Are you missing these early signs of SAP failure?
Squeak, whir, rattle… The signs were there on your dream car test drive at the sellers house. But now, that German-made luxury sedan with its buttery leather seats is all yours.
The car looked showroom ready, so on the drive home you figured any problems would be an easy fix. You were wrong. After endless repairs and downtime, your whirlwind romance was over. This isn’t your dream car — it’s a nightmare.
If only you hadn’t ignored all the red flags, maybe you wouldn’t be in this situation.
The same principle can be applied to your SAP modules. Routine maintenance, and taking the time to look for little imperfections in the system, can save you a whole heap of heart-ache down the road.
What are the early signs of SAP failure?
Like cars, your SAP system has its own form of squeaks, whirs and rattles to warn you. These SAP issues often indicate larger problems lurking in your system:
- Your SAP system gradually slows down over the past months, which really hurts during peak business hours, when the most users are actively using it.
- Your SAP system becomes beat-your-head-against-the-wall slow during critical periods of business processing, such as month’s or quarter’s end.
- Certain SAP transactions take hours to complete. These same transactions used to take a tenth of the time.
- The database is nearly out of space.
- When you happen to take a look, there are numerous dumps in the SAP log.
How can you handle this without upgrading to expensive modules?
For starters, have your in-house SAP BASIS point person conduct health checks on all systems, every morning. Like a savvy auto-mechanic, he should monitor key parameters to ensure a stable system, and be on the lookout for any problematic areas. The early warning signs will provide enough time to purchase additional resources as needed.
Another preventative move is to consult with experts in your industry. They can help you establish best practices when it comes to health checks and monitoring your systems. When you think about the killer migraine this may save you, the investment is well worth the money.
But what if I don’t have enough SAP BASIS staff to complete these tasks daily?
If this is truly the case—and you don’t have the budget to bring in any extra in house help — then maybe, it is time to look into outsourcing. Find firm that allows you to start small with expertise in your industry. Because consultants are not on site, you can pick and choose the expertise you need at fraction of the price.
The last thing you want to do is nothing.
Red flags are SAP failures waiting to happen
Don’t ignore red flags and warning signs. Daily monitoring also allows you to spot any critical issues which may result from programming errors or internal SAP issues. Left unchecked, the business data would be as reliable as your nightmare BMW.
Proactively looking for SAP issues, and implementing simple solutions can help you avoid costly, catastrophic failure down the road.
It also helps to keep your business users happy, because they see a fast and responsive SAP system. Happy users means trust in your IT department soars. This makes you look good. Plus, it keeps your budget from being blindsided and you having to grovel for more emergency money.
Next Step
If you’d like some help putting these steps into practice, give us a call (or fill the form below and send to us). We’re happy to meet and discuss your situation.
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