{"id":1508,"date":"2020-06-24T20:13:40","date_gmt":"2020-06-24T18:13:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/agil-on.com\/?p=1508"},"modified":"2020-06-26T10:46:11","modified_gmt":"2020-06-26T08:46:11","slug":"why-agile-for-sap-projects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agil-on.com\/en\/why-agile-for-sap-projects\/","title":{"rendered":"PART I. IS AN AGILE APPROACH APPLICABLE FOR AN SAP PROJECT? SHOULD I FAVOR IT OVER THE CLASSIC WATERFALL?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"padding-top:0px;\t\r\npadding-right:0px;\r\npadding-bottom:0px;\r\npadding-left:0px;\r\nmargin-top:0px;\r\nmargin-right:0px;\r\nmargin-bottom:0px;\r\nmargin-left:0px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AgilonGmbh\" class=\"twitter-follow-button\" \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-show-count=\"false\"\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-lang=\"autoLANGauto\"\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-width=\"250px\"\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-align=\"left\"\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-show-screen-name=\"true\"\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-size=\"medium\"\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-dnt=\"false\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\tFollow @AgilonGmbh <\/a> <\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<script>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t!function(d,s,id) {\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t  var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t  if(!d.getElementById(id)) {\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t   js=d.createElement(s);\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t   js.id=id;js.src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\";\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t   fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t  }\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t}\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t(document,\"script\",\"twitter-wjs\");\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/script><p><span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Why AGILE?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><\/span><br \/>\nAccording to the 9th Global Project Management Survey (2017) from the Project Management Institute (PMI) a significant portion of IT projects globally are still reported as finished late (49%), exceeded their initial budgets (43%), not met their goals (31%), and failed outright (14%) with a lack of clearly defined and achievable objectives (37%) and a poor communication (19%) as the primary causes of failure.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1548\" src=\"http:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/IT-project-failure-and-success_PMI-statistics.png\" alt=\"IT project failure and success_PMI statistics\" width=\"1566\" height=\"690\" srcset=\"https:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/IT-project-failure-and-success_PMI-statistics.png 1566w, https:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/IT-project-failure-and-success_PMI-statistics-300x132.png 300w, https:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/IT-project-failure-and-success_PMI-statistics-768x338.png 768w, https:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/IT-project-failure-and-success_PMI-statistics-1024x451.png 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1566px) 100vw, 1566px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>Figure 1: IT project failure and success rates<\/i>, <i>source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pmi.org\/-\/media\/pmi\/documents\/public\/pdf\/learning\/thought-leadership\/pulse\/pulse-of-the-profession-2017.pdf?sc_lang_temp=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PMI pulse of profession 2017<\/a><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">However, comparing to their earlier surveys, the researchers noticed a positive trend &#8211; for the first time in five years, more projects are meeting business intent and there has also been a significant decline in money lost: organizations are wasting an average of $97 million for every $1 billion invested, due to poor project performance\u2014that\u2019s a 20 percent decline from one year ago. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">They suggest that this positive trend is due to the change in the way organizations are managing projects and programs. One noticeable change was the growing importance and usage of agile as a technique for managing projects. A full <b>71 %<\/b> of organizations report using agile approaches for their projects sometimes, often, or always. Around <b>72%<\/b> of all survey participants reported the organizational agility has become greater in their organization over the last five years. Moreover, they noticed that the \u201cchampions\u201d<\/span> <span class=\"s1\">(organizations with <b>80% or more <\/b>of projects being completed successfully) have a keen focus on using agile approaches to projects\u201455 percent versus 24 percent of \u201cunderperformers&#8221;.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1550\" src=\"http:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Organizational-agility_PMI-statistics.png\" alt=\"Organizational agility_PMI statistics\" width=\"1762\" height=\"656\" srcset=\"https:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Organizational-agility_PMI-statistics.png 1762w, https:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Organizational-agility_PMI-statistics-300x112.png 300w, https:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Organizational-agility_PMI-statistics-768x286.png 768w, https:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Organizational-agility_PMI-statistics-1024x381.png 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1762px) 100vw, 1762px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>Figure 2: Change in organisational agility over time, source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pmi.org\/-\/media\/pmi\/documents\/public\/pdf\/learning\/thought-leadership\/pulse\/pulse-of-the-profession-2017.pdf?sc_lang_temp=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PMI pulse of profession 2017<\/a><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1552\" src=\"http:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Usage-of-agile-approaches_PMI-statistics.png\" alt=\"Usage of agile approaches_PMI statistics\" width=\"2112\" height=\"788\" srcset=\"https:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Usage-of-agile-approaches_PMI-statistics.png 2112w, https:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Usage-of-agile-approaches_PMI-statistics-300x112.png 300w, https:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Usage-of-agile-approaches_PMI-statistics-768x287.png 768w, https:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Usage-of-agile-approaches_PMI-statistics-1024x382.png 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2112px) 100vw, 2112px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>Figure 3:<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Current usage of agile approaches<\/i>, <i>source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pmi.org\/-\/media\/pmi\/documents\/public\/pdf\/learning\/thought-leadership\/pulse\/pulse-of-the-profession-2017.pdf?sc_lang_temp=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PMI pulse of profession 2017<\/a><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Given this trend agile approaches deserve close attention also in context of SAP projects.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<h2><b>What is an agile approach?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Currently there are many definitions of what is agile. In our definition we prefer to go back to the \u201croots\u201d:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">An agile approach is a way of doing work according to the \u201cAgile Manifesto\u201d following the<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">agile values*:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Individuals and interactions over processes and tools,<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Working software over comprehensive documentation,<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Customer collaboration over contract negotiation,<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Responding to change over following a plan<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">and agile principles**:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Customer satisfaction by early and continuous delivery of valuable software,<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Welcome changing requirements, even in late development,<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Deliver working software frequently (weeks rather than months),<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Close, daily cooperation between business people and developers,<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Projects are built around motivated individuals, who should be trusted,<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Face-to-face conversation is the best form of communication (co-location),<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Working software is the primary measure of progress,<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Sustainable development, able to maintain a constant pace,<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design,<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Simplicity is essential,<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams,<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Regularly, the team reflects on how to become more effective, and adjusts accordingly.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>* Source: Kent Beck; James Grenning; Robert C. Martin; Mike Beedle; Jim Highsmith; Steve Mellor; Arie van Bennekum; Andrew Hunt; Ken Schwaber; Alistair Cockburn; Ron Jeffries; Jeff Sutherland; Ward Cunningham; Jon Kern; Dave Thomas; Martin Fowler; Brian Marick (2001). &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/agilemanifesto.org\/\"><span class=\"s2\">Manifesto for Agile Software Development<\/span><\/a>&#8220;. Agile Alliance. Retrieved 14 June 2010.<br \/>\n** Source: Kent Beck; James Grenning; Robert C. Martin; Mike Beedle; Jim Highsmith; Steve Mellor; Arie van Bennekum; Andrew Hunt; Ken Schwaber; Alistair Cockburn; Ron Jeffries; Jeff Sutherland; Ward Cunningham; Jon Kern; Dave Thomas; Martin Fowler; Brian Marick (2001). &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.agilemanifesto.org\/principles.html\"><span class=\"s2\">Principles behind the Agile Manifesto<\/span><\/a>&#8220;. Agile Alliance. Archived from the original on 14 June 2010. Retrieved 6 June 2010.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Let us break down these values and principles into SAP project practices by comparing an Agile SAP project with a Waterfall SAP project.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1554\" src=\"http:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Characteristics-of-Waterfall-and-Agile-SAP-projects_Agilon-GmbH.png\" alt=\"Characteristics of Waterfall and Agile SAP projects_Agilon GmbH\" width=\"1916\" height=\"1218\" srcset=\"https:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Characteristics-of-Waterfall-and-Agile-SAP-projects_Agilon-GmbH.png 1916w, https:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Characteristics-of-Waterfall-and-Agile-SAP-projects_Agilon-GmbH-300x191.png 300w, https:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Characteristics-of-Waterfall-and-Agile-SAP-projects_Agilon-GmbH-768x488.png 768w, https:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Characteristics-of-Waterfall-and-Agile-SAP-projects_Agilon-GmbH-1024x651.png 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1916px) 100vw, 1916px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>Figure 4:<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Characteristics of Waterfall and Agile SAP projects<\/i><i>, source: Agilon GmbH<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">In the focus of an agile SAP project is the Customer and his requirements. The Customer\u2019s requirements are \u201ctranslated\u201d<\/span> <span class=\"s1\">into a business value and a project purpose by Project Stakeholders, broken down in prioritised features by the Product\/Process Owner. Teams build themselves around the features so that a feature can be designed and implemented end-to-end by one team. The implementation of the features is an iterative and incremental process. Each iteration includes planning, designing, building and testing activities dedicated to prioritised feature items. At the end of each iteration teams demonstrate results to Stakeholders and other teams and reflect on their progress. Before the next iteration, the Product Owner reviews, adjusts and re-prioritise requirements so that requirement changes are <i>not<\/i> postponed to the end of the project in contrast to Waterfall SAP projects. As teams are trusted to make their best and continuously improve themselves there is no authority role who is in charge to micromanage the teams and plan their work. The system demo presented on a recurrent basis and the feedback from the Customer and Project Stakeholders is the only formal measure of the project progress.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Is agile applicable to SAP projects?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">To answer this question, we rely on the guidance of the prominent \u201c<b>Stacey Matrix<\/b>\u201d<\/span> <span class=\"s1\">developed by Professor of Management at Hertfordshire Business School in the UK, Ralph Douglas Stacey. <\/span><span class=\"s1\">The \u201c<b>Stacey Matrix<\/b>\u201d is a model for approaching complex situations. It plots certainty on What needs be done the vertical axis and certainty on How it needs to be done on the horizontal axis. Depending on where on the matrix a task or an initiative lands it is mapped to one of the decision-making domains \u2014 simpel \/obvious, complicated, complex, chaotic. For each domain there is a recommended decision-making approach:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1556\" src=\"http:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Stacey-Matrix_original.png\" alt=\"Stacey Matrix_original\" width=\"1998\" height=\"1160\" srcset=\"https:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Stacey-Matrix_original.png 1998w, https:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Stacey-Matrix_original-300x174.png 300w, https:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Stacey-Matrix_original-768x446.png 768w, https:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Stacey-Matrix_original-1024x595.png 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1998px) 100vw, 1998px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>Figure 5:<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Stacey Matrix<\/i>, adapted from R.D. Stacey, <i>source: The Tools and Techniques of Leadership and Management: Meeting the challenge of complexity. Routledge, London 2012.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">By mapping these decision-making guidelines to agile vs. non-agile principles and practices we conclude that agile approaches suite \u201cComplicated\u201d, \u201cComplex\u201d<\/span> <span class=\"s1\">and \u201cChaotic\u201d<\/span> <span class=\"s1\">domains while non-agile the \u201cSimple\u201d<\/span> <span class=\"s1\">domain.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1558\" src=\"http:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Decision-making-in-Waterfall-and-Agile-frameworks_Agilon-GmbH.png\" alt=\"Decision-making in Waterfall and Agile frameworks_Agilon GmbH\" width=\"1902\" height=\"966\" srcset=\"https:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Decision-making-in-Waterfall-and-Agile-frameworks_Agilon-GmbH.png 1902w, https:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Decision-making-in-Waterfall-and-Agile-frameworks_Agilon-GmbH-300x152.png 300w, https:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Decision-making-in-Waterfall-and-Agile-frameworks_Agilon-GmbH-768x390.png 768w, https:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Decision-making-in-Waterfall-and-Agile-frameworks_Agilon-GmbH-1024x520.png 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1902px) 100vw, 1902px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>Figure 6:<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Decision-making in Waterfall and Agile frameworks<\/i><i>, source: Agilon GmbH<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">In the next step we will explore which domains SAP projects can be assigned to.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">First let us clarify what is an SAP project.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">An SAP project, in a broader sense, is an IT project aiming an implementation or upgrade of one or several SAP products in an organization for a purpose of process automation or optimization. SAP products are enterprise software, platforms and frameworks of the company SAP SE.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">In the narrow sense SAP projects can be classified by their goals and size. Based on the goal we usually distinguish the following SAP project types:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>SAP implementation (IML)<\/b>: the goal is to either automate\/digitalize manual processes of an organization with the help of SAP products or to replace or partially replace legacy enterprise software with SAP products.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>SAP landscape transformation (LST)<\/b>: the goal is to adjust the current SAP system landscape to the changing business environment due to reorganization, merges and acquisitions, carve out, process and cost inefficiencies etc.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>SAP conversion\/upgrade (UPG)<\/b>: the goal is to upgrade an older SAP product version to a newer one often accompanied with procedural and organizational adjustments to the new technical capabilities and requirements<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>SAP improvement (IMR)<\/b>: the goal is to improve the existent processes and\/or applications<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>SAP support (SUP):<\/b> the goal is to provide support to SAP users in analyzing and fixing technical or functional issues<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Each project type can be associated with a certain level of certainty of the \u201cWhat\u201d<\/span> <span class=\"s1\">(requirements) and the \u201cHow\u201d<\/span> <span class=\"s1\">(solution to meet the requirements).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1560\" src=\"http:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/SAP-projects-types-by-scope-certainty-and-complexity_Agilon-GmbH.png\" alt=\"SAP projects types by scope, certainty and complexity_Agilon GmbH\" width=\"1982\" height=\"1178\" srcset=\"https:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/SAP-projects-types-by-scope-certainty-and-complexity_Agilon-GmbH.png 1982w, https:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/SAP-projects-types-by-scope-certainty-and-complexity_Agilon-GmbH-300x178.png 300w, https:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/SAP-projects-types-by-scope-certainty-and-complexity_Agilon-GmbH-768x456.png 768w, https:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/SAP-projects-types-by-scope-certainty-and-complexity_Agilon-GmbH-1024x609.png 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1982px) 100vw, 1982px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>Figure 7:<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>SAP projects types by scope certainty and complexity<\/i><i>, source: Agilon GmbH<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Furthermore SAP projects vary in their size and each project type can be small, medium or big dependent e.g. on the number of modules, developments and interfaces to be implemented, number of legal entities to be covered, number of users to be trained etc. Here is a exemplary size estimation:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1562\" src=\"http:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/SAP-projects-types-by-project-size_Agilon-GmbH.png\" alt=\"SAP projects types by project size_Agilon GmbH\" width=\"1886\" height=\"626\" srcset=\"https:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/SAP-projects-types-by-project-size_Agilon-GmbH.png 1886w, https:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/SAP-projects-types-by-project-size_Agilon-GmbH-300x100.png 300w, https:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/SAP-projects-types-by-project-size_Agilon-GmbH-768x255.png 768w, https:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/SAP-projects-types-by-project-size_Agilon-GmbH-1024x340.png 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1886px) 100vw, 1886px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>Figure 8:<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>SAP projects types by project size<\/i><i>, source: Agilon GmbH<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Obviously the bigger the project size the higher the number of technical, processual and organizational dependencies and therefore the lower the certainty of business requirements and solution to be implemented.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Taking all the above into account most SAP projects can be assigned to either \u201cComplicated\u201d<\/span> <span class=\"s1\">or \u201cComplex\u201d<\/span> <span class=\"s1\">domain on the \u201cStacey matrix\u201d.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>The exceptions are the support\/bug fixing projects, small improvements and small system upgrades.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Our brainstorming in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.meetup.com\/de-DE\/SAP-consultants-community-Berlin\/events\/263356148\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">round of experienced SAP experts<\/a> confirmed that nearly all SAP projects can be characterized by high uncertainty, high complexity, many dependencies, long duration, high knowledge and human resource intensity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Since the most advantageous approach for the \u201cComplicated\u201d<\/span> <span class=\"s1\">or \u201cComplex\u201d<\/span> <span class=\"s1\">domains is an agile approach, this is the approach we would recommend for complex and complicated SAP projects &#8211; new SAP implementations, SAP system landscape transformations, big SAP upgrades, big and medium-size improvement projects.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Pro\u2019s and Con\u2019s of an agile approach in the context of SAP projects<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Now let us dive deeper to investigate typical issues of SAP projects and see whether an agile approach can help to overcome them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1564\" src=\"http:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Pro\u2019s-and-con\u2019s-of-an-agile-approach-in-the-context-of-SAP-projects_Agilon-GmbH.png\" alt=\"Pro\u2019s and con\u2019s of an agile approach in the context of SAP projects_Agilon GmbH\" width=\"2260\" height=\"1126\" srcset=\"https:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Pro\u2019s-and-con\u2019s-of-an-agile-approach-in-the-context-of-SAP-projects_Agilon-GmbH.png 2260w, https:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Pro\u2019s-and-con\u2019s-of-an-agile-approach-in-the-context-of-SAP-projects_Agilon-GmbH-300x149.png 300w, https:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Pro\u2019s-and-con\u2019s-of-an-agile-approach-in-the-context-of-SAP-projects_Agilon-GmbH-768x383.png 768w, https:\/\/agil-on.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Pro\u2019s-and-con\u2019s-of-an-agile-approach-in-the-context-of-SAP-projects_Agilon-GmbH-1024x510.png 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2260px) 100vw, 2260px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>Figure 9:<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Pro\u2019s and con\u2019s of an agile approach with regard to the typical SAP project issues,<\/i><i> source: Agilon GmbH<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">An agile approach lays a foundation to overcome many typical SAP project issues. It improves communication between business and IT experts, users, consultants and developers, within a team and between teams and project stakeholders. Guided by the business value it helps to get rid of unnecessary documentation and to increase the value of the implemented software instead. Frequent team meetings with the Product Owner assure the scope is fully understood and all requirements are up to date and planned for implementation according to their priority.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">An agile approach sets up a work environment that stimulates continuous fast learning, knowledge sharing and enthusiasm of the involved people. As a result, lack of expertise and commitment are mitigated in the medium term.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">In the contrary to the Waterfall approach with a fix scope and variable time and budget, an agile approach sets fix time constrains and allow the scope to vary dependent on business value and business priorities. This prevents projects from becoming cost traps, delays, and ensures that the right results are achieved.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">However, an agile approach has also its limitations. If <b>business values<\/b><\/span> <span class=\"s1\">\u200b\u200bare not clearly defined and communicated, there is no consistent goal <b>prioritization<\/b> or the <b>agile values \u200b\u200band principles<\/b> are not lived in the organization, agile projects can lead to budget overruns and overall failure, similar to non-agile projects.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Follow @AgilonGmbh Why AGILE? According to the 9th Global Project Management Survey (2017) from the Project Management Institute (PMI) a significant portion of IT projects globally are still reported as finished late (49%), exceeded their initial budgets (43%), not met their goals (31%), and failed outright (14%) with a lack of clearly defined and achievable [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1574,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15],"tags":[36,37],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agil-on.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1508"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agil-on.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agil-on.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agil-on.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agil-on.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1508"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/agil-on.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1508\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1566,"href":"https:\/\/agil-on.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1508\/revisions\/1566"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agil-on.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agil-on.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agil-on.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agil-on.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}