Preventing SAP Programme Failure
Why the blog
This is part of a series of blogs and short clips designed to help CFO’s, CIO’s, SROs and Section 151 officers navigate complex SAP busienss transformation.
Most large-scale SAP transformations don’t fail because of the technology — they fail because of leadership, governance, and loss of focus.
I specialise in recovering and re-stabilising failing SAP programmes. Over decades of leading and rescuing major transformations, I’ve built a diagnostic framework that exposes the root causes of programme failure — fast — before they spiral into crisis, together with the anchors for success.
🚨 The 70% Failure Rate
The numbers haven’t changed in decades.
Around 70% of SAP and ERP programmes stall before go-live — usually between design exit and UAT entry. (AI failure is close to 85%).
Of those that limp across the line, most fail to deliver expected business outcomes, landing instead with over-customised, under-adopted, high-cost systems that deliver little real business value, in fact in some instances I see the customers productivity going backwards due to a failure to identify existing levels of hyper-automation.
These aren’t one-off disasters. They’re the predictable outcome of a consulting industry that still confuses technical delivery with business transformation.
SAP isn’t “just technology”, this simple statement is the fundamental problem
It’s an Industry 4.0 operating model — an integrated fabric of people, process, data, controls, and automation — ready to be consumed, embedded, and sustained by the business. Miss that, and you miss the point of SAP right from the outset.
⚙️ Why SAP Programmes Fail
Every failing SAP S/4HANA transformation shares the same DNA. Different industries, different integrators — the same root causes.
Over the years, I’ve catalogued more than 670 recurring failure points. Link a few together, and you get what I call Quantum Failure — when small risk quarks align to cause collapse at scale.
Here’s a glimpse of just a few of the usual suspects:
Link just a few of these, and you’ve got a programme in distress. Read my SAP Quantum Risk blog.
If your SAP transformation feels off track — it probably is. I can diagnose and deliver a full assurance and costed recovery plan within two weeks.
🧩 Lessons from SAP Programme Failures
It’s remarkable how often organisations repeat the same mistakes — ignoring both internal and public failure lessons learnt.
Here are two that still resonate today and are indicative.
MFI – Retail Meltdown
A household-name furniture retailer attempted to integrate its nationwide network on SAP. Poor integration, weak data governance, and lack of executive alignment led to £46 million in losses and long-term reputational damage. The company folded. Lesson: Even phased rollouts fail without robust data governance, operational readiness, and unified leadership.
Under Armour – From Go-Live to Chaos
Under Armour’s global SAP programme was meant to unify finance, supply chain, and merchandising. Pressured to go live early, the company suffered supply-chain disruption, inventory chaos, and reporting breakdowns — hitting revenue recognition and stock price.
Lesson: A rushed go-live and poor user readiness can turn a strategic upgrade into an operational crisis — even with SAP’s CEO is on the steering committee.
These stories prove a hard truth:
SAP doesn’t fail — leadership and governance do. Do the basics well, and the benefits will follow.
🧠 The SAP Omniverse Mindset
In today’s volatile, AI-infused world, the smartest organisations treat SAP not as a static system, but as a composable, agentic ecosystem — what I call the SAP Omniverse.
By upcycling existing SAP investments, adopting modular transformation, and leveraging AI-driven insights, businesses can reduce risk, increase agility, and accelerate ROI.
SAP, done right, isn’t a static cost, It’s a value engine, not tech debt but a generational investment that keeps on delivering tangible benefits, year on year, a CFO’s dream. That’s why upcycling is so important as is the need to resist the pre-sales rip it out and start again clean core nonsense.
🔩 Anchors of Success: Turnaround in Practice
Failure isn’t inevitable. Over 35 years of SAP delivery, I’ve defined a set of Delivery Anchors that turn failing programmes into sustainable successes. These principles worked in 1990 with SAP R/2, and they still work today in the age of S/4HANA and AI.
Here are three recoveries that I led, which prove the point.
1. Global Automotive – From Chaos to Global Standardisation
A global SAP ECC template rollout had lost direction. The core design was unfit for purpose, blocking an organisational restructure and delaying product launches. I rebuilt the governance model, unified the template, and established a single delivery cadence across regions. Within months, the programme was back on track — delivering a stable, standardised global process model.
2. Regional Bank – Governance Restored, Go-Live Achieved
A regulatory-heavy finance and banking services transformation had stalled under risk fatigue and unclear scope. By restructuring governance, re-sequencing delivery, and restoring trust between business and IT, I stabilised the programme and delivered go-live within revised timelines — with compliance intact.
3. Global Pharma – Reset, Comply, Replicate
A failed global SAP S/4HANA template was threatening regulatory compliance and deployment viability. I re-engineered the design for GxP alignment, rebuilt the cost model, and created a repeatable delivery framework now used across multiple markets.
Every successful recovery shares three non-negotiables:
Objective diagnostics that expose the real blockers.
Stabilisation under disciplined governance.
Re-alignment to business outcomes and value.
Do those three things, and any SAP programme can be saved.
🛠️ Why Boards Call Me for help !
When SAP programmes start to slip, boards need clarity — fast. That’s where I come in.
My approach is built on real-world delivery experience, not consulting theory. I combine independent assurance, rapid recovery, and value tracking to bring focus and control back to the programme.
Dragon ERP’s Core Services
Independent Health Checks – Evidence-based diagnostics that surface structural weaknesses before they become failures.
SAP Programme Assurance – Embedded oversight for governance, scope, and risk control.
Turnaround & Recovery – Rapid stabilisation, stakeholder alignment, and delivery reboot.
Value Realisation & Continuous Assurance – Keeping focus on outcomes, not just milestones.
My philosophy: empathy without compromise, assurance without bureaucracy, recovery without blame.
Tangible Assurance Benefits Card
Across both the private and public sector, SAP programmes face relentless pressure to deliver outcomes on time, on budget, and in compliance with complex regulatory and business demands.
Independent assurance provides tangible value by acting as a stabilising force — cutting through vendor spin and internal bias to give executives an unfiltered view of risks, costs, and delivery health.
This objectivity enables organisations to control overruns, accelerate time-to-value, and access structured recovery options when programmes falter. Whether the mandate is shareholder value in the private sector or public accountability in government, assurance builds the confidence and trust needed at board and ministerial level to steer programmes successfully.
The benefits below highlight how measurable impact is achieved when assurance is applied with discipline and independence.
🧭 Final Word
For more than 50 years, SAP has been the backbone of global enterprise. Yet 70% of ERP and digital transformations still fail to deliver.
The issue isn’t the software — it’s the loss of structure, discipline, and experienced leadership.
I get struggling SAP programmes back on track — fast.
If your transformation is stalling, adoption is low, or risk is rising, let’s talk. My SAP Turnaround & Assurance Service protects your investment, restores confidence, and delivers value.
Because in the end: SAP doesn’t fail — leadership does. And that’s what we fix.
About the Author
Alisdair Bach is a leading SAP Programme Director and Turnaround Expert, known for recovering and re-stabilising some of the most complex SAP and ERP programmes across private equity and public sector portfolios.
As the founder of Dragon ERP, Alisdair specialises in delivering independent SAP Turnaround & Assurance Services that help organisations regain control, restore confidence, and realise tangible business value.
With empathetic yet decisive leadership, he blends strategic insight with delivery discipline — transforming uncertainty into sustainable success.
Closing Thought - time for a coffee and a chat
Managing risk in SAP programmes is no longer about static registers. Risks collide, amplify, and cascade — and only a Quantum Risk Management approach can anticipate and absorb those collisions.
At Dragon ERP, our assurance service is engineered to expose hidden dependencies, connect failure points, and hard-wire survival anchors. We leave no stone unturned — because in the quantum field of SAP delivery, the smallest fracture can trigger the biggest wave.
If your SAP programme is drifting, stalling, or failing, now is the moment to act. Don’t wait for disruption to compound. Let’s talk — no buzzwords, no hard sell, just straight, practical advice over a coffee on how to stabilise and turn around your SAP portfolio.
About the Author
Alisdair Bach is a recognised SAP Programme Director and turnaround specialist — often called a “turnaround god” by clients for his ability to stabilise and recover the most complex and failing SAP programmes. With decades of experience across global private equity and public sector portfolios, Alisdair has led high-stakes SAP S/4HANA transformations, finance and supply chain turnarounds, and complex delivery rescues.
Through Dragon ERP, he brings board-level assurance, forensic diagnostics, and hands-on leadership to programmes that others have written off — combining empathy with no-nonsense execution to deliver results where failure once seemed inevitable.
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