Database Reference
In-Depth Information
utilizing the optimal budget and resources. The ASAP Roadmap consists of the following phases:
project preparation, business blueprint, realization, final preparation, and go live and support:
1.
Project Preparation
: The project preparation phase deals with setting up the project organiza-
tion, including the teams, roles, and responsibilities. In this phase, the aims and objectives of
the implementation are decided. The strategy and draft project plan is prepared. The project
infrastructure, including the hardware and networking issues, is determined and finalized.
Sizing and benchmarking the envisaged installation are performed, and the acquisition of the
SAP system is initiated. The project starts officially with a kickoff meeting attended by mem-
bers of the executive and steering committees, project team members, and SAP consultants.
2.
Business Blueprint
: The business blueprint phase deals mainly with the documentation and
finalization of the requirements. The team members and consultants conduct interviews
and workshops in different activity areas to ascertain the requirements of various business
processes. The functionality provided by SAP is demonstrated using the Information and
Design Education (IDES) and is supported by questionnaires and process diagrams from
Business Engineer. Any gap in addressing functional requirements is identified, and appro-
priate solutions are explored and devised. The final outcome of this phase is the Business
Blueprint document, which details the
TO-BE
processes, including written and pictorial
representations of the company's structure and business processes. Once this has been
approved, the blueprint is the basis for all subsequent phases.
3.
Realization
: The goal of realization is to configure the baseline system using the IMG based
on the Business Blueprint document. To do so, the business processes are divided into cycles
of related business processes. The system is documented using the Business Engineer. The
baseline system prepared here is the basis for the production system. The SAP team under-
goes advanced training. The system is presented to a team of power users who also undergo
requisite training in their respective areas of operations. The baseline system is fine-tuned
by the validation done by the power users who employ an iterative approach. The techni-
cal team sets up the system administration and plans interfaces and data transfers. The
interfaces, conversion programs, enhancements, reports, end-user documentation, testing
scenarios, and user security profiles are defined and tested for effectiveness. The final deliver-
able is a fully configured and tested SAP system that meets the company's requirements.
4.
Final Preparation
: The final preparation phase is aimed at readying the system and the com-
pany for the SAP implementation. It consolidates all the activities of the previous phases.
Any exceptions and out-of-turn situations are addressed and resolved. The super users under
the supervision of the SAP team members conduct end-user training. The conversion and
interface programs are all checked, volume and stress tests are performed, and user accep-
tance tests are conducted. This is followed with the migration of data to the new system.
5.
Go Live and Support
: The go live and support phase addresses the issues of putting the
SAP system in production. The Going Live check is also performed and completed. This
involves solving issues of day-to-day operations including problems and security-related
issues reported by end users. SAP is also monitored for possible optimizations. This phase
also involves verifying that milestones like day-end processing, first-month end, first-quarter
end, and first-year end processes work correctly. It also involves completing any processes or
parameters left uncompleted or undefined by oversight. Lastly, the business benefits of the
new system are measured to monitor the return on investment (ROI) for the project, which
may trigger further iterations of the implementation cycle in order to improve the business
processes. A formal close of the implementation project is also performed.
