Today's executive management expects demonstrable business value from every investment, including technology investments. This is certainly the case with an investment in core business processes such as the implementation of an SAP application, or increasingly in an upgrade to SAP NetWeaver. As with any large and complex application project, the risk of failure is all too real given the size, scope and complexity.

This paper will discuss critical factors every IT decision maker needs to know when upgrading to NetWeaver, to ensure system performance and availability, and to balance cost with the risks of downtime, delays and budget-busting bad decisions. We will examine techniques that have been used in the past and examine the emerging best practice of Predictive IT Management.