John Lagaay in this article lays out certain factors critical to a successful SAP implementation. He cites using SAP suggested interfaces as one of the biggest safeguards against future issues during future upgrades. He also cites change management (as in users transitioning from legacy systems to the SAP system) as being important and sates that "prior to implementation, organisations should work out what their training requirements will be and then multiply it by three to ensure that they have budgeted adequately."
While there is no doubt that these issues are important, one of the most important factors to a successful SAP implementation is a carefully drafted and negotiated SAP Professional Services Agreement. A PSA with carefully defined deliverables and milestones, robust performance warranties and remedies for breaches of those warranties is one of the greatest tools you can have to ensure your SAP implementation meets your expectations and SAP's representations.
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