Making the daunting task of a global SAP HCM implementation less onerous, more successful

Performing a comprehensive, fully integrated global SAP HCM implementation in a single instance is a daunting task for many large companies. We believe paramount in achieving it is proper communication and coordination between SAP HR and IT Managers/Directors, HR Project Managers/Directors, HR Project Team Leads, and change management teams. We explore this issue here, covering both challenges and key lessons learned about having the right strategy and approach in place to be successful. We hope it will serve as a useful reference for preparing business case analyses and managing a global SAP roll-in implementation all in support of your efforts to minimize cost, manage project timelines, and enhance decision making. Overview Global SAP HCM implementations are typically initiated in an effort to replace country-specific HR and Payroll systems with a single global SAP enterprise with an objective to help the company align global processes and countryspecific processes while replacing US and European legacy/ headquarters HR and Payroll systems. In addition, a phased roll-out approach can allow for certain countries to go live in an orderly manner (typically accomplished by size or importance). Following is a step-by-step breakdown of the main points we believe you should consider in your efforts to achieve a successful implementation: Approach To start, we recommend an approach that focuses on six key elements (illustrated below) of a typical global SAP HCM implementation. Below the chart is a brief description of each element. 1. Standardize and simplify Design an 80% solution (fit for purpose) that leverages common processes, when available, simplifies the processes, adopts SAP best practices, and minimizes dependency on custom code and modifications to core SAP. 2. Global template Utilize a global template to help decrease implementation time, decrease cost, enhance decision making capability/ speed, increase drive in consistency, and reduce localized requirements. 3. Phased rollouts, by country Pros:
Early realization of support savings Minimizes process variation during implementation Fewer instances (temporary) Better integration Earlier time-to-benefit for each country Better opportunity for continuous improvement Aligned to organization
As used in this document, Deloitte means Deloitte Consulting LLP, a subsidiary of Deloitte LLP. Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries.

Cons:
Legacy interfaces must be maintained Later countries may change or spend on temporary improvements or cannot respond to business requirements Later time-to-benefit for corporate functions Delayed shared service opportunities

4. Global liaison and integration manager Having a global liaison or integration manager that resides in the country that owns the global template can help result in: better communication between local and global roll-in teams; a reduction in language and cultural barriers;

increased decision making capability/speed; an increased drive for consistency; and reduced localized requirements. 5. Change management This is one of the most important elements of a successful global roll-out, because effective change management can help generate buy-in from key users throughout the affected network. Moreover, since HR changes impact every level of an organization, it is critical to engineer a well-designed internal communication plan by identifying a communication delivery mechanism that works effectively with different types of stakeholders. 6. Internal best practices and SAP knowledge Leveraging internal best practices and combining those with SAP implementation knowledge can help an organization to align their processes and technology so they complement each other Roll-out strategy In the following example, the global blueprint was done by country one, or the roll-out country, and inherited by countries two and three, or the roll-in countries.

Below, we show the rollout strategy for the technical aspects of the project. Most important to note here is that the security design should be given special attention due to the likely variation in compliance requirements for different countries, which makes security testing extremely important and highlights the need to conduct it earlier than during typical implementations.

Challenges Inevitably, when faced with a global SAP implementation, several challenges will be encountered. Typically, they are global in scope and might include issues around offshore development, documentation, roles and responsibilities, training materials, scope definition and consistency, governance structure, and disciplined change control, as well as configuration difficulties. Below you will find some challenges you will likely encounter, based on our past experiences with similar projects: The bullet points throughout the rest of the document are somewhat inconsistent in content, sentence structure and grammar. I made a few changes, but a more detailed edit should be made Global Scope: Staffing challenges involving relocation, time zones, locations, languages, etc. Definition and agreement of global processes versus local processes Offshore Development: Expectations on documentation and quality standards Stringent coordination and amount of guidance required Documentation: Keeping changes to the business blueprint of global and local templates updated, as required Multi-language requirements for documentation Version control and access to documents 2

The following chart illustrates the rollout strategy for training. Choose a training tool as early as possible and pay special attention to any appropriate global requirements. An effective practice is to leverage global training documents when applicable.

Roles and Responsibilities: Difficulties encountered in creating and communicating a clear understanding of roles and responsibilities local, regional, and global This holds true for all phases of the cycle implementation (blueprint, realization, testing and cutover) Training Materials: Challenges around deploying material in several languages Scope Definition and Consistency: Agreement of key HR actions and processes at a global level Regard for local compliance and cultural requirements and the impact to the Global template Governance Structure and Disciplined Change Control: Refraining from allowing localizations to influence the global template and that the global template remains truly global/universal Defining disciplined configuration structure with phased, country-specific implementations Developing a regression testing strategy that can be executed at any given time in any given location Configuration Challenges: Enterprise structure Global fields and actions Limited groupings and rules options Global settings for security Global Organizational Management settings Translations Key lessons learned Get detailed validation of organizational data, wage types, personnel data, year-to-date payroll, and time results Use go live metrics for early detection of issues Begin early testing of forms for processes Attend transactional training and make sure users are familiarized with new processes Seek active support from leadership in the training process Conduct transition planning for areas undergoing personnel/process change (cont.): Dont change key users Retain key SMEs and core project team members Address bottleneck areas and provide them additional support Have core implementation team work closely with the process team 3

Clearly define, manage and govern global template Get change management involved as early as possible Provide frequent demonstrations of the system to the key process owners and stakeholders Put in place effective communication plan that considers project plans, project status, plan updates, and issue escalation procedures Cover key local and legal business requirements Spend more time upfront with global template design Use this as the starting point for the local design with country-specific HR representatives Spend additional time to define global reporting requirements ensure consistent use of data fields Consider local data privacy restrictions when using global fields or processes while designing the security model Set global data standards by infotypes Globalize actions and reasons as much as possible to help ensure consistent reporting Have a defined regression strategy for subsequent country rollouts Have one core configuration team who gets configuration requirements sent to them by mobile localization teams Prepare for international mobility Use SAP standard global employment features where possible Pay special attention to incorporating multiple countries local benefits and converting an equivalent salary during expatriate/impetrate assignments Offer a net salary in global employment and then gross up the wage types Know that the planning stage in a global employment process is extremely important from the design perspective Try and use the global ID and a new personnel number for each assignment Make sure the fluctuations in currency rates are dealt with during the international mobility process design Configuration tips Use sub features at the country level while maintaining features Use an info-group modifier as well as a country-specific user group in process configuration Use ENAME field for name format to allow proper sorting of global reports Pay special attention to number range configuration and maintenance for phased, country-specific rollouts Make sure positions are defined locally to incorporate local compensation as well as compliance requirements if jobs are structured globally

 Security Use composite transport strategy to avoid sequencing issues due to global and local teams configuring similar tables Use global fields and/or custom fields to manage global security needs Where possible, use SAP Solution Managers change request management functionality to create transport requests and manage transports Make sure the global template considers global structural authorization settings to incorporate a global structural design Consider custom functions for structural authorizations to incorporate country-specific structural requirements Pay special attention to testing reports with global data We believe following these tips can help make your HCM global implementation go smoother and faster and help you achieve an enhanced outcome.

This publication contains general information only and is based on the experiences and research of Deloitte practitioners. Deloitte is not, by means of this publication, rendering business, financial, investment, or other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute for such professional advice or services, nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your business. Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business, you should consult a qualified professional advisor. Deloitte, its affiliates, and related entities shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by any person who relies on this publication. Copyright 2009 Deloitte Development LLC, All rights reserved. Member of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu