Specialization 

The proverb says: “The appetite comes with eating”. However, it is typical for the majority of successful SAP projects to develop the informational system by means of expanding the implemented functional coverage. The development of the company and/or involving into the informational system of accounting the new business operations are the basic suppositions, which demand taking into consideration the matters of organizing some additional projects of implementing the given functionality of the SAP system.

The basic “pitfall” while implementing the new functionality or developing the existing one is the possibility of violations in the correct functioning of the running components of the system. In this case it is very important to study the running feature set thoroughly, to understand the range of integrational problems, to take into account the possible limitations connected with the solutions developed earlier.

Practice shows that sometimes we have to face difficult cases when the analysis of the running functionality demonstrates the existence of absolutely NONoptimal solutions, which were developed in presence of time-and-resources deficiency. The attempts of making some overpatching on this basis leads to the development of a next NONoptimal, and, as a result, a “temporary” solution.

There are different situations: an ideal solution is developed, but…unfortunately, some changes occurred in business process, besides, such changes were not even spoken about: “It will NEVER happen.”… Life is a complicated thing. The totality of factors which influence the changes in task setting (in accord with the real conditions of system exploitation) may include many points. Consequently, the completely new requirements emerge, even as far as the most ideal business processes (which stood the test of time) are considered. Nevertheless, an efficient reaction to any change of the environment is a serious competitive advantage of any company.

Thus, as far as the problems of modifying (even insignificant) are considered, a review of the actual requirements of a changing business process is to be made. It is necessary to analyze the existing connections with adjacent functional areas and, perhaps, to consider the matter of correcting/processing of the existing solution in general, taking into consideration new requirements. There is no need in developing another “temporary hotfix”, which will result in negative and even more expensive consequences.