Every SAP transformation carries risk—but the greatest danger is the one not visible on a Gantt chart. It’s the uncharted, un-scoped and hence untested.

It’s the Blind Spot.

Not a minor oversight or a bug in the system, but a gaping absence in the mapping of how the business actually works. Like an iceberg, its danger lies not in what you see, but in what you don’t. And it’s these blind spots that invariably and catastrophically bring SAP projects—and even entire operations—to their knees. Going from a cosy lounge straight into the freezing Atlantic on a seemingly clear night.

This article isn’t about all the reasons SAP projects go wrong – we’d need to write an encyclopaedia. But it’s about one of the biggest, if not the biggest one.

What Is a Blind Spot?

A blind spot is the difference between what you think should be the scope of your SAP migration or implementation, and what’s actually needed for the business to function properly on Day One. The blind spot typically includes:

• Business processes that were never mapped.
• Critical exceptions or workarounds known only to a handful of users.
• Broken or missing interfaces.
• Master data issues that were swept under the carpet.
• Dependencies no one knew existed.

The catch? Since it’s on none of the charts—and even when you know it’s there, you often underestimate its size—you don’t realise any of it until it’s too late.

Why Are Blind Spots There?

Blind spots are rarely caused by a technical oversight. They’re the product of corporate dynamics and commercial incentives that actively hamper full visibility.

1. Corporate Politics at Work

• The Business (Sales, Operations, Procurement…) wants minimal disruption:
  “Don’t change our ways of working. Don’t overload us with meetings during the project… oh yeah, and do fix everything we’ve hated about the old system while you’re at it.”
• The CIO wants minimal resistance:
  A technical migration of the as-is, light on business involvement, sounds safe and politically convenient.
• The CFO and CEO want minimal cost:
  A ‘lift and shift’ sounds efficient and budget friendly.

In this environment, no one’s pushing for a painful, detailed review of the business. Everyone’s incentivised to keep things simple. It’s not that businesses don’t know something is probably missing—the impact is just invariably underestimated.

2. The System Integrator’s (SI) Incentives

• SIs sell man-days. If the client wants to replicate their legacy R/3 setup in S/4HANA, then simplify later—great. That’s two projects, not one.
• Proposals compete on price. The one that dares to budget for proper scoping and preparation? Too expensive. Too slow. Lost the bid.

No one is rewarded for surfacing the blind spot early. Everyone benefits from pretending it’s not there—until it sinks the ship.

When You Hit the Blind Spot

Blind spots emerge in two painfully common ways:

Scenario 1: Testing Reveals What’s Hidden Under the Surface

As testing begins, the business starts raising red flags. “That’s not how we do things.” “This part’s missing.” “This isn’t working,” …

If the project team listens, a painful reassessment follows—extended timelines, blown budgets, and scope changes.

Unfortunately, many persevere thinking they’re unsinkable, and rather than pause to do a proper scope review, they roll what they’ve found simply into the project and keep going—blissfully ignoring that if there’s one iceberg in the area, there might be more lurking.

Scenario 2: Hitting Trouble at Go-Live… Head-On

This is the worst-case scenario. The project goes live, and suddenly:

• Sales orders won’t process.
• Deliveries can’t be triggered.
• Production halts.
• Interfaces fail.
• … Operations grind to a standstill.

The only option? Emergency rollback. Crisis mode. And then the long, expensive road to repair begins.

The Definition of a Blind Spot: Not Knowing What You Don’t Know

You can’t test what you didn’t plan. You can’t plan what you didn’t scope. You can’t scope what you didn’t know existed.

Blind spots aren’t a question of capability—they’re a question of visibility. And by the time you notice what’s missing, it might already hurt the business.

Real-World Consequences

Here are some examples of what hitting a blind spot actually looks like:

A: The Stalled Project

A client halted their SAP upgrade for two full months to rebuild the scope. With major gaps discovered during testing, there was no other option than to pause and conduct a comprehensive review. ABA was called in and had to put the project on hold for two full months while straightening out the plan.

Still, they couldn’t simply send all the consultants home. Doing so would’ve meant losing critical knowledge about the business, the system, and the project—right in the thick of a multi-year transformation.

That meant the client had to cover two months of fees for dozens of consultants who weren’t actively contributing—just to maintain continuity. Millions spent, yet no tangible progress.

B: The Failed Merger Integration

Two major global B2B players merged—along with their SAP systems—without thoroughly mapping the underlying business and system complexity they were inheriting. Instead, they lifted the acquired company’s SAP setup and dropped it into the acquiring firm’s environment.

The fallout? Orders went undelivered, customers were furious, emergency logistics costs spiralled, trust took a massive hit… and it took nine months to dig out.

The damage? Tens of millions lost—not in IT, but in business performance.

C: The Grand Standstill

A global beverage company missed a crucial system element in its S/4HANA migration. On go-live day, the business froze. Nothing moved. No materials in, no production, no deliveries, no invoices… no money in.

A full rollback was needed. Recovery took months. The reputational and financial cost was staggering.

But Everyone Knew Better—Didn’t They?

The management of companies running SAP aren’t inexperienced. The executives know how it should be done textbook. The consultants have seen it all before. Best practice isn’t a mystery. Everyone knows a number of horror stories.
So why, with all this knowledge, with all this experience do so many still sail full steam ahead through the icefield?

Corporate politics plays a major role. The CIO is under pressure to deliver a project at the lowest possible cost, and without ruffling feathers across the organisation. The COO and CEO want a light-touch transformation—minimal disruption, minimal noise, minimal budget. And let’s be honest: in many cases, they do know there will be a blind spot.

The real problem? They just don’t believe that what they are missing is that big or that dangerous because they can’t see it. And they think that, when something surfaces, they’ll have time to avoid it.
The Titanic crew didn’t know about atmospheric refraction, the “mirage” effect that meant the visual horizon was much higher than the actual horizon and the look-outs couldn’t actually see the iceberg until the last moment, even if the skies were clear and they were looking right ahead.

When the Titanic happened, we learned from it. We built better ships, set better routes, and created the Ice Patrol.
SAP projects are still hitting the icebergs. Mainly because mainstream consultancies / system integrators don’t bring a way out, without – pardon the pun – boiling the ocean.

So, What’s the Way Out?

In an ideal world, you’d spend months mapping processes, reviewing every interface, and documenting every exception. But if you’re already in-flight—or worse, already live—you don’t have that luxury.

You need speed. Structure. And experience… serious experience.

At AB Advisors, we work differently. We specialise in rapid intervention—whether mid-flight or when the hull is already punctured. Our approach is built around one goal: expose and neutralise the blind spot fast to bring the ship back to dry dock and turn it around as quickly as possible.

We don’t bring in the school bus. We bring in the experience. This is the moment you need the SAS or the Navy Seals—not the Scouts’ brigade.
Our experts have many scars gained in various industries; hence they often already know where the typical blind spots in your type of business will be hiding.

1. Veteran SAP Eyes

We bring in experts like Abdul Maulud to scan the systems quickly. These are not generic consultants—they’ve seen this before and know where the gaps hide. They know the tricks of the trade to force the system to unveil its hidden “features”.

2. Structured Gap Assessment

Our programme leaders like Stephen Clifford take on the business side in a structured way. No boiling the ocean or doing a tour of the world with a paperclip and a board. But reviewing the 8 levers of scope:

• Process
• Functionality
• Organisation
• Training
• Technical Infrastructure
• Interfaces
• Data Conversion
• Reports and Forms

This structured scan maps out as much as possible of what was missed, what’s at risk, and what must be fixed in a minimum amount of time.

3. Crisis Management

If you hit trouble after go-live, we deploy a seasoned crisis manager to keep the business afloat while the fix is designed and executed.

We don’t aim for textbook perfection. We aim for real-world recovery—fast enough to stop the bleeding, structured enough to prevent repeat failure.

Final Word: Don’t Let SAP Be Your Titanic

Most SAP projects don’t fail because of what’s visible. They fail because of what’s missed. And when the blind spot hits, it’s sometimes not just the project that goes down—it might be the business.

If you feel the air is too cold for your taste and you want to check whether there is potential ice ahead, we’ve got the Ice Patrol.

Let’s talk before you hit your blind spot.
No pressure. No nonsense. Just a candid exchange with our experts about what might be lurking beyond the horizon and beneath the water.approach keeps costs low while helping you avoid the costly mistakes that come with rushed transitions and misaligned logistics models. You maintain control, avoid service disruption, and secure the right long-term outcome for your business.

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Whether you’re launching an RFP or planning a warehouse move, we can help you do it right—on your terms.