As a part of its SAP deployment, Home Trust, a mortgage lender in Canada, identified people throughout the company who would have a key role in propelling the project forward at the employee level, and then gave those key adopters additional, specialized training so that they could answer fellow employees’ questions about the new system. Home Trust identified roughly 35 people out of its 500 employees to become super users.

Some were directly involved with the project from the very beginning, according to Home Trust CEO Martin Reid.  In many cases, the super users already had higher technical skills than many of their employees and were therefore good candidates to become experts on how the new ERP functioned, and its benefits.

“They were the key people to talk to for information before go live, and definitely after go live,” Reid said. “They were the first line of questioning if anyone needed any help.  That proved very successful.”

Using super users isn’t a new idea, of course, just a good one. Loads of others have written about it, and consultant Christian Matz recommended the practice in this piece I wrote this past spring.

Joe Dollries, a consultant with itelligence consulting in Cincinnati, Ohio, writes that super users also help take the heat off of precious IT personnel. Effective super users, he goes on to say, need to care about the process team’s success and love learning in general.  But they also need to be good problem solvers and good communicators, as well as adapt to change easily.

There are other advantages to using super users, too, beyond making the transition smoother for business users.  As has been noted, it’s also a lot cheaper to use employees as trainers than consultants.

With 2010 now upon us, the estimate might seem unlikely. About half of SAP’s ERP users have upgraded, analysts say.

But several factors seem to support Apotheker’s theory, or at least the notion that there might be an influx of upgrades this year.

A study conducted by the SAP U.K. & Ireland User Group last fall helped back Apotheker’s prediction, as more than half of organizations it surveyed were planning to upgrade their SAP software within 12 months. (Granted, most of those willing to move forward with the upgrade were reluctant to do so, with nearly 70% of those surveyed saying they felt the cost of upgrading was too high. And, only 35% of those surveyed at that time were actually using SAP ECC 6.0.)

Meanwhile, most SAP customers last year were finding that SAP ERP 6.0 upgrades were significantly easier than in the past. The reason was that customers still on SAP R/3 4.6 and 4.7 only needed to take the functionality they were interested in. In the past, they would have to apply and test everything before sorting out what they wanted and what they didn’t.

While the recession may not be over, many perceive that the worst of it is behind us. As a result, more companies may be looking to SAP upgrades this year as the dust begins to settle.

“2010 is anticipated as the year of the upgrade (you heard it here first – maybe not) as many SAP customers saw an upgrade as an easily avoidable expense in the midst of the economic carnage of the last 12-18 months,” writes Tim Cooper of the blog Data XStream. “Also, SAP is on a push to get customers off earlier releases and up to ECC 6.0 and various EHP (enhancement packs) to make upgrades a thing of the past.”

Likewise, IT spending may focus on upgrades this year, according to an article in InformationWeek:

“More than half of IT software budgets this year will be dedicated to upgrading and improving existing applications, rather than implementing new software, a survey of IT executives shows. The focus on upgrading software is the result of a backlog that occurred during the poor economic conditions last year . . . As a result, companies plan to play catch up this year. “

While it’s likely that not all of SAP’s customers will have upgraded to the latest release this year, many factors seem to suggest that 2010 may see a large resurgence of upgrades after remaining dormant during the economic downturn.

It will be interesting to see how SAP’s new co-CEOs approach upgrades as they look to clarify the company’s strategy and product roadmap. Will 2010, in fact, be the year of the upgrade? Or did Apotheker’s prediction follow him out the door when he resigned from SAP?

10.) Tips for successful SAP implementations
Not having the right skills on an ERP implementation team and lack of buy-in from employees once it’s launched are the two biggest causes of ERP implementation failures. Putting business-focused outcomes rather than deadlines in the contract is one way to ensure focused, and therefore successful, projects. In this post, learn more about ensuring successful SAP implementations.

9.) SAP weighs in on Oracle-Sun, Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal earned a little wrath from SAP after it suggested that SAP CEO Leo Apotheker could smooth the way for an Oracle-Sun merger. With Oracle and the European Commission headed for a showdown, not to mention whatever competitive advantage Oracle may gain by bundling hardware, databases and applications, SAP may have more to say about the deal.

8.) Moving SAP, hardware and all, into the cloud
Does it make sense for companies to continue to own their servers and desktop computers? In this post, one analyst suggested that companies can achieve significant cost savings by moving their non-mission-critical SAP infrastructure into the cloud.

7.) What does SAP have to say about the Oracle-Sun deal?
You can always count on SAP executive Bill McDermott to give a piece of his mind on what SAP often refers to as its “next largest competitor.” During an interview on SAP’s first quarter earnings in 2009, McDermott launched into his take on the Oracle-Sun acquisition.

6.) Jon Reed: SAP to start paying more attention to R/3 users
SAP Mentor Jon Reed took part in some high-level discussions at SAP TechEd 2009 in Phoenix, Ariz. He says that SAP may be pulling back from its emphasis on upgrading to SAP ERP 6.0 and will start paying more attention to its installed base of R/3 4.6C/4.7 users.

5.) Who wants SAP on the iPhone?
When SAP and Sybase announced in March a new effort to make SAP mobile applications for the iPhone and BlackBerry, it raised the question of the promises and perils of the consumerization of IT and the challenges it presents, not only to productivity but to IT departments.

4.) Is certification the ticket to a more successful SAP implementation?
SAP implementations rarely finish on time or on budget. Our readers lent some interesting advice on how to avoid ERP implementation failure.

3.) What’s the real trend in failed SAP projects?
A claim by Shane and Co. that a failed SAP ERP implementation was a catalyst for the jewelry company’s descent into bankruptcy sent the SAP blogosphere into a tizzy in early 2009. But one expert pointed out that it’s not the software’s fault that you didn’t put it in right, and that blame for Shane and Co.’s failings lies squarely with the management team and the system integrator.

2.) Who’s taking ERP market share from SAP, Oracle?
By a wide margin, SAP and Oracle remained one and two, respectively, in the North American enterprise software market. But in looking at this year’s market numbers, the more interesting question was: Who took market share from them?

1.) Will SAP buy Tibco?
The question of whether SAP would buy Tibco first came up when Oracle bought BEA Systems. Many thought that SAP needed to boost its own middleware, SAP NetWeaver, and that Tibco would make for an ideal acquisition. That thought resurfaced in 2009 after Tibco announced that it was offering cloud computing tools. And while a deal never materialized in 2009, many believe that the vendor is due for a big acquisition in 2010.

I’m starting to wonder whether we’ll soon be seeing a deal like that from the big software vendors, who seem to keep getting more and more aggressive with their discounts.

Back in October SAP announced some pretty good software discounts and offers. It introduced 0% financing for 12 months on certain software packages. It also said it was discounting Business All-in-One at a rate of 20% and offering special deals on SAP BusinessObjects software.

In November, Microsoft upped the ante with its own 0% financing on Dynamics CRM and ERP offer for 36 months.

But since then, the deals have gotten even better.

An offer from SAP for Crystal Reports 2008 Visual Advantage – a bundled product that includes Crystal Reports and Xcelsius Engage — landed in my inbox today. If you purchase it by March 31, you get it for $695. That, the promotion said, is a savings of 50%.

Moreover, a consultant told me a couple of weeks ago that SAP began negotiations with one of his customers with a discount of 64% off the list price.

But perhaps, Microsoft has the best offer of all. Free software — well, at least for the next six months. Last week at Microsoft Convergence, the vendor announced an offer that allows customers to start using Dynamics and not pay for another six months.

Analysts like Ray Wang have been advising customers to push for software concessions for months, and not only in new purchases. In his blog, he says now is a good time for customers to take other actions that will bring savings — such as negotiating a set rate of maintenance for the life of the contract.

Have you been able to get some discounts from SAP, or other vendors, on recent software purchases or contract re-negotiations?

But that’s what I associate with the iPhone — fun, not business. I know people who use the iPhone to access corporate email. And I’ve heard of companies piloting the iPhone as a business tool, but they’re still relying primarily on a BlackBerry.

It seems like others share my sentiments. About a month ago, CIOs on a panel organized by SAP for the launch of Business Suite 7 shared their thoughts on the iPhone for business — so did SAP CEO Leo Apotheker. Apotheker said demand for SAP’s CRM application is much higher on the BlackBerry than it is on the iPhone.

Most said they didn’t use the iPhone for business very much. One CIO even went so far as to say it wasn’t a business tool, according to one blog.

But things are not always what they seem. The BlackBerry may have started out as a business tool — but consumers wanted more. Now you can get many comparable iPhone apps (granted, most aren’t as cool) on the BlackBerry. You can look at your Facebook page, check your Gmail or jump on YouTube for a quick laugh — all between using it to log into CRM to check your company’s sales goals for that month.

Now, many people are relying on their “business” BlackBerrys as their primary form of personal communication as well.

So as SAP and Sybase announced this new effort to make SAP mobile applications for the iPhone and BlackBerry this week, I couldn’t help but think of the consumerization of IT and some of the challenges it presents not only to productivity, but to IT departments.

In this CIO blog, the author talks about some of the security challenges this trend presents — such as when a user cancels his iPhone or BlackBerry service, and doesn’t tell IT. And this article from sister site SearchWINIT.com shows that CIOs are split on the concept — not knowing if they really want to sync up company documents to a phone a user takes to the bar on Saturday nights.

What challenges do you think the consumerization of IT presents to your company? Do your users want SAP business applications on their iPhones and BlackBerrys? Do you?

SAP has pledged to cut its carbon footprint in half (currently 513,000t CO2) by 2020. Among other things, the company will focus on virtualization in the data center, and cut back on business travel, replacing it with the company’s telepresence system from Cisco.

But the announcement came with less clarity around exactly what these sustainable applications would look like or when they would be available.

Graf reports to Jim Hagemann Snabe, who’s responsible for developing SAP products and the technology platform. Graf’s will oversee SAP developers, sales and service employees.

Graf said there’s a chance customers could adopt some of the new sustainability functionality through the enhancement package strategy — whereby customers on the NetWeaver platform can download new functionality as they like.

But more interesting, SAP has been stressing that it will start to design and sell software that way CEOs think — in terms of business processes, not acronyms.

SAP’s already embedding analytics in its Business Suite 7 line and will start incorporating analytics into the GRC line, according to executives I’ve spoken with.

So is it too much of a jump to imagine that this sustainable software will combine all those efforts — embedding GRC and analytics into the Business Suite, bundled with new functionality to comply with new regulations?

Graf repeatedly stressed that most companies focus on complying with economic regulations — SOX, etc — but customers need to look to social and environmental compliance as well.

SAP customers account for 1/6 of global man-made emissions, Graf said. In order to get customers to adopt sustainable business processes they have to either make money or save money by doing so, Graf said.

“The point is we are living in a world where you can not only be focused on economics because environmental and social issues have become an intrinsic part of your business,” he said.

For instance, monitoring environmental compliance will require tracking materials through the product design and supply chain to ensure the process complies with a country’s specific environmental regulations.

Social compliance, according to Graf, includes steps like helping companies avoid problems like manufacturing toys with lead in them, or finding child labor in the supplier chain.

Yet, will SAP have some difficulty convincing customers to invest in “sustainable initiatives” given the current economic climate, unless it can prove some hard and fast savings? Is sustainability something your organizations is ready to invest in and do you think SAP can help?

But most customers have to get past one more “traditional” upgrade before they can leverage Business Suite 7. So one question for the new release is — will it push more customers to upgrade?

About 13,000 — around 1/3 — of SAP’s customers have upgraded to ERP 6.0 so far, the ERP component of Business Suite 7 and a requirement for customers who want to take advantage of enhancement packs for other SAP products like CRM, SCM and SRM. SAP Co-CEO Leo Apotheker himself said yesterday that Forrester Research predicts IT spending will decrease by 3% this year.

SAP’s extended its enhancement package initiative across the business suite, meaning customers can now pick and choose the functionality that they want, and leave behind that they don’t. With Business Suite 7, SAP has also synchronized the release schedule of its software suite, and harmonized the user interface across it.

Forrester Research analyst Ray Wang asks the upgrade question in his latest research note. He said extending the switch framework mechanism that control enhancement packages to all the suites is no small feat, and the enhancement packages do offer some strong business drivers. However, his conversations with more than 800 SAP clients in the past five months indicate that SAP can do more to help its customers by emphasizing financing options and potentially lowering maintenance fees, he wrote in a research note.

Customers on the press panel at yesterday’s announcement cited enhancement packs as a bonus to upgrading, but the prospect didn’t seem to drive their upgrade decisions.

Colgate-Palmolive is in the middle of the upgrade and it was driven by wanting to keep up with the vendor’s research and design initiatives, according to Ed Toben, vice president of GIT & Business Services.

“It just makes sense to do the upgrade and get the value out of it,” Toben said.

IBM is also in the process of rolling out SAP ERP 6.0. It wants to leverage the new capabilities in human resource management, and the value in its upgrade is around the business opportunities that move enables.

SAP stressed yesterday that its new suite model would help customers get through these difficult economic times — times that are also hitting the vendor itself, as SAP announced last week it would lay off 3,000 people.

But will Business Suite 7 be a good justification for another traditional upgrade in this recession? Or do customers need more help to move?

Reporters often joke that anything that happens three times signals a trend. So when you consider Select Comfort’s announcement last month that it was halting its SAP ERP implementation as part of a cost cutting measure, it would seem SAP is one step away from being blamed for business failures in this economy.

But what’s the real story?

Josh Greenbaum points out in his recent blog, basically, that it’s not the software’s fault that you didn’t put it in right. He argues that blame for Shane and Co.’s failings lies more squarely with the management team and the system integrator.

The same theme runs through Michael Krigsman’s chronicles of Miami-Dade School District’s SAP implementation, which is over-schedule and over-budget. Krigsman has been focusing a lot of his ink on the systems integrators’ role, plus management’s mismanagement of the project.

As it turns out, it seems a lot more companies aren’t too happy with their system integrators.

According to survey conducted by Forrester Research, a quarter of 1,002 technology decision-makers interviewed were downright dissatisfied with the work, and only 18% are very happy with it, according to research from Forrester Research’s Liz Herbert.

So how do they get better results?

Predictably, one of the ways to ensure success is by management taking a stronger role in the project. One of the biggest mistakes that companies make, Herbert said, is not changing course or correcting problems when they’re detected and just assuming they’ll correct themselves. Missing or forgoing regular check-ins can contribute to this.

So it would seem that in this economy, stronger project management will be even more important, as the margin for error is slim.

“It’s those consensus-driven companies that really cause projects to fail and to take forever because you can never move forward,” said SAP retail vice president Isaac Krakovsky. “It really does come from the top down.”