How to choose an SAP implementation partner

To choose an SAP implementation partner, shortlist at least three from SAP Partner Finder, run an RFP and hold orals with the people who will actually staff your programme. Plan about 12 weeks, and decide on client references and the quality of the people rather than on brand.

Short answer: the badge gets a partner onto your list. The references, the people and the plan get them the contract.

This guide covers the whole process for any SAP implementation, not only migrations. If you are moving from ECC, my guide to choosing an S/4HANA migration partner adds the migration-specific tests.

Partner selection takes about 12 weeks when it is done properly. Squeeze it and something gets skipped, usually the reference calls or the statement of work.

Across the 21 SAP programmes I have led or rescued, the biggest mistake I see is not planning properly at the start. Partner selection is where that planning either happens or does not.

This is how the 12 weeks break down. Treat the weeks as a guide and move them to fit your own approval calendar.

Weeks	Stage	What you do	What you have at the end
1 to 2	Prepare	Write your scope, requirements and evaluation criteria; name the selection team	A scope document and a scoring model, agreed before any partner sees them
3	Long list	Search SAP Partner Finder by competency, product and industry; send a short request for information	A shortlist of at least three partners
4 to 6	RFP	Issue the request for proposal, answer clarification questions, receive responses	Written proposals that answer your scope, not theirs
7 to 8	Evaluation and orals	Score the written responses; run orals where the proposed team explains the architecture and the plan	A ranked shortlist and notes on every named person
9	References	Call references from similar projects; check the CVs and certifications of the named team	Evidence of each partner's track record
10 to 11	Commercials and SOW	Agree time and materials with effort by phase and role; write assumptions and exclusions in detail	A statement of work you can track and enforce
12	Award	Final approval, contract signature, mobilisation plan	A signed contract and a start date

The first two weeks matter most. If you go to market without your own scope, every partner fills the gap with its own assumptions, and you cannot compare the answers.

Start with SAP's own directory. SAP Partner Finder lists registered SAP partners, and SAP designed it so customers can search partner competencies and match them to their goals.

Those competencies come from SAP PartnerEdge, SAP's partner programme. Each competency has three levels, essential, advanced and expert, with specialisations at product or process level underneath. I explain what each designation does and does not prove in the migration partner guide, so I will not repeat it here.

Use the designations as a filter, not a decision. A badge describes the firm. It says nothing about the people the firm will put on your programme.

Cut the long list to a shortlist of at least three partners. Three gives you a real comparison of approach and price, and keeps every bidder honest about effort.

What about the best SAP consulting firms?

People search for the best SAP consulting firms as if one ranking held for every buyer. It does not. The right firm for a single-country finance rollout can be the wrong one for a global multi-entity programme.

Judge firms on the things that predict delivery:

1. References from similar projects. The same kind of scope, scale and industry as yours.
2. The quality of the people proposed. Named individuals, with CVs, available on your dates.
3. The architecture and the plan. Explained for your business, in their own words, in a room with you.
4. Relevant SAP designations. As an entry filter, not a tiebreaker.

For names grouped by tier, see my guide to SAP implementation partners in the USA by tier. I do not rank or recommend firms in this guide. The process below works on whoever is on your shortlist.

The RFP sets the terms of the comparison. Send every partner the same scope, the same questions and the same response format, and tell them how you will score them. My guide to the SAP implementation RFP covers what to ask for and how to weight the scoring.

Written responses tell you who can write a proposal. The orals tell you who can deliver.

Orals with the people who will staff your programme

Ask each shortlisted partner to present with the people they will actually staff. That means the solution architect, the programme manager and the functional leads named in the proposal, not a pitch team.

Give them two jobs in the room. Explain the architecture they propose for your business, and walk through the plan phase by phase, with the effort behind it.

Two things make me walk away from a bid. The first is weak quality in the proposed resources. The second is a partner that cannot explain the architecture and the plan.

Generic answers are the same warning in another form. If an answer would still read correctly with a competitor's name on it, it was not written for you.

Check the credentials of the named people as well. SAP issues its certification badges through Credly, so ask each named consultant for the badge rather than taking a CV line on trust. Certification proves exam knowledge, not delivery, so weigh it below references.

Reference calls about similar projects

When I choose a partner for a client, the thing I weigh most is client references. Reference calls matter, and they deserve proper time in the plan.

What I ask references about is the partner's experience on similar projects. Did this partner deliver a programme like yours, at your scale, in your industry?

Then go into the parts that predict your own experience:

1. Were the people in the proposal the people who did the work? Ask the reference to name the leads, then check them against your proposal.
2. How did the partner handle scope growth in the Explore phase? Budgets get hit there as the WRICEF list (workflows, reports, interfaces, conversions, enhancements and forms) grows.
3. Would they hire the partner again for the next phase? Ask why, and ask what they would change in the contract.

Speak to the client directly, not through the partner's account manager. Ask for at least one reference where the programme ran into trouble, because how a partner recovers tells you more than a clean go-live.

The commercial model I recommend is time and materials with the effort quantified. The estimated effort by phase and by role goes into the contract, so you can track actual effort against it every month.

Time and materials is honest about the fact that SAP scope moves. SAP Activate puts the fit-to-standard workshops and design confirmation in the Explore phase, and that is where gaps surface. Quantified effort stops time and materials from becoming an open cheque, because you see early when a phase is burning faster than estimated.

Fixed price looks safer on paper. In practice it holds only while every assumption holds, and the partner prices that risk into the number.

Compare day rates against the effort estimate, never on their own. For benchmark rates by role and region, see my guide to resource allocation planning for SAP projects.

The statement of work

The part of a statement of work that clients most often leave out is detailed assumptions and exclusions. Without them, the scope is whatever the partner says it is when the first change request arrives.

Write them by category, so nothing falls through:

1. Scope assumptions. The entities, countries, processes and number of WRICEF objects the effort covers.
2. Client responsibilities. Data cleansing, business decisions, test resources and the turnaround time for sign-offs.
3. Technical assumptions. Environments, integrations and who provides each connected system.
4. Exclusions. What is not in the effort, named explicitly, such as legacy data archiving or third-party software.

Then add named resources, deliverables with acceptance criteria and a change control process. My guide to the SAP statement of work covers each clause, and my notes on ERP contract negotiation show the traps to remove before signature.

The partner delivers. Some decisions are better checked by someone who is not selling the delivery.

I recommend bringing in an independent consultant at three points:

1. During contracting. To test the effort estimate, the assumptions and exclusions, and the commercial terms before you sign.
2. For the design. To review the architecture and the design decisions, which shape your cost for years.
3. For the partner's documents. To assess the deliverables, such as design documents and test plans, before you accept and pay for them.

This works alongside the partner, not instead of it. My guide to SAP partner vs independent consultant explains what each does and when you need both.

A good selection lowers the risk. It does not remove it.

I have changed a partner during a programme, and the trigger was resources: the partner could not provide quality people. If you are already there, my guide to changing your SAP implementation partner mid-project covers what to secure before you tell them.

Before you contact a single partner, write your scope and your evaluation criteria. That is weeks one and two of the timeline, and it is the step most buyers skip.

If you want an independent view on a shortlist, a proposal or a statement of work, I help organisations with this. You can contact me here.

How do I choose an SAP implementation partner?

Build a long list from SAP Partner Finder using SAP competencies, then cut it to a shortlist of at least three. Run an RFP, hold orals with the people the partner will actually staff and call references from similar projects. Contract on time and materials with effort quantified by phase and role, and write detailed assumptions and exclusions into the statement of work.

How long does it take to select an SAP implementation partner?

About 12 weeks. That covers two weeks of preparation, a long list, a three-week RFP window, evaluation and orals, and reference calls. The last weeks go on commercial terms and the statement of work before award.

How many SAP partners should be on the shortlist?

At least three. Three gives you a real comparison of approach, people and effort, and keeps competitive tension on the commercial terms.

Who are the best SAP consulting firms?

There is no ranking that holds for every buyer. Judge firms on references from similar projects, the quality of the people proposed, their ability to explain the architecture and plan for your business, and their SAP designations. For names grouped by tier, see my guide to SAP implementation partners in the USA by tier.

Should an SAP implementation contract be fixed price or time and materials?

I recommend time and materials with the effort quantified: the estimated effort by phase and role written into the contract, so you can track it. Fixed price holds only while every assumption holds, and the partner prices that risk in.

What should I ask SAP partner references?

Ask about the partner's experience on projects similar to yours: the same kind of scope, scale and industry. Ask whether the people in the proposal did the work, how scope growth in Explore was handled and whether they would hire the partner again.