Tips for Writing a Solid and Realistic Work Plan for Your SAP NetWeaver BI Project

1. Tips for Writing a Solid and Realistic Work Plan for Your SAP NetWeaver BI Project Dr. Bjarne Berg

2. What We’ll Cover … • Selecting an approach to use for your project • Defining project milestones • Allocating appropriate resources • Using SAP Solution Manager • Taking advantage of SAP Best Practices BI tool • Leveraging the SAP Best Practices work plan • Wrap-up

3. The Gray Areas of Methodologies • First step in determining how to write a work plan is to pick a methodology for your project • While Accelerated SAP (ASAP) is normally the default method, there are alternatives There are several dimensions when multiple methodologies can be employed (i.e., when time to delivery is moderate, or when the impact of failure is moderate)

4. A Brief Look at ASAP • ASAP for SAP NetWeaver BI is based on many of the same ideas and approaches found in the ASAP methodology for SAP R/3 Source: SAP

5. What is ASAP? Examples for Accelerators: Fill in the Blank vs. Start from Scratch Project plan, estimating • Fill in the Blank Design strategies, scope definition • Versus Documentation, issues DB • Start from Scratch Workshop agenda • Questionnaires • End - user procedures • Test plans • Technical procedures • Made easy guidebooks (printout, data transfer, • system administration …) Source: SAP

6. What We’ll Cover … • Selecting an approach to use for your project • Defining project milestones • Allocating appropriate resources • Using SAP Solution Manager • Taking advantage of SAP Best Practices BI tool • Leveraging the SAP Best Practices work plan • Wrap-up

7. Project Preparation — Some Key Observations Project charter: Represents an agreement on, and commitment to, the deliverables of the project, as well as project time constraints, resources, standards, and budget. Scope: Sets the initial definition of the project. Project plan: This is the first cut. It focuses on milestones and work packages. Project team organization: Sets the “who” of the project. This decides who will be involved and what their goal is. Standards and procedures: Sets the “why” and “how” of the project. Standardizing how meetings are run, how documents are handled, etc., meaning that everyone understands what is going on. Source: Pauline Woods-Wilson

8. Project Preparation — The Scope Statement • Scope statement should include: • Technical source systems and modules (e.g., SAP R/3 CCA) • Technology components (SAP NetWeaver PI, SAP NetWeaver BI, SEM-CPM, SAP APO, XML, etc.) • Functional purpose (profit loss statement, sales analysis, etc.) • User community (location, organization, types, numbers) • Access interfaces (Web portal, cockpit, Business Explorer (BEx), Crystal, third-party) • Security (encryption, single sign-on, data level security, role security, etc.)

9. Project Preparation — The Scope Statement (cont.) • Scope statement should include(cont.): • Hardware components(development environment, test, QA and production, Unix, NT, Web servers, app servers, leverage of existing infrastructure) • Impacted organizations • Retirement of legacy reporting systems (if any) • Project language and documentation system Remember to include in the scope statement, what is not included in the scope and make sure it is agreed to before the project starts.

10. Project Preparation — The Milestone Plan • The first work plan should consist of only core tasks, milestones, and their critical dates • Resources are simply referred to by their role instead of individual names individuals (update later when resources are assigned) Project plan: This is the first cut. It focuses on milestones and work packages. To write the first cut project plan, you need to have determined scope, resource need/availability, and time

11. Project Preparation — Milestone Dates The milestone plan should be published and posted on the walls. Do not “hide it” in the project manager’s drawer. Project plan: This is the first cut. It focuses on milestones and work packages. • The Milestone Plan should consist of all major phases, start and end dates, and duration • The plan should also include special project dates and events such as workshops, project reviews, approvals, etc.

12. What We’ll Cover … • Selecting an approach to use for your project • Defining project milestones • Allocating appropriate resources • Using SAP Solution Manager • Taking advantage of SAP Best Practices BI tool • Leveraging the SAP Best Practices work plan • Wrap-up

13. Resources — Roles • SAP NetWeaver BI projects consist of a team of highly-skilled individuals • The quality of the people is much more important than the number • A skilled developer can accomplish correctly what three novice developers will mess up in the same amount of time • Think of the project team as a set of roles, not individuals • A person may fulfill more than one role during the project Project Resources Program/Project Manager Application Consultant Application Team Member Technical Consultant Technical Team Member Technical Team Lead Help Desk Provider and Manager Business Process Team Lead Training and Documentation Lead Customer Project Sponsor You should staff your project based on the needs, not based on who is available at a given time. Sometimes the right decision is to delay a project until the right people can participate.

14. Team Organization — Small Project for Single Subject Area • These are roles, not positions (sometimes one team member can fill more than one role) This is a good organization for teams that use Joint Application Development (JAD) or Rapid Application Development (RAD) as their development methodology. The development is interactive, scope is small, and the timeline for each implementation is short. Larger projects can create multiple project teams working on dedicated areas. However, very tight coordination is required to pull this off in practice. Basis and functional SAP R/3 support Four to five team members and normally three to six months duration depending on scope ETL = Extract, transform and load

15. Basis and Functional SAP R/3 Support Team Organization — Mid-Sized SAP NetWeaver BI Projects This organization by roles is useful on mid-sized projects using system development lifecycle methodologies such as ASAP. It is scalable, but business analysts must be given direct access to developers to make this work in practice. Eight to ten team members and normally two to four months duration depending on scope These are roles, not positions (sometimes one team member can fill more than one role)

16. Basis and Functional SAP R/3 Support Team Organization — Large SAP NetWeaver BI Projects This organization is grouped by functional areas. It is very scalable for large projects, but requires solid coordination between the architect and the developers on each sub-team. Sometimes both a front-end and back-end architect are used on very large projects. Project Sponsor/ Steering Committee Project Manager BI Architect Portal developer(s) Sales Team Finance Team Material Mgmt. Team Business Analyst/(sub-team lead) Business Analyst/(sub-team lead) Business Analyst/(sub-team lead) BI Developer BI Developer BI Developer Presentation Developer(s) Presentation Developer(s) Presentation Developer(s) ETL Developer ETL Developer ETL Developer Fifteen to twenty-five team members and normally six to eighteen months duration depending on scope

17. What We’ll Cover … • Selecting an approach to use for your project • Defining project milestones • Allocating appropriate resources • Using SAP Solution Manager • Taking advantage of SAP Best Practices BI tool • Leveraging the SAP Best Practices work plan • Wrap-up

18. SAP Solution Manager: Don’t Build Everything from Scratch Implementation Platform Solution Monitoring Service Desk E-Learning Upgrade Change Request Management Tools Implementation Content Roadmaps Services Best Practice Documents Content SAP Active Global Support Gateway to SAP Service Delivery Platform Source: SAP You can incorporate many shared documents and tools into your project. Your work plan should reflect the time savings of using these accelerators. SAP Solution Manager is delivered as part of your annual maintenance fee.

19. SAP Solution Manager: What Is Useful for BI? Testing Training ProjectPreparation BusinessBlueprint Configuration Define e-learning units and create learning maps Test processes Configure processes Define project Define customer solutionbased onSAP processes Set up system landscape Synchronize customer settings Project Administration Issue Tracking/Monitoring/Reporting Roadmaps Change Management Green areas indicate material that can be leveraged in SAP NetWeaver BI All items in SAP Solution Manager are not equally useful for the BI project team. However, some material can be used. Collect the material and make it part of the deliverables for you team. Write work plan tasks that directly reference the BI tasks you decide to use. SAP Solution manager Version 3.2 SP8 or higher is required to upgrade to SAP NetWeaver 7.0.

20. SAP Solution Manager: EarlyWatch Reports Are Great! • EarlyWatch reports: • Provide a simple way to confirm how your system is running and to catch problems • Are a “goldmine” for system recommendations • A copy of a full 40 pages from a real report is included on the conference CD

21. SAP Solution Manager: EarlyWatch Reports Sample • Run them periodicallyand read the details • Let’s take a look at a real EarlyWatch report from a mid-sized company that has been running SAP BW for the last few years

22. SAP Solution Manager: EarlyWatch Reports Sample (cont.)

23. What We’ll Cover … • Selecting an approach to use for your project • Defining project milestones • Allocating appropriate resources • Using SAP Solution Manager • Taking advantage of SAP Best Practices BI tool • Leveraging the SAP Best Practices work plan • Wrap-up

24. SAP Best Practices for Business Intelligence • Is a new tool with consolidated access to documentation, hints, white papers, recommendations, tools, and a sample work plan • All based on BI scenarios • Gives you many templates and a work plan • Is intended for mid-sized enterprises that need rapid implementation or by large companies that need to create a corporate template for their subsidiaries • New SAP customers can also combine this with the Baseline Package or an industry-specific version of SAP Best Practices SAP Best Practices for Business Intelligence supports predefined scenarios that handle core BI business requirements.

25. SAP Best Practices for Business Intelligence (cont.) This tool has been enhanced over the last two years, and has several BI specific project accelerators that you will not find in SAP Solution Manager. A test drive is available at http://help.sap.com/bp_biv170/index.htm.

26. An Option — Work Plans Based on Deliverables • The best practice documents are organized around scenarios that simplify the collection of tools Many of your team’s deliverables can be downloaded here. You can incorporate them specifically into your work plans.

27. Deliverables for Your Work Plan • Sales analysis example gives an overview of what SAP NetWeaver BI has to offer, how to build it, and best practices for a variety of technical designs These are tools and accelerators that you can download and make deliverables in your work plan.

28. An Option — Create Your Work Plan Based on Scenarios • Each scenario is described in a processoverview document

29. Keep the Work Plan at a Manageable Level • Don’t load too many details into the work plan • Explain what needs to be done, not how to do it • SAP Best Practices for BI has installation guides to assist The installation guide has step-by-step scenario-based documentation. Do not replicate minute steps in the work plan; keep it at a high enough level where it is useful, but not a burden to maintain.

30. What Versions Does It Support? SAP NetWeaver BI 7.0 The SAP Best Practices tool was developed for SAP BW 3.5, and later updated for SAP NetWeaver BI 7.0 SAP BW 3.5 Source: SAP – Jan, 2007 While installation recommendations are based on SAP BW 3.5 or SAP NetWeaver BI 7.0, most management tools, accelerators, and the sample work plan are not version-specific.

31. What We’ll Cover … • Selecting an approach to use for your project • Defining project milestones • Allocating appropriate resources • Using SAP Solution Manager • Taking advantage of SAP Best Practices BI tool • Leveraging the SAP Best Practices work plan • Wrap-up

32. The Sample Work Plan You can download the work plan from the Project Support area.

33. The Work Plan — Some Background • The work plan on the SAP BI Best Practice CD (and on the Web site) is a Microsoft Project project plan file (.mpp) • The work plan is only an example that you need to modify to fit your project’s scope, resources, and timelines • The example is based on a rapid development of a single subject area over a five week period • However, the tasks and their dependencies are relevant to larger projects that may require substantially more time

34. The Work Plan — Some Background (cont.) • The resource plan assumes that 11 roles are filled on the project (two part-time) • This includes two consultants and one project sponsor Project Resources Program/Project Manager Application Consultant Application Team Member Technical Consultant Technical Team Member Technical Team Lead Help Desk Provider and Manager The work plan is an example and should not be used as a “cookie cutter” for your work plan. Sound judgments must still be applied. Business Process Team Lead Training and Documentation Lead Customer Project Sponsor

35. Project Preparation — SomeKey Observations Project charter: Represents an agreement on, and commitment to, the deliverables of the project, as well as project time constraints, resources, standards, and budget. Project plan: This is the first cut. It focuses on milestones and work packages. Scope: Sets the initial definition of the project. Project team organization: Sets the “who” of the project. This decides who will be involved and what is their goal. Standards and procedures: Sets the “why” and “how” of the project. Standardizing how meetings are run, how documents are handled, etc., means that everyone understands what is going on. Source: Pauline Woods-Wilson

36. Project Preparation Phase • While short in duration, do not spend too much time on the project prep phase • It is easy to get intimidated by the many unknowns • Rely on your consultants, but keep the momentum Spending more than 15% of your project time in this phase is a sign of analysis-paralysis.

37. Project Sizing — 1. Base It on the Scope (Real Example) Remember that your sizing also has to be based on the team’s experience and skill level.

38. Project Sizing — 2. Prioritize the Effort • The next step is to prioritize and outline the effort on a strategic timeline Make sure your sponsor and the business community agree with your delivery schedule

39. Project Sizing — 3. General Guidelines Plan to spend 15% of the project time on project prep, 25% on blueprinting, 45% on realization and 15% on go-live. There is a risk of spending too much time on design and short changing development time, which often causes project delays. Accept that you will not have answers to all questions until you see the data and queries.

40. Project Preparation Phase — Dependencies • Key to project prep phase is the level setting of all parties • One-day workshop with stakeholders, managers, and sponsors • Dedicate some time early in the workshop to demo SAP NetWeaver BI and discuss capabilities of the tool set A one-day workshop can remove project confusion and delays, help in getting the right requirements, and avoid missing “low hanging fruit.”

41. Blueprinting Phase — Some Key Observations Getting the right requirements: Finding out the detailed functional specs of what the users really need and not just what they want Deciding what will be developed in SAP NetWeaver BI and what will be maintained as SAP R/3 reports Map the functional requirements to the standard content and see what can be leveraged and what needs to be extended Create detailed technical specifications and designs of InfoCubes, MasterData, ODSs and high-level architectural designs Create user acceptance group(s) and have them review and give feedback on the system as it is developed ODS = Operational Data Store

42. Blueprinting Phase — Planning • Lock-down the detailed scope early and obtain formal written approval for your detailed scope statement • Implement a formal change approval process Spend some time early on to plan user training and support; also, formalize your team organization

43. Blueprinting Phase — Planning Dependencies • Many tasks can take place at the same time • The trick is to ensure all team members are active and the workload is evenly balanced throughout project Spend some time on resource loading and workload balancing. Not all tasks are dependent.

44. Blueprinting Phase — Design, Architecture, and Training • Users should be defined in terms of power users, casual users, and executives • Each user group will have different interface requirements • Spend some time writing the data flow to each ODS and InfoCube • Perform a quality validation on your hardware implementation (RAID, O/S, RDBMS, network, BI install, etc.) Define clearly when each datastore has to be loaded (time) and the frequency of the loads.

45. Blueprinting Phase — Resource Planning Ideal Years Training Days In-House Experience (if new in Training (minimum) the role) Days BI Developer 2+ 15 3 - 5 ETL Developer 3+ 15 - 20 3 - 5 Presentation Developer 1+ 5 - 10 3 - 5 Project Manager 5+ 10 - 15 3 - 5 Business Analysts 5+ 5 - 10 3 - 5 Plan time on the work plan for early training of your staff members

46. Ensure you plan detailed procedures for transporting objects between the development, testing, and production landscape Much like an SAP R/3 project, you should plan to test the security/roles, load programs, update and transfer rules, as well as data stores, aggregated delta-enabled extractors, and time-dependent objects Blueprinting Phase — Project Management and Test Plans You should plan to spend about 20 - 40% of your project time on testing and fixes.

47. Blueprinting Phase — Project Management, Test Plans, Dependencies SAP R/3 and BI testing is not different from a methodology standpoint, but the execution is.

48. Realization Phase — Some Key Observations Development Programs: Provide details of added programming structures End User: Training material, manuals, Web site, on-line help Configuration: Activate content, make extensions to SAP NetWeaver BI standard content, execute test data and masterdata loads, validate data quality, build and modify transfer and/or update rules Testing: Unit testing by developers, acceptance testing by business analysts, system and integration testing by users

49. Realization Phase — Development Core Activities If SAP NetWeaver BI is new in the organization you should seriously consider hiring experienced BI developer(s) or rely on external resources during this phase.

50. Realization Phase — Development Core Dependencies • Most issues during this phase will be data ETL • While you cannot plan for all issues, you can set aside time to deal with them Data cleansing should occur in the source system. (Hint: Cover this in the scope statement.) Source: SAP