Getting to the Finish Line:
How to Increase Your Chances of Success When
Turning on Your New SAP System
]
April 7th 2011
[ JUERGEN LINDNER
SAP POINT OF CONTACT
MEMBER SINCE: 1998
[
Brenda McCue & Jeff Boone
Ace Hardware Corporation
[ LINDA WILSON
ASUG INSTALLATION MEMBER
MEMBER SINCE: 1999
[ ATUL PATANKAR
ASUG INSTALLATION MEMBER
MEMBER SINCE: 2000
[ Agenda
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The Helpful Place
Introduction
Overview of the Cutover Framework for Projects
Early Strategic Plans
Detailed Cutover Plans
Cutover
Controlled Hypercare
Key Take Aways
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
2
[ Introduction
The Helpful Place
 About Ace Hardware
 Founded in 1924 by a small group of Chicago hardware store
owners, Ace changed the retail landscape by allowing individual
stores to purchase merchandise in bulk to save money and buy at
the lowest possible price.
 Each Ace store is independently owned and operated by local
entrepreneurs – hard-working, passionate business owners who
are involved with and, many times, reside in the communities
where their stores are.
 4,400 Ace stores around the world
 We are your local hardware store and we are a part of your
community.
“The Helpful Place”
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
3
[ Introduction
The Helpful Place
 SAP at Ace Hardware
 First SAP implementation in 2008 – “Build the Foundation”
 Implemented Order to cash processes (SD, MM)
 Core ordering applications still tied into legacy systems
 Second SAP implementation in 2010 – “Business Transformation”
 Implemented core financials (FI/CO) and purchasing (MM)
 Chart of Accounts, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable
 Enhanced the Order to cash processes (SD, Vertex, FSCM)
 Sales Order, Credit, Delivery, Interfaces with our legacy DMPS/WMS
 Implemented the Purchase to Pay processes (MM)
 Purchase Orders, Inventory
 Implementation partner - IBM
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
4
[ Introduction
The Helpful Place
 Quick statistics on SAP 2010 implementation at Ace Hardware
 Each phase (4 phases) had a cutover project plan
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1,000 – 3,000 tasks
50 – 200 unique “task owners” with assignments
Duration 5 days – 2 weeks
24 hours/day, 7 days/week
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
5
[ Agenda
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
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

The Helpful Place
Introduction
Overview of the Cutover Framework for Projects
Early Strategic Plans
Detailed Cutover Plans
Cutover
Controlled Hypercare
Key Take-Aways
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
6
[ Overview
The Helpful Place
 Today’s goals
 What do we mean by “Cutover”
 a.k.a “Deployment” or “Implementation” or “Go Live” or “Roll out”
 Key components
 Business Process
 Technical Implementation
 Organizational Transition
 Importance of the Go Live Checklist
 Executing the Go Live Checklist can be a project itself
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
7
[ Overview
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
The Helpful Place
SAP Go Live Checklist
8
[ Overview
The Helpful Place
 SAP Go Live Checklist
 Excellent tool to ensure all aspects of the cutover are accounted for
 “Brain dump” of everything needed for cutover
 Tells what needs to be done, but not HOW to get it done
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Strategic shutdown tasks
Installation tasks
Start up tasks
Business and technical validations
Assigning resources
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Setting up “war room” (tables, chairs, CAT-5 wiring, projectors, electrical, …)
Climate control – don’t shut air conditioning down at 5:00 p.m. (24 hour shifts)
Building access badges need to be extended for 24 hours
Ordering food for war room (breakfast, lunch, and dinner)
Purchasing garbage cans and bags for war room
Making certain extra toilet paper exists for 24 weekend shifts!
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
9
[ Overview
The Helpful Place
CUTOVER FRAMEWORK
Certification of new Business Process
BUSINESS
PROCESS
Business Shutdown
Controlled Start
Using a disciplined
project management
method to implement
SAP systems should lead
to a boring Go Live and
Hypercare
Technical Components
TECHNICAL
IMPLEMENTATION
Alignment to Business Process
Contingency plans
ORGANIZATIONAL
TRANSITION
User Access and IT Controls
 Detailed cutover
plans
Training
 Cutover time
period(s)
Change Management
Cutover Management
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
 Early strategic
plans
 Controlled
Hypercare
10
[ Overview
The Helpful Place
 Key Aspects of the Cutover Framework
 Can be used for large complex programs of work or
smaller scale projects (smaller projects can scale down the
steps executed that are not necessary)
 Driven by the Go Live Checklist
 Supports an integrated team concept
 Integrates key project work streams: business process,
technical implementation, organizational transition, internal
controls
 Provides the roadmap and descriptions of each unit of work
which must be accomplished
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
11
[ Overview
Early
Strategic Plans
Strategic
Rollout plan
The Helpful Place
Detailed
Cutover Plans
Certification
of testing
Technical
Strategy
Detailed
Cutover Plan
Org Impact
Assessment
Org Change
Mgmt
Training
Strategy
Training
Cutover
Conversion
Validations
Controlled
Hypercare
Metric
Reporting
Bus & Tech
Validations
Execute
Cutover Plan
Defect &
Issue Mgmt
Issue
Management
Transition to
Operations
Internal Controls
Disciplined Project Management
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
12
[ Agenda







The Helpful Place
Introduction
Overview of Ace Cutover Methodology for Projects
Early Strategic Plans
Detailed Cutover Plans
Cutover
Controlled Hypercare
Key Take Aways
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
13
The Helpful Place
[ EarlyEarlyStrategic Plans
Strategic Plans
Strategic
Rollout plan
Detailed
Cutover Plans
Certification
of testing
Technical
Strategy
Detailed
Cutover Plan
Org Impact
Assessment
Org Change
Mgmt
Training
Strategy
Training
Cutover
Conversion
Validations
Controlled
Hypercare
Metric
Reporting
Bus & Tech
Validations
Execute
Cutover Plan
Defect &
Issue Mgmt
Issue
Management
Transition to
Operations
Internal Controls
Disciplined Project Management
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
14
The Helpful Place
[ Early Strategic Plans
 Cutover activities occur throughout the life of the project.
 Many project team members and non-project team members
participate in cutover activities at different stages of the
project.
 It is critical to begin implementation planning steps early in the
project.
 The cutover strategic plan will directly impact the future
business and technical design, organizational transition, and
training activities.
 The activities listed in the “Early Strategic Plans” section should
be done in the initial stages of the project.
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
15
The Helpful Place
[ Early Strategic Plans
BUSINESS PROCESS
 Business Shutdown & Controlled Start
Strategic
Rollout plan
 Define scope and sequencing of core system functions
 Determine the level of risk that can be managed
 Determine any key obstacles for the implementation
 Questions we asked:
 Do we implement everything in one “big bang”, or can we implement “chunks” of
functionality over time?
 What business processes make sense to implement together?
 Do we roll out to 14 distribution centers at once or roll them out in smaller groups?
 How much change can the business or organization handle during one implementation?
 How can we implement a new GL and close the books for the prior year at the same
time?
 Do not make any big system changes right before or during the company conventions as
significant orders are placed and cannot be impacted. This is also true during key seasonal
buying periods.
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
16
The Helpful Place
[ Early Strategic Plans
TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION
Strategic
Rollout plan
 Technical Components
Technical
Strategy
 Determine if there are new hardware/software technologies
 Determine technical direction as a result of the rollout plan
 Examples
 Hardware purchases and planned upgrades were planned around the roll out plan
 When we purchased FSCM, there were additional technical components required to
connect the software
 XI communication software proved to be a complex technical piece causing issues
before, during, and after cutover
 Certain programs versions included code for functionality in a release. This could not be
easily changed later.
 Our technical team raised concerns on system performance around high volume
transactions in certain roll-out periods.
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
17
The Helpful Place
[ Early Strategic Plans
ORGANIZATIONAL TRANSITION
Org Impact
Assessment
Training
Strategy
 Change Management
 Determine if there are significant impacts on the organization that need
special consideration
 Training
 Determine how end users will receive training and what communications are
necessary
 Organizational impacts
 What people internally and externally are impacted by the changes brought by this project?
 Do we need a central team to maintain master data as this could lead to new teams and roles
 Do the new process changes eliminate current roles or require new roles to be defined?
 Will Segregation of Duties (SoD) impact the design of process roles and user access
provisioning
 Training
 How many people will need to be trained?
 Do we use external training resources or do we use a train-the-trainer approach (Super Users)
 Do we use classroom training or web training or a combination?
 Documentation – Where will all business policy , control, design, and training documentation be
stored? Is there a central repository?
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
18
The Helpful Place
[ Early Strategic Plans
Example - Early strategic roll out plan
Phase 1
12/1/2009
Leave existing order in SAP
Start running Bulletins via SAP
Phase 2 a
2/1/2010
GL
Phase 2 b
3/1/2010
AR
Phase 3
5/1/2010 - 7/1/2010
OM
A - Data cleansing
AP
B - Early Data Load
PO
SAP GL is book of record
Live on SAP for AP
Live on SAP for PO
AR interfaced into SAP at
summary / month end
WMS interfaces for Receiving &
Maintenance Adjustments
(Permanent)
Inventory Valuation in SAP
Gross Profit Reporting within
ADW/BI
Fixed Assets
Consolidations
WMS Inbound
Load AR customer 'open items'
Temp interface w/AR store
invoice Summary
Service order
Bank card processing
Cash App
New components of orders
Billing / invoicing turned on by
Order Type /RSC
Turn DMPS by RSC
Vendor
Article
Customer
C - "Late" Load
Pricing
MDM Applications
Sync between Legacy & new
GL Load
Phase 4
7/1/2010 - 8/15/2010
Event Planner
Claims Processing
Dropship
Rebate Management (Vistex)
Multiple issue unit
Manual Claims in SAP
Statements
Credit
Assumptions
Data cleansed
All master data converted based on sequencing over 1 - 2 weeks
Master Data processing "maintening"
MDM processes functionality including SAP connections
- All Master Data interfacing between SAP & Legacy in production
- All Master Data related enhancements in production
Conversion of GL account balances (History) into SAP
All GL configuration complete
OPTION - Conversion of open AP to SAP by vendor
OPTION - Conversion of open AR to SAP - Summary
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
19
[ Agenda

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
The Helpful Place
Introduction
Overview of Ace Cutover Methodology for Projects
Early Strategic Plans
Detailed Cutover Plans
Cutover
Controlled Hypercare
Key Take Aways
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
20
The Helpful Place
Plans
[ Detailed Cutover
Detailed
Early
Strategic Plans
Strategic
Rollout plan
Cutover Plans
Certification
of testing
Technical
Strategy
Detailed
Cutover Plan
Org Impact
Assessment
Org Change
Mgmt
Training
Strategy
Training
Cutover
Conversion
Validations
Controlled
Hypercare
Metric
Reporting
Bus & Tech
Validations
Execute
Cutover Plan
Defect &
Issue Mgmt
Issue
Management
Transition to
Operations
Internal Controls
Disciplined Project Management
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
21
The Helpful Place
[ Detailed Cutover Plans
 Dedicate a project manager(s) to plan, assemble, and manage the detailed
activities needed for the cutover plan well in advance of the actual
implementation.
 Pick the “cutover manager(s)” carefully. This person(s) must pay attention to
detail and be extremely thorough.
Look at how the stress of the cutover turned me gray! (not actually me)
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
22
The Helpful Place
[ Detailed Cutover Plans
 Solicit information from known and unknown stakeholders:
 Who are all of the stakeholders?
 What needs to be done?
 What is the sequence of the activities?
 Business and technical team members need to determine proper sequencing of
activities based on interdependencies.
 Who needs to know the status of the activities?
 Who needs to be communicate to?
 What needs to be communicated?
 How does the status need to be communicated?
 Conference status calls? Email? Intranet? Extranet?
 How often does the status need to be communicated?
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
23
The Helpful Place
[ Detailed Cutover Plans
BUSINESS PROCESS
Certification
of Testing
Detailed
Cutover Plan
 Certification of New Business Process
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Final testing activities to certify the systems (QA Certification)
Document Business validation procedures for conversions
Test user access roles based on Segregation of Duties (SoD)
Be involved in the test run (“Mock test”)
 Business Shutdown & Controlled Start
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
 Define systematic business pre & post cutover steps/validations
24
The Helpful Place
[ Detailed Cutover Plans
 QA Certification – bring all testing activities to completion
 The team will test for a year if you let them, there’s always “just one
more test”
 Business user acceptance testing
 Business determines the functionality is working as designed
 End-to-end testing is complete (includes regression testing) – test
interdependencies of all systems throughout all areas of the company (internally &
externally)
 Quick Statics
 During phase 3 cutover – Order To Cash, there were 1187 test scenarios
 Defect management
 Determine if all defects need to be resolved before cutover. Risk rank defects:
1 = Cannot go live with cutover until resolved
2 = Workaround exists, can go live, must be fixed within 30 days of cutover
3 = Cosmetic, Does not impact system functionality
 Security (role) testing
 Do the users have access to the needed T-Codes?
 What “special” roles are needed for cutover?
 SoD – Segregation of Duties – users should only have access to what they need
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
25
The Helpful Place
[ Detailed Cutover Plans
 Determine Technical and Business Validation steps
 Technical
 Ensure core systems and processes are successfully up and running from a
“technical” perspective
 Be specific as to what will be tested - Have a plan
 Business
 Validate business functionality
 Be specific as to what will be tested - Have a plan
 How much testing during cutover?
 Determine adequate level of validations before moving on to next steps in
project plan
 Sign-offs
 Consider capturing sign-offs from technical and business staff that validations
were successful enough to move on to the next activities
 Don’t forget to make the auditors happy!
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
26
The Helpful Place
[ Detailed Cutover Plans
 Business Shutdown & Controlled Start
 Define systematic business cutover steps/impacts
 Shutdown = business & technical activities to temporarily stop
processes to prepare for cutover execution
 Controlled Start = business & technical “baby steps” to test core
functionality on a limited basis before turning on processes stopped
in Shutdown
 Shutdown examples:
 Freeze on Master Data (Pricing, Vendors, Customers, etc…)
 No G/L account changes
 Hold Sales Orders before conversions from legacy to SAP
 Controlled Start examples:
 Create 1 of each “flavor” of a purchase and sales order
 Create an invoice and validate the journal entries are correct
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
27
The Helpful Place
[ Detailed Cutover Plans
TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION
Certification
of Testing
Detailed
Cutover Plan
 Technical Components
 Potential new hardware/software changes may require a test run to
ensure system stability (“performance test”)
 Technical installations may require a test run (“Mock test”)
 Alignment to Business Process
 Define technical cutover steps/impacts/validations
 Align the technical installs to the best timelines surrounding the
defined business impacts
 Contingency Plans
 Define risks that could impact the implementation. Build contingency
plans for those risks identified as critical.
 Define back-out strategies and plans
 User Access and IT Controls
 Define and set up security requirements
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
28
The Helpful Place
[ Detailed Cutover Plans
 “Mock” cutover simulation recommended
 Practice executing the cutover project plan in the “war room” until you get it
“right”
 Benefits of “mock” cutover
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Uncover and resolve issues with design, timing, and sequencing of activities.
Execute risk response plans (what if execution doesn’t go “right”?)
Ensure the primary & backup resources can successfully execute the plan
Simulation harvests a comfort-level based on preparedness and readiness at golive for the entire project team.
 Will most likely not be a one-time activity – allow iterations of this process
to also test risk response, contingency, and back-out plans.
 Make this process a well-oiled machine before going
live!
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
29
The Helpful Place
[ Detailed Cutover Plans
 Quick Statistics on Phase 3 SAP “mock cutover” at Ace
Hardware
 14 data conversions
 Approximately 1000 transports + hundreds of legacy code
changes (COBOL, .NET, Broker, etc…)
 4 “mock” cutovers were needed before smooth operations were
achieved (24 * 7)
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1st – 9 days
2nd – 7 days
3rd – 4 days
4th – 3 days
(23 days total)
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
30
The Helpful Place
[ Detailed Cutover Plans
ORGANIZATIONAL TRANSITION
Detailed
Cutover Plan
Org Change
Management
 Cutover Management
 Discuss any special cutover security requirements
 First , draft high-level implementation plans for review. Then build
the detailed steps into a project plan (at minute increments if
necessary)
 Communicate cutover plans to all people impacted – garners
inclusion , enthusiasm , and ownership.
 Logistics planning for project team support activities necessary
during the cutover and hypercare time periods (issue mgmt and
escalations, coverage schedules, etc.)
 Change Management
 Training for support teams for new support activities
Training
 Training
 End User Training materials, final training schedules, logistics for
training classes, end user communications
 End User Training and communications
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
31
The Helpful Place
[ Detailed Cutover Plans
 Goal: Transition from the project teams to the organization
 Examples of training
 Edit and publish training materials
 Execute Classes, Webinars, User guides, Online/on-demand learning
 Examples of Business Policies to be communicated
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Fixed asset capitalization limits
Types of asset costs to be capitalized
Approval process for inbound freight invoices (domestic)
User role approval matrix – who authorizes which roles per department?
 Get all the stakeholders excited and involved!
 Hold question and answer sessions
 Create an informational web site (intranet/extranet) – let everyone know what is going
on & when.
 Internal staff
 Trading partners
 Customers
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
32
The Helpful Place
[ Detailed Cutover Plans
Example – High level plan
Fri 5/14
B
-
Indicates system back up, backout, & decision points
Sat 5/15
Sun5/16
Executive approval to begin cutover
B
Transports & Validate
4 AM – 9:30 PM
Extract
Print Flags,
Area /
Location,
Routes,
Customer
Retail
Prices
Levels by
Dept,
Credit
Master
Load &
Validate Area
/ Location
Update Article
1:00 PM –
5:30 PM
Load &
Validate
Routes
1:00 PM –
3:30 PM
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
2
Load &
Validate Print
Flags
10:00 PM – 1:00
AM
Load &
Validate
Service
Articles
10:00 PM
12:00 AM
Extract
Open
AR from
JDE
2AM –
3AM
Load and
Validate Open
AR
3:00 AM – 1:30
PM
Extract
Stmt
Data
3AM –
3:30
AM
Load & Validate
Credit Collections
2:00 PM – 7:00 PM
BI Only
Transports
12 AM – 12
PM
4
Convert &
Validate
GA01 Open
Sales
Orders
8:00 PM –
11:00 PM
BI Quiet
Time
5
11:30 PM
– 6:30 AM
Load & Validate
Credit Data:
Loans, Stock &
Notes,
International
Approved
Bulletin Order
Amounts
2:00 PM – 4:00
PM
Load & Validate Credit Master Data
10:00 PM – 9:30 AM
B I/ECC
Manual
Steps
11 PM –
12 AM
2:00 PM – 5:00
PM
Load & Validate AR
Commitments to FSCM
2:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Load & Validate Customer
Retail Price Levels By Dept
10:00 PM – 3:30 AM
B I/ECC
Transports
10 PM – 11
PM
Load & Validate
3 Statement Data
BI
Manual
Setup
12 PM – 2
PM
Post
receipts
Queued in
WMS
6:30 AM –
8:30 AM
Add SAP Invoice numbers to On Base Index
2:00 PM – 3:30 AM
Load &
Validate
Articles for
GSI
2:00 PM
5:30 PM
6
Install legacy and WMS
changes
Load
Purchase
History for
Hotsheets
9:00 PM –
2:00 AM
System
start-up
33
The Helpful Place
[ Detailed Cutover Plans
Example – Detailed plan
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
34
[ Agenda







The Helpful Place
Introduction
Overview of Ace Cutover Methodology for Projects
Early Strategic Plans
Detailed Cutover Plans
Cutover
Controlled Hypercare
Key Take Aways
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
35
[ Cutover
Early
Strategic Plans
Strategic
Rollout plan
The Helpful Place
Detailed
Cutover Plans
Certification
of testing
Technical
Strategy
Detailed
Cutover Plan
Org Impact
Assessment
Org Change
Mgmt
Training
Strategy
Training
Cutover
Conversion
Validations
Controlled
Hypercare
Metric
Reporting
Bus & Tech
Validations
Execute
Cutover Plan
Defect &
Issue Mgmt
Issue
Management
Transition to
Operations
Internal Controls
Disciplined Project Management
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
36
[ Cutover
The Helpful Place
 Execute the “actual” cutover just like practiced in the “mock”!
 The actual implementation “cutover” time period could take one day, one
week, or several weeks. There can be one or many cutover time periods
for a project.
 Your dedicated cutover leads will manage/control this process.
 Cutover team (primary & backup) task owners are ready-to-go
 Install “Escalation Committee” – decision makers/management are available
to make authoritative decisions
 Non-project team members also participate in the cutover activities.
 STICK TO THE PROJECT PLAN
 No “Cowboying” – do not deviate from the project plan unless it was
already validated in the “mock” cutover as a risk execution tactic
 Execute from the established “war room”
 Physically centralize the cutover team for synergistic execution and
problem solving
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
37
The Helpful Place
[ Cutover
BUSINESS PROCESS
Execute
Cutover Plan
 Business Shutdown & Controlled Start
Conversion
Validations
 Execute steps in the cutover plan
 Validate system conversions
 Document any one-time cutover or conversion activities
• Validations
• Technical = ensure core systems and processes are successfully up and
running from a “technical” perspective (before handing off for Business
Validations)
• Business = validate business functionality is correct
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
38
The Helpful Place
[ Cutover
TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION
Execute
Cutover Plan
 Technical Components
 Execute steps in the cutover plan
 Validate and double-check all installs (last run of old systems & first
run of new systems)
 Contingency Plans
 Execute back-out plans or contingency plans (if needed)
 User Access and IT Controls
Conversion
Validation




Use cutover security
Implement user access to the system
Execute & document any one-time cutover or conversion activities
Remove cutover security at adequate time
 Alignment to Business Process
 Work with business staff in War Room to validate systems as they are
activated or conversions are completed
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
39
The Helpful Place
[ Cutover
ORGANIZATIONAL TRANSITION
Execute
Cutover Plan
Issue
Management
 Cutover Management
 Validate steps in the cutover plan are executed
 Co-locate the project team to a central location to expedite reaction
time to issues (WAR ROOM)
 Monitor issues and risks
 Follow issue escalation processes in place with the support teams
 Status reporting and communications to all impacted staff
 Change Management
 Provide assistance to end users as systems are activated and users
are given access
• Keep a log of all significant issues and appropriately follow up based
on prioritization and urgency until closed
 COMMUNICATE!
 Let all stakeholders know which milestones were completed, are executing, and
coming up so they can understand where they are at in the cutover plan.
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
40
[ Agenda







The Helpful Place
Introduction
Overview of Ace Cutover Methodology for Projects
Early Strategic Plans
Detailed Cutover Plans
Cutover
Controlled Hypercare
Key Take Aways
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
41
The Helpful Place
[ Controlled Hypercare
Early
Strategic Plans
Strategic
Rollout plan
Detailed
Cutover Plans
Certification
of testing
Technical
Strategy
Detailed
Cutover Plan
Org Impact
Assessment
Org Change
Mgmt
Training
Strategy
Training
Cutover
Conversion
Validations
Controlled
Hypercare
Metric
Reporting
Bus & Tech
Validations
Execute
Cutover Plan
Defect &
Issue Mgmt
Issue
Management
Transition to
Operations
Internal Controls
Disciplined Project Management
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
42
The Helpful Place
[ Controlled Hypercare
 Once systems become active, system defects can cause chaos
quickly if there is no clear escalation path




You must have a formal escalation path for everyone impacted by the changes
(project team and support teams, end users, external touch points, etc.)
There must be formal structures in place to make decisions in a timely manner
Consider appointing “super users” (experts) to be main contact for initial issue
evaluation. They will determine if issue exists, suggest workarounds, and prioritize
business impact
Hypercare should last for a pre-determined amount of time with resources colocated in a central place
 If there is no planned end for Hypercare, it will keep going and going and
going….
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
43
The Helpful Place
[ Controlled Hypercare
Example – Problem Escalation
Super Users are first
line of support for end
users
Project team members to
assist the Super Users
Super User
End User
Note: Super users for
Retailers are part of the
Support Desk (retail)
End Users and Super
Users will find issues
Retailer
Project Team
Project team members and
operations staff monitoring
systems will find issues
Care Center/Help Desk
Operations
Log in System
Project team members and
support staff will resolve
issues/incidents/defects
Support Groups
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
Project Team
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The Helpful Place
[ Controlled Hypercare
BUSINESS PROCESS
 Controlled Start
Bus & Tech
Validations
 Continue to execute steps in the cutover plan to monitor systems
are functioning as expected
Metric
Reporting
 Monitor business metrics to ensure issues are found and resolved
quickly
Defect &
Issue Mgmt
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
 Follow issue escalation processes in place with the support teams
 Work with technical teams to rank and prioritize business critical
defects to be fixed
45
The Helpful Place
[ Controlled Hypercare
Example - Business Metrics Reporting for Order to Cash cycle
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
46
The Helpful Place
[ Controlled Hypercare
Example - Metric results for Order to Cash cycle
BT Phase 3 Metrics Dashboard - all results show prior day activity
KPI
Status Process Owner
#
2
G
#1 Retail
Retail
Tech
3
G
Director
5
6
G
G
7
G
8
G
R
8
G
R
8
G
R
14
15
16
17
G
y
R
24
G
26
R
28
R
Metric
Total number of lines for SOAs and Stock
Reserves
ACENET transaction failures (measure of
errors)
Metric Pre Go-Live
Criteria for Yellow
Criteria for Red
Assigned
Baseline
Murphy
43000
Decrease between 15% and Decrease of more than
30% from baseline
30% from baseline
Zeman
3.89%
Between 10% and 25%
More than 25% higher
higher than baseline
than baseline
Wed
Thu
9/1
9/2
36,285
26,493
4.86%
4.70%
100%
0
100%
0
3.3%
3.1%
Number of sales order idocs into SAP
Number of sales order in queue (not sent to
WMS yet)
Janke
Janke
100%
Percent of orders on credit block (Numbers
of orders on credit block / total number of
orders daily)
DMPS Start Time
McCue
< 10%
10% to 15%
> 15%
#3 WMS &
Inventory
WMS Director DMPS Run Time
Prescott Valley (Delivery Creation through BOS)
Oh
6:45 PM
NA
Later than 6:45 PM
6:45PM
6:45PM
Oh
3.0 Hours
NA
More than 3.75 Hours
2.0 Hrs
3.25 Hrs
(RE)
#3 WMS &
Inventory
WMS Director
Sacramento
#3 WMS &
Inventory
WMS Director
Moxee
#4 PGI
Order Mgt
Director
#5 Accounts
Receivable
A/R Director
DMPS Start Time
Oh
NA
Later than 7PM
6:45PM
6:45PM
DMPS Run Time
(Delivery Creation through BOS)
DMPS Start Time
Oh
NA
More than 3.75 Hours
NA
Later than 7PM
3.25 Hrs
(RE)
6:45PM
4.25 Hrs
(RE)
6:45PM
DMPS Run Time
(Delivery Creation through BOS)
PGI percentage
ASNs Failure - ALL types
Invoice Failure (AP Net to retailers)
Number of invoices not posted
Oh
3.0 Hours
NA
More than 3.75 Hours
2.75 Hrs
Janke
Janke
Janke
Smith
100%
100%
100%
0%
98%
98%
2
> 0%
95%
95%
4
> 0%
Total ACCC Interactions
Zeman
Varies by day
129%
Zeman
85%
82%
Total ACCC Abandoned Rate
Zeman
Team Goal
85% or >
Team Goal
8% or <
50% greater than
baseline
less than 75%
113%
Total ACCC Service Level
Between 25% and 50%
greater than baseline
Between 85% and 75%
Between 8% and 12%
greater than 12%
9%
11%
#2 Process
Order
Order Mgmt &
Credit Directors
#7 Support
Klaus
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
3.0 Hours
Oh
3.25 Hrs
(DC)
97.92%
98.91
564
183
14,922
7,653
18/1445 225/1642
47
The Helpful Place
[ Controlled Hypercare
Example - Business Impacts / Key Issues Log
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
48
The Helpful Place
[ Controlled Hypercare
TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION
 Technical Components
Bus & Tech
Validations
Defect &
Issue Mgmt
 Continue to execute steps in the cutover plan to monitor systems are
functioning as expected
 Monitor first time jobs run, etc..
 Follow issue escalation processes in place with the support teams
 Manage defects and implement fixes in a controlled manner (follow
release management processes to ensure controls are followed)
• Formal daily/weekly meetings with business and technical teams
• Prioritize defects based on business & technical impact, cost, and available
resources
• Determine which defects need immediate resolution (“emergency”) and which
can go into a scheduled software release (“planned”)
• Formal approval for “emergency” defects to be implemented
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
49
The Helpful Place
[ Controlled Hypercare
Example - Daily Status Activities in Hypercare
All meetings to be 30 minutes in duration !!
Time
Type
Purpose
Responsible/Attendees
8:00am
Report
Operations review (i.e. jobs not run, etc)
IT Ops Lead, IT SE Lead
9:00am
Meeting
Emergency incident review
- Close incidents and changes from prior day
- Call out significant incidents remaining open
Cutover Lead, IT Ops Lead
and Prod Services Lead, IT
Director, IT SE Lead
9:30am
Meeting
Key Incident/Defect Review
- Review key incidents/defects and prioritize
Cutover Lead, IT SE Lead,
Business Leads
3:00pm
Report
Business metrics complete
- Send business metrics for the day to cutover
leads
Metrics report lead, Metric
owners
4:30pm
Meeting
Business Impact review
- Review Business Metric report (including
incident/defect metrics)
- Review PMO escalation list
Cutover Lead, IT Director,
Business Owners, PMO
8:00pm
Report
Operations review (i.e. jobs not run, etc)
IT Ops Lead, IT SE Lead
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
50
The Helpful Place
[ Controlled Hypercare
ORGANIZATIONAL TRANSITION
Bus & Tech
Validations
Transition to
Operations
 Cutover Management
 Continue to validate steps in the cutover plan are being executed to
monitor systems are functioning as expected
 Co-locate the project team AND support teams to a central location
to expedite reaction time to issues (WAR ROOM)
 Monitor issues and risks
 Follow issue escalation processes in place with the support teams
 Status reporting and communications to all impacted staff
 Change Management
 Follow up with End Users, provide sandboxes for ongoing training
 End User Training and communications
 Ensure any new support teams are included in issue escalation
process
• Created “user pods” after cutover where users for each functional area had
a central location to meet and “practice” in the system. Project team
members were assigned to each pod to answer questions.
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
51
[ Agenda







The Helpful Place
Introduction
Overview of Ace Cutover Methodology for Projects
Early Strategic Plans
Detailed Cutover Plans
Cutover
Controlled Hypercare
Key Take Aways
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
52
[ Key Take Aways
The Helpful Place
CUTOVER FRAMEWORK
Certification of new Business Process
BUSINESS
PROCESS
Business Shutdown
Controlled Start
Using a disciplined
project management
method to implement
SAP systems should lead
to a boring Go Live and
Hypercare
Technical Components
TECHNICAL
IMPLEMENTATION
Alignment to Business Process
Contingency plans
ORGANIZATIONAL
TRANSITION
User Access and IT Controls
 Detailed cutover
plans
Training
 Cutover time
period(s)
Change Management
Cutover Management
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
 Early strategic
plans
 Controlled
Hypercare
53
[ Key Take Aways
The Helpful Place
 These methods can be applied to any project
 Cutover management is a project within itself at times
 War room tactics are critical to success during the
implementation
 Stick to the Plan
 No Cowboys or Cowgirls
 Focus on a controlled business start – avoid the chaos
 Formal issue escalation process is critical
 Follow a disciplined defect prioritization process
 There will be issues, it’s how you react to the issues that
determine your degree of success
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
54
The Helpful Place
[
Questions?
Real Experience. Real Advantage.
55
The Helpful Place
[
]
 Thank you.


Real Experience. Real Advantage.
Brenda McCue – bries@acehardware.com
Jeff Boone – jboon@acehardware.com
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