SAP-Centric Projects

Yes, contractors are part of the world of SAP-managed projects as well. They are obviously not the same as internal resources when it comes to project management. But too many SAP-centric enterprise project processes miss out on this critical aspect even though it can be directly related to project success. The role of contractors does of course vary from project to project and often even inside projects. Some purely provide manpower, others manage parts of a project for a general contractor or for the project owners, while again others may be responsible for providing machines or semi-finished products or turnkey service solutions.

Their involvement raises a number of challenges for systems and management processes:

• Many contractors use their own project management systems. These need to be integrated into the main schedule, which again is to be integrated into the enterprise project controls system. It is likely that contractors or vendors do not use SAP, but very well possible that they use either Primavera or MS Project.
• Percent complete, actual hours and charges, quality issues, delivery challenges are much more difficult to monitor.
• The coordination and reconciliation of purchasing (invoices) and % complete and actual time entries (against project activities) becomes an ongoing challenge.

Have a look at the following links to find more information about this topic.