What are the Stages of SAP Fieldglass Implementation?

The SAP Fieldglass Vendor Management System (VMS) is a powerful tool which allows your company to coordinate external workforce programs. Companies of all sizes leverage the Fieldglass tool to drive efficiency, reduce costs and gain productivity.

When implementing Fieldglass, it’s critical to have a defined process that helps your employees, leadership and key stakeholders understand a clearly defined road map. A well thought out SAP Fieldglass implementation process, with well-defined stages and milestones, will help track progress and guide all participants towards the shared goal of a successful launch.

SAP Fieldglass is a cloud-based system used to find, connect with, manage and pay an external workforce. With the rise of the gig economy and contract workers, there is an ever-increasing need for systems to manage, coordinate, align, and integrate this component of the modern workforce.

According to SAP, 42 percent of the workforce spend today is on external workers. A recent survey also reported:

73 percent of respondents indicated an external workforce was important to operating at full capacity and meeting demand

55 percent said that without an external workforce, their organizations could not conduct business as usual

Only 20 percent had the systems necessary to adequately manage external workers and turn off access at the end of a project

What does Fieldglass bring to the table? Its solutions provide various tools to help manage an external workforce, including:

Contingent Workforce Management: Allows enterprises to find, manage and pay external employees, automating management to streamline processes, improve security, and boost productivity

Services Procurement: Source, manage, and pay external service providers, including contractors, consultants and agencies

Worker Profile Management: Track and manage workers not covered by a Statement of Work or a job posting

Assignment Management: Manage external work assignments across multiple projects to improve cost controls, efficiency, and compliance

For the most effective SAP Fieldglass implementation, Monument Consulting uses a well-defined methodology. With distinct, articulated phases and gates, our strategic implementation plan provides a clear path for all members of the implementation team. The methodology continually lays out where the project stands and what needs to be done.

Each client’s situation is unique, and the methodology for SAP Fieldglass implementation is flexible to allow for efficiency and progress at each stage. At its core, our methodology is designed to ensure Monument Consulting knows the current state and the desired outcomes of the implementation. That knowledge allows our consultants to design a customized implementation solution that meets our clients’ goals and delivers.

While each client’s circumstances will vary based on scope, resources, and time, in most cases the SAP Fieldglass solution can be implemented in 21 weeks. Success depends greatly on the client’s ability to engage the right stakeholders to ensure that buy-in, sign-off, communication and engagement are all managed carefully at each phase. Engaging the right stakeholders early and at predefined intervals minimizes the need for rework, which can have an impact on the overall project timeline.

There are six phases to the Monument Consulting implementation methodology. Each phase has a gate assigned to it that corresponds to a key project milestone. The gate is designed to ensure that decisions are made whether to move to the next phase, continue work on the current phase, make necessary changes to the current phase before moving forward, or putting the project on hold.

Here is a closer look at each phase and gate.

The pre-implementation phase involves discovery, where the Monument Consulting team works with the client team to understand the current state of systems, technologies and desired outcomes. Critical to this phase is understanding the pain points – whether it’s decentralized workforce management, out-of-control workforce costs or a need for more efficiency. This is the first step towards developing a cohesive project plan that delivers desired results.

In the first three phases of the project, there are a few key milestone meetings to facilitate the transition from project start to discovery and pivoting into design.

This SAP Fieldglass implementation phase helps to reduce risks, identify opportunities to enhance the program and develop a cohesive road map. In this phase, the project team researches, collects and assesses information about the program, the current state, and the desired future state.

The discovery stage allows consultants and the project team to determine the goals, vision and possible risks. It helps define the architecture and approach needed for project success. This phase involves analyzing data, understanding interdependent systems, interviewing managers and key stakeholders, and establishing priorities.

The design phase is where the future state begins to take shape. This phase includes numerous session attended by the client’s full project team where they will be stepped through detailed future state wireframes and see the solution come to live via SAP Fieldglass demos that have been configured per the working future state requirements.

The design phase offers the client an opportunity to provide final input before requirements are documented and finalized. The client will be asked to sign off on requirements to close out the design phase.

Once the SAP Fieldglass implementation solution has been designed and the requirements have been signed off, testing will be the next key step. Monument Consulting will execute extensive testing of the VMS followed by System Integration Testing with the client to ensure all established feeds are working as expected. Testing closes with an opportunity for select client users to test the VMS solution via User Acceptance Testing.

When testing concludes, the new Fieldglass configuration is moved from a testing environment to a production environment. The launch phase is an exciting time, the culmination of months of hard work and dedication.

Integral to the process of any new system is change management. Employees, vendors, and stakeholders will need to understand and become familiar with new technologies, systems, and procedures. Data migration may change. Suppliers may need to be onboarded. Each of these steps is essential for sustained success and buy-in.

Monument Consulting recommends a hypercare period of 2-4 weeks after go-live with a 90-day stabilization period thereafter. This time helps ensure everything is working as designed, the team has a chance to work out any links and teams can analyze program results. It helps to identify optimization recommendations and reach a state of stability before any changes are implemented.

With Monument Consulting, you can develop a powerful solution that helps manage external workforces. To learn more about our services, contact us today.