Everyone talks about Best Practice – but what is it, actually? “Best Practices” can, of course, have many meanings, depending on what we are talking about. In the field of SAP, however, there are a number of documented Best Practices solutions. 

An SAP Best Practices solution is an SAP setup that SAP has created in collaboration with appropriate partners within precisely the sector or area in question. SAP provides Best Practices solutions for a large number of countries and industries. A complete overview is available from the SAP website for Best Practices.

SAP Best Practices solutions can be downloaded (free) from SAP and applied to an empty SAP system. It is then possible to enter the test data supplied, and subsequently demonstrate and test the Best Practices solution using the predefined process scenarios.

We have used appropriate Best Practices solutions in a number of our implementation assignments. This means that we have installed the solution in a system to demonstrate how the company’s processes would function in a Best Practices solution. At workshops, we have identified precisely the critical points where the company’s core processes have deviated from Best Practices. And it is these deviations that have constituted the focus of concentration for our consultants. The rest of the setup is part of the Best Practices delivery, after all.

However, we must stress that this requires the company to be willing to change, and that it normally demands a management team with the capacity and authority to take decisions.