Wmc Vs Sap

Question: Prepare a report identifying the causes of failure and recommendations to adopt a new ERP system. Answer: WMC claims against SAP WMC has sued SAP and they have given plenty of reasons to believe that SAP is fraudulent software. On the other end, SAP didnt utter a single word and hence, there are possibilities that the claims of WMC against SAP are true. Few of the claims that WMC has made against SAP are as follows: - The ERP software was not tested before it was implemented at WMC and hence, the software didnt work as committed by the company. This software was used by small waste management companies and now, it isnt modified to meet the requirements of one of the largest companies. The software was used in small sized European firms. The operation in US waste management companies is different and complex than the European waste management companies. WMC claims that the demo which SAP presented to them was fake as the mentioned functionalities were absent in the software when it was implemented in the real environment. The company states that the professionals in European companies may not be great with technology but that is not the case with the US professionals and German professionals. There was a eighteen month contract between SAP and WMC. SAP promised to customize everything on SAP R/3 platform but the software was actually developed by some oracle based companies. A simple revenue management operation was not able to run when the software was first implemented at WMC. The professionals at SAP tried to make it work with plenty of codes but things didnt work. After considering the situation, SAP promised to rework on the situation and make things possible by 2010. WMC will have to wait till then and hence, they will have to make further millions of investment Risks of ERP implementation There are various risks associated with ERP implementation in the organization. These risks werent understood by WMC and hence, they had to suffer. Few of the risks that have created an impact on the ERP implementation at WMC are as follows: - ERP cannot be considered to be software that can be used without any modification. This is one of the biggest mistakes that WMC did. The purchase of ERP decision should be outsourced to a consultancy rather than that of making the decision themselves WMC should have hired people with experience to work full time on SAP rather than that training the existing resources. The top management should have given a lot of importance to this project. They should have stated to the employees that this project is of utmost importance. An appropriate business plan would have helped the organization to understand the benefits that they would have received from the implementation of software. The management should communicate with the employees on daily basis regarding what things should have been taken care and what the things that they should have taken care. What SAP should have done? SAP should have been careful in certain areas as that would have helped SAP to deliver what WMC was expected. SAP should understand the requirements of the customer before they start with anything. Few of the things SAP should have done so that WMC wouldnt have sued the SAP company are as follows: - SAP should understand that their work doesnt end at implementation. They should have allowed one professional from SAP to be at WMC so that queries can be answered and sorted immediately. SAP should look for ways by which they can justify that all the features mentioned in the demo is real What should SAP do now? The mistake is done but now, SAP will have to look for ways by which they can safeguard their reputation in the market. If SAP is able to prove that they have all the features that have been mentioned during the demo then the company can just relax but that is not the case now. SAP doesnt have anything to say and hence, there are possibilities that WMC is true. Few of the things that SAP can do so that they can safeguard the reputation that they hold in the market are as follows: - SAP should repay the money that WMC has invested in SAP implementation. WMC has made a huge investment and hence, they wont let go SAP. It is better that SAP makes the payment rather than trying to prove when they dont have anything to prove. To retain their reputation in the market, SAP should customize the ERP to meet their business requirements. For SAP is able to provide something that WMC requires then the organization will be happy. Going forward, now of the companies will doubt the capability of SAP. If SAP doesnt do anything then the future potential clients will doubt the capability of SAP and its software.