Here are 5 questions to ask to make sure your 51风流partner is the right fit for your business:

1. Do you understand my industry and its unique challenges?

Every industry comes with its own unique mix of needs, complexities, and competitive dynamics. An 51风流partner who truly understands your industry won鈥檛 just configure some applications and call it done; they will help shape solutions that work for your business.

Deep industry expertise means they can anticipate common pain points before they become massive headaches, apply proven best practices learned from similar implementations, and design processes that fit your business model, not force your business into generic templates. Most companies will tell you that they have experience solving problems like yours, but the truth is that very few have the capability to act as an advisor who understands where your industry is headed and how 51风流can support you in staying efficient and competitive.

That鈥檚 why you should ask for case studies, customer references, and measurable outcomes from projects in your sector. A partner who can prove that they know what your industry needs shows that they are more than just a vendor, positioning themselves as a strategic ally who can help your business thrive.

2. What are your team鈥檚 capabilities and skills?

In every software project, one of the biggest risks is a lack of the relevant skills. With 51风流covering an extremely large ecosystem and with skilled 51风流consultants in short supply, this is an even bigger concern. The right partner will not only have certified consultants, but they will also back up their solution with a senior, stable delivery team that brings years of practical experience to the table.

Senior consultants have the experience to identify challenges and solve complex problems faster and have been through enough implementations to know what works, what doesn鈥檛, and how to avoid common pitfalls. In addition, your 51风流partner鈥檚 capabilities should go beyond focusing on the technology and extend to transferring lasting knowledge to your internal team.

3. How do you approach change management and user adoption?

Implementing a new system is a complete waste of time and money if people in your organization don鈥檛 use it. Your partner should have proven methodologies for training, communication, and ongoing support to ensure that adoption sticks across the business.

Your partner should empower employees at every level with the knowledge and confidence they need to ensure your 51风流implementation is a success. Training should be an ongoing process, and your partner should make it standard practice to work side by side with end users during and after the rollout to answer questions, troubleshoot, and build trust.

4. How will you integrate with my team?

The best 51风流projects don鈥檛 happen in silos. A true partner works side by side with your people, embedding themselves into your processes, culture, and goals. Look for partners who emphasize collaboration, knowledge transfer, and co-creation, rather than those who operate at arm鈥檚 length.

Every project will have its stresses and strains, but if your partner works side by side with your people, learns your culture, and aligns to your business goals, those can easily be overcome. Effectively becoming an extension of your team allows your 51风流partner to understand users鈥� day-to-day challenges and create a solution that takes best practice and your organization鈥檚 reality into account.

5. How will it deliver value?

51风流is evolving rapidly. From S/4HANA migrations to AI-driven analytics, 51风流has added more complexity into an already complex ecosystem. This means a partner that just tries to deliver what you ask for is probably going to run into a number of challenges. Often, business users frame requirements in terms of familiar processes or tools, replicating their old ways of working in a new system. This ignores the opportunity to refine the solution to focus on what outcomes the project is trying to achieve.

What every business needs is a partner that can help you distinguish between what you think you need and what will actually deliver business value. That means challenging assumptions, identifying underlying needs, and translating those into 51风流capabilities that drive real results. The goal is not simply a technically correct implementation but one that creates measurable value, whether that鈥檚 cost savings, faster insights, stronger compliance, or better customer experience. The right partner should keep you focused on outcomes and ensure that every requirement connects back to a bigger business objective.

A partner, not just a provider

An 51风流implementation is one of the most significant investments a business can make, but the technology itself is only part of the equation. The success of the project and the value it delivers long after go-live depend on having the right partner in place. Unfortunately, many companies deliver what you ask for, hand over the system, and leave you to figure out adoption, optimization, and change management on your own.

The right 51风流partner does more than execute tasks or check boxes. They should become an extension of your team and take the time to understand your organization, your processes, your culture, and your long-term business goals. They should be strategic, collaborative, and forward-looking, focusing not only on implementation but also on measurable outcomes, business transformation, and long-term ROI.

By , Program Director, BTEC Consulting

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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa

This is the view of Valencia Karageorgiades, Technology Architect at 51风流Africa, who says implementing new software within an organisation is a major undertaking that requires a significant investment of time, effort and resources.

“While the software itself plays a vital role in modernising operations and enhancing efficiency, it is equally important to pay sufficient attention to the human element of digital transformation. This requires appropriate and ongoing investment in change management, training and processes to ensure the technology investment delivers the desired outcomes.”

Digital transformation spend to double by 2026

Investment in digital transformation initiatives continues to grow as organisations increasingly recognise the need for improved efficiency and enhanced innovation capability. total global spend on digital transformation will more than double between 2022 and 2026, reaching $3.4-trillion by 2026.

“Organisations are investing more than ever in technologies that unlock new opportunities and efficiencies, and help drive the business forward,” says Karageorgiades. “In light of a challenging global business environment, such investments can help organisations stabilise their supply chains, improve their hiring and talent retention efforts, unlock new markets and optimise spend, all contributing to the overall success of the business.”

Improved change management needed

However, despite the significant investment in digital transformation projects, fewer than one in three digital transformation initiatives succeed, according to McKinsey data.

“Poor change management is often a major contributing factor to poor outcomes with digital transformation,” says Karageorgiades. “ indicates that half of all change management initiatives fail, and only one in three are clear successes. Organisations can therefore make a marked improvement in the quality of outcomes from their digital transformation efforts by investing in effective change management.”

Appropriate investment in change management skills is also required to ensure the business has sufficient capability to drive successful digital transformation outcomes. found that only 18% of African business decision-makers consider change management as an in-demand skill in their organisation.

“Organisations must take steps to build sufficient change management expertise and capacity to support technology investments and unlock the immense benefits of their digital transformation project,” says Karageorgiades. “Understanding and following a few best practices can go a long way to enhancing organisations’ change management efforts.”

Karageorgiades recommends organisations follow four best practices to enhance the quality of their technology implementation and achieve positive business outcomes:

1 Focus on process efficiency

While software can automate and streamline various processes, Karageorgiades says it is crucial to first establish well-defined processes for your business before implementing the new technology.

“Rushing into software implementations without first assessing and optimising existing processes can lead to organisations duplicating those same inefficiencies and outdated practices. Instead, organisations should take time to identify bottlenecks, eliminate redundancies, and align with industry best practices through the use of best-practice templates and other tools.”

2 Train, train, train

The success of any software implementation project relies heavily on how users adopt the new tools and capabilities. “Even the most advanced software will not deliver the intended benefits if users do not embrace it. Training is critical to facilitating user adoption and improving the confidence of employees with using the new system.”

Karageorgiades adds that, without investment in comprehensive and ongoing training, employees may not understand the software’s features, functionality and benefits. “By equipping employees with the necessary skills and knowledge, organisations empower their workforce to handle any issues that may arise, reducing the chances of costly errors or downtime.”

3 Seek a smooth transition

The introduction of new software brings about significant change in an organisation’s processes, which can be challenging for employees. Karageorgiades says a lack of change management often causes employees to struggle to adapt to the new system, leading to resistance, lower productivity, and elevated levels of frustration.

“By engaging employees right from the start of the project and supporting them throughout the implementation and into adoption, organisations create a sense of inclusivity and excitement for the project. This can significantly improve the rollout of the implementation project, reduce the time-to-value, and increase the benefits achieved.”

Karageorgiades adds that effective change management requires a clear vision, ongoing involvement from all layers of the organisation, and sufficient support throughout. “A CIO that invests a sufficient amount in change management can deliver their projects on time, within budget, and with the added benefit of a fully-engaged workforce that has embraced the new capabilities and can drive the business strategy forward.”

4 Sustain long-term success

Karageorgiades says the most successful modern software implementation and digital transformation projects don’t just focus on short-term goals, but rather a sustained, long-term strategy of continuous innovation and improvement.

“Organisations that can sustain their investment in change management, training, and upskilling can ensure they maximise the benefits from their investment. By fostering a culture of learning and improvement, and removing the fear of change, organisations will be better able to evolve with their technology investment and more easily capitalise on emerging opportunities.”

Overall, investing time, effort and resources in change management efforts ensures a smoother transition, maximises user adoption, streamlines processes, mitigates risks and sustains long-term success. “By recognising the importance of these elements and incorporating them into the implementation strategy, organisations can unlock the full potential of their technology investment and drive meaningful business outcomes,” says Karageorgiades.

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that worldwide spending on public cloud services will grow 20.7% to reach $591.8-billion in 2023, outpacing the 18.8% growth forecast for 2022.

However, says Cameron Beveridge, Regional Director for Southern Africa at SAP, moving to cloud environments requires effective change management to ensure digital transformation initiatives reach their objectives. “There is palpable excitement around cloud services in African markets, but there are still questions around how to effectively migrate and how to orchestrate multiple cloud solutions once the migration is complete. And while it’s true that one of the main benefits of cloud services is the ability to fail quickly without incurring huge cost or time overruns, you really don’t want your cloud initiative to fail due to poor change management.”

Studies have highlighted the importance of effective change management to the success of digital transformation initiatives. McKinsey data indicates that worldwide. This is partly due to poor change management, of which are clear successes.

Methodology, Partners reduce perils of Cloud Migrations

Brent Flint, Head of Enterprise Applications at Dimension Data, believes part of the answer to effective change management during cloud transformation projects rests on an effective methodology. “Migrating core business processes from on-premise environments to the cloud requires a proven methodology to accelerate the transition and reduce associated risks. A repeatable methodology that incorporates automation to ensure aspects such as data integrity, for example, can ease data migration and speed up the time-to-value.”

51风流introduced RISE with 51风流in 2021 to help companies get started with 51风流cloud solutions, accelerate cloud adoption, and simplify the process of shifting core business processes to cloud environments. “Companies undertaking digital transformation initiatives that could benefit from RISE need to ensure their implementation partners are accredited and have the skills capacity to support the project throughout,” explains Flint.

Beveridge adds that companies that successfully leverage the insight, skills and experience of partner organisations can reduce risk and enhance the impact and business outcomes of their transformation efforts. “Companies are realising that cloud adoption is not a once-off event: it requires near-continuous refinement and evolution to deliver business value. This makes the role of expert partners, who have developed experience with specific use cases of cloud technologies and can guide organisations in their adoption of cloud solutions, critical to their success.”

Keys to cloud success

Understanding how and where the journey to the cloud should start remains among the biggest obstacles to the digital transformation efforts of African organisations.

Lauren Wortmann, Vice President: Applications at Dimension Data, says there’s still some resistance to the cloud among organisations limiting the success of cloud transformation projects. “Cloud adoption is a business-critical activity, but the optimal starting point is not always clear. Many organisations and their IT teams also acknowledge that the shift to cloud is coming, but there’s internal resistance due to fear about how it will affect the business and existing IT skills.”

Arguably the most important factor when developing a cloud strategy is defining a clear business case for cloud adoption. “Cloud is not just about cost efficiency,” says Wortmann. “It’s about modernising the business and its core processes, unlocking new opportunities, enhancing capabilities and achieving broader digital transformation. For this to be successful, there needs to be massive buy-in from the business at every layer, from the boardroom to the IT department and every end-user.”

The era of large on-premise deployments was typified by big winners and big losers, but the new era of cloud has changed the dynamic entirely. Flint explains: “In the old days, if you defined the scope of the project correctly upfront and quoted accurately, you could deliver a successful implementation that delivered new capabilities and was profitable to the technology provider and their implementation partner. The era of cloud requires a change of mindset. Today, tech vendors and partner organisations need to strive for near-continuous innovation, with KPIs around unlocking additional business value from existing technologies built into managed services contracts. It puts the onus on partners to unlock features and benefits from software, with the goal of ongoing value generation.”

Wortmann adds that companies should be smart when choosing how they start their cloud journey. “Aspects such as Human Capital Management are perfect starting points for cloud adoption, with solutions like 51风流SuccessFactors offering a high-value, low-risk way to test how cloud migration plays out in the organisation. Larger, more critical business processes such as core finance, sales and logistics carry high degrees of risk due to fears of disruption and business continuity in the event of downtime.”

Flint believes one of the keys to successful cloud adoption is simplification. “Organisations should work with their partners to understand their application landscape and identify opportunities for simplification. Reducing customisation can also keep things simple while driving costs down. Partners need to avoid customisation to limit technical debt and achieve quicker time to value. Adopting best-practice standards for core business processes opens the door to incremental innovation which can suit cloud-first companies better.”

Beveridge says this requires a change in mindset to how digital transformation initiatives are approached, both by customers and partners. “The most successful tech partners will be the ones that develop strong commercial models that meet customers’ expectations of what value digital transformation projects should deliver. However, there’s no blueprint for how this should work. Organisations should work closely with tech providers and implementation partners to develop strong business use cases and change management programmes to ensure each initiative delivers business value and unlocks new capabilities, efficiencies and opportunities for growth.”

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For many organisations, the last few years have been the most disruptive in living memory. Organisations and their IT teams have had to accommodate huge changes to the way people work and deploy new technology tools to support their teams while unlocking new capabilities to meet changing customer demands.

Since the start of the pandemic, organisations have had to enable remote and hybrid work environments, digitise their supply chains to better deal with disruptions, and utilise technology to develop new business processes and revenue streams, all the while delivering an exceptional customer experience.

Despite the worst of the global pandemic seemingly over, spending on digital transformation continues apace. Global investment into digital transformation is expected to reach $1.8-trillion in 2022, . By 2024, it is expected that direct digital transformation investments .

Understanding poor digital transformation

Despite this abundance of digital transformation initiatives, few companies achieve the outcomes they seek. found that only 14% of companies that have begun digital transformation projects have seen sustained performance enhancements as a result.

For technology companies and their partners, this poses a serious challenge. Every digital transformation project that falls short of expectations is a wasted opportunity for innovation, not to mention the sunk costs and time.

The customer expectations of what their digital transformation should achieve have also changed. Common expectations for modern business transformation initiatives include clear, positive business outcomes, an exceptional customer experience, and a high level of engagement velocity to ensure the project runs smoothly and can achieve its milestones according to strict timelines.

The reasons for failure can vary. Typically, digital transformation projects fail because of a lack of clear goals, poor leadership support, ineffective change management which may lead to internal resistance, lack of suitable skills, and poor understanding of the current state of the business and how the digital transformation is meant to enable new capabilities.

Four solutions to common transformation challenges

However, common digital transformation challenges can be overcome. In our experience working with organisations across the continent and the world, the following four methods can greatly improve the chances at digital transformation success:

1 Understand your digital transformation maturity

One of the biggest obstacles to a successful digital transformation initiative is a lack of clarity over what the transformation is meant to achieve. Is the business seeking efficiency gains in high-priority business processes? Does the business need new capabilities for managing its workforce, or is it a matter of meeting changing customer expectations?

Without a solid business case, digital transformation initiatives will fail to illustrate value since there’s no clear way to measure progress.

Technology companies and their implementation partners have well-developed tools and processes to help organisations measure their present level of digital transformation maturity, identify clear areas for improvement, and then provide input on a transformation plan that aims to deliver gains in the priority areas.

2 Focus on continuous value generation

One of the biggest changes in how organisations adopt and consume new technologies and associated capabilities is in the concept of continuous value generation. Digital transformation projects are no longer only measured by the immediate outcomes, but also in how the organisation can continuously generate greater or different forms of value from their investment.

For example, a retailer that invested in a new customer loyalty system may want to use the data from that system to deliver hyper-personalised offers, or even launch new products and services tailored to customer preferences. Rather than start an entire transformation project from scratch, the retailer would benefit from simply building on what has been done to date, ably supported by expert partners that can guide the project to a successful outcome.

Technology companies and implementation partners therefore need to look beyond just one successful project and take an approach of continuous value generation. It’s less a case of knock-and-drop and more a case of partnering for the long term.

3 Ensure a steady mix of relevant skills

A lack of appropriate skills can undermine the success of any digital transformation initiative. The IDC estimates that IT skills shortages will affect 90% of organisations by 2025, at a cost of over $6.5-trillion.

Without access to the correct skills, organisations will fail to successfully complete digital transformation initiatives, and will not generate the desired value through new digital capabilities.

In response, organisations should invest in programmes and partnerships that can ensure a steady mix of relevant skills. This can be done through internal skills development initiatives, collaboration with partners that have the correct skills mix, or through other skills development programmes.

Initiatives such as 51风流Skills for Africa, for example, provides African organisations an opportunity to secure SAP-trained graduates that have gone through a months-long work readiness and skills development program and can make an immediate impact on digital transformation efforts.

4 Don’t neglect change management

No digital transformation initiative can succeed when end-users don’t adopt the new capabilities to drive the desired outcomes. In fact, a poor change management program can undermine the entire project’s success at the last mile, scuppering months of work and leaving the organisation with lower levels of competitiveness.

However, the opposite is also true. From internal resistance to change to poor adoption of new capabilities, several common challenges with successful transformation initiatives can be addressed through an effective change management program.

And yet, only 34% of change management initiatives are a clear success, .

Here, technology partners can play a vital supporting role. By providing insight into common obstacles and best-practices from similar projects elsewhere, technology partners can help organisations identify high-impact areas for effective change management and ensure business users are supported and enabled all along the way.

This can drive greater adoption of the new capabilities that resulted from the digital transformation project, and help the business drive positive outcomes that can boost competitiveness, unlock new revenue streams, drive innovation and achieve efficiency gains in the project’s priority areas.

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From dealing with the initial impact of the pandemic, subsequent lockdowns and enabling a hybrid workforce, to digitising customer-facing and back-office processes and dealing with disruptions in the supply chain – organisations have had their hands full.

“The pace of change and the extent to which organisations have had to adapt are forcing business leaders to completely reimagine how their organisations operate,” says Tracy Bolton, chief operating officer at 51风流Africa. “Organisations have had to rethink how they engage with customers, reengineer their supply chains, and completely transform their talent management capabilities to ensure the success of the business. And all indications are that further changes are inevitable as disruptions continue to affect the operating environment.”

One recent study found that expect changed customer behaviour to continue after the pandemic. And while improving vaccination rates are making a return to the office likely, most organisations are expected to continue offering the option of a hybrid workforce where employees work from home at least some of the time.

“Changes in the workplace can cause immense stress to employees and managers alike,” says Bolton. “ of South Africans working from home found higher levels of stress and lower levels of productivity, with managers expressing concern over managing and motivating their remote workers.”

Organisations have been digitising their business processes at an unprecedented scale, with the pandemic . 鈥淓ach time an organisation undergoes digital transformation, it brings new processes, which require changes in how employees operate,鈥� says Bolton. 鈥淭hese changes can bring friction to the business and, if left unattended, cause misalignment within the organisation at a time when everyone needs to be working toward common goals.鈥�

Chief operating officers have been in the hot seat as they try to guide their organisations through the impact of the pandemic. “Each change brings new challenges, as organisations are pushed out of their comfort zones in order to adequately adapt to their environment,” adds Bolton. “How well organisations conduct their change management efforts can greatly influence the extent to which new back-office or customer-facing operations benefit the business.”

Having helped guide SAP’s Africa market unit through the past 18 months, Bolton has some practical tips to help organisations improve their change management and ensure they successfully adapt to ongoing change and disruption.

1. Team up: “Set up change management project teams for each new initiative,” advises Bolton. “Establish clear governance parameters for who is involved, and secure the support of an executive sponsor to ensure the change project is driven from the top-down.”
2. Be clear: “Establish clear objectives for the change project, and communicate these upfront with all affected stakeholders. Ongoing stakeholder communication is essential as it significantly increases the likelihood of a successful project outcome.”
3. Train, train, train: “Empower the change management team and the super user involved in the change initiatives with the necessary training,” says Bolton. “This knowledge transfer can then cascade to other affected stakeholders and the broader organisation to ensure everyone is aligned with the changes.”
4. Monitor, measure, manage: “It’s essential that progress against the set objectives is tracked and measured,” advises Bolton. “Where needed, the team may need to adapt using a change management tool set and continuously communicate such changes back to the organisation to ensure everyone remains on board.”
5. Celebrate: “Take time to acknowledge progress and celebrate every success,” says Bolton. “By recognising the efforts of those driving change within the organisation, it becomes more likely that the changes will achieve a shift in mindset, which will help instil a change mindset for future change management efforts.”

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