturing of SAP End Users”. For the latter, as readers will note, I am somewhat obsessed since end user support is the most neglected arena in all of SAP-dom.
Clients who are weary of SAP sales pressures should benefit from “From Supplier to Advisor: A New Chair for SAP” and I further provide a short, cautionary chapter “Intelligent Business Intelligence”.
If the book had been written entirely from my viewpoint it would necessarily be somewhat suspect. There are no renaissance people in SAP and we are all necessarily somewhat specialized. I therefore tapped serious input from among a group of people I’ve worked with through the years:
Michael Connor is founder and CEO of Meridian Consulting (www. meridian-us.com) and a significant contributor to The New SAP Blue Book. We have been sharing intelligence and collaborating with clients since 1997.
Jon Reed has been advising clients and consultants for more than fifteen years and is now the recognized leader in the field of SAP career guidance. We have been working together in the SAP fields since 1995. His website is www.jonerp.com
Joshua Greenbaum is an independent industry analyst who writes for SAP publications and is a valued advisor to upper management at SAP, Oracle, and other enterprise applications software firms. His website is http://ematters.wordpress.com/
Mark Dendinger has led a number of successful SAP systems integration firms since 1995 and has extensive contacts with SAP America and a vast network of SAP consultants.
Kay Tailor is an accomplished SAP architect/technician who has been active in the SAP fields since the mid 1990’s.
Wade Walla is the founder of Group:Basis and has a considerable ability to demystify “the technical”. http://www.groupbasis.com
Dane Anderson has worked as an IT outsourcing provider and since 2003 has been a prominent industry analyst covering the IT services and outsourcing marketplace.
John Ziegler was one of the first group of non-European consultants at SAP America. He has managed dozens of SAP projects since 1992.
Bill Wood has spent fifteen years helping clients go live with SAP. His website is http://www.r3now.com
To order or just to have more information, follow this link to my website: http://www.michaeldoane.com