Building a SuccessFactors CoE Without Building a Large Internal Team

A SuccessFactors Centre of Excellence needs to perform six core functions: governance, roadmap management, release management, enhancement delivery, support and knowledge management. Not all of these require internal employees. A hybrid CoE — a small internal core of one to three people providing organisational knowledge and governance, supported by external specialist capacity for delivery and deep technical expertise — is often faster to establish, more cost-effective and more resilient than a fully internal team.

The idea of a SuccessFactors Centre of Excellence — a dedicated team responsible for the platform's governance, development and continuous improvement — is well established. But the traditional model, which involves building a substantial internal team, is out of reach for many organisations.

The good news is that the traditional model isn't the only one that works.

What a SuccessFactors CoE actually needs to do

Before designing a CoE, it's worth being clear about what it needs to do. The core functions of a SuccessFactors CoE are:

• Governance — setting and enforcing standards for configuration, data and process
• Roadmap management — planning and prioritising the evolution of the platform
• Release management — assessing, testing and communicating SAP releases
• Enhancement delivery — delivering improvements to the platform on a regular cadence
• Support — providing a route for users and administrators to get help
• Knowledge management — maintaining documentation and institutional knowledge

Not all of these functions require the same skills. And not all of them need to be performed by internal employees.

Why a hybrid CoE often outperforms a fully internal team

A hybrid CoE combines a small internal core with external specialist capacity. The internal core — typically one to three people — provides organisational knowledge, governance and continuity. The external capacity provides specialist expertise, delivery capability and scalability.

This model has several advantages over a fully internal team:

• It is faster to establish — you don't need to hire and develop a full team before the CoE can function
• It is more cost-effective — you pay for specialist expertise when you need it, not as a fixed overhead
• It provides access to a broader range of skills — a single internal team can rarely cover the full breadth of SuccessFactors expertise
• It is more resilient — if a key internal person leaves, the external partner provides continuity

What the internal core of a hybrid CoE should own

The internal core of a hybrid CoE needs to perform specific functions that external resources cannot easily replicate:

• Owning the relationship with the business — understanding requirements, managing stakeholders and translating business needs into technical requirements
• Maintaining organisational knowledge — understanding the history of configuration decisions and the reasons behind them
• Governing the platform — setting standards and ensuring they are followed
• Managing the external relationship — directing and quality-assuring the work of external partners

These functions require people who understand both the business and the technology. They don't require deep technical expertise in every SuccessFactors module.

What the external component should provide

The external component of a hybrid CoE should provide the specialist expertise and delivery capacity that the internal core cannot. This includes:

• Deep technical expertise in specific modules
• Integration design and development
• Enhancement delivery
• Release management support
• Specialist support for complex issues

The external component should feel like an extension of the internal team, not a separate vendor. That requires a relationship model that supports collaboration, knowledge transfer and genuine partnership. Explore Nocko's managed services model or read about the specialist SuccessFactors consultants that typically form the external component of a hybrid CoE.

Making the hybrid CoE work in practice

The hybrid CoE model works best when the boundaries between internal and external are clear, the governance model is well designed and the relationship between the two is genuinely collaborative.

It requires investment to establish — in defining the model, selecting the right partner and building the working relationship. But the organisations that get it right find that it delivers better outcomes than either a fully internal or fully external model.