The SAP Ecosystem: A Knowledge Perspective

Abstract

This paper derives from a parent study titled, Co-operative ERP Lifecycle Knowledge Management (Gable et al., 1998). The central goal of that study is to rationalise knowledge management activities of the three key players involved in ERP lifecycle support; namely the client, the vendor and the implementation partner or consultant. The consultant can play varied roles in a greater or lesser capacity across client ERP installations. It is posited in the parent study that the consultant’s role (and the roles of all key players) should be driven by a carefully considered ERP lifecycle-wide knowledge sourcing strategy for the client. Understanding the ERP knowledge marketplace and related dynamics is of clear value to the development of such strategy. In this paper we tentatively explore the concepts of “knowledge-sourcing” and “knowledge strategy friction.” We further describe a preliminary attempt to instantiate these concepts through an exploratory, descriptive case study of the “SAP services ecosystem.” A broader, related objective of the parent study is to test the power of a “knowledge sourcing world-view” and the integrative potential and explanatory power of such a perspective, with particular emphasis on ERP marketplace dynamics.