TL;DR — How to know a SAP agency won’t burn you
Transparency: see pay vs bill and what the markup funds (speed, vetting, compliance).
Proof: run a 20-min working session on a real ticket + get a Day-3 plan in writing.
Protection: sign backfill SLA, no-substitution, audit rights.
Why should you read this article?
Last quarter we got contacted by a team that burnt €4.8k in week one. Great CV, “all-in price,” no Day-3 plan. Access lagged, fit was fuzzy, and nobody owned replacement.
This article is how to prevent that – every time.
1) Transparency: make the money make sense
Ask for a 1-page rate card before CVs:
- Pay rate (to consultant)
- Agency fee / % markup
- What the fee funds: sourcing speed, vetting depth, compliance/payrolling, backfill
- Replacement terms: time-to-replace and what happens to fees during the gap
Rule of thumb: if they won’t split pay vs bill or explain the fee in <60 seconds, pass.
2) Proof: test delivery on a tiny real thing
Do a 20-minute working session on a safe live ticket (e.g., aATP rule tweak, FI posting fix). Ask:
- “Walk intake → Definition of Done → risks → handover.”
- “What’s your Day-3 micro-deliverable?”
- “Name the dependencies that could block week one (roles, transports, data).”
Pass if they talk steps, tools (ChaRM/Jira, SAP GUI/Fiori, BTP), and acceptance criteria. Fail if buzzwords.
3) Protection: copy-paste clauses that save you
- Backfill SLA: “If performance is below expected in the first 14 days, agency replaces within 5 business days; fees pause from notice until replacement starts.”
- No substitution: “No candidate swap after acceptance without written client approval.”
- Audit rights: “Client may audit timesheets and pay confirmations (redacted) to resolve disputes.”
- Candidate ownership window: “Candidate ownership expires after 6 months if no engagement.”
- Compliance & IP: “Agency warrants correct B2B/UoP, GDPR, SoD, and assigns IP to client via contractor terms.”
Red flags (run)
“All-in price,” CV flooding, “that senior just left—here’s junior at the same rate,” no Day-3 plan, silence post-start.
Green flags (lean in)
2–3 vetted CVs in 48–72h, written Day-3/Day-7 plan, outcome-based references, named escalation owner.
FAQ
What’s a fair agency markup in SAP? There isn’t a single “right” %—insist on pay vs bill and weigh the fee against speed, vetting, compliance.
How fast should a specialist deliver? 48–72 hours for the first 2–3 vetted CVs after a clear brief.
How do I stop bait-and-switch? Use no-substitution + backfill SLA + paused fees during replacement.
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