The Turnaround
The Situation
A mid-market retail company embarked on a net-new SAP S/4HANA Private Cloud implementation spanning both their B2C and B2B business lines. Six months in, the project was in serious trouble. Their systems integrator had underbid, was issuing change orders to recover margin, and had deployed a passive delivery model — waiting on client direction instead of driving outcomes. Momentum was stalling, user confidence was eroding, and the go-live date was slipping away.
Tags
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AI Product Management
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AI Readiness
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B2C & B2b Retail
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Data & Analytics
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Project & Program Management
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Rescue Engagement
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SAP
The Complication
The client’s internal Project Manager was overwhelmed by the complexity of the SAP Activate lifecycle and lacked the leverage to hold the SI accountable. There was no data governance strategy in place, no independent OCM function, and no clear view of where the project actually stood. What had started as a controlled transformation was quietly becoming a crisis.
What Local World Did
Introduced by a trusted third party, Local World moved quickly. We placed a senior Program Manager to represent the client’s interests, reset governance structures, and establish a credible counterweight to the SI. We then deployed a specialized team across every critical gap:
- Program Manager (client-side governance)
- Master Data Lead
- Data & Analytics Lead
- Test Lead
- Reports Developer
- SAP MM/PP/TM Project Manager
- CRM Sales & Service Program Manager
- SAP Cutover Manager
- OCM Project Manager
- Data Engineers
- SAP SD Consultant
- AI Product Manager
The Outcome
The project stabilized, regained momentum, and achieved a successful go-live on January 1, 2025 — the originally targeted date. Local World’s team remained engaged post go-live for hypercare and stabilization.
“Local World served as a critical counterweight to the SI, protecting the client’s investment when it mattered most.”