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.
Every SAP program has a sponsor on paper.
Far fewer have one in reality.
At kick-off, executives are visible, vocal and supportive. But as delivery grinds on and hard decisions emerge, sponsorship often fades into the background. Steering meetings become passive updates, escalations stall, and the program slowly loses authority across the business.
In our SAP Success Report, 45% of respondents felt executive sponsorship was weak or inconsistent throughout delivery – a figure that explains many of the downstream issues teams struggle to resolve.
This article, part five of Resulting IT’s 7 Deadly SAP Delivery Sins series, explores why executive sponsorship matters far beyond sign-off, how to recognise when it’s missing, and how to activate leadership that actually drives momentum.
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Every successful SAP transformation needs more than a project plan and budget, it needs visible, committed and empowered executive sponsorship.
Without it, even the best-designed program will stall, lose momentum, or collapse under pressure.
SAP programs affect every corner of the business. They disrupt established processes, change roles and require tough decisions.
Only senior sponsors can:
If your executives are invisible or disengaged, it signals that the project isn’t important. The knock-on effect is that managers don't prioritise their SMEs’ time, teams treat workshops as optional and change is met with passive resistance.
These are the warning signs that indicate you’re lacking executive sponsorship:
Without sponsorship, delivery teams get trapped in organizational crossfire.
You can outsource delivery, but you can’t outsource leadership. SAP success must be led from the top.
There are a number of ways to build sponsorship into the DNA of your SAP program.
Define What SAP Sponsorship Actually Means
Set clear expectations:
Choose SAP Sponsors Who Have Authority and Influence
Not every senior title equals an effective sponsor. To succeed you need credibility across both business and IT, the ability to influence peer execs and the appetite to challenge and be challenged.
This could be one person or a coalition of strategic sponsors across functions.
Keep SAP Sponsors Engaged Through Structured Governance
Set up regular sponsor updates tied to strategic KPIs, not just delivery milestones and include them in key design approvals, testing readiness, and go / no-go decisions.
Use the authority of the sponsor updates to reinforce change messaging and cut through resistance.
Give SAP Sponsors the Tools to Succeed
Not all sponsors are transformation experts, you need to equip them with a sponsor playbook or role profile, talking points for town halls and leadership updates, and a dashboard linking delivery to business case outcomes.
Challenge SAP Sponsorship Gaps Early
If your sponsor is disengaged, ineffective, or lacks influence – raise it. A weak sponsor is more dangerous than none at all.
If leaders aren’t visible, engaged and empowered, the project will stall. Set clear expectations, back your sponsors with the tools they need and don’t be afraid to challenge when leadership goes missing.
Worried your SAP S/4HANA program’s missing top-level backing?
We help organizations define, support and activate the right SAP sponsors so leadership isn’t just a name on a slide, it’s the driving force behind real delivery momentum