Based on Insights From Resulting IT’s SAP Success Report
This article is part of Resulting IT’s 7 Deadly SAP Delivery Sins blog series, based on insights from our SAP Success Report – research conducted with former Gartner SAP Research Director Dr Derek Prior, drawing on the experiences of 113 SAP professionals across 105 organizations.
5. Choosing the Wrong SAP System Integrator (and Losing Control of Delivery)
Selecting an SAP partner should feel like setting your programme up for success.
Too often, it feels like handing over the keys and hoping for the best.
Big names, glossy slide decks and competitive day rates can mask a more uncomfortable truth: if you don’t actively manage your vendors, even the right SI can slowly take control of decisions, knowledge and direction. And once that happens, delivery becomes something that happens to you, not something you lead.
In our SAP Success Report, only 35% of respondents felt their programme was delivered successfully with the support of a suitable system integrator. Cultural misalignment, weak governance and blurred accountability were common themes.
This article from our 7 Deadly SAP Delivery Sins series explores how poor SAP vendor selection and management undermines delivery, and what it really takes to build vendor relationships that drive outcomes, not dependency.
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In SAP programmes, your vendors can make or break your delivery. Whether it’s a system integrator, tooling partner or niche specialist – choosing the wrong one, or failing to manage the right one, can quietly wreck your transformation before it even gets going.
Poor vendor management often stems from lack of visibility. Without clear reporting, RAAIDD management and performance tracking, even good vendors can drift off course.
Over-reliance on vendors creates knowledge silos and dangerous dependencies.
How to Spot Poor SAP Vendor Selection / Management
How do you identify poor vendor selection / management?
- You chose a vendor based on price or brand, not fit
- Project leads have limited control over vendor resources
- There’s no shared view of delivery health or risk
- Business and IT are both unsure what the vendor is actually delivering
- The relationship feels transactional, not collaborative
How to Select and Manage the Right SAP System Integrator
When vendors succeed, so do you – but only if you stay in control. So, how do you do that?
Select Partners Based on Fit, Not Flash
Prioritise alignment on values, delivery style and business understanding. Assess your vendor for cultural fit, challenge mindset, and outcome focus, in addition to technical capability.
Make Outcomes Part of the Contract
Align contracts with value delivered, not just effort spent. Be clear on what you’re paying for, how you’ll measure it and what happens if it doesn’t land.
Establish Joint Governance and Transparency
To encourage transparency, create shared RAAIDD logs and delivery dashboards, hold joint delivery reviews and ensure vendor teams participate fully in planning, steering and retrospectives.
Retain Decision-Making Control Internally
Don’t outsource ownership of your transformation – keep key architecture, data and change decisions within your organization. Empower your internal leaders to challenge and steer vendor delivery.
Blend Independence with Integration
Don’t rely on a single vendor for everything. Use independent advisors (like Resulting) to oversee complex delivery and challenge bias.
Key Takeaways
The right vendor can drive your SAP success but only if you stay in control. Choosing on brand or price alone won’t cut it. You need strong governance, clear outcomes and a partner who fits your culture, not just your contract.
Need help getting the best out of your SAP vendors?
We don’t just help you select the right vendor, we also work alongside SAP customers to take back control of delivery, challenging when needed, bringing visibility to what’s really happening and helping you manage partners like pros.
