When I started my first SAP Payroll project in the late 1990s, we were racing against the infamous Y2K countdown. For our younger readers, Y2K was the widespread concern that computer systems worldwide would crash when dates rolled over to the year 2000, as many systems only used two digits for the year. I vividly remember walking into an office where two women managed payroll for five thousand employees using nothing but a DOS-based program on a dumb terminal.
When I started my first SAP Payroll project in the late 1990s, we were racing against the infamous Y2K countdown. For our younger readers, Y2K was the widespread concern that computer systems worldwide would crash when dates rolled over to the year 2000, as many systems only used two digits for the year.
I vividly remember walking into an office where two women managed payroll for five thousand employees using nothing but a DOS-based program on a dumb terminal. The situation made me nervous; if anything happened to either of them, there was no backup plan for ensuring employees got paid. No disaster recovery program, no offsite protection – just two people holding the keys to everyone's paychecks.
That first project taught me invaluable lessons that went far beyond the technical aspects of SAP Payroll. What I learned about business dynamics, organizational change, and human behavior has shaped my entire career.
Transformation depends on people
Let me share one of the most powerful lessons: successful transformation depends more on people than technology.
I was a fresh hire at a German-owned company in NYC, primarily working as a Visual Basic programmer on Microsoft Access and SQL databases. When I was randomly assigned to the SAP Payroll project, I did what any curious professional would do – I googled SAP. Yes, the internet existed in the 1990s, though it was a far cry from what we have today! I was excited about learning something new, but I had no idea how much I would learn about managing change.
The existing payroll team consisted of two women with very different attitudes toward the transformation. Jeannie embraced the change with enthusiasm, eager to learn and adapt. Then there was Doris, the gatekeeper of all payroll knowledge, who approached every meeting with crossed arms and a steady stream of skepticism about "this new-fangled SAP Payroll technology."
Their contrasting approaches led to very different outcomes. Jeannie became indispensable to the organization, mastering the new system and eventually running the Payroll department until her retirement. Doris, who resisted the change, was phased out shortly after go-live.
Cloud transformation in SAP
This experience mirrors what I'm seeing today with cloud transformation in the SAP ecosystem. Since 2012, SAP SuccessFactors has been encouraging customers to move their on-premises payroll systems to the cloud as described in this free Ultimate Guide: Journey from on-premise SAP HCM & Payroll to SAP SuccessFactors.
Despite offering various transformation paths and maintaining the robustness of their world-class payroll system, the transition has been slower than expected.
It's fascinating how we readily embrace new technology in our personal lives – Ring doorbells, Siri, Alexa, cloud photo storage – yet become hesitant when it comes to business-critical systems like payroll. I understand this caution; after all, paying employees correctly and on time is fundamental to any organization's success.
A positive shift?
However, I'm seeing a positive shift in attitudes. The fear and novelty of cloud-based payroll systems is dissipating, and companies are more eager than ever to understand what this means for their employees. Whether driven by transformation deadlines in 2025, 2027, 2033, or 2040, organizations are increasingly ready to embrace innovation and move to the next level.
Remember, transitioning from SAP ECC On-premises Payroll to SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll means you're still using the world's leading global payroll solution – just in a simplified, cloud-based format.
Stay tuned for my next post, where I'll share more stories from my first SAP Payroll deployment. Trust me, there are plenty more lessons to share!
