Managing SAP BW Projects Part-1

*What Well Cover (part 1)Writing the BW business case Defining the scopeWriting the milestone planTimelines and staffing planBudgetingOn-boarding and trainingWriting the workplanMonitoring progressMonitoring BW quality and a formal approval processThe BW user acceptance group and its roleWrap-up

*What Well Cover (in part 2)The blueprinting phaseLeveraging the standard contentModeling for your solutionDeliverablesThe realization phaseBest practices for managing the implementation of ODS and InfoCubesManaging the environments and transportsManaging unit, system, integration & stress testing of BW The implementation phaseExecuting the cut-over to productionConducting end-user and power user trainingEstablishing the end-user support organizationPost-implementation review and next steps

*Writing the Business Case

Money

Strategy

Reducing time and effort of delivery

Improved information quality and access for end usersThe business case must be aligned with some concrete business benefits.

The best way to write a business case is to align it with one of these areas:

*Summary of Business Benefits of BW (1 of 3)


AreaObservationBW BenefitFaster DeploymentNeed to increase time to delivery of new applications and enhancements to existing areasUse of 60-80% of pre-delivered content increased development speedReduced development time for new decision support areasIntegrated ProductsSAP is offering a variety of new products and modules that the organization might want to leverage in the futureBW is the corner stone in SAPs New Dimension product offeringsEnables closer integration with other SAP modulesQuery speedBusiness users need data fastThrough use of summaries, BWs architecture lends itself to faster query performance Users get faster access to information


AreaObservationBW BenefitSAP StrategyIt is the organizations SAP strategy to leverage investments in the SAP to the fullest extent.BW is a SAP product that fits the organizations strategy. We can also leverage the organizations Basis and ABAP people in BW projects.Strategic fit and synergy with SAP.Tool StandardizationThe organization must be able to leverage industry standards to enable business users to access data in a variety of ways Microsofts ODBO application interface and Java (BW 3.5) are supported by a variety of major presentation and web tools.Simplifies user access to data and provides higher flexibility to leverage presentation and web tools as well as making own tools.Industry TrendThe organizations competitors and some of the organizations business areas are installing BW Increased industry resource pool and knowledge of BWEnables the organization to leverage industry solutions and know-how.

*Defining the ScopeFirst determine what the business drivers were and make sure you meet these objectives.

Define the scope in terms of what is included, as well as what is not included.

Make sure you obtain approval of the scope before you progress any further. All your work from now on will be driven based on what is agreed to at this stage.

As part of the written scope agreement, make sure you implement a formal change request process. This typically includes a benefit-cost estimate for each change request and a formal approval process. Change management is done to manage scope, timelines and competing business requirements.

*Defining the Scope (cont.)For the first go-live, keep the scope as small as possible, i.e. Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, G/L or COPA

You have only 3 dimensions to work with:If one of these dimensions changes, you have to adjust at least one of the othersTimeScopeResources(people, technology and money)

*Prioritizing the Scope (Example)Plan multiple implementations and write a long-term outline that may change (using a formal change request process).

*Use milestone plan to illustrate dependencies and high-level tasks:Post this plan on the walls in the hallways, don't hide it in the PM's office!!!

Keep it under 30 items!!Writing the Milestone Plan

*Developer training should start early for all project team membersSAP R/3 skills are not easily transferable to BW; hands-on experience is needed (it is very hard to learn while being productive)The quality of the team members is much more important than the number of members. A skilled BW developer can accomplish in one day what 3 novice developers can do in a week (the tool has a steep learning curve).Project time and cost estimates should be based on teams experience levelPlan on formal knowledge-transfer from external resources from day one. Link inexperienced members with experienced onesHave identified go-to resources available in all areas (make a list)Timelines and Staffing Plan: Lessons Learned(we will take a second look at this when we do the budgeting!)

*Example: Small BW Project for Single Subject Area (e.g. Billing, Inventory or Accounts Payable).4-5 team members and normally 3-6 months duration depending on scopeBasis and functional R/3 supportThese are roles, not positions. (Sometimes one team member can fill more than one role.)

*Example: Mid-sized BW Project for Single Complex Subject Area (e.g. Cost and Profitability, Internal Billing).8-10 team members and normally 2-4 months duration depending on scopeThese are roles, not positions. (Sometimes one team member can fill more than one role.)

*Example: Large BW Project for Multiple Subject Areas (e.g. Sales, Finance and Material Management)15-25 team members and normally 6-18 months duration depending on scopeThese are roles, not positions. (Sometimes one team member can fill more than one role.)

*Budgeting Process StepsCreate the milestone plan and the scope statement first, before attacking the budgeting process!!

Start the budgeting process by estimating the workload in terms of the development effort.Size the BW effort based on the scope Prioritize the effortMap the effort to the delivery schedulePlan for number of resources needed based on the scope, delivery schedule and the effort.We will now look at an example how this process works in the real world

*1. Size the BW Effort Based on the Scope (Real Example)Remember that your sizing also has to be based on the teams experience and skill level.

*2. Prioritize the EffortThe next step is to prioritize and outline the effort on a strategic timelineMake sure your sponsor and the business community agree with your delivery schedule

*3. Use Project Estimates & the Timeline to Create Project Load PlanThere are 480 available work hours per project member per quarter. Knowing this, we can plan the number of team members we need

*4. Result: Good Input for the Staffing Costs and PlanningMany companies plan a 60%- 40% mix of internal and external resources for a first go-live. Also, most use $50-$90 per hr for internal budgeting and $90-$170 per hr for external resources.Use this information to plan for training, on-boarding and staffingThis spike in resource needs is due to an overlap in the delivery schedule

Now might be a good time to review that decision

*On-Boarding and TrainingDont underestimate the value of in-house, hands-on training in addition to formal SAP training classes.

*The Workplan

Write a detailed workplan that references the methodology.

Make sure the workplan is detailed enough to be able to track project progress.

Progress can be measured by hours used, vs. % of tasks completed.400 to 1000 line-item workplans are not unusual for mid-size and large BW implementationsWriting the Workplan

*Writing the Workplan (High-Level Example, pg. 1)

*Writing the Workplan (High-Level Example, pg. 2)

*Monitoring ProgressManage the workplan from a percent complete standpoint on a weekly basisCreate weekly status reports with core progress metrics and send to all team members (keep it high-level and tangible)Require monthly status reports from all team members in a fixed formatKeep a close eye on the deadlines for the deliverables and make to follow-up personally on late tasks

BW is a complex environment that has many dependencies. Late tasks can have significant impacts on the overall project.

*Monitoring BW Quality and Formal Approval Process: ExampleCreate Functional specsPeer ReviewComplete?Complete?Create Technical specsPeer ReviewComplete?Complete?Structured walkthroughApproved?ConfigurationUnit TestingIntegration TestingSystem TestingStructured walkthroughApproved?NoNoNoNoNoYesYesYesYesYesYesNo

*Create a user acceptance team with a total of 5-7 members from the various business departments or organizations. Keep the number odd to assist with votes when decisions are made. With fewer than 5 members it can be hard to get enough members present during a certain meeting timeMake them the focus of the requirements gathering in the early phase and later let this team become the user acceptance team (testing) in the realization phaseMeet with the team at least once a month during realization to refine requirements as you are building and have something to show the teamThis approach is hard to execute when also managing scope, but is essential to make sure the system meets the requirementsThe User Acceptance Group and Its Role

*7 Key Points to Take Home Write the business case around the areas of greatest benefit to your users. Do not use a shot-gun approach but keep it focused.Define your scope in-terms of what is included and state what is not included.Establish a formal change control process that is well communicated.Plan your project based on the hours required for the effort and the project teams skill level.Establish milestone dates and map the work hours required to these dates.Establish a resource on-boarding plan.Establish a formal process for quality control and approval of deliverables

*Resources

Five Core Metrics: The Intelligence Behind Successful Software Management by Lawrence H. Putnam & Ware Myers

Waltzing With Bears: Managing Risk on Software Projects - by Tom Demarco & Timothy Lister

Mastering the SAP Business Information Warehouse by - Kevin McDonald, Andreas Wilmsmeier, David C. Dixon

*END OF PART 1. Next: How do we Deliver What we Promised?How to contact me:[email protected]

Documents

Managing SAP BW Projects Part-1