The Challenge
The University of Leeds is delivering a multi-year transformation through its Corporate Systems and Processes (CPS) program, modernising people, processes and technology to move from highly bespoke, inefficient ways of working to a best-practice higher education operating model.
SAP has underpinned core functions since 1999, evolving from SAP R/3 to a heavily customised SAP ECC landscape supporting Procurement, People & Culture and Finance.
With SAP ECC support ending in 2027, the University recognised that a move to SAP S/4HANA needed to enable broader business transformation and stakeholder alignment, and that the existing SAP support organisation was not positioned to support the program’s scale and ambition.
Resulting Solution
Resulting completed a number of engagements with the University of Leeds to drive progress towards SAP S/4HANA.
This began with a short, targeted engagement to assess the maturity of the SAP Centre of Excellence, starting with a survey covering Resulting’s 28 factors for a successful SAP CoE, followed by targeted interviews with business and IT stakeholders to gather objective evidence of current operations, pain points and future aspirations.
Building on this foundation, Resulting provided Roadmap Advisory and Assurance to ensure the programme was established on a solid footing.
Using our standard roadmapping approach underpinned by FusionGraph, we delivered an integrated view across executive strategy, business processes, applications and technology, including executive interviews, strategy review, process framework definition, application analysis, signature requirements, technology planning, transformation narrative, business case development and partner briefing documentation.
"Those tools are just fantastic for getting in front of executives and people who don't really understand the technology, translating that into tangible stuff that they can understand - this is really vital."
Resulting also supported the University through the procurement phase, applying deep SAP and systems integrator experience to anticipate bidder behaviour and reduce delivery risk.
This included validation of the target operating model and shared services scope, documentation of the as-is application landscape, high-level SAP solution scoping, development of Level 0 implementation plans, architectural input to the ITT, leadership of competitive dialogue sessions, SAP functionality advisory, and tender evaluation and scoring.
Alongside this, Resulting provided client-side advisory support, supplying specialist resources while maintaining a strong focus on building an enduring, self-sufficient internal capability.
This included SAP functional consultants across S/4HANA, SuccessFactors, Ariba and Concur, SAP GRC expertise, a Technical Integration Lead, and a Data Architect covering data models, mastership and migration approach.
Benefits Delivered
The University of Leeds adopted an SAP-specific procurement approach, rewriting requirements as user stories to provide clearer context and enable bidders to produce more relevant, higher-quality responses.
A competitive dialogue process was used, starting with an RFI that attracted strong market interest and was down-selected to four bidders, followed by an intensive period of dialogue and clarification workshops to align understanding of requirements and solution options.
Strong sponsor engagement across each business area was a key success factor, ensuring broad alignment and enabling emerging risks to be identified and addressed early.
As a result, the University now has a clear roadmap to transform the SAP Centre of Excellence from a traditional IT support function into a business-aligned capability focused on delivering targeted value.
This enables the University to plan recruitment and development effectively, building an SAP CoE that supports continuous improvement throughout the wider transformation program.
