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The most important part of your SAP programme hasn't started yet.

The organisations that get the most from SAP are the ones that invest in getting the start right. Limelight makes sure yours does.

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Before you begin

What does starting an SAP transformation actually involve?

A SAP transformation is not just a technology project. It requires your organisation to redesign processes, govern a major SI relationship, manage significant business change, and make hundreds of decisions — many of them before implementation even begins.

The organisations that navigate this well are the ones that invest in getting the foundations right before the SI starts the clock. That means a clear business case, defined scope, the right SI selected, and a programme structure that protects your interests from day one.

Where to start.

There is one accelerator built specifically for organisations at this stage of their journey

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Before you start — get your programme ready to succeed.

RunFast Launchpad™ is Limelight's programme start-up accelerator — a structured eight to twelve week engagement that builds your business case, defines scope, selects the right SI, and gets your organisation transformation-ready before implementation begins.

Start your programme

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The thinking behind everything Limelight does.
RunFast — written by Limelight co-founder Neil How — is the Amazon number one bestselling guide to accelerating technology transformation programmes. It contains the principles, frameworks, and hard-won lessons that underpin every Limelight engagement. If you want to understand how Limelight thinks about programme delivery, start here. Get your copy now
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Questions we get asked.
How do we know if we're ready to start a SAP transformation?

Readiness isn't binary — it's a spectrum. Most organisations are ready enough to start preparing, but not ready enough to hand the keys to an SI. The right question isn't "are we ready?" but "ready for what?" RunFast Launchpad answers that question before it becomes expensive to find out.

True readiness for a SAP transformation means having a clear, board-approved business case, defined scope, a selected SI, and the programme governance in place to manage delivery from day one. Most organisations starting out have none of these. That is not a problem — it is exactly what RunFast Launchpad is designed to establish. The risk is not starting before you are ready. The risk is engaging an SI before you are ready — at which point the SI's clock is running and the cost of getting the foundations right is significantly higher.

What should we have in place before engaging an SI?

At minimum: a board-approved business case, a defined and protected scope, an understanding of your own readiness across change, data, and process, and a clear view of what you expect the SI to deliver and how you will govern them. Most organisations have none of these before they go to market. That is what Launchpad provides.

Engaging an SI without the right foundations in place is one of the most common and most expensive mistakes in SAP transformation. The SI will start building to whatever they assumed during the sales process — and change requests will follow. Before engaging an SI, your organisation should have a business case that has board sign-off, a scope baseline the SI is contracted to deliver, an internal programme structure capable of managing the relationship, and a view of your data, change, and process readiness. Limelight builds all of this during a RunFast Launchpad engagement — typically in eight to twelve weeks — before your SI contract is signed.

How long does it take to get from decision to SI engagement?

With Launchpad, typically eight to twelve weeks. Without it, organisations often spend three to six months in informal preparation — achieving less, spending more, and arriving at SI selection without the clarity they need to negotiate effectively.

The eight to twelve week Launchpad timeline covers business case development, scope definition, SI market engagement, vendor selection, and programme governance setup. This is significantly faster than the typical unstructured approach, which often takes six months or more and produces worse outputs — because it lacks the structured methodology, senior expertise, and defined deliverables that Launchpad provides. The organisations that move fastest to a well-governed SI engagement are the ones that invest properly in the preparation phase rather than treating it as an informal internal exercise.

What is the first step to working with Limelight?

A conversation. No pitch, no proposal until it makes sense. We will ask the right questions and tell you honestly whether Launchpad is the right next step for your organisation — and what that would look like in practice.

Every Limelight engagement starts with a structured sixty to ninety minute conversation with a senior director. We will listen to where you are, ask the questions that matter, and give you an honest view of what we think. If Launchpad is clearly the right fit, we will tell you why and what the engagement would cover. If we think you need something different, we will tell you that too. There is no commitment required and no proposal until the conversation has established that one makes sense.

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Ready to start your programme the right way?
The decisions made before your SI starts are the ones that matter most. Let's make sure they're the right ones.

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