As I watched the Dallas Run this past weekend, I was struck by a familiar feeling. At the start line, everyone looked invincible. The energy was contagious. Runners surged forward, fueled by adrenaline, cheering crowd, and the optimism that comes with fresh legs and months of preparation behind them.
But anyone who has experienced a marathon, even as a spectator, knows that the first mile is the most deceptive one.
SAP transformations begin the same way.
At kickoff, leadership town halls are packed, decks are crisp, banners go up, and vision statements are bold. Teams feel aligned and energized. There’s a sense that the hardest part is behind you, and that once you’ve started strong, momentum will simply carry you forward. And then the adrenaline wears off.
Just as runners who push too hard early often hit the wall later, SAP programs that rely heavily on kickoff excitement tend to struggle as the real work begins. Technical complexity increases, timelines tighten, and decisions multiply. Very quietly, Change Management slips into the background and gets reduced to training calendars, user manuals, and last-minute communications.
Training teaches people how to use the system.
Change Management explains why it matters, what behaviors must change, and how people succeed in the new way of working.
Without intentional pacing, visible leadership reinforcement, and deliberate cultural signals, adoption slows, resistance grows and fatigue sets in, not because teams aren’t capable, but because the energy that carried the first mile was never designed to last all year long.
Why SAP Transformations Require a Marathon Mindset
A marathon is won long before race day through discipline, structure, and endurance-building. SAP transformations are no different.
They demand:
- sustained leadership commitment,
- continuous communication,
- cultural alignment, and
- real-time feedback on how people are coping with change.
This is why BluWis approaches Change Management not as a one-time kickoff, but as a long-distance strategy designed to carry organizations through every mile of the journey. With this approach, anchored in culture, leadership, and storytelling, enterprises can shift transformations from being delivered to being adopted, lived, and scaled.
The BluWis Approach: Training for the Long Run
BluWis delivers SAP-led transformations through a three-layered Change Management model, anchored in five foundational pillars. At the heart of the framework is a simple truth: people, and not systems, determine whether a transformation finishes strong.
Layer 1: Building the Base — Establishing the Change Management CoE
Every marathon runner builds a base before increasing mileage. In transformation, that base is the Change Management Centre of Excellence (CoE). When established before the program begins, the CoE becomes the pacing engine of the transformation.
Purpose
- Provide structure, standards, and playbooks
- Align change efforts with business outcomes
- Ensure consistency across waves and releases
Scope
- Framework design spanning culture, leadership, coaching, marketing, and measurement
- Capability building across HR, IT, Communications, and Business
- Tool enablement for real-time adoption insights
- Sustainability planning beyond go-live
Without a CoE, Change Management becomes reactive. With a CoE, it becomes a disciplined endurance strategy.
Layer 2: The Five Pillars — Mile Markers That Sustain Momentum
1. Culture as the Anchor
Culture determines how people behave when pressure builds, similar to how form matters most in the final miles of a race.
BluWis conducts cultural readiness assessments to identify gaps early and designs interventions that reinforce:
- agility,
- collaboration, and
- transparent leadership communication.
Without cultural alignment, even the best systems struggle to gain traction.
2. Role Models as Pacers
In marathons, pacers help runners maintain rhythm and belief. In transformations, role models play the same role.
BluWis identifies and empowers change champions across the business to:
- demonstrate new behaviors,
- support peers locally, and
- share real adoption stories.
People trust peers more than announcements.
3. Executive Coaching
Leaders set the pace for the organization. BluWis provides tailored executive coaching to help leaders:
- communicate authentically,
- model new behaviors consistently,
- address resistance empathetically, and
- sustain confidence during moments of fatigue.
When leaders slow down, the organization slows with them.
4. Marketing as the Energy Stations
Every marathon has hydration and nutrition stations, for moments to refuel and reset. In SAP transformations, that fuel comes from strategic internal marketing.
BluWis embeds strategic marketing to keep change visible and inspiring with:
- Campaigns: Create thematic and engaging campaigns around milestones.
- Storytelling: Highlight employee success stories.
- Visuals: Use branded dashboards, videos and newsletters.
- Celebrations: Recognize adoption champions publicly.
Marketing keeps transformation visible, human, and emotionally engaging mile after mile.
5. Tools as Performance Trackers: Runners rely on data (pace, heart rate, distance) to stay on track. BluWis integrates modern tools to provide real-time intelligence bringing clarity and insight so leaders can adjust pace, detect fatigue, and stay on course by enabling:
- Process Mining to detect adoption bottlenecks
- AI-Driven Sentiment Analysis to gauge morale
- Digital Adoption Platforms (DAPs) for in-the-flow learning
- Collaboration Dashboards to measure reach and engagement
Data replaces guesswork and allows leaders to course-correct early.
Layer 3: Finishing Strong — Sustaining Adoption Beyond Go-Live
A marathon doesn’t end at 26.2 miles and neither does transformation, which is a continuous adoption journey:
BluWis helps organizations with:
- Adoption KPIs: Measure user adoption, process compliance, and sentiment.
- Feedback Loops: Establish real-time feedback loops, identify fatigue early and course correct.
- Celebration & Storytelling: Keep excitement alive and connect adoption to tangible business outcomes.
Go-live is not the finish line. It is simply the final turn toward sustained value realization.
Beyond Go-Live: Endurance Is The Real Victory
SAP transformation is not about crossing a technical finish line. It is about sustaining new ways of working long after the banners come down.
Just as runners remember how they finished, not how fast they started, organizations are remembered for adoption, not implementation.
At BluWis , we help enterprises engineer digital possibilities by ensuring people, processes, and platforms move forward in unison. This happens with discipline, endurance, and purpose.
Running Into 2026 with Confidence
As 2025 comes to a close and organizations set their sights on 2026, the lesson from the Dallas Run is clear: Pace matters. Structure matters. Endurance matters.
If you’re ready to stop sprinting your SAP transformation and start running it like a marathon, BluWis is ready to partner with you.
Warm regards,
Rajesh Raj - Chief Revenue Officer, BluWis
Reach Team BluWis at sales@bluwis.com