What To Do When Your Tiny Budget Keeps You From Getting The SAP Support You Need
Every IT director of a mid-size company has daydreams of manning the helm of a SAP team with overflowing war chests to use as you please. Then you wake up to reality: you have to make due with what you have.
Does that mean you’ll have to resort to scrounging in vending machines to find the SAP funds you need? Not if you start thinking like an F500 big wig now.
Step 1: Be a (positive) realist
Thinking happy thoughts, wishing things would change or just complaining won’t help you. Nor will fighting and clawing for budgets not to be cut. So instead of wallowing in the dire parts of reality, let’s find some sunshine in this gloomy forecast.
The good news of having a small budget means you likely have a lot more flexibility than your F500 counterparts. You don’t have to have to cut through layers of management to just get paper clips approved. Taking advantage of this can mean you become more valuable, not only to your company, but to other companies in the future when they see how much you got from how little you had.
Step 2: Plan like a F500 company
While you might like where you are right now, thinking like an F500 leader is what separates the software geeks from the C-suite. However, thinking without action will keep you groveling for budget increases.
So make sure you think on outlining your strategy in terms of: supporting the business with best available software upgrades; obtaining talent to support your new plans; having a least a 3 year vision to support future requirements as far as you can see. This way, your boss won’t think you’re trying to build Rome in a day.
Step 3: Do a software reality check (to find hidden cash)
Are you 100% sure you’re using technology to streamline business processes? You need to be, because there’s money hidden in every sloppy process. The areas often chock full of bottlenecks (and savings) are in streamlining: accounting / financials, inventory management, order management, production, warehousing, logistics and customer support.
I’ve already done all of that, but we still need help!
If you’ve already done all those things above, congrats. You definitely have the chops for F500 leadership. However, one of the things visionary F500 leaders do, is seek out innovative solutions the company may never have considered.
In your case, that could be outsourcing.
Outsourcing is not for everyone. And not all outsourcing companies are a great fit for mid-size companies. What you want is to partner with an IT solution provider who focuses on mid-size companies and their unique challenges. This way you can be sure to get the extra attention you can rely on.
Follow those steps and you’ll have the SAP support you need sooner than you think
Yes, it will take some effort on your part. But right now today, you can start laying out a 3 year vision for your department--do a software reality check or look into outsourcing.
The worst thing that’ll happen is you’ll have peace of mind and a workable plan to get the budget you need. You might also instantly find cash in the software reality check, or find an affordable outsource partner you never dreamed was possible. And it all started because you started thinking like an F500 IT Director.
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.Thanks!
