And while 93% of SAP leaders think their teams have the right skills to manage SAP changes, the survey noted that the reality is that the teams have the skills to manage smaller, IT-centric changes, but can’t keep up with business needs. That leads to outsourcing of many of the processes, from strategy and planning (49%), and requirements definition (46%) through deployment and cutover (38%) and post go-live support (43%). While that solves the immediate problem, the survey pointed out, it creates extra cost and perpetuates the internal skills gaps.
Automation is key
So change managers are looking for new ways of bridging the skills gap, such as the use of AI, with 87% of respondents saying they believe that the technology will influence SAP change management in the next five years. Despite roadblocks such as resistance from stakeholders or leadership (42%), regulatory or compliance constraints (39%), and privacy and security concerns (36%), AI is in the cards for SAP change management to automate manual processes (59%).
“I am still surprised that we come across customers in that large, complex kind of category that are not using tools for this in this day and age,” Lees said. “They should have been doing this already 10-15 years ago.”
