Benefit Realisation with SAP: A Case Study

SAP is one of the dominating enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, which is used as an essential part of enterprise-wide information systems. While it can significantly contribute towards an organization’s competitiveness by increasing efficiencies across various functional units, it can, on the other hand, bring about disasters if implemented incorrectly. Literature presents both implementation successes and failures. This chapter presents a successful SAP implementation in the WATER CORPORATION in Western Australia. A “Benefit Realisation Strategy and Realisation Process” was considered to be the key success factor in the implementation of SAP. The chapter describes the benefit realisation structure and process and discusses how SAP was implemented successfully within this framework. The benefits realisation and its impact are presented. Finally, future directions are highlighted. This chapter appears in the book, Managing Business with SAP: Planning, Implementation and Evaluation, edited by Linda Lau. Copyright © 2005, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited. 701 E. Chocolate Avenue, Suite 200, Hershey PA 17033-1240, USA Tel: 717/533-8845; Fax 717/533-8661; URL-http://www.idea-group.com IDEA GROUP PUBLISHING