Hi everyone,
Starting your SAP LeanIX journey is an exciting step toward effective Enterprise Architecture (EA) management. However, before diving into the tool, the single most critical step to ensure a smooth, successful, and impactful onboarding is to form your core team.
Why a core team is essential
The core team is the engine of your LeanIX adoption. Their primary goal is to drive the vision, ensure value realization, and maintain the platform's integrity. They keep the scope tight, drive adoption, and are responsible for reporting the measurable Return on Investment (ROI) of your LeanIX implementation. The core team will be responsible for completing the SAP LeanIX onboarding process, a vital step that positions them to effectively cascade knowledge and drive adoption among relevant stakeholders within the organization.
Without this dedicated group, adoption can stall, data quality can drop, and the value of your EA effort may never be fully realized.
How to form your core team
For optimal effectiveness, it's recommended to select 2 to 5 people to serve on the core team. This range facilitates adequate expertise while ensuring agility and focus.
The core team should include key roles that cover strategic, operational, and data management aspects:
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Product Owner/Customer Champion: This person is the single point of contact (SPOC) and owns the SAP LeanIX vision, roadmap, and value realization. They typically hold the Admin user role and might be an EA Lead or Head of Architecture.
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Pioneers / Key Users: These are the first wave of hands-on users. They are crucial for evangelizing the tool, supporting the successful setup, and are often Architects or Transformation Managers with Admin / Member roles.
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Business Liaison / Capability SME: This role answers business context questions related to the capability map, value streams, and processes. They ensure the LeanIX model mirrors the actual business and is not an "ivory-tower EA" effort. They are typically Members like Process Owners or Business Architects.
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Data Owner(s): Responsible for data completeness and accuracy, they provide data for initial import and ongoing sync. Application or Service managers often fill this Member role, as they fuel the LeanIX reports and dashboards.
This cheat sheet summarizes all the key information about forming your LeanIX core team.
By clearly defining these roles and responsibilities before your onboarding officially begins, you establish the necessary governance and accountability. This proactive approach ensures you have the right people ready to champion the platform, secure quality data, and translate architectural insights into demonstrable business value from day one.
A successful SAP LeanIX implementation starts with a committed core team!