Upgrade FAQ's - Most fequently asked question regarding upgrade to ERP2005 ( ERP2004s )
Why upgrade to mySAP ERP?
I believe the main reason for companies upgrading to mySAP ERP is to be able to leverage the new technologies available in this new platform. Another reason is that it is going to be a stable platform for the next few years, up until about 2010 so once upgraded companies can concentrate on getting the best ROI from there new system rather than worrying about upgrading.
What is a mySAP ERP technical upgrade?
A technical upgrade is primarily taking existing functionality and migrating it like for like to the new ERP 2005 platform.
What are the pros and cons of just doing a mySAP ERP technical upgrade?
A technical upgrade only reduces risk by making the upgrade process simpler and provides you with a base where you can gradually introduce new functionality over time. One disadvantage could be that you may spend time making some functionality work as it did before only for it to be replaced by new functionality available in the upgraded system.
ERP 2005 or ERP 2004?
ERP 2004 was basically an interim step. SAP now recommends ERP 2005 and are putting a lot of effort into making this the stable platform from which they will build their retrospective enhancement packages and switch frame technology for industry solutions onto. Therefore from a maintenance point of view this makes it much more attractive, allowing you to sick with this release for a much longer time period, upto and maybe beyond 2010, which provides you in theory with a better ROI.
How can we help ensure a successful upgrade?
The key to a successful upgrade is to limit the amount of work carried out during the upgrade process. For example if you just do a technical upgrade with as few functional changes as possible then the rate of success is going to be much higher. It is also important to bring together a dedicated management team who have clear objectives! It may also be helpful to plan the use of external consultants to do specific tasks or at least have some available should things start to slip. I.e. if it becomes clear early on that the ABAP changes required is going to take longer than estimated it would be fairly simple to get an ABAP consultant in to take on the additionally work and keep the project running to schedule.
How can we demonstrate ROI for a technical upgrade only?
Obviously it is going to be hard to demonstrate effective ROI for a purely technical upgrade on its own. But remember it's not the upgrade itself that will bring the benefits it's what you do with the system after the upgrade that counts. You therefore need to focus on future developments that the upgrade will allow in order to prove ROI. I.e. it is a necessary investment to get the company from where they are now to where they want to be!
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