A phase zero is the period before an SAP programme formally starts, when the organisation gets ready to start it's programme well. It produces the business case, the plan, the budget, the governance and an honest view of the data - potentialy also the supplier selection processes. It is best run by someone on the client side who will still be accountable once the delivery partner arrives.
The term is used loosely. Some firms call it mobilisation, discovery, readiness or programme start-up. The label is not terribly important - what is critical is what is delivered, and who owns it.
By the end of a phase zero, the leadership team should be able to approve the programme with its eyes open. That means a business case with each benefit owned by a named business leader, and a budget that includes internal costs as well as external ones. It means a plan with a believable critical path, and a deployment approach that says whether the organisation goes live in one step or in waves, and why.
Processes are usually mapped and a view is made clear as to the problems that exist in the business, together with what the programme intends to change - and what is delivered to enable.
It also includes a governance structure where everyone knows who decides what, a resource profile showing who the business will release to the programme and when, and a log of the risks and assumptions that could change any of the critical cornerstones. If the organisation plans to buy-in a delivery partner, it should end with a tender pack clear enough for bidders to price the same programme - with zero ambiguity as to the client ask.
If any of these are missing at the end, the programme starts with a gap. Someone will pay to close it later, usually at a higher rate.
| Good phase zero | Weak phase zero | |
|---|---|---|
| Who owns the outputs | The client, in its own words | The partner that hopes to deliver the programme |
| How it ends | With decisions the leadership team has made | With a proposal for the next phase |
| Business case | Benefits owned by named business leaders | Benefits estimated by the programme team |
| Scope | In and out of scope written down and signed off | Described in workshop notes |
| Data | A sample tested against the target design | An estimate based on interviews |
| Price and length | Fixed, agreed at the start | Extended as new questions appear |
The right-hand column is common, and it is rarely anyone's intention. It happens when a phase zero is treated as the opening stage of a sale rather than as a piece of work in its own right.
Many delivery partners offer a phase zero, and some run them well. The useful question is who the outputs belong to. When the business case, scope and plan are shaped by the firm that will then be paid to deliver them, there is a conflict of interest. That is true with even the best intentions on both sides.
The alternatives are an internal team, or an independent firm that will not deliver the build. An internal team knows the business but may not have run an SAP programme of this size before. An independent firm brings that experience, and it should leave the client owning everything it produces.
Whoever runs it, the person leading phase zero should still be around when delivery starts. A plan handed over by people who then leave is much easier to drift away from.
The length of time to complete a phase zero depends heavily on the scope, complexity, scale of change and the business operating model. However, anything over three to four months would normally be excessive.
Whatever the length, a phase zero should have a fixed end and a fixed price. If it keeps extending, the organisation is paying to avoid a decision.
Our RunFast LaunchPad is a client-side phase zero. It draws on more than 75 deliverables, each tailored to the programme, and runs at a fixed scope with the cost known before work starts. We do not implement SAP, so we have no stake in the size of the programme that follows.
If you are planning a phase zero and want to talk it through, book a Readiness Review. It is a 45-minute conversation with one of our directors. You can do that HERE