accentures own erp production support model4575

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Planning for and sustaining high performance

Accenture’s Own ERPProduction Support Model



This effort has produced clear winners

and losers—some companies get

considerably more value from their

ERP implementations than others.

A 2006 Accenture research effort

entitled "New Growth from Enterprise

Systems" found that while

organizations have made progress in

realizing value from their enterprise

systems, most still have significant

opportunities to maximize the value

from their investments. For Accenture,

creating and managing a production

support environment was a key

contributing factor to realizing

benefits from their enterprise system.

Production Support helps ensure the

stable and efficient operation of the

ERP system on which an organization

depends. Many companies focus

intensely on developing, testing and

deploying their ERP solution, but give

much less attention to the need for

post-implementation management

and maintenance. Instead, these

companies find themselves scrambling

to create or update the support

structures-while concurrentlystabilizing the solution-immediately

after the implementation. As a result,

the productivity declines that are to

be expected immediately after

implementation are exacerbated and

can last months or even years. The

longer the stabilization period, the

longer a company has to wait to

generate results.

Over a 21-month period, Accenture

introduced a comprehensive ERPcapability based on the SAP

application suite to deploy new

solutions for its three core functional

areas of Finance, Human Resources

and Sales. This effort not only marks

one of the world's most ambitious

ERP implementations in the services

sector, but it also leverages a single

global instance on a uniform, cross-

functional platform. This is unique,

given that Accenture research

confirms that only one-third of high

performing companies haveconsolidated its enterprise system into

a single global instance. More

important and even more unique is

the fact that the Accenture program

incorporated-from its very inception-a

rigorous production support model to

ensure its immediate and long-term

success. This innovative production

support model allowed Accenture to

take full advantage of its single-

instance, multi-function ERP solution

from day one. It enabled a

transformation to a process-driven

environment, firmly aligned to

business needs. And it provided a

critical foundation for long-term high

performance for its key business

functions.

Over the past decade, most large corporations haveturned to Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)solutions to enable a seamless flow of informationand transactions across diverse business functions,business units and geographic boundaries. Thesecompanies have transitioned to common ERP

solutions with the intention of maximizing efficiency,improving internal controls, facilitating moreaccurate business planning and generating greatervalue from their technology investments.

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productivity by focusing on end-to-

end processes, across countries,

throughout the enterprise. The

company also believed it could

benefit from a single instance of integrated business data, which would

provide much greater visibility into

the business and enable the earlier

identification of challenges and

opportunities. Finally, Accenture

believed a comprehensive ERP

solution would not only help address

statutory compliance risks that vary

by country, but also facilitate the

integration of new business areas and

acquisitions by providing consistent

processes and tools across Finance,

Human Resources and Sales.

To achieve these benefits, Accenture

first needed to overcome a significant

challenge. The proposed program

replaced the core Finance, Human

Resources and Sales systems, taking

away the familiar applications and

reporting tools that had been used to

run Accenture's business for years. At

the same time, the program needed to

create an environment that would

enable internal organizations to work

together on a shared, fully integratedsystem. As quickly as possible,

Accenture had to get its people back

to where they had been with their

core proficiencies, but with

completely new tools and processes.

From the very beginning, Accenture

knew that implementing a multi-

function ERP system entailed more

than simply changing the company's

technology platform. The company

also needed to introduce sweepingnew user and application support

processes and methodologies to help

employees master the solution quickly

and to maintain the solution for long-

term gain. For this reason, Accenture

set out to build a leading-edge

production support environment.

Business challenge

Accenture's ongoing research into the

characteristics of high-performance

businesses reveals that top companies

regard IT as a source of both

operational excellence and

competitive advantage. They look

beyond using IT as a tool for

controlling costs. Rather, they

understand that IT is a strategic asset

that can drive productivity and

generate bottom-line results. In this

regard, Accenture itself operates like

a high-performance business.

To generate greater value from its

own IT investments and help manage

its explosive growth, Accenture made

the strategic decision to migrate to a

single global instance of SAP and

establish a global production support

model. By implementing a fully

integrated ERP solution-starting with

the Finance function, followed by

Human Resources and then Sales,

Accenture felt it could improve

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What Accenture didTo achieve the full benefits of its ERPsolution, Accenture created aproduction support capability that

could rapidly build employeeproficiency and drive collaborationacross the diverse business functionsthat use the ERP solution. Resourcesfrom Accenture's Operations Supportfor the Enterprise (OSE) partnership, incollaboration with Accenture'sconsultants and IT Organization, beganby examining production supportcapabilities at a number of Accenture'scorporate clients. Based on thisassessment, Accenture set out torethink the entire concept-andeffectiveness-of production support.The result? A powerful new ERPproduction support paradigm steepedin early planning and comprising threeprimary components.

The first component was a robustmethodology. To ensure thatproduction support structures were inplace when the new solutions wentlive, the team leveraged the ServiceIntroduction components of the

Accenture Delivery Methods for SAP. Theteam tailored the tasks and deliverablesdefined in the methodology (based onthe unique requirements of each

capability being added to SAP) andincorporated them into the overallimplementation plan for each newcapability. As a result, the first report tobe designed coincided with the design of the first component of the productionsupport structure. In short, the teamtailored and then leveraged a repeatableproduction support enablementmethodology that ensured that theprocedures, tools and people were readyto support users as soon as they loggedonto the system for the first time.

The second component was stronggovernance. Because the single-instanceERP would manage and integrateinformation related to Finance, HumanResources and Sales, the Accenture teamrecognized that a sound governing bodywas needed to balance the three groups'requirements and guide the rightdecisions for the business, even underchallenging circumstances. According toTodd Harding, Accenture's Director of

OSE, "Our expansive approach togovernance is arguably the mostpivotal aspect of Accenture'sproduction support capability." The

governance structure includes businessleaders from Accenture's ITOrganization, Finance, HumanResources, Sales, Business Operationsand Geographic Services. As Hardingexplains, "Today, the governancestructure serves as an essentialintegrator. It challenges each memberand encourages each support personto think beyond their departmentalboundaries to understand the effectsthat any proposed changes to the ERPmight have on other processes."

Rounding out the governance model isa cross-operations team composed of IT and OSE resources, which workacross three support tiers to trackservice level agreements, measureproduction support effectiveness andmonitor benefits.

The final component was acomprehensive, scalable supportstructure. In planning the day-to-daysupport capabilities, Accenture aimed

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to create as comprehensive a supportstructure as possible. The goal was toestablish a single group to controlmaster data and user security access

and to deliver comprehensiveprocedural process and technicalsupport via a single global networkand a common toolset. To achieve thisobjective, a three-tiered support modelwas created in which both IT andbusiness representatives play crucialroles (see Figure 1).

• Tier 1 support is delivered by anetwork of actual end users who aretrained as Super/Lead Users toprovide their peers authoritative

answers about SAP-enabledprocesses and by the global HelpDesk organization, which providesanswers to technical questions dayor night.

• Within the Tier 2 support level,subject matter experts fromAccenture's business teams (Finance,Human Resources, Sales and OSE)are integrated as full-timeparticipants in the supportorganization. These resources workwith the IT team to answer escalated

queries from Tier 1, maintain usersecurity access and business datamodels, design and test fixes to thesolution in production, and identify,

prioritize and design enhancements.These fixes and enhancements entailnot only updates to the system itself,but also to the process andprocedures Accenture uses internallyto manage the business. Pivotal tothe structure at this level is thecentral team that governs andintegrates the core master andreference data used by each of thebusiness functions. The BusinessData Architecture team ensures thatthat common data definitions and

synchronized data values are used byeach capability.

• Tier 3 support is also providedthrough collaboration between the ITOrganization and business teams. Inaddition to the developers andtechnologists that keep theinfrastructure, solution and networkwell tuned, Tier 3 support includes arobust change management teamthat keeps user proficiency equallywell tuned. Within the Tier 3 support

level, OSE's Learning & KnowledgeManagement team manages the SAPBusiness Procedures website, whichlets end users help themselves.

Further, this group creates andupdates job aids, conducts trainingand distributes communications tousers to ensure that they are keptcurrent with issues and changes tothe solution.

Many companies take years tostabilize their ERP implementations.Accenture's early and ongoing focuson production support-as well as itscommitment to establishing robustgovernance capabilities, methodologies

and support structures-allowed thecompany to quickly generate valuefrom its solutions in the areas of Finance and Human Resources whilealso adding new capabilities. Within just 12 months after incorporating theHuman Resources functionality,Accenture's SAP production supportcapability was extended to includeSales-Opportunity Managementactivities.

Cross Operations and Governance

Prioritization, service management (SLAs), metrics and measures, monitoring benefit realizati

Integrated

Business

and IT

Teams

Tier 2

Production Support

Tier 1

End User Support

Tier 3

Production Support

Product andSolutionExpertise

ApplicationProductManagement

IT Teams GlobalTechnicalSupport

Help Desk

Technical DataExpertise

Technical DataArchitecture

Applicationmanagemen

TechnicalOperations

Basis (develoand technicaarchitecture

Production, and networkservices

Business

Teams

Process andBusinessExpertise

Process/SolutionTeams

LocalFunctionalSupport

Lead/SuperUsers

Business DataExpertise

Business DataArchitecture

Master datamaintenanc

FunctionalOperations

Learning andknowledgemanagemen

Usercommunicat

User Securityand Compliance

User SecurityProduction

Support(Tier 2 &3)

End User Support(Tier 1)

End Users

Geographical andOrganizational Leadership

Process

Owners

Figure 1: Accenture’s Integrated, ERP Support Model

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"The need for process and dataintegration with Finance and HR wasthe primary business driver behind thedecision to move Accenture's sales

systems to SAP," explains Mark Hawn,Managing Director, Sales Effectiveness."The implementation of SAP Sales-Opportunity Management extendedthe reach of Accenture's SAP programbeyond the back office, and out to thepeople who serve our clients. As thethird business capability to be addedto Accenture's ERP solution we wereable to capitalize on the productionsupport model already in place andimmediately reap the benefits of integration that the model enables."

High performance delivered"From the perspective of our ITOrganization, a critical success factorfor the implementation andmaintenance of our single globalinstance of SAP has always been theongoing engagement of our businessstakeholders," explains Dan Kirner,Senior Director-Finance CapabilityManager and SAP Program Lead. "The

collaborative partnership that we haveforged with Finance, HR and Sales,and embedding them into ourproduction support model at all levels,

has been instrumental to the internalprocess improvements that we havebeen able to drive for Accenture."

By tapping IT and business resourcesfrom across the organization,Accenture developed a leading-edgeproduction support capability thatenabled the company to quicklymaximize returns on its ERPinvestment. Specifically, theproduction support model has:

• Reduced the post-implementationstabilization period, which translatesinto more rapid benefits realization.Whereas it took four months tostabilize the initial SAP Financeimplementation, more recentreleases have achieved stabilizationin half the time or less.

• Created operational efficiencies byreducing the slope of the learningcurve for users and minimizing theproductivity dip that is typicallyexperienced.

• Reduced internal costs byrationalizing the number of supportteams, structures and tools, and byleveraging common structures and

toolsets across the functions usingSAP. For example, Accenture hasadded a number of new capabilitiessince the first SAP release forFinance in 2004. Consequently, thenumber of frequent users of theapplication has grown by 270percent. Despite this increase incomplexity and number of users, thesize of the production support teamshas grown by only 34 percent. (SeeFigure 2)

• Enabled the company to prioritize

and deliver enhancements, whichoptimize benefits for and acrossmultiple functions. Each successiverelease since the initial SAP Financeimplementation has added 50percent more batch processes.Despite this increase, the supportteams have reduced the quarterly-close-to-report cycle by nearly 25percent, from 30 days to 23 days.

Figure 2: User Growth vs Support Team Growth

*Frequent users of SAP routinely access the system to perform their ongoing job responsibilities

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SAP for Finance SAP for Fin & HR Extend SAP to Other Businessesand Opportunity Management

IT Support Teams

Business Support Teams

All Support Teams

Frequent Users*

+ +

0

100

200

300

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

2004 2005 2006

(270%)

(34%)

(46%)

(14%)



• Established common, scalablesupport processes that facilitate thequick integration of support for newcapabilities, users and business

acquisitions, and which provide aplatform for off-shoring andoutsourcing opportunities. Currently,60 percent of the support teamresources are located offshore. Thismarks an increase of 10 percentsince the first SAP implementation.

Several important characteristics setthe Accenture production supportmodel apart and form a solid platformfor growth and high performance. Forexample, the model blurs the

traditionally narrow functionalboundaries separating Finance, HumanResources and Sales, encouragingcollaboration and an enterprise-wide,end-to-end process orientation."Production support has helped usintegrate our employee data andfinancial data in a powerful way and,in the process, eliminate many of thelegacy activities needed to reconciledata between Human Resources andFinance," says Michael Adamson,Senior Director-HR Infrastructure. "But

these advantages pale in comparisonto the benefit of having the integratedinformation necessary to make faster,better decisions and drive high

performance in our businessoperations."

The production support model alsopromotes standardization whereverpossible, which improves thecompany's business and riskmanagement capabilities, whilereducing costs. "We focus on qualityat the source, which allows improvedvisibility of key information across theenterprise," points out Grant Ireland,Accenture's Assistant Controller. "More

accurate information enables us tomanage risks, and provide businesssupport and analysis that helps growthe top and bottom line faster."

Importantly, the production supportmodel is highly scalable. OSE isresponsible for supporting more than atotal of 25,000 SAP users in the areasof Finance, Human Resources andSales-from "super users" to businessoperators and managers who use thesystem occasionally. Despite the rapid

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increase in the total number of Accenture users of SAP (from 2,700core Finance users with the originalimplementation just 3 years ago), few

additional production supportresources have been needed tomaintain the end-user SAP experience.The inherent rigor of the productionsupport model allows flexible, scalablesupport-even while support costs peremployee decline.

Given the success of Accenture'sproduction support model, thecompany plans to extend thecapability to additional applications,such as recruiting, forecasting,

procurement and performancemanagement. In this way, theproduction support solution will behelping Accenture optimize even moreof its business capabilities and lay aneven stronger foundation for long-term high performance.



Copyright © 2007 Accenture

All rights reserved.

Accenture, its logo, and

High Performance Delivered

are trademarks of Accenture.

About AccentureAccenture is a global management

consulting, technology services and

outsourcing company. Committed to

delivering innovation, Accenturecollaborates with its clients to help

them become high-performance

businesses and governments. With

deep industry and business process

expertise, broad global resources and a

proven track record, Accenture can

mobilize the right people, skills and

technologies to help clients improve

their performance. With more than

158,000 people in 49 countries, the

company generated net revenues of

US$16.65 billion for the fiscal year

ended Aug. 31, 2006. Its home page is

www.accenture.com.

accentures own erp production support model4575

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