SAP Project in Trouble? 5 Immediate Measures

SAP projects get into trouble more often than most people care to admit. The symptoms are always the same: milestones are missed, the budget is overrun, the mood between business departments, IT and external service providers turns toxic. At some point, someone asks: “Can we still save this project?” The answer is usually yes – but only if action is taken quickly and in a structured manner.

How to Recognise Your Project Is in Trouble

Not every delay is a crisis. But when several of these indicators occur simultaneously, you should act:

• Milestones are repeatedly postponed – without clear justification or countermeasures
• Nobody has a current, reliable project plan
• Decisions are postponed or discussed in circles
• Escalations accumulate, solutions remain elusive
• The team works under constant stress – output drops nonetheless
• Stakeholders lose confidence in project management

Measure 1: Honest Stocktake – Within 48 Hours

Before you change anything, you need an honest picture of the situation. Not what was presented in the last steering committee, but reality. Conduct one-on-one conversations with all key people within 48 hours: project management, sub-project leaders, key users, external partners. Ask about the three biggest risks, the biggest blockers and what they would change if they could.

The result is an unvarnished status report – the foundation for everything that follows.

Measure 2: Freeze the Scope

In crisis projects, the scope is almost always bloated. Everyone has pushed in “just one more requirement”, nobody said no. Result: the team works on 50 things simultaneously and delivers quality on none of them.

The measure: scope freeze. Immediately. No new requirements, no changes until the situation is stabilised. Everything not strictly necessary for go-live goes on a phase-2 list. This isn’t a betrayal of the business department – it’s the prerequisite for delivering anything at all.

Measure 3: Identify and Secure the Critical Path

What really needs to be finished for go-live to happen? Not what would be desirable – what is mandatory? Identify the critical path and ensure that exactly these tasks receive the highest priority and the best resources.

Typical elements on the critical path: data migration, integration tests, authorisation concept, cutover procedure. Everything else is secondary.

Measure 4: Reset Communication

In crisis projects, communication breaks down first. Information doesn’t flow, decisions aren’t communicated, rumours replace facts. From now on, implement:

• Daily 15-minute standup for the core team
• Weekly status report to all stakeholders – honest, structured, readable in 5 minutes
• Clear escalation paths: who decides what within which timeframe?
• A central issue log with an owner and deadline for every open topic

Measure 5: Bring in External Perspective

Sometimes you need someone from outside who can assess the situation without bias. Not as a replacement for existing project management, but as a supplement: someone who doesn’t need to take political considerations, who has experience with exactly these situations and who asks the right questions.

This can be an assessment over 1–2 weeks that creates clarity. Or temporary reinforcement of project governance for the critical phase until go-live.

Conclusion

Stabilising SAP projects in trouble isn’t rocket science – but it requires determination, honesty and experience. The earlier you act, the less painful it will be. The most expensive option is always to continue as before and hope for improvement.

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