Situation
One of the largest global aerospace and defense companies needed help developing and delivering a training solution addressing transformation across their legacy systems. The transformation included standardizing, consolidating, and migrating systems ranging from SAP S/4 HANA and Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) to Salesforce and SAP Project Team Training. GP Strategies® created an agile learning team using the organization’s Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), a leading framework used to scale projects across organizations quickly and efficiently.
Creating agile organizations to improve business results
Challenge
With resource limitations at the client’s organization, they partnered with GP Strategies for support. GP prepared the team to work within the SAFe structure by developing agile capabilities and completing critical training. The scrum master is responsible for ensuring the team of six development experts works within the agile framework with as few obstacles or distractions as possible. This training would pave the way for a successful effort.
Once the development was complete, the team worked with the client’s ERP Learning Product Owner and Product Manager to map out a robust planning and execution framework of SAFe to achieve continuous improvement throughout the life of the program. Complicating the challenge, the volume and velocity of change was higher than normal throughout the program, due to factors like remote working requirements, COVID policies, and new business processes. As a result, GP Strategies’ development team had to be extra responsive to the client’s needs and requirements. The goal was innovative analyses and learning solutions that would meet or exceed the expectations of stakeholders and end users affected by the digital transformation and the other disruptions 2020 brought.
Solution
The program included the implementation, standardization, and optimization of several enterprise solutions including SAP S/4 HANA, Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) system, and SAP Project Team Training. The SRM implementation consisted of both transitioning the client’s current training materials, such as instructorled training and basic product demo recordings, and creating a micro-learning solution. GP Strategies completed eleven courses to support the transition to SRM.
The client’s Distribution Services group is migrating their legacy ERP system to SAP S/4 HANA. GP Strategies was responsible for performing a critical process analysis reviewing hundreds of business processes to identify learning pieces the client will need for successful adoption of SAP S/4 HANA. The GP Strategies team also created a plan for the business readiness team that included responsibilities in areas including change management, testing, and the validation and delivery of the SAP end user training solutions. Go-live is set for July 2022.
The GP Strategies team is currently working with the SAP project implementation team, helping to determine and distribute training across the organization as the SAP implementations roll out over the next few years. The team will create a plan and design training materials and the overall enterprise SAP solution. The team’s strategic goal is to create a scalable, sustainable, and reusable training solution that will help achieve successful future SAP S/4 HANA deployments as the organization continues its digital transformation.
Throughout the design and execution of the program, the GP Strategies team engaged in continuous process improvement with the client to ensure that the program stayed agile.
Results
The project will continue to evolve until early 2022, with the goal of creating an agile organization, streamlined processes, and improved business results. Currently, the client is seeing early results and positive impact to employees.
