Table of Contents

OLD WINE IN NEW WINESKINS? 3
SAP PPS – TRUE INNOVATION OR AN EXERCISE IN RE-BRANDING? 4
SAP’S PROCUREMENT FOR PUBLIC SECTOR: THE PAST AND PRESENT 5
SAP GLOBAL WEB SITE 6
REPAIRS ON THE FLY – OVERCOMING PAST CHALLENGES 8
A CASE FOR PPS? 9
SEATTLE PUBLIC SCHOOLS, UNITED STATES 11
ERIE COUNTY, NEW YORK (PDF, 613 KB), UNITED STATES 11
SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY (PDF, 848 KB), UNITED STATES 11
CITY OF OTTAWA, ONTARIO (334 KB) 11
SAP – THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON 11
HERSHEY FOOD CORP 13
FOXMEYER DRUG 14
WHIRLPOOL, DOW CHEMICAL, BOEING, DELL COMPUTER AND WASTE MANAGEMENT 14
THE ORIGINS OF A FAILED INITIATIVE? 15
REVERSING THE TREND? 16
A BEACON OF WHAT IS POSSIBLE? 18
LIKE DEEDS, RESULTS SPEAK! 21
THE MICROSOFT CONNECTION 22
CLOSING SUMMARY 24
ABOUT THE AUTHOR 28

Appendices

APPENDIX A 30
ARAPAHOE COUNTY, COLORADO 30
APPENDIX B 34
EXTENDING THE ENTERPRISE 34
MFI GETS CAUGHT IN SAP TRAP 36
INVENTORY WOES LEAD TO PROFIT WARNING 36
BY JOHN OATES → MORE BY THIS AUTHOR 36
APPENDIX C 37
(CASE REFERENCE) 37
HP users decry Itanium, SAP issues and bad English 37
The Shipping News 37

APPENDIX D 39
(CASE REFERENCE) 39
Cadbury IT glitch takes £12m chunk out of profits 39
APPENDIX E 42
(GATE METHODOLOGY REFERENCE) 42
APPENDIX F 46
(ARTICLE - DUET) 46
Steve Ballmer: Microsoft Business Summit 2005 48
School District Provides Web-based Access to SAP R/3 Financial Data with SharePoint Portal Server 48
APPENDIX G 49
(CASE STUDY INDEX – ADDITIONAL CASE REFERENCES) 49
Erie County works with IBM for enterprise-wide business transformation 49
Erie County leads the way to shared citizen services with SAP and IBM 49
Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation builds a robust retail environment with IBM and SAP 49

Old Wine in New Wineskins?

“New Product Development and Introduction (NPDI) allow companies to grow revenues and retain high margins by launching new products and creating new customers in new markets. Even when a company’s top line isn’t increasing, it needs NPDI to replace existing products that are reaching the end of their life. Newer products typically command higher margins in the market while older products are impacted by competitive challenges and waning customer interest. Well executed, NPDI keeps a pipeline of new, high-margin products flowing to the market.”

New Product Development and Introduction (NPDI)
SAP White Paper
December
2007

SAP PPS – True Innovation or an Exercise in Re-Branding?

Albert Einstein once defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” While mildly amusing, it is nonetheless a thought provoking statement when applied to the evolution of the enterprise software industry and in particular the introduction of supply chain/e-procurement solutions.

The fact that awareness of the high-rate of ERP/IT-based initiative failure to deliver the expected results is now entering mainstream consciousness, vendors and those associated with the recommendation and implementation of solutions find themselves in unfamiliar waters. Specifically, what do you do to overcome the growing cynicism within the end-user community?

In this context, does the introduction of the Procurement for Public Sector (PPS) modules/upgrades by SAP signal the introduction of new and innovative technology that will reverse the generally negative results in the market as a whole? More to the point concerning existing SAP clients will the PPS modules pave the way for an enterprise-wide adoption of a broader SAP centered e-procurement strategy?

The first step toward answering this question is determining if in fact the PPS modules or upgrade is a true vehicle of transformation or if it is an exercise in re-branding whereby the same “old” principles of implementation and engagement are used.

The methodology used to make this determination centered on extensive research of available case study history worldwide and in particular North America and the United Kingdom.

As a point of cross referencing (and validating) the case study findings, we also researched SAP implementing partners web sites to determine if there were any references to the specific introduction of PPS “branded” offerings. This activity was undertaken based on the fact that traditionally the

marketing mechanism for vendors usually precedes the product introduction curve. In the absence of verifiable case study references, the presence of PPS-related marketing information on the partner sites would at least provide a reasonable indication of the timelines associated with real-world PPS availability and impact.

Finally, a detailed review of the America’s SAP Users’ Group (ASUG) site was also undertaken in an effort to establish key developments in the area of Public Sector Procurement practice within the SAP user community.

While we did not have access to all materials, and in particular those from a December 19, 2007 Webcast highlighting PPS 2008 release information including enhancements to the PPS Roadmap and SRM 6.0, the site did provide us with another vehicle to engage additional resources.

Even though SAP can be seen as the firmly entrenched platform within the organizations of their existing client base, the results of our research will hopefully introduce a number of options that the SAP user community can leverage to build upon the existing application’s foundation either organically or through the introduction of new methodologies.

SAP’s Procurement for Public Sector: The Past and Present

“SAP Procurement for Public Sector provides Public Sector organizations a capability to support a wide variety of government procurement practices. The software is tailored to support simplified acquisition processes as well as the complex processes managed by most government organizations. It includes a document builder function to produce complex procurement documents quickly and easily.”

TO OBTAIN A COPY OF THIS PAPER IN ITS ENTIRETY CONTACT THE AUTHOR AT procureinsights@rogers.com WITH “SAP PAPER” IN THE SUBJECT LINE.