After two years and $22M spent with little to show, this global luggage brand turned to ABA to realign its SAP programmeme—restoring structure, empowering decision-makers, and getting transformation back on track.

A global luggage designer and retailer had been running a business transformation programmeme for over two years, with $22 million already spent—yet only a single country had gone live on the new SAP platform. The programmeme was stuck in a cycle of scope creep, regional misalignment, and indecision. With disconnected systems across regions and no standard global process, leadership lacked the clarity and structure needed to move forward.

The Challenge

The programmeme was plagued by deep fragmentation: regional entities ran their own systems and processes, and the SAP rollout had become a moving target. Consultants were making critical organisational decisions in the absence of strong business input, and process misalignment was compounding delays. Without structure, accountability, or clear governance, progress remained elusive.

Key Constraints:

• Disconnected systems and processes across regions

• No clear governance or empowered decision-makers

• Continuous scope changes up to and during go-live

• C-level leadership lacked visibility and control

Strategic Intervention

Led by Abdul Maulud, ABA took a full-programme view—not just of the SAP system but of the organisational and governance structure that was failing behind the scenes. The project was reframed as a true business transformation, not an IT-led system implementation.

• Stakeholder Empowerment: ABA identified and empowered the right business leaders to make critical process and organisational decisions

• programme Governance Established: A professional PMO and decision-making framework were created to bring structure, cadence, and visibility

• C-Level Engagement: The programme roadmap was clarified and regularly communicated to executives to restore confidence

• programme Assessment & Stabilisation: ABA conducted a full assessment of programme health, redesigned the blueprint, and implemented actions to control risk and restore pace

• Transformation Ownership Shifted: The programme was transitioned from IT ownership to the business—where decisions had lasting operational impact

Tangible Results

ABA’s intervention shifted the trajectory of the entire programme:

• programme Delivery Regained: Initiatives delivered on time and within budget

• Full Transparency Achieved: Clear status, cost, and benefit visibility for all initiatives

• Global SAP Instance Realised: All major revenue-producing regions now operate on a unified SAP system

• Transformation on Track: Business-wide visibility and alignment set the programme back on course to realise its original vision

Key Takeaways

ABA’s turnaround of this $22M programme wasn’t just about process—it was about people, ownership, and accountability. By elevating the right voices and reframing the programmeme as a business-led transformation, ABA enabled progress where two years of effort had stalled.

Without intervention, the business would have continued losing money on an expensive, fragmented, and ultimately unworkable implementation.