Revolutionising the SAP consulting business: example of the Vico “SAP W-DFS”.
Marcel Wagner and his Vico team are SAP S/4HANA specialists and are currently in high demand as consultants. They have an average of 13 years' experience in SAP project and programme management, in roles such as functional consultant, project manager, strategy consultant and transformation lead.
When Marcel heard about Vicoland, he saw an opportunity to stop working alone. Instead, he set up his own virtual company on the Vicoland platform. Called 'SAP W-DFS', it consists of a team of qualified consultants. The team has already implemented various projects, but the focus is on SAP S/4HANA, particularly in the aerospace, utilities and energy, and automotive sectors. In addition to implementation, proof-of-concept (POC) studies and preliminary investigations into SAP S/4HANA implementations are a speciality – with more than a dozen now on the books. 'Through our mixed Vico team, we are also experts in previous SAP ERP systems, such as R/2, R/3 and ECC. We use this expertise to transform SAP systems to SAP S/4HANA,' says Marcel of his Vico.
Why did Marcel decide to found Vico on Vicoland? First and foremost, he can manage enterprise-level projects through it with few limitations: 'Thanks to my extensive network of consultants, I can continuously expand my Vico with experts who have complementary skills, thus enabling me to scale it up.'
Marcel could also have founded a traditional consulting company. However, the advantage of a Vico is that he does not have to bear the risk of permanent employees. Customers only pay for the work that Vico’s professionals do on their project. Overhead costs are avoided because the Vicoland platform automates tasks such as preparing quotations, creating documentation and processing payments.
S/4HANA projects are well known to be anything but trivial. “Companies often realise the complexity of such an implementation too late, which can have a negative impact on project duration and success,” says Marcel. He recommends careful planning of time, quality, resources and budget to ensure a smooth implementation.
Marcel offers valuable tips for companies looking to upgrade to S/4HANA: 'First, they should bring in an SAP consultant to conduct a preliminary study or proof of concept, in order to plan the implementation and select the right implementation partner.' The S/4HANA transformation should, as a matter of principle, be carried out in close coordination between the business and IT departments. 'Change management must also be established from the outset and continually improved,' he said. Regarding the implementation approach for S/4HANA, he said that there is no right or wrong: 'Every approach — whether greenfield, brownfield or mixed — has its advantages and disadvantages, which must be weighed carefully.'
Most of the customers that Marcel and his team at Vico work with are still using SAP R/3 or ECC as their ERP system. They now face the challenge of finding the right path to S/4HANA with the right partner for the pre-study, proof of concept (POC) and implementation stages. Marcel and his team at Vico (as well as other Vicos with a focus on SAP S/4HANA) offer an alternative to traditional consulting companies. Marcel considers development to be the most exciting part of SAP projects. ‘I often compare it to a child growing up and becoming an adult. At first, you have to help a lot, but eventually it learns to act independently. It's the same with a project once the go-live is complete and the hypercare phase is over.”
Are you facing similar challenges and would you like an assessment from an outside expert? Simply book an appointment with our Managing Partner for SAP Services, Henrike Scharnhorst. She will be happy to help!