The discovery phase is the cornerstone of any successful SAP Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ) implementation. This phase sets the tone, pace, and scope of the entire project. A well-prepared Discovery enables faster decision-making, clearer solution design, and ultimately, better business outcomes. But without sufficient preparation, Discovery can become a cycle of rework and delays.

So, what exactly needs to be in place before Discovery begins? In this article, we outline the core areas your team should be ready to discuss, document, and align on to ensure a productive start to your SAP CPQ journey, including:

• A Clear Business Case
• Stakeholder Alignment
• Documentation of Current-State Processes
• Integration Landscape
• Organizational Readiness

A Clear Business Case

Before you dive into system requirements or configurations, it’s critical to step back and clarify why you're considering SAP CPQ in the first place. Discovery is about more than just documenting current processes—it’s about making sure your quoting solution supports your strategic goals. Without a clearly defined business case, it's easy to lose sight of the "why" behind the implementation.

What to prepare:

• Pain points in current-state processes: Identify specific challenges like long quote approval cycles, pricing inconsistencies, high quote error rates, or reliance on spreadsheets. These issues become critical drivers during solution design.
  
  
• Business objectives: Outline measurable goals such as reducing quote turnaround time by 50%, improving margin control, or increasing sales rep adoption. These KPIs can help prioritize features and set benchmarks for success.
  
  
• Executive alignment: A business case grounded in leadership goals, such as increasing revenue, improving customer experience, or supporting new product launches, helps ensure alignment across departments during Discovery and implementation.
  
  

Documenting these items beforehand allows your SI partner to tailor the Discovery approach to focus on the right areas from day one.

Stakeholder Alignment

SAP CPQ projects affect multiple departments—from sales to product management to IT—and Discovery requires input from each of them. Without active and aligned stakeholders, the Discovery process can stall due to a lack of clarity or conflicting priorities. Early involvement builds buy-in and results in better solution design.

Who should be involved:

• Sales leadership: Provides insight into user needs, approval workflows, and pain points in current quoting tools.
  
  
• Product and pricing teams: Offers knowledge on product complexity, bundling logic, discount strategies, and pricing maintenance.
  
  
• IT or enterprise architects: Contributes system integration knowledge, architecture constraints, and long-term scalability considerations.
  
  
• Operations and support teams: Shares experience with order fulfillment, contract management, and post-sale process alignment.
  
  

Make sure these stakeholders are briefed on the purpose of Discovery and committed to participating in workshops and decision-making. This upfront collaboration lays the groundwork for faster consensus later in the project.

 Documentation of Current-State Processes

To build a future-state solution, we need to understand your current state. While Discovery includes collaborative workshops to unpack this, having documentation and examples ready beforehand accelerates the process and leads to more accurate recommendations.

What to bring:

• Process maps or flowcharts: If available, visual documentation of how quotes move through your business—who generates them, who approves them, and how they convert to orders—is extremely helpful.
  
  
• Quote templates and examples: Real-world samples of current quotes and proposals help illustrate the level of complexity, branding, and customization required.
  
  
• Tool inventory: A list of quoting tools (Excel, CRM quote modules, homegrown systems) and how they are used helps contextualize both limitations and dependencies.
  
  
• Approval workflows: A high-level description of who approves discounts or custom deals, how exceptions are handled, and where bottlenecks occur.
  
  

Even if formal documentation is limited, verbal walkthroughs and anecdotal knowledge from key users provide valuable input during workshops.

Product and Pricing Complexity Overview

One of SAP CPQ’s strengths is its ability to support complex configuration logic, pricing models, and approval workflows. But these capabilities only shine when your product and pricing structure is well understood upfront. Discovery is the time to untangle this complexity and define how the system needs to behave.

What to prepare:

• Product catalog and structure: A list of products, services, bundles, or solutions—ideally with any existing categorization or hierarchy—helps your SI partner understand configuration needs.
  
  
• Configuration rules: If certain products can only be sold together or certain attributes must be selected in sequence, this logic should be captured early.
  
  
• Pricing logic: Bring documentation or examples of how base prices are set, how discounts are applied (manual vs. rule-based), and what variables affect pricing (volume, region, customer tier, etc.).
  
  
• Channel or geography-specific needs: Note any variations in configuration, pricing, or approvals based on customer type, region, or sales channel.
  
  

Mapping this information allows Discovery to pinpoint where out-of-the-box capabilities will suffice and where customization might be needed.

Integration Landscape

SAP CPQ is most powerful when integrated with your CRM, ERP, and other sales or finance tools. Understanding your broader system landscape during Discovery helps ensure that SAP CPQ doesn’t become a silo—and that it can act as a seamless part of your quote-to-cash process.

What to prepare:

• System inventory: Identify the tools SAP CPQ needs to connect to, such as Salesforce, SAP S/4HANA, SAP Variant Configuration, or legacy ERPs.
  
  
• Integration points: Share where data needs to flow (e.g., pulling product availability from ERP, pushing final quotes to CRM, syncing with contract tools).
  
  
• API or middleware use: Note any middleware platforms (like SAP BTP, MuleSoft, or Boomi) used for integrations today.
  
  
• Known bottlenecks: Be upfront about system limitations or historical challenges that might impact integration feasibility.
  
  

This helps the Discovery team assess integration complexity, security requirements, and project phasing.

Organizational Readiness

Even the best software solution won’t succeed if your organization isn’t ready to adopt it. Discovery should uncover not only technical fit but also cultural and operational readiness for change. Being honest about your internal capacity helps shape a realistic rollout plan.

What to consider:

• Internal resource availability: Identify who will be available to support the project internally—project managers, SMEs, testers, etc.—and any bandwidth limitations.
  
  
• Training and enablement: Consider what resources and approach will be needed to drive adoption, such as user training, admin enablement, and documentation.
  
  
• Timeline and dependencies: Be transparent about any hard deadlines (contract sunsets, fiscal planning windows, major releases) that could impact implementation timing.
  
  
• Change management: Prepare to discuss how organizational change is typically managed—successes, struggles, and support systems in place.
  
  

This information allows Canidium to right-size the project plan and tailor support to your team's needs and maturity level.

Discovery Is the Foundation

At Canidium, we approach Discovery not as a box-checking exercise but as a foundational alignment between business needs, technical capabilities, and long-term goals. When clients come prepared with the information outlined above, we’re able to accelerate value realization and de-risk implementation.

Functionally, Discovery is where the blueprint for your SAP CPQ system is created. It’s the phase where we validate business requirements, determine how existing processes will map into SAP CPQ’s functionality, and identify potential gaps or customization needs. Decisions made during Discovery affect system configuration, integration design, and user interface. Without a thorough Discovery, you risk building a solution that doesn’t align with how your business sells—or worse, implementing features you don’t need while overlooking critical capabilities.

If you're considering SAP CPQ and wondering if you're ready for Discovery, we can help assess your preparedness and even guide your team through a pre-Discovery readiness workshop. The earlier you're aligned, the better your outcomes will be.