SAP Activate methodology The SAP Activate methodology is SAP’s content rich, agile methodology for the implementation and/or upgrade of SAP solutions across industries and customer environments. Built on our experience from tens of thousands of SAP projects, SAP Activate ethodology provides pre!"uilt implementation content, accelerators, tools, and "est practices that help consultants to deliver consistent and successful results across industries and customer environments. The SAP Activate ethodology can "e run for distinct projects or as a component #ithin the SAP Premium $ngagement. The phases of SAP Activate provide support throughout the project life cycle of SAP solutions. %nderlying these phases is a series of value delivery and &uality chec's to ma'e sure that the solution, as implemented, delivers the expected value. The diagram "elo# illustrates the phases of SAP Activate ethodology. The SAP Implementation Methodology
Build Smart, Run Simple SAP implementations and upgrades re&uire a disciplined approach to project management. The SAP Activate methodology aligns #ith "est practices recommended "y the Project anagement (nstitute )P(*+, ma'ing it possi"le to minimie ris', streamline and accelerate the implementation project, and reduce the total cost of implementation or upgrade. SAP Activate methodology incorporates a standardied #or' "rea'do#n structure that helps project managers to define and manage project #or' in a delivera"le!oriented, outcome focused manner. (t is structured around these 'ey project #or' streams• • • • •
Project management Solution esign Solution onfiguration onfiguration Solution 0al'through (ntegration Preparation
++ This includes the Project anagement (nstitute’s A Guide Guide to the Project Project Management Management Body Body of Knowledge. Knowledge .
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ustomer Team $na"lement ata igration (ntegration Setup Solution Testing Solution Adoption Support 1eadiness System anagement ustom $xtensions anagement utover anagement
uring each methodology phase, the project team produces prescri"ed set of delivera"les that serve as inputs to su"se&uent phases. SAP Activate methodology provides example of 'ey project delivera"les, including procedure description explaining ho# to prepare and complete the delivera"le. SAP Activate methodology also provides accelerators for each phase and #or' stream. These include templates, &uestionnaires, chec'lists, guide"oo's, and other tools that facilitate the efficient, consistent, and repeata"le delivery of SAP implementations and upgrades.
Stay in Step with Updates in Solution Technology SAP continually invests in updates to the SAP Activate methodology. These updates help us 'eep in step #ith developments in solution technologies, providing the tools needed to get the soft#are up and running &uic'ly, and to 'eep it operating at pea' levels. SAP has enhanced the most recent version of SAP Activate methodology to• •
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2elp customers integrate their "usiness processes and o"jectives #ith their (T solution 1educe total cost of implementation "y starting implementation #ith SAP Best Practices or SAP 1apid eployment Solutions. Accelerate solution design through pre!assem"ly of the project environment in the SAP 2A3A $nterprise loud environment. Provide "est practices for "usiness process management )BP* including streamlined solution validation and solution design.
Promote the Delivery o !alue throughout the Solution "ie #ycle SAP customers invest in SAP #ith the expectation that it can deliver value to their "usiness. 2o#ever, #ithout proper scrutiny, implementation or upgrade projects can lose their focus on delivering "usiness value. SAP understands this and has enhanced the SAP Activate methodology to maintain the transparency of value delivery throughout the life cycle of the SAP solution. The methodology defines a consistent process that 'eeps the focus on value delivery in every phase of the project. At a high level, this process• • • •
(dentifies and &uantifies "usiness value o"jectives $sta"lishes project trac'ing, and reporting mechanisms for value delivery Trac's and reports the effectiveness of value delivery in the project ontinues to trac' and report value delivery throughout the solution’s life cycle
The value delivery process 'eeps the project focused on delivering a solution that adds value to the "usiness and helps SAP’s customers to achieve their "usiness o"jectives.
Prepare The purpose of this phase is to provide the initial planning and preparation for the project. (n this phase the project is started, plans are finalied, project team is assigned, and #or' is under #ay to start the project optimally.
4ey Prepare Activities
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efine project goals, a high!level scope, and a project plan (dentify and &uantify "usiness value o"jectives Secure executive sponsorship $sta"lish project standards, organiation and governance efine and secure approval for the implementation/upgrade strategy efine roles and responsi"ilities for the project team 5alidate the project o"jectives $sta"lish project management, trac'ing, and reporting mechanisms for value delivery evelop a project team training strategy, and start project team training ocument all initiation activities in the project charter Pre!assem"le )or esta"lish* the project environment, infrastructure, and (T systems including
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SAP Solution anager Prepare for the $xplore phase
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Typical delivera$les and milestones or the Prepare phase Deliverables • • • • •
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Typical Milestones and key decisions
etailed project scope document ost and "enefit validation Project organiation and governance (mplementation plan and rollout strategy Project schedule, "udget and management plans Project standards and policies, including (++ Solution adoption approach including organiational change management roadmap and training strategy 6n!"oarding of project team Project infrastructure Technical infrastructure re&uirements and siing ata migration approach and strategy Pre!assem"led development infrastructure
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Project scope defined Project team staffed and trained Project team organiation, responsi"ilities, and location esta"lished 1ollout plan mandates and constraints defined Policies for to "e organiation defined System retirement o"jectives, mandates, and constraints defined evelopment environment including pre! assem"ly esta"lished Training "udget and approach agreed 4ey sta'eholders for communications identified (mplementation plan defined
%&plore The purpose of this phase is to perform a fit/gap analysis to validate the solution functionality included in the project scope and to confirm that the "usiness re&uirements can "e satisfied. (dentified gaps and configuration values are added to the "ac'log for use in the next phase.
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Prepare, setup and conduct solution validation #or'shops 1efine "usiness re&uirements
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(dentify master data and organiational re&uirements onfirm to "e "usiness processes efine functional solution design, including a gap analysis in solution design #or'shops Associate "usiness re&uirements to the process hierarchy and the solution components 6"tain "usiness sign!off on delta re&uirements and design documents ollect end user information, analying learning needs, and developing a learning deployment strategy $sta"lish project management, trac'ing, and reporting for value delivery
(n the $xplore phase, industry and solution experts from SAP lead a series of structured sho#!and! tell and solution design #or'shops. The goal of these #or'shops is to revie# the "est practice functionality of the SAP solution, identify delta re&uirements or gaps and document the conceptual design of the to!"e delivered SAP enterprise solution. The team documents all functional and technical re&uirements, project issues, and gaps in SAP Solution anager. Typical delivera$les and milestones or the %&plore phase Deliverables
Typical Milestones and key decisions
Baseline system ready for Solution 5alidation #or'shops Solution 5alidation #or'shops, including 7ap 5alidation service++ ocumented design, includingProject plan update Process definition document Process flo#s Solution design documents 8unctional specifications in SAP Solution anager, "ased on SAP standards Prioritied and estimated Bac'log document #ith re&uirements and solution gaps hange impact analysis and communication plan 9egacy data migration design and plan Technology design and setup Test strategy and plan (nventory of gaps including interfaces and conversions 1elease and sprint plan including confirmation of go!live date 9earning needs analysis and deployment strategy •
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Solution prototype "aseline system for Solution 5alidation #or'shops ready Solution #al'!throughs completed ompleted "usiness process design ompleted functional gap analysis apping of process to solution completed efined (T landscape and technology design 6rganiational hange anagement ommunications plan defined Project team trained Phase &uality assessment conducted
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Reali'e The purpose of this phase is to use a series of iterations to incrementally "uild and test an integrated "usiness and system environment that is "ased on the "usiness scenarios and process re&uirements identified in the previous phase. uring this phase, data is loaded, adoption activates occur, and operations are planned.
1ealie Activities •
$sta"lish the solution landscape
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(mplement the solution in the development environment using incremental "uild in time!"oxed iterations onduct overall end!to!end testing of the solution #ithin the :A environment Setup production environment Prepare for data migration and data archiving onduct performance testing onduct project team and 'ey user training 8inalie end user training materials and documentation Trac' and report on value delivery
uring 1ealie phase, the project team uses a series of iterations to incrementally configure, test, confirm, and document the entire end!to!end solution and to create legacy data conversion programs. The project team actively #or's #ith "usiness representatives to ensure good fit of the "uilt solution to the re&uirements from the "ac'log. Project team releases results of multiple iterations to the "usiness users to accelerate time to value and provide early access to finalied functionality. $ach release is thoroughly tested in end!to! end integration test and user acceptance test. The project team documents the configuration decisions and solution in the SAP Solution anager tool. They also document all development ; including interfaces, integration points, data conversion programs, reports, and any re&uired enhancements ; in SAP Solution anager. 6nce these activities are complete for particular release and the team has o"tained "usiness approval, they ma'e the release availa"le in the production environment. Typical delivera$les and milestones or the Reali'e phase Deliverables • •
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Typical Milestones and key decisions
6rganiation alignment and user ena"lement Technology setup for &uality and production environment including security and authoriations Solution configuration and tests Business process procedures evelopment/testing of enhancements and extensions li'e interfaces, forms, #or'flo#s, conversions, or reports $valuation and enhancement of security/controls Technical :uality Assurance (ntegration 5alidation++ Preparation/delivery of train!the!trainer course $nd user training system environment ata migration conducted %ser acceptance test Technical operations setup plan, including 6++ utover and transition plan
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Solution onfiguration completed in each iteration Business users revie#ed and accepted functionality (ntegration testing of a release complete ata igration testing conducted Project team and 'ey users trained $nd user system infrastructure ready %ser acceptance testing completed Technical testing completed )including performance, load, high!availa"ility* Phase &uality assessment conducted 1eadiness for production release confirmed
Deploy The purpose of this phase is to setup the production system, confirm customer organiation readiness, and to s#itch "usiness operations to the ne# system.
%pon initiating eploy phase, the project team has already confirmed )through integration testing in the 1ealie phase* that all systems are functioning correctly and there are no remaining integration issues to resolve. Thus the team prepares for transition to productive "usiness operations in the ne# environment, s#itches on the ne# solution and conducts the solution adoption and post go!live support activities.
eploy Activities •
8inalie the solution and its supporting tools and processes for production go!live1esolve all crucial open issues onduct system tests hec' that system management is in place Proceed #ith cut!over activities, including data migration
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$xecute transition and cutover plans including organiational change management )6* plans omplete all scheduled end user training (dentify and document all issues encountered in the transition to the ne# solution onitor "usiness process results and the production environment $sta"lish 6++ or a
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Trac' and report on value delivery
Typical delivera$les and milestones or the Deploy phase Deliverables • • • •
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6rganiational and production readiness chec' Pre go!live user training delivery Technical and system testing, as necessary Setup operational support organiation, including 6++ utover to production including utover plan update utover simulations ata migration %ser (s and profiles created 2elp des' and technical support operational 6perational and live production system environment Post 7o!9ive support provided, including training Project closing including lessons learned
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ata conversion completed $nd user training completed Production environment fully set up Support organiation esta"lished 6rganiation readiness for transition confirmed 7o/no!go decision secured 7o!live activities conducted Post production support via
Run The 1un phase 'eeps the system availa"le and performing at the high levels re&uired to support "usiness operations. uring the system implementation, the project team put in place an initial set of SAP operation standards. 3o# in the 1un phase, the live system is assessed to identify opportunities to further optimie the system "y applying additional standards.
1un Activities • • • • •
1un the implemented SAP solution Assess operation standards to optimie solution operation Set the standards for tool use Transition the optimied system to production ontinue value trac'ing and reporting
Typical delivera$les and milestones or the Run phase Deliverables •
An assessment of standards for optimiing solution operation, includingScope A project schedule for implementing 8or each relevant operation standard A design of processes, organiation and roles, and a "lueprint for tool use Setup of processes, tools, organiation, and roles Transition into production Training and rollout −
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(dentification of operation standards for optimiing solution operation conducted esign, setup and operation of SAP operations standards completed Tool implementation )primarily SAP Solution anager scenarios for operation* completed
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++ elivera"les, milestones and activities are only applica"le in SAP Premium $ngagements.
