Overview:-
SAP implementation is the whole of processes that defines a complete method to implement the SAP ERP enterprise resource planning software in an organization.
The SAP implementation method described in this entry is a generic
method and not a specific implementation method as such. It is based on
best practices and case studies
from various literature sources and presents a collection of processes
and products that make up a complete implementation method to allow any
organization to plan and execute the implementation of SAP software.
The implementation of SAP software, such as SAP R/3
is almost always a massive operation that brings a lot of changes in
the organization. The whole process can take up to several months to years.
Virtually every person in the organization is involved, whether they are
part of the SAP technical support organization (TSO) or the actual end-users
of the SAP software. The resulting changes that the implementation of
SAP generates are intended to reach high level goals, such as improved communication and increased return on information. It is therefore very
important that the implementation process is planned and executed with
the usage of a solid method. There are various SAP implementation
methods. Designing IT architecture is very critical in SAP implementation
practices.
Various Terms Used in SAP Implementation:-
CHANGE MANAGEMENT:- Activities involved in-
(1) defining and installing new values, attitudes, norms, and behaviors within an organization that support new ways of doing work and overcome resistance to change.
(2) building consensus among customers and stakeholders on specific changes designed to better meet their needs.
(3) planning, testing, and implementing all aspects of the transition from one organizational structure or business process to another.
CHANGE MANAGEMENT DOCUMENTATION:- All documentation that is required and being delivered whilst performing change management, e.g. the functional test cases and all the other documents a new end-user of SAP requires and the various tools and approaches used to manage change by the TSO.
COST OF OWNERSHIP ANALYSIS:- Determination of where and when the costs are inquired within the context of the SAP solution stack and ongoing operations. The analysis addresses all internal and external costs, both one-time as well as recurring
CUTOVER:- The process of transitioning from one system to a new one.
DATA CENTER:- A data center is a facility used for housing a large amount of electronic equipment, typically computers and communications equipment as well as for data storage.
DATA CENTER REQUIREMENT:- A requirement for the SAP data center, i.e. a physical requirement like power requirements, a rack requirement, a network infrastructure requirement or a requirement to the network server.
DISASTER RECOVERY (DR) REQUIREMENT:- Requirement that focuses on downtime that lasts many hours to days or even weeks.
FUNCTIONAL TEST CASE:- A set of conditions or variables under which a tester will determine if a certain business process works or not.
HIGH AVAILABILITY (HA) REQUIREMENT:- Requirements that describes the amount of time that the system needs to be available to satisfy the needs of the users.
INSTALLATION DOCUMENTATION:- All documentation related to the installation of an end-to-end SAP solution.
OPERATIONS MANUAL:- The collection of current state system documentation, day-to-day and other regularly scheduled operations tasks, various installation and operations checklists and how-to process documents.
SAP:- SAP AG is the name of the biggest European software company. The head office is in Walldorf, Germany. SAP was founded in 1972 as Systemanalyse and Programmentwicklung ("Systems Analysis and Product") by five former IBM employees in Mannheim, Germany.
SAP IMPLEMENTATION PROJECT PLAN:- A comprehensive project plan that contains all products that are delivered whilst performing an SAP implementation project.
SOLUTION STACK:- Set of software subsystems or components needed to deliver a fully functional solution, e.g. a product or service.
SOLUTION STACK PARTNERS LIST:- A list of all vendors that deliver the products that make up the SAP solution stack.
SOLUTION VISION:- A vision of the future-state of the SAP solution.
STRESS TEST PLAN:- A test plan that is focused at determining the stability of a given system or entity. It involves testing beyond normal operational capacity, often to a breaking point, in order to observe the results.
TEST PLAN:- A detail of how the test will proceed, who will do the testing, what will be tested, in how much time the test will take place, and to what quality level the test will be performed.
TRAINING:- The acquisition of knowledge, skills, and attitudes as a result of the teaching of vocational or practical skills and knowledge that relates to specific useful skills.
TRAINING PLAN:- Consisting of training units, a training plan is the result of hierarchical decompositions of a training goal, tailored according to the learning preferences and prior knowledge of the trainee. A plan is the means by which the trainee satisfies the goal.
TSO:- Technical Support Organization. The people that are committed to implementation and management of SAP.
TSO CHART:- A chart that depicts the structure of the TSO.
Critical success factors
In order to successfully implement SAP in an organization, there are several things that are of great importance:
2) SAP R/3 implementation is not an IT project: It is an Organization Project impacting all levels of a company. So it is very important to get the support from all the people that are involved in implementing SAP, but more important the participation and commitment of all levels, specially managers, of the company.
3) The Blueprint is the keystone: Used as the lighthouse who must guide the whole project. A blueprint should never be a merely mapping of IT systems. In fact a blueprint is bringing the strategy of a company into execution through defining its processes across all business areas. Many projects have failed because the focus was on having people with SAP knowledge, but with no business skills and so defining something that works...wrongly.
4) Always consider changing the way things have been done before implementing SAP: "This has always been done like this and the Consultant should replicate it on SAP" is the start of a big problem. SAP many times could save you time and money as it allows your organization to automate many processes.
5) Test the SAP hardware and software rigorously by testing your business processes, and to ensure that the end-users are ready to use SAP before going live, because there are many known projects that failed because of a lack of support and SAP knowledge.
6) Design and execute a Change Management Program by communicating as early as needed all the information that end users should have to accept the new technology and designing and executing a training plan in order to reassure a knowledge base within the organizations.
Types of SAP Projects:
The project types delivered with the
SAP Solution Manager allow you to differentiate between different types of
projects. You can use the SAP Solution Manager to create the following
projects:
1. Implementation Project
Project to implement
business processes in an SAP landscape.
Create a project structure from the
business processes. You can either create a new project structure, or base it
on one of the following:
...
○
One or more user or partner
templates
○
An existing project
○
Scenarios
and configuration structures delivered by SAP
○
An existing production solution
landscape
2. Template Project
A project to create a template.
A template makes your
project structure, or parts of it, with its assigned objects (documentation,
test cases, IMG activities), available to other projects.
You can lock templates, completely or
partially, against changes when they are used in other projects. To use
templates in other systems, transport them.
Template projects are especially
suited to SAP partner solutions or global rollout.
3. Upgrade Project
A project to upgrade existing
systems.
In an upgrade project you
can:
○
Upgrade
customizing: Upgrade existing functions
○
and/or
○
Delta customizing: Copy additional
functions
4. Optimization project
A project to optimize the flow of
business processes, or the use of a software solution.
You can use optimization projects,
for example, in SAP Services.
5. Safeguarding project
A project to resolve a critical
situation in the implementation or use of an SAP solution.
Safeguarding projects show the
reasons for a critical situation and coordinate the steps required to resolve
the problems.
6. Maintenance project
A project to maintain a
solution
...
○
in Change
Request Management. The project contains all maintenance activities and
urgent corrections of a solution.
○
in Check-In/Check-Out
Business Processes from the Solution Directory
7. Support Project
Customer has already installed SAP & wants to give the work of maintaining those systems. This is support project. There are no phases in it. Just receive the tickets, solve and send back to client.8. Rollouts
Customer has upgraded his version & wants to rollout country specific changes.This is rollout project
9. Development project
New Project from Scratch
10. Enhancement project
Customer Needs More
Implemenattion Phases:
1. Project and Program Management (Project Preparation)In this phase you plan your project and lay the foundations for successful implementation. It is at this stage that you make the strategic decisions crucial to your project:
- Define your project goals and objectives
- Clarify the scope of your implementation
- Define your project schedule, budget plan, and implementation sequence
- Establish the project organization and relevant committees and assign resources
• Global rollout planning
• Detailed implementation planning to task level
• Resource planning (including multinational projects)
• Risk management and troubleshooting
• Mentoring
• Quality assurance reviews
• Data conversion, interface and reporting strategies
In this phase you create a blueprint using the
Question & Answer database (Q&Adb),
which documents your enterprise’s requirements and establishes how your
business processes and organizational structure are to be represented
in the SAP System. You also refine the original project goals and
objectives and revise the overall project schedule in this phase.
Activities:-
• Documentation of current business practices
• Process redesign to incorporate SAP best practice
• Design of client specific solutions using prototyping techniques
In this phase, you configure the requirements contained in the Business Blueprint. Baseline configuration (major scope) is followed by final configuration (remaining scope), which can consist of up to four cycles. Other key focal areas of this phase are conducting integration tests and drawing up end user documentation.
Activities:-
• System configuration
• Report specification and build
• Interface specification and build
• Conversion specification and build
• Enhancement specification and build
• Quality assurance testing
In this phase you complete your preparations, including testing, end user training, system management, and cutover activities. You also need to resolve all open issues in this phase. At this stage you need to ensure that all the prerequisites for your system to go live have been fulfilled.
Activities:-
• Technical and performance testing
• Conversion strategy and program development
• End user training preparation and delivery
• Final cutover and transition planning and execution
• Help desk support planning
In this phase you move from a pre-production environment to the live system. The most important elements include setting up production support, monitoring system transactions, and optimizing overall system performance.
• Validate live business processes
• On going production support
• Post go-live end user training
These phases are the main milestones for your SAP System implementation project.
Each phase has:
- Work packages, which consist of activities, for which project teams are responsible.
- Activities, which consist of tasks, which are processed by one or more team members.
- Tasks, which are carried out by a project team member. You can also access the How-to sections and accelerators at this level.
(These phases are discussed in details in next posts)
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