BrazilSAP teams up with Dimensys to build SAP CPM training curriculum
To support the roll-out of SAP Commercial Project Management (SAP CPM), the ERP-giant and Dutch consulting firm Dimensys have developed a training curriculum. The new training made its debut in the Netherlands last quarter, and on the back of the first experiences several more sessions have been planned in the coming months.
With more than 260,000 customers, SAP is one of the world’s largest providers of information technology systems. The firm’s Commercial Project Management (CPM) module is its first complete solution for project-driven organisations such as construction companies, chemical and oil & gas companies, and professional services firms.
“Managing projects and assets is becoming increasingly complex for project-based companies, which increases the risk of failure costs. The only way to mitigate these risks is to approach the project life cycle in an integral fashion,” explains Martin Effenberger, Solution Owner of SAP Commercial Project Management at SAP.
With SAP CPM, which is available for SAP ECC (R/3) and the SAP S/4HANA versions, users can oversee and manage both large as well as smaller projects. All project-related information is made transparent in one place: “The solution provides an overview of and insight into projects, meaning that there is no longer a need to look separately at finances, sales, planning and control. All activities related to a project are controlled and carried out centrally,” explains Effenberger.
First released in 2013, SAP CPM now is part of SAP’s core functionality (meaning that it is no longer an add-on module). When the product made its debut, it was highly welcomed by project-driven organisations. Up until then, they had to work with several different modules to gain insight into their project or asset. As each module had its own reports and tracking dashboards, much time and effort was spent in consolidating views for portfolio and programme management. Building on the three main pillars of the module – Project Workspace, Project Cost and Revenue Planning and Project Issue & Change Management – SAP CPM provides managers, project managers and project controllers with one version of the truth, across all levels of operation.
SAP CPM curriculum
The growing uptake of the solution has seen interest in training material and related manuals take off. This motivated SAP’s core team in Walldorf, which leads product development and support, to develop a 6-day curriculum for SAP CPM – the first of its kind for the module. In doing so, the IT-giant turned to Dimensys, a digital consulting firm with offices in the Benelux and one of the firm’s pioneering partners in the space. “Dimensys is a strategic CPM partner that has been closely involved in the development and professionalisation of CPM from the very beginning. Dimensys was also one of the first companies to use CPM.”
Having jointly developed the training, the pair in February delivered the first session to a group of 25 professionals that can now call themselves CPM certified experts. Participants from all over the world – from Colombia and Sweden to Russia – travelled to the Netherlands to follow the session, “illustrating the interest into the solution and in value adding knowledge,” states Hans van Kessel, an expert at Dimensys.
“The training was very interactive and there was a good atmosphere. I also thought it was great to see that participants also wanted to share experiences with each other. The training forms a perfect platform for the exchange of knowledge,” he adds.
The training has been designed to touch upon all facets of SAP Commercial Project Management. First, participants are walked through the main building blocks of the solution, after which they delve into how the software can be customised and configured to meet the specific needs of sectors and organisations.
In the coming months, SAP and Dimensys will jointly deliver several more sessions. Effenberger looks forward to the continued partnership with the SAP consulting partner. “The training benefits the ‘enablement’ of CPM – organisations learn to really use the tool. And the more experts that are well informed about the solution, the lower the risks and the higher the adoption.”
