SAP Implementation Unleashed: A Business and Technical Roadmap to Deploying SAP

Table of Contents......Page 6
Introduction......Page 34
Part I: Setting the Stage......Page 44
Welcome to SAP Implementation......Page 46
Why Implement SAP: Enabling Innovation......Page 48
A Primer on SAP AG and SAP......Page 51
Roadmaps to SAP Implementation......Page 56
Case Study: Getting on the Same Page......Page 59
What Does an SAP Implementation Look Like?......Page 62
SAP Implementation: It’s All About the Business......Page 63
Tactical Reasons for Implementing SAP......Page 65
Strategic Reasons for Implementing SAP......Page 66
How SAP Has Benefited Customers in the Real World......Page 68
Project Management Considerations......Page 69
Architecture Considerations......Page 80
Technical Considerations and Constraints......Page 82
Less Than Successful SAP Implementations......Page 85
Summary......Page 87
Case Study: Assessing a Project’s Chances for Success......Page 88
3 Business Vision......Page 90
Addressing Strategic Business Needs......Page 91
Understanding Organizational Change Strategies......Page 94
Addressing Operational Strategy: Guiding Principles......Page 97
Tackling Technology Strategy......Page 99
Case Study: A Business Vision Discussion......Page 100
What Is an ERP Solution Vision?......Page 102
Business Impact......Page 104
Technology Perspectives......Page 105
SAP Component and Other Considerations......Page 107
Marrying Solutions to Computing Platform Standards......Page 109
SAP System Landscape Dimensions and Characteristics......Page 110
ERP Solution Vision and IT Outsourcing......Page 120
Case Study: Developing Your ERP Solution Vision......Page 125
5 Financial Impact: Total Cost of Ownership......Page 126
Analyzing Total Cost of Ownership......Page 127
How Solution Vision Drives TCO......Page 129
Lowering TCO Through the SAP Technology Stack......Page 136
Lowering TCO Through People and Processes......Page 146
Case Study: TCO and Risk Factors......Page 151
Establishing an Initial Knowledge Management Footprint......Page 154
Capturing Knowledge: The Knowledge Repository......Page 155
Knowledge Repository and Management Tools......Page 158
Transferring Knowledge Throughout the Project......Page 160
Summary......Page 161
Case Study: KM Business Case Fundamentals......Page 162
Part II: Getting Started......Page 164
Project Management Considerations......Page 166
Project Management Basics......Page 167
Initiating Phase: Program Preparation......Page 173
Planning Phase: Business Blueprint......Page 175
Executing Phase: Realization and Final Preparation......Page 179
Monitoring and Controlling Phase......Page 181
Closing Phase: Project Closure......Page 184
Case Study: Project Management Initial Checkpoint......Page 185
Project Management Office Considerations......Page 186
Project Management Office Fundamentals......Page 187
Role of the PMO Within the Organization......Page 191
Staffing the PMO......Page 195
SAP PMO Systems and Tools......Page 197
Case Study: Structuring the PMO......Page 199
The Five Phases of SAP Project Management......Page 202
Managing the Business Implementation......Page 203
The SAP Project Plan......Page 205
Developing Project Management Discipline......Page 214
Summary......Page 216
Case Study: Planning for an SAP Upgrade......Page 217
Overview of Prospective SAP Partners......Page 218
Leveling the Playing Field: The RFI......Page 223
Selecting the Best-Fit Partners: The RFP......Page 226
Partner Selection Criteria......Page 227
Here Come the Consultants!......Page 228
Balancing Partners with Internal Resources......Page 231
Summary......Page 235
Case Study: Building the Partner Team......Page 236
Steps for Project Team Success......Page 238
Addressing Organizational Size and Agility......Page 239
Creating an Effective Team Structure......Page 240
Empowering Team Members to Convert Vision into Reality......Page 244
Staffing Key Project Positions and Subteams......Page 247
An ERP Virtual Team Change Model......Page 252
Real-World Organizational Examples......Page 254
Summary......Page 257
Case Study: Project Team Roles and Structures......Page 258
Attributes of Effective Leaders......Page 260
An Introduction to Leadership Theory......Page 261
Leadership Styles in the Real World of SAP......Page 268
Leadership and Achieving Business Goals......Page 271
Understanding the Organization’s Leadership Needs......Page 272
Developing Project and Personal Leadership Plans......Page 273
Evaluating Leadership Styles: The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire......Page 276
Real-World SAP Implementation Leadership: PM1 Versus PM2......Page 277
Case Study: ERP Program Management Needed......Page 287
Best Practices for Building the SAP Business Teams......Page 290
Business Team Roles......Page 292
SAP Business Team Staffing......Page 294
Organizing Your SAP Business Teams......Page 295
Staffing Observations and Lessons Learned......Page 297
Case Study: Building the Best SAP Business Team......Page 300
Introduction to Staffing the SAP TSO......Page 302
Jobs and Tasks of the SAP TSO......Page 304
Traditional Approaches to Staffing the SAP TSO......Page 306
The Rapid Deployment Approach to Staffingan SAP TSO......Page 308
Bringing New SAP TSO Staff On Board......Page 318
Case Study: Addressing a Key SAP TSO Gap......Page 323
15 High Availability Considerations and Solutions......Page 324
Introduction to Availability......Page 325
Single Points of Failure......Page 332
SAP Data Center Infrastructure SPOFs......Page 333
Server and Operating System SPOFs......Page 338
Database SPOFs......Page 340
SAP Application SPOFs......Page 344
Case Study: Assessing SAP High Availability......Page 349
Recovering from Minor DR Issues......Page 350
Recovering from More Severe DR Issues......Page 352
Recovering from Major Disasters......Page 354
Data Center Strategies for Dealing with Disasters......Page 355
Disaster Recovery Best Practices......Page 358
Testing the Disaster Recovery Process......Page 363
Tactical Methods of Increasing Disaster Recoverability......Page 365
Strategic Methods of Increasing Disaster Recoverability......Page 366
Sample Failure Scenarios: Evaluating Your Firm’s Recoverability......Page 367
Avoiding High Availability Pitfalls in the Real World......Page 369
Case Study: Addressing DR Gaps......Page 372
17 Availability and Recoverability: Organizational Factors......Page 374
Organizational Decisions Affecting Availability......Page 375
Organizational Design and Backup Considerations......Page 377
The Disaster Recovery Organization......Page 383
Where Process and People SPOFs Intersect......Page 384
Real-World People-Related Availability Best Practices......Page 393
Summary......Page 394
Case Study: The Impact of People and Process on DR......Page 395
The SAP Sizing Process......Page 396
SAP Sizing Terminology......Page 398
Sizing the Installation......Page 405
Obtaining Vendor SAP Sizing Questionnaires......Page 408
Production System Sizing Rules of Thumb......Page 412
Understanding Different Sizing Methodologies......Page 413
Case Study: Resizing at a Subsidiary......Page 416
Analyzing System Requirements......Page 418
The Requirements Document and Supplementing with SAP QuickSizer......Page 419
The Requirements and Sizing Review Team......Page 420
RFPs, Vendor Questionnaires, and More......Page 423
The Sizing Proposal Review Process......Page 428
Holding SAP Infrastructure Planning Workshops......Page 432
Case Study: Sizing for SAP Upgrade and Consolidation......Page 437
Introduction to SAP Training......Page 440
Training and the Role of the SAP System Landscape......Page 445
Approaches to SAP Training......Page 449
Feedback Loops: Improving the Value of Training......Page 460
Case Study: Training Technical Staff......Page 463
Introducing the SAP Data Center......Page 466
First Things First—Standardization......Page 468
Data Center Physical Requirements......Page 470
Rack Planning for Data Center Resources......Page 476
Network Infrastructure for SAP......Page 481
Server Preparation......Page 485
General Storage Considerations......Page 489
On the Road to Implementation......Page 493
The Green Data Center......Page 494
Summary......Page 495
Case Study: Data Center Facilities......Page 496
Part III: SAP Realization/Functional Development......Page 498
Revising Your TCO Analyses......Page 500
Revisiting Your Staffing Plan......Page 503
Amending Your SAP Implementation Budget......Page 504
Ramping Up and Resourcing the SAP Help Desk......Page 505
Exploiting Cost Management Opportunities......Page 509
Summary......Page 510
Case Study: Avoiding Project Shelfware......Page 511
23 Preparing for SAP Component Installations......Page 512
Planning for SAP Infrastructure......Page 513
Building Your SAP Infrastructure......Page 520
Installing and Configuring the Operating System......Page 526
Installing the Database Software......Page 532
Additional Installation Requirements......Page 534
Managing CD/DVD SAP Media......Page 536
Prerequisite Checklists......Page 537
SAPinst—The SAP System Landscape Installer......Page 538
Case Study: Installation Preparation......Page 540
NetWeaver Overview......Page 542
Installing NetWeaver......Page 545
Example IT Scenario—Business Planning and Analytical Services......Page 547
Installing the ABAP Application Server......Page 548
Installing the Java Application Server......Page 550
Installing Application Server ABAP+Java......Page 552
Installing SAP NetWeaver Portal......Page 553
Installing SAP Business Warehouse......Page 554
Finalizing Other NetWeaver Post-Installation Tasks......Page 555
Summary......Page 558
Case Study: Implementing a Sandbox......Page 559
SAP Business Suite Installation......Page 560
Installing Other Components and Products......Page 564
Installing the SAP ERP Core Component......Page 565
Performing an Oracle-for-SAP Installation......Page 570
Addressing General SAP Post-Installation Tasks......Page 571
Case Study: Installing SAP ERP 6.0......Page 576
An Overview of Functional Development......Page 578
SAP Components and Modules......Page 579
Translating Business Vision into Business Processes......Page 581
Converting Business Processes into SAP Functionality......Page 583
Functional Development Tools and Approaches......Page 586
Organizing for Development......Page 591
Development Best Practices......Page 593
Functional Development Lessons Learned......Page 594
Case Study: Starting the Realization Phase......Page 596
Goals of Functional Configuration Change Control......Page 598
Change Control Tools......Page 599
Data Loading Tools......Page 602
The Change Control Board......Page 604
The Process or Workflow of Implementing Change......Page 607
Case Study: Meeting with the SAP CCM......Page 609
28 Functional, Integration, and Regression Testing......Page 610
Introduction to CATT, eCATT, and LSMW......Page 611
Three Types of Business Process Testing......Page 613
Approaching Business Process Testing......Page 618
Executing Business Process Testing......Page 623
Case Study: Building an SAP Test Tool Portfolio......Page 627
What Is SOA?......Page 628
The Opportunities and Challenges of SOA......Page 630
SOA Technology......Page 632
Unlocking SAP Functionality......Page 634
Ensuring Success with an SOA Center of Excellence......Page 637
Real-World SOA Case Study: HP......Page 638
Case Study: Introducing SOA at HiTech, Inc.......Page 640
Part IV: Planning for Go-Live......Page 642
Setting the Foundation: Leadership and Behaviors......Page 644
Understanding Support Staff Personalities......Page 646
Keys for Retaining Employees......Page 648
Compensation Alternatives in the Real World......Page 654
Summary......Page 656
Case Study: Retaining Key Team Members......Page 657
31 SAP Infrastructure Operational Considerations......Page 658
Printing and Faxing Considerations......Page 659
SAP Security and Authorizations Management......Page 664
Archive Considerations in the Real World......Page 668
Additional Operational Considerations Prior to Go-Live......Page 670
Case Study: Operational Management......Page 672
The Goals of Infrastructure Testing......Page 674
System-Level Stress Testing and Pretuning......Page 676
Server Hardware and OS Testing......Page 677
Disk Subsystem and Database Testing......Page 679
Network Infrastructure Testing......Page 684
SAP Failover and Other HA/DR Infrastructure Testing......Page 685
Testing Tools in Action—Server Comparison......Page 687
Case Study: Infrastructure Testing......Page 688
Key SAP Stress-Testing Considerations......Page 690
Differentiating Between Load, Volume, Stress, and Smoke Testing......Page 696
Testing SAP Components: Basic Methods......Page 697
Real-World Preparation and Script Development......Page 699
Stress Test Execution During Test Week......Page 708
Additional Stress-Testing Goals......Page 711
Extracting the Last Drop of Value Out of Testing......Page 714
Other Stress-Testing Lessons Learned in the Real World......Page 715
Case Study: Developing a Stress Test Plan......Page 717
Change Management Mentality......Page 720
The Real Reason for Managing Change—Stakeholders......Page 723
Change Management Best Practices......Page 724
Managing the Wide-Ranging Effects of Change Control......Page 734
Organizing and Planning for Technical Change......Page 740
Change Management Lessons Learned......Page 744
Summary......Page 747
Case Study: The CM Manager......Page 748
35 SAP Systems and Operations Management......Page 750
What Is the SAP Operations Manual?......Page 751
Systems Management Techniques for SAP......Page 757
Preparing to Pilot a Systems Management Application......Page 762
Evaluating Enterprise Systems Management Applications......Page 768
Additional SAP Management Tools and Approaches......Page 772
Case Study: Delivering a Systems Management Best Practices Workshop......Page 777
The Cutover Plan......Page 778
Preparing for Technical Go-Live......Page 781
Final Administrative and Technical Details......Page 785
The Changing Role of the SAP TSO......Page 790
Last-Minute SAP Operations and Help Desk Preparation......Page 792
Addressing Future Service and Support......Page 795
The First Week of Go-Live......Page 798
Summary......Page 803
Case Study: The Cutover Plan......Page 804
Part V: Appendixes......Page 806
A: Case Study Answers......Page 808
B: SAP Acronyms......Page 828
A......Page 854
B......Page 855
C......Page 857
D......Page 859
E......Page 861
F......Page 862
H......Page 863
I......Page 864
J - K......Page 866
M......Page 867
N......Page 868
O......Page 869
P......Page 870
R......Page 873
S......Page 874
T......Page 881
U......Page 884
X - Y - Z......Page 885