For existing
HANA customers: How often we get this email at 5am that something has gone wrong
with your new BW-on-HANA production environment or your BI is down and will not
meet business needs at 8am in accordance to SLA’s. Our normal reaction is to
wake everyone else at 5am, et angry, shout at a few people and still not
achieve the desired results by 8am for delivery. At he end of it all we feel frustrated,
angry, guilty and afraid all at the same time.
For potential
HANA customers: How often we get this email to take a protocol decision on a topic
that it totally outside our skill sets, i.e. a BW on HANA technical decision
request to the CFO, VP Sales or other steering committee members. Or, similar from
the CIO, BW lead and current SAP technical leads. It is important to remember that both groups that have very
little idea on what works and what does not work in BW-on-HANA migrations. In fact on the planet there are few resources that clearly understand what works and what does not in HANA initiatives.
Your best
solution to all such decision is to firstly stop from taking a knee-jerk reaction, take a deep breath and then
do nothing.
All our governance instructions and guidelines tell us to take rapid decisions. Our productivity books
tell us to take more and more decisions in a world that is already overloaded
with decision in our areas of expertise. As a Sales Super User I am already taking
decisions on critical sales matters and now the company expects me to take tactical
decisions on technical HANA issues about which I have not been adequately trained. Yes the sales reports fall under the
jurisdiction of the super user but is it
their responsibility to ensure the 8am delivery – probably no.
Thus most time
the best thing is to do : Nothing
However, underlying this
statement are two fundamental assumptions
[1] “Plan your
work and only then work your plan”, i.e. your basic global HANA methodology is
documented, communicated and governed at a global level. If not then your start is defective.
[2] Your processes
are not only clearly documents in RACI and SIPOC formats but also include clear ownership and
accountabilities for tasks and escalations. Your resource role vs. skill maps are documented and available to decision makers to assign the right resource to the right task
In order to be
effective you need not be reactionary but get into an elimination mode. In
order to remain successful you need to plan your productivity by preassigned roles
and responsibilities. The key is to not get involved in anything that can
damage your productivity with a clear understanding that organizationally once you officially pick
any baton you will need to run with it even if it is later found to be damaging
to your role, ownership, accountabilities and productivity.
Here is a
checklist I recommend for when to do nothing. 4 things not to do and 3 to do’s:-
4 NOT TO DO’s
1. Do nothing if
you don’t understand the problem not own the solution: Most executives think that management
needs to take decisions on anything thrown their way. This can be toxic.
Firstly if you do so without understanding the problem or its ownership you are
walking towards a cliff. Then if you take a decision without understanding
tactical or strategic ramifications you will walk right off the cliff. Time to
review your global governance model in order to identify who owns the solutions
and then just hand it over. Good manager’s delegate, great manager manages.
2.
Do nothing when you’re angry, anxious or paranoid: Some executive’s thing that anger is a way to get things
done, little realizing that anger is a sign of paranoia and anxiousness. Anger
routinely freezes the recipients as it instantly puts them into a defensive
mode. Thus rather than finding a remedy their concern is more not to make any
mistakes. This causes a mental freeze and is not the mode you want your
respondents to get into. Wait until anger settles down as anger blurs logic. Paranoia
also freezes the brain to get into survival mode, as byproduct is anger and
anxiety. Both are not conducive to building slow or rapid solutions. Fear
causes a focus but paranoia does not have a direction and thus no focus. Use
the same rules as for anger. Anxiousness causes one to react with haste or
anger. It makes you communicate to people who need not be on that string.
Everything is best served with patience and due diligence- even a crisis. Use
the same rules as for anger.
3.
Do nothing when
you are overburdened or tired: Sometime in 2008 each one of us got our hands wrapped
around more than our jobs. Today, for most of us, it has become quite routine
to work 12-14 hours a day and then some more. I was up till 1am the other night
and then got an urgent call from one of my AE’s who wanted a resolution in 1
hour- and I was on a holiday on the other side of the planet at that time. I was simply too tired and knew it would take
hours to find a good solution so I took a 30 second break and recommended that
the AE contact someone on the same time zone who would better serve her. There
are times our families need to peel us off our keyboards and drag our minds out
of the quagmire created by our complex obligations. Just as there are times to
do things there are equally important times to simply say no. My 30 seconds
decision worked. The alternative resource was fresh, spent the next 3 hours
with various stakeholders and came through with a winning solution that he ran
by me prior to submittal.
4.
Do nothing to
win a popularity contest: We are all paid to get the work done but often we do
things to keep someone happy, or to be liked. Each one of us has done things to
be liked and mostly these are decisions that are not the most professional ones
in our lives. The path to a favor or flattery is an
illusion that often leads to small or big nightmares – avoid it.
3 TO DO’s
1.
DO find yourself
a reliable strategic HANA advisor: The best way for
executives to take HANA decisions is to find a trusted ‘HANA Business Value
Architect’ as their right had advisor. As a CIO your goal is to manage the IT
environment and not take HANA specific decisions; as a BI manager your role
requires you to know about current technologies and not become an experts on
future options. As CFO you role is to
take financial decisions and not decisions on a HANA project in areas that are
outside your expertise. Each one of these scenarios could lead you right off
the cliff and they are not supposed to be yours to take. A good “HANA Business
Value Architect” can save companies over 40% in initial investments and a same
number in annual support costs by applying simple scientific methodologies.
Once again a ‘Good manager’s delegate, great manager manages’. The best advice I can give to any leader is to
let the experts decide, define business goals and then own and deliver it. Good
‘HANA Business Value Architects’ will save companies hundreds of time more than
their expense over strategic time scans. Send email to hguleria@gmail.com for this role vs skill
definition. This is a key decision for success..
2.
DO start HANA
project with a Global Methodology: HANA is three
things. [1] It is a net-new SAP Platform and no longer a database. [2] It will run optimally only on new standards and processes- and they
need to be defined, documented, communicated and governed for all new
developments. [3] Gartner 2013- What got you here will not get you there. “Fewer
that 30% of current BI projects will meet business expectations” – translation- over 70% of
reports in your production environment are not being used by business. Question: What is the business
value of taking a 715 second report and accelerating this to 1 second if
business will never use it? What if this represents 50-70% of the reports in your BI system?
3.
DO plan only
for success: Whatever you
put into place today is YOUR plan for the future. If the project fails in the future
then failure is imbedded in your plans. If the project succeeds in the future then
success was imbedded into your plans. Executive owners need to take ownership for the future
as much with its success as its failure. BW on HANA is not longer an art but a scientific methodology. At each step of the project phase if is now possible to accurately identify defects and best practices and their impact on the overall HANA project. It is possible to guarantee a 50% reduction of TCO for BW customers, as it is possible to guarantee a 60% reduction for BW + BWA customers. Only experience can guide
you through the meandering decisions
and options that make the difference in HANA success and or failure. Every
project can meet technology expectations – i.e. a HANA technical installation.
However, less than 30% will meet business satisfactions and therein lies the
key to future success.
The choice is CLEAR and it is now yours to take.
