Insights

Post-delivery user training & support - paying attention to the ‘ugly sisters’ of SAP Projects

12 Jan 2011 Project Management & Methodology, Consumer Business

A much -neglected aspect of SAP projects is the end-users, and how best to look after them once the system is in production and people are using it to get their jobs done.

Let’s imagine your organisation has just spent a large sum of money on a SAP project. Your implementation partner has delivered the system, the project is over, drinks have been had, and off they go, leaving your organisation to look after a brand-new and enormous IT system which your users don’t yet understand or know how to use.

Now what?

Let’s look at a simile from the world of gardening (you’ll get used to this theme throughout my blogs...so hang in there!) – When you plant an apple tree, the work’s not over just because you’ve put the roots in the ground. You have to water it for a couple of years until it gets its roots down, stake it for support so the wind doesn’t blow it over, and prune it properly to make it yield lots of fruit. What separates a good grower from a poor one is the care they give their trees after they’ve planted them.

The ‘ugly sisters’ of the SAP project world

There are definitely parallels of the above with SAP projects. Successful SAP projects are not simply delivered then left alone. They continue to be nurtured after delivery to yield the best long-term results. Which brings us nicely to the ‘ugly sisters’ of the SAP project world...user training and support.

Now, these ladies are often neglected and overlooked because they are unglamorous, can be difficult to get along with and often resistant to change. But if you pay them the right attention, you’ll not only be repaid with greater efficiency, you’ll also mark yourself out with the user community and the business at large as an especially good project manager.

Driving user adoption

The right user training and user support will make your users feel valued and will go a long way towards driving user adoption. The fact that you haven’t abandoned them to grapple with a huge new IT system after a week’s training will help keep them on-side. It will also differentiate you from the usual band of ‘wham, bam, bye bye!’ project managers (also sometimes referred to as “seagull managers”).

What’s more, your users will be able to use the system more effectively and to its full potential, more quickly than they would otherwise. This will really bring home the business benefits discussed in the cost/benefit analysis at the start of the project.

As well as helping you maintain a great relationship with the user community, you’ll also get brownie points for your annual review and it will go a long way towards making people across different parts of the business feel as though they are pulling together.

Thinking about the right approach

Having agreed post-deployment user training and support think about what makes for good user support and training. What kind of approach is needed to help them get to grips with the new system and enable them to work more effectively?

Will using an offshore support partner and a formal ticketing system achieve this? I’d argue that it won’t. There is absolutely a time and a place for this sort of arrangement however, post-deployment user training and support isn’t it. I’d argue that what your users really need is a small number of (or maybe even just one) highly-skilled, locally-deployed experts, with whom they can build and maintain a long-term relationship.

Users are often shy of asking questions because they don’t want to appear stupid or ignorant. This can impact the effectiveness of the system, since users aren’t asking the questions they need in order to move forward and learn. Having a friendly, personal relationship with an expert they can just call up or email when they get stuck can make all the difference.

Have a look at this sample email from a user and the two different responses to it and let me know which conversation you would rather be a part of:

Imagine an email from a user like this:

____________________________________________________________

Hi,

I have been trying to save a new contact in the new SAP CRM system and it’s not working. I am not sure what I’m doing wrong – I’ve followed the instructions in the documentation but it just won’t go into the system. This is really urgent and I’ve tried it all sorts of different ways but I still can’t get it to work – can you help me?

Thanks,

Anna

____________________________________________________________

Response 1: offshore support partner using a ticketing system

Dear User,

The Service Desk has received your request for support, via e-mail, and we have taken the following action. The following ticket(s) have been opened and the status is as follows:

Ticket Number Service Center –AB51120082506

Ticket status – Referred

I have assigned the ticket to the resolver team to work on this issue and get it resolved.

Thank you for contacting the Service Desk.  If you need any further assistance you can use the e-mail option again or you can feel free to call the Service Desk at 123-555-88790 anytime you need assistance.

Regards,

The Service Desk team

____________________________________________________________

Response 2: local expert

Hi Anna,

Great to hear from you again – I hope you’re doing well. . I’m sorry to hear you’re having troubles with the system – I’ll give you a call right away so I can talk you through it.  I’ll crank up the screen-sharing software so I can see what’s going on. Don’t worry, we’ll get this sorted out.

Speak to you soon,

Mark

___________________________________________________________

I think it’s clear which of these approaches will help your users to get the most out of the system in the shortest possible time, and which will alienate them and make them hate using it.

This sort of informal approach can be a bit more difficult to structure from a commercial/contract perspective but I guarantee that it will more than pay for itself in the increased productivity, goodwill and kudos you get from your users.