An A-Z guide to
planning, managing,
and executing an SAP
NetWeaver BI project
- part 1
Dr. Bjarne Berg
© 2007 Wellesley Information Services. All rights reserved.
In Part 1…
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Writing your SAP BI business case
Defining the scope of your implementation
Writing a milestone plan
Developing your staffing plan
Budgeting
On-boarding and training
Writing your workplan
Monitoring the progress of your project
Monitoring quality / instituting a formal approval process
Why you need an SAP BI “user acceptance group”
2
In Part 2…
•
The blueprinting phase



•
The realization phase



•
Leveraging the standard content
Modeling for your solution
Deliverables
Best practices for managing the implementation of ODS and
InfoCubes
Managing the environments and transports
Managing unit, system, integration & stress testing of SAP BI
The implementation phase




Executing the cut-over to production
Conducting end-user and power user training
Establishing the end-user support organization
Post-implementation review and next steps
3
What We’ll Cover…
•
•
•
•
•
•
Writing your SAP BI business case
Identifying your requirements, scope, and plan-of-attack
Staffing your project: lessons and examples
Budgeting: how much? and for how long?
Final preparations: on-boarding, writing the workplan, etc.
Wrap-up
4
Writing the Business Case
•
•
The 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:

Money

Strategy

Reducing time and effort of delivery

Improved information quality
and access for end users
5
Example Business Benefits of SAP BI
Area
Observation
SAP
BI BI
Benefit
Cost of Ownership
Maintaining a custom developed
BI solution is complex and
expensive
SAP is responsible for
maintenance of the
product
Cost Avoidance
Updating extract programs
when upgrading R/3 is
expensive
BW – R/3 integration
points are maintained
and tested by SAP
Web strategy
Web delivery requires rapid data
delivery of high consistency with
the source system
BW is closely integrated Enables web initiatives to get
with R/3, and can deliver closer to the source data,
data that reflects the
both in time and consistency
source system at short
time intervals
Reconciliation Effort
A substantial portion of the data
warehouse effort is spent on
reconciling information
BW is “closer” to the
Users spend less time on
source system, and more reconciling data, and more
accurately reflects data
time analyzing it
Information Access
Business users need a high
Availability solution
Load times in BW are
less than traditional,
custom- developed
data warehouses
Substantial maintenance
cost savings
Substantial cost savings, by
not having to redevelop new
extract programs for each
SAP upgrade
Users get earlier access to
information
6
Example Business Benefits of SAP BI (cont.)
Area
Observation
Faster Deployment
Need to increase time to
deliver new applications and
enhancements existing
areas
SAP BI
Benefit
Typical use of 60-80% Reduced development
of pre-delivered
time for new decision
content increases
support areas
development speed
Integrated Products SAP continues to offer new
products and modules that
the organization might wish
to leverage in the future
SAP BW is the
“cornerstone” of
SAP’s BI product
offerings
Enables closer
integration with other
SAP modules
Query speed
Through use of
summaries, TREX,
and the new
accelerator, SAP BI’s
architecture lends
itself to faster query
performance
Users get the data they
need quickly to perform
their job functions
Business users need fast
access to their data
7
Example Business Benefits of SAP BI (cont.)
Area
Observation
SAP BI
Benefit
SAP Strategy
It is the organization’s
SAP strategy to
leverage investments in
the SAP to the fullest
extent, and maximize
SAP resource utilization
SAP BI is a SAP product,
and is based on standard
SAP NetWeaver
technologies (Basis,
ABAP, etc.)
Strategic fit and
synergy with SAP. SAP
Basis, ABAP, etc.
resources can be used
across SAP projects,
including SAP BI
Tool
Standardization
The organization must
be able to leverage
industry standards to
enable business users
to access data in a
variety of ways
Microsoft’s ODBO
application interface and
Java (SAP BI 3.5/2004s)
are supported by a
variety of major
presentation and web
tools
Simplifies user access
to data, expands
options for using
standard presentation
and web tools, or
developing your own
Industry Trend
The organization’s
competitors and some
of the organization’s
business areas are
installing SAP BI
Increased industry
resource pool and
knowledge of SAP BI
Enables the
organization to leverage
industry solutions and
know-how
8
What We’ll Cover…
•
•
•
•
•
•
Writing your SAP BI business case
Identifying your requirements, scope, and plan-of-attack
Staffing your project: lessons and examples
Budgeting: how much? and for how long?
Final preparations: on-boarding, writing the workplan, etc.
Wrap-up
9
Identifying Your Business Requirements
•
One of the first steps is to gather the right requirements. This
is done in a variety of ways, depending on which methodology
you employ. It is a complex process involving:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Discovery and Education
Formal communication
Reviews
Final approvals
What user wanted
How customer described it
An SAP NetWeaver implementation involves
more than just black-and-white technical
decisions; just because something is
technically feasible, doesn’t mean it is wise or
desirable from a business perspective.
How analyst specified it
10
How designer implemented it
Defining The Scope Of Your SAP BI Implementation
•
First, determine what the business drivers are, 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.
Note
Change management is done to manage scope, timelines and
competing business requirements.
11
Defining The Scope Of Your SAP BI Implementation (cont.)
•
For the first go-live, keep the scope as small as possible

•
e.g., Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, G/L, or COPA
You have only 3 dimensions to work with:
Scope
Resources
(people, technology
and money)
Warning
Time
If one of these dimensions changes, you have to adjust at
least one of the others
12
Have a System Independent Target Architecture – An Example
Meta Data
Source Data
Extract
External
systems
Messaging
Internet
Transform
Data
Warehouse
Access
Managed
Query Env.
Purchasing
R/3
Legacy
Systems
Operational
Data Store
Marketing
& Sales
Data
Extraction
Transform
and
Load
Processes
Corporate
Translate
Summarize
Product Line
Summation
Location
Calculate
Attribute
Finance
Supply
OLAP
Data Subsets
by Segment
Summarized
Data
Synchronize
Reconcile
Vendor
Provided
Batch
Reporting
Data
Mining
Data Marts
Data Warehouse and Decision Support Framework
13
Prioritizing the Scope (Example)
2004
2005
2006
July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
Procurement details
& summary receipts
Contracts
Settlements
Inventory
Sales
Master Agreements
Contractor
General Ledger
A/R & Credit Mgmt
SNOP
Cost
Procurement
Inventory Planning
Source Analysis
(enhancements)
Sales opportunity
Tax-severance &
processor
Blueprinting
Realization
Cutover and go-live
Plan multiple implementations, and write a long-term outline.
Control change with a formal change request process.
14
Selecting A Methodology
•
Many times, there are several potentially “right” choices

i.e., when time-to-delivery is moderate, or when the impact of failure
is moderate
When to Select Different Methodologies
High
Joint Application Design
(JAD)
System development Life-Cycle
based methodologies
(SDLC)
Time to
Delivery
Extreme Programming
(EP)
Rapid Application Development
(RAD)
Low
Low
The diagram is intended to
illustrate the differences
among the appropriateness of
each methodology
The decision is clearer in the
extreme. In practice, however,
there are “gray zones” where
more than one answer may be
correct.
High
Impact of Failure
15
Writing A Milestone Plan
•
Use milestone plan to illustrate dependencies and
high-level tasks
Time Periods
Post this plan
on the walls
and in the
hallways.
Don’t hide it
in the PM's
office!
Keep it under
30 items
Example Strategy Plan Milestones
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Setup, on-boarding and kick-off session
Technical Assessment
Technical assessment of Infocube design
Technical assessment of infrastructure
Technical assessment of ETL
Technical assessment of security and role design
Technical assessment of BeX queries and views
Technical assessment of web delivery approach
Business Assessment
Organizational needs assessment
Reporting process assessment
Conversion assessment
Organizational impact statement
Review of support organization
Technical support resource needs assessment
Development approach and standards
Training planning (project, support and end-users)
Migration Planning
Analysis reports
Static reports
Knowledge transfer planning
Technical workshops planning
Training plan
Deliverable completion
Technical assessment document
Business assessment document
Proposed scope and rollout plan for future delivery
Workplan for proposed next steps
Staffing plan for next step
Infrastructure plan for next step
Proposed budget for next step
Presentation of proposal
16
What We’ll Cover…
•
•
•
•
•
•
Writing your SAP BI business case
Identifying your requirements, scope, and plan-of-attack
Staffing your project: lessons and examples
Budgeting: how much? and for how long?
Final preparations: on-boarding, writing the workplan, etc.
Wrap-up
17
Developing Your Staffing Plan: Lessons Learned
•
Developer training should start early for all project
team members
•
SAP R/3 skills are not easily transferable to SAP BI

Note

•
GOTCHA!
Hands-on experience is needed
It’s very hard to learn while being productive
The quality of the team members is much more
important than the number of members

An experienced SAP BI developer can accomplish in one
day what 3 novice developers can do in a week
 The tool has a steep learning curve
18
Developing Your Staffing Plan: Lessons Learned (cont.)
•
Project time and cost estimates should be based on
team’s experience level
•
Plan on formal knowledge-transfer from external
resources from day one
(we will take a
second look at
this when we do
the budgeting!)

•
Link inexperienced members with experienced ones
Have identified “go-to” resources available in all areas

Make a list
19
Example: Small SAP BI Project for Single Subject Area
•
E.g., Billing, Inventory, or Accounts Payable
Note: These are roles, not
positions (sometimes one
team member can fill more
than one role)
Project sponsor
Project Manager
Business team
Technical team
Business analyst
SAP BI Architect
Presentation developer
ETL developer
Basis and functional R/3 support
4-5 team members and normally
3-6 months duration depending on scope
20
Example: Mid-sized SAP BI Project, Single Complex Subject Area
•
E.g., Cost and Profitability, Internal Billing
Project sponsor/
Steering
Committee
Note: These are roles, not
positions (sometimes one
team member can fill more
than one role)
Project Manager
SAP BI
Architect
Business
Analyst(s)
Extract,
Transforms
and Loads
Data Management
(InfoCubes &
ODS)
Presentation
Developer(s)
Sr. Business analyst
Sr. ETL developer
Sr. SAP BI developer
Sr. Presentation
developer
Business analyst
ETL developer
SAP BI developer
Presentation developer
Basis and functional R/3 support
8-10 team members and normally
2-4 months duration depending on scope
21
Example: Large SAP BI Project for Multiple Subject Areas
•
E.g., Sales, Finance, and Material Management
Project sponsor/
Steering Committee
Project Manager
Note: These are roles, not
positions (sometimes one
team member can fill more
than one role)
SAP BI Architect
Portal developer(s)
Sales Team
Finance Team
Business analyst/(sub-team lead)
SAP BI developer
Presentation developer(s)
ETL developer
Business analyst/(sub-team lead)
SAP BI developer
Presentation developer(s)
ETL developer
Material Mgmt. Team
Business analyst/(sub-team lead)
SAP BI developer
Presentation developer(s)
ETL developer
Basis and functional R/3 support
15-25 team members and normally
6-18 months duration depending on scope
22
What We’ll Cover…
•
•
•
•
•
•
Writing your SAP BI business case
Identifying your requirements, scope, and plan-of-attack
Staffing your project: lessons and examples
Budgeting: how much? and for how long?
Final preparations: on-boarding, writing the workplan, etc.
Wrap-up
23
Budgeting Process Steps
1.
Size the SAP BI effort based on the scope
2.
Prioritize the effort
3.
Map the effort to the delivery schedule
4.
Plan for number of resources needed
based on the scope, delivery schedule and
the effort
Create the Milestone Plan and Scope Statement first, before attacking the
budgeting process
Tip
Start the budgeting process by estimating the workload in terms of the
development effort. Refine based on the team’s skill experience and skill level
24
1. Size SAP BI Effort Based on the Scope – Real Example
Customi
zation
L
M
L
M
L
M
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
L
M
M
M
M
Tech. Dev.
infocube
Financials
General ledger line item (ODS)
COPA
Prod cost planning released cost
estimates (COPC_C09)
Exploded itemization standard
product cost (COPC_C10)
Cost and allocations
(COOM_C02)
Cost object controlling
(0PC_C01)
Order
Extraction and Report
transforms
and roles
Security and
scheduling
Web
development
User
support/
planning
Project mgmt System docs Tech infraand admin
& manuals
structure
Bus. Analysis,
training, req.
gathering, change
mgmt.
Total
Hours
216
158
216
229
286
229
188
153
188
101
127
101
132
153
133
134
152
135
100
120
100
79
94
79
150
180
150
403
470
403
1,732
1,893
1,734
238
286
216
126
153
152
120
94
180
470
2,035
216
1144
188
101
132
135
100
79
150
403
2,648
238
286
216
137
153
152
120
94
180
470
2,046
216
216
216
229
229
229
187
187
187
101
101
101
132
132
132
135
135
135
100
100
100
79
79
79
150
150
150
403
403
403
1,732
1,732
1,732
216
229
187
101
132
135
100
79
150
403
1,732
216
216
228
228
187
187
101
101
132
132
135
135
100
100
79
79
150
150
403
403
1,731
1,731
Delivery data of shipment stages
(0LES_C13)
Delivery service (0SD_C05)
Planning and Scheduling
Material Movements (0IC_C03)
216
228
187
101
132
135
100
79
150
403
1,731
180
229
133
101
132
134
100
79
150
403
1,641
216
457
132
101
132
134
100
79
150
403
1,904
APO Planning
SNP Integration
Manufacturing Processes
Production Orders
Cross Applications
Total Hours
277
277
832
832
216
216
127
127
153
153
152
152
120
120
94
94
180
180
470
470
2,621
2,621
277
277
4,298
832
832
8,074
216
216
3,587
127
127
2,110
153
153
2,656
152
152
2,681
120
120
2,040
94
94
1,606
180
180
3,060
470
470
8,126
2,621
2,621
38,238
Billing
Sales order
Acct. Rec. (0FIAR_C03)
Deliver
Shipment cost details
(0LES_C02)
Shipment header (0LES_C11)
Stages of shipment (0LES_C12)
Remember that your sizing also has to be based on
the team’s experience and skill level.
25
2. Prioritize the Effort
The next
step is to
prioritize
and outline
the effort on
a strategic
timeline
Financials
General ledger line item (ODS)
COPA
Prod cost planning released cost estimates
(COPC_C09)
Exploded itemization standard product cost
(COPC_C10)
Cost and allocations (COOM_C02)
Cost object controlling (0PC_C01)
Order
Billing
Sales order
Accounts receivables (0FIAR_C03)
Deliver
Shipment cost details (0LES_C02)
Shipment header (0LES_C11)
Stages of shipment (0LES_C12)
Delivery data of shipment stages (0LES_C13)
Delivery service (0SD_C05)
Planning and Scheduling
Material Movements (0IC_C03)
APO Planning
SNP Integration
Manufacturing Processes
Production Orders
Cross Applications
qtr 1
2005
qtr 2 qtr 3
qtr 4
qtr 1
2006
qtr 2 qtr 3
qtr 4
qtr 1
2007
qtr 2
qtr 3
Make sure your sponsor and the business
community agree with your delivery schedule
26
3. Use Project Estimates & the Timeline to Create Project Load Plan
2005
qtr 1
Financials
General ledger line item (ODS)
866
COPA
946.5
Prod cost planning released cost
estimates (COPC_C09)
Exploded itemization standard product
cost (COPC_C10)
Cost and allocations (COOM_C02)
Cost object controlling (0PC_C01)
Order
Billing
Sales order
Accounts receivables (0FIAR_C03)
Deliver
Shipment cost details (0LES_C02)
Shipment header (0LES_C11)
Stages of shipment (0LES_C12)
Delivery data of shipment stages
(0LES_C13)
Delivery service (0SD_C05)
Planning and Scheduling
Material Movements (0IC_C03)
APO Planning
SNP Integration
Manufacturing Processes
Production Orders
Cross Applications
Total 1,813
Note
qtr 2
2006
qtr 3
qtr 4
qtr 1
qtr 2
qtr 3
qtr 4
qtr 1
2007
qtr 2
qtr 3
866
947
867
867
1,732
1,893
1,734
1017.5
1017.5
2,035
1324
1023
1324
1023
2,648
2,046
866
866
866
866
866
866
1,732
1,732
1,732
866
865.5
865.5
865.5
866
865.5
865.5
865.5
1,732
1,731
1,731
1,731
820.5
820.5
1,641
952
1310.5
1310.5
1,813
4,232
4,232
2,598
2,598
4,283
4,283
3,573
952
1311
1311
1,904
2,621
2,621
1311
1311
1,311
1,311
2,621
2,621
6,195
2,622
38,238
There are 480 available work hours per project member per quarter.
Knowing this, we can plan the number of team members we need…
27
4. Result: Good Input for the Staffing Costs and Planning
Use this information to plan for training, on-boarding, and staffing
Number of team members
This spike in
resource needs
is due to an
overlap in the
delivery
schedule
14
12
10
8
6
Now might be a
good time to
review that
decision
4
2
qtr 1
qtr 2
Tip
qtr 3
qtr 4
qtr 1
qtr 2
qtr 3
qtr 4
qtr 1
qtr 2
qtr 3
Many 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.
28
What We’ll Cover…
•
•
•
•
•
•
Writing your SAP BI business case
Identifying your requirements, scope, and plan-of-attack
Staffing your project: lessons and examples
Budgeting: how much? and for how long?
Final preparations: on-boarding, writing the workplan, etc.
Wrap-up
29
On-Boarding and Training
BW Developer
ETL Developer
Presentation Developer
Project Manager
Business Analysts
Note
Ideal Yrs
Experience
(minimum)
2+
Training days In-house
(if new in the training
role)
days
15
3-5
3+
15-20
3-5
1+
5-10
3-5
5+
10-15
3-5
5+
5-10
3-5
Don’t underestimate the value of in-house, hands-on
training in addition to formal SAP training classes.
30
Writing the Workplan – SAP Best Practices for BI
•
A sample workplan can be downloaded from the SAP Best
Practices for BI web site
A test drive is available on the Web site:
https://media.sdn.sap.com/html/submitted%5Fdo
cs/Best%5FPractices/SAP BI/
31
2-Jun
1-Jun
31-May
30-May
TASK
29-May
ID
28-May
Writing the Workplan
1 SAP Best Practices BI Implementation Roadmap - read Notes
11
Blueprint Phase & Planning Phase
12
Apply for Going Live Check
13
Finalize Project Scope [selected scenarios]
14
Check Content delivered by Best Practices
15
Determine those issues affecting BW Implementation and assign risk to project
16
Present Final Scope to Customer and Get Signoff of Scope
17
Project Planning Phase
18
Set Up Development Environment
19
Define transport Strategy
20
Activate TMS
21
Define Project Organization and Create Teams
22
Analyze Roles and Tasks by Standard Content Areas and Technical
23
Update delivered Project Plan & finalize, including resources assignments
24
Define customer rollout & training strategy for SAP BW
25
Define types of users of the BW
26
Determine Number of users for BW
27
Determine Data Access Requirements
•
The Workplan
1.
2.
3.
400 to 1000 line-item workplans
are not unusual for mid-size and
large SAP BI implementations
Write a detailed workplan that references the methodology
Make sure the workplan is detailed enough to track project progress
Progress can be measured by hours used, vs. % of tasks completed
More Details on workplan writing available here: “Writing Solid and Realistic Work Plans for
a SAP BI Implementation Project”, SAP Project Mgmt Conference - Oct. 2005, Las Vegas:
http://csc-studentweb.lrc.edu/swp/Berg/articles/PM05_Berg_Writingasolid.ppt
32
Monitoring Progress
•
•
•
•
Note
Warning
•
Manage the workplan from a percent complete
standpoint on a weekly basis
Create weekly status reports with core progress
metrics and send to all team members (keep it highlevel and tangible)
Require monthly status reports from all team members
in a fixed format
Keep a close eye on the deadlines for the deliverables
and make to follow-up personally on late tasks
Track percent complete tasks in the workplan against
the number of hours, or days worked, to see if you are
on-track
SAP BI is a complex environment that has many dependencies.
Late tasks can have significant impacts on the overall project.
33
Monitoring BI Quality and Formal Approval Process: Example
Integration
Testing
Create Technical
specs
No
Create Functional
specs
System Testing
Complete?
No
Yes
Unit Testing
Complete?
Yes
Configuration
Yes
Peer Review
No
Approved?
Peer Review
Yes
No
Complete?
Yes
Approved?
Structured
walkthrough
No
No
Complete?
Yes
Structured
walkthrough
34
The User Acceptance Group and Its Role
•
Create a user acceptance team consisting of 5-7 members
from the various business departments or organizations
•
Keep the number odd to assist with votes when decisions
need to be made. With fewer than 5 members, it can be
hard to get enough members present at each meeting
•
Make this team the focus of your requirements gathering in
the early phase, then let this team perform user
acceptance testing during the Realization phase
•
Meet with the team at least once a month during realization
to refine requirements as you are building, and have
something to show them
This approach is hard to execute when also managing scope, but is
I
s
s
u
e
essential to make sure that the system meets users’ requirements
35
What We’ll Cover…
•
•
•
•
•
•
Writing your SAP BI business case
Identifying your requirements, scope, and plan-of-attack
Staffing your project: lessons and examples
Budgeting: how much? and for how long?
Final preparations: on-boarding, writing the workplan, etc.
Wrap-up
36
Resources
•
COMERIT.NET(articles, tools & presentations):

•
Five Core Metrics: The Intelligence Behind Successful
Software Management

•
By Lawrence H. Putnam & Ware Myers
Waltzing With Bears: Managing Risk on Software
Projects –

•
http://www.comerit.net
By Tom Demarco & Timothy Lister
Mastering the SAP Business Information Warehouse

By Kevin McDonald, Andreas Wilmsmeier, David C. Dixon
August 2006 edition
37
7 Key Points to Take Home
•
Write the business case around the areas of greatest benefit
to your users

Don’t use a “shotgun” approach, 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’ experience and skill levels
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7 Key Points to Take Home (cont.)
•
Establish milestone dates, and map the work hours required
to these dates
•
Establish an “on-boarding” plan for project resources
•
Establish a formal process for quality control and approval of
deliverables
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END OF PART 1. Next: How Do We Deliver What We Promised?
How to contact me:
bberg@comerit.net
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