Why would the customer use a SAP Solution for their business needs? To maximise the business value. End of the day, the bottom line is how much return on investment the customer gets over a defined period. If the SAP Solution doesn’t maximise the business value, sooner or later, the customer will seek better technological solutions to meet their ends. Hence, it is prudent that the SAP architecture aligns with the business strategy.

The first key aspect is understanding the business landscape and business roadmap to gauge the scope and scale. This understanding feeds into determinations on functional scope, solutions to be implemented and infrastructure requirements. Additional factors would be geography, local and global requirements, sustainability and growth projection.

Once there is clarity on business goals, it is important to understand the current As-Is Landscape. This comprises understanding the technical solution currently in place, the GAP analyses of the customer requirements, the primary pain points and inefficiencies plaguing the As-Is Landscape, current and future integrations, and automation expectations. SAP Transformation Navigator can be a great asset in this analysis.

Once the gap in understanding of the scope of work and expectations is bridged, the SAP Transformation Roadmap needs to be chalked out. It includes the scope of work, phases and milestones, KPIs and other project management considerations. It’s important to involve stakeholders – business, functional, tech, end users – and create a collaborative environment with a feedback loop built in. If there are auxiliary projects, their timeline and scope should be discussed. If there are third-party integrations, their future roadmap (features included or descoped) should be discussed. Similarly, if a business has a change in pipeline that can have a long-term impact on the architecture, the conversation should be there in the agenda.

Architecture alignment with the business strategy is not a one-time activity. It’s a long, iterative journey bolstered by trust and communication.

~S