12/21/2017 SAP implementation - Wikipedia

SAP implementation
SAP implementation (Systems, Applications & Products implementation) refers to the name of the German
company SAP SE, and is the whole of processes that defines a method to implement the SAP ERP enterprise resource
planning software in an organization. The SAP implementation method described in this entry is a generic method and
not a specific implementation method as such. It is based on best practices and case studies from various literature
sources and presents a collection of processes and products that make up a complete implementation method to allow
any organization to plan and execute the implementation of SAP software.

Contents
Introduction
Overview
Activity table
Implementation processes
Project preparation
Sizing and blueprinting
Realization
Final preparation
Go live & Support
Critical success factors
See also
References

Introduction
The implement of SAP software, such as SAP R/3 is almost always a massive operation that brings a lot of changes in
the organization. The whole process can take up to several years. Virtually every person in the organization is involved,
whether they are part of the SAP technical support organization (TSO) or the actual end-users of the SAP software.
The resulting changes that the implementation of SAP generates are intended to reach high level goals, such as
improved communication and increased return on information (as people will work with the same information). It is
therefore important that the implementation process is planned and executed using a solid method. There are various
SAP implementation methods. An example of how one company, Robert Bosch GmbH, implemented SAP R/3 over 10
years is available. This study shows that designing IT architecture is critical in SAP implementation practices.

IEEE scholar journal reports an industrial case in which the senior management successfully dealt with a troubled SAP
R/3 implementation in an international fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company during 2001 and 2002. (Lui
2008)

Overview

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAP_implementation 1/9
12/21/2017 SAP implementation - Wikipedia

Concept Definition
Activities involved in (1) defining and installing new values, attitudes, norms, and behaviors
within an organization that support new ways of doing work and overcome resistance to
CHANGE change; (2) building consensus among customers and stakeholders on specific changes
MANAGEMENT designed to better meet their needs; and (3) planning, testing, and implementing all aspects
of the transition from one organizational structure or business process to another.
(www.gao.gov)
All documentation that is required and being delivered whilst performing change
CHANGE
management, e.g. the functional test cases and all the other documents a new end-user of
MANAGEMENT
SAP requires and the various tools and approaches used to manage change by the TSO.
DOCUMENTATION.
(Anderson, 2003)
COST OF Determination of where and when the costs are inquired within the context of the SAP
OWNERSHIP solution stack and ongoing operations. The analysis addresses all internal and external
ANALYSIS costs, both one-time as well as recurring (Anderson, 2003)
CUTOVER The process of transitioning from one system to a new system
A data center is a facility used for housing a large amount of electronic equipment, typically
DATA CENTER
computers and communications equipment.
A requirement for the SAP data center, i.e. a physical requirement like power requirements,
DATA CENTER
a rack requirement, a network infrastructure requirement or a requirement to the network
REQUIREMENT
server. (Anderson, 2003)
DISASTER
Requirement that focuses on downtime that lasts many hours to days or even weeks
RECOVERY (DR)
(Anderson, 2003)
REQUIREMENT
FUNCTIONAL A set of conditions or variables under which a tester will determine if a certain business
TEST CASE process works
HIGH
Requirements that describes the amount of time that the system needs to be available to
AVAILABILITY (HA)
satisfy the needs of the users. (Anderson, 2003)
REQUIREMENT
INSTALLATION All documentation related to the installation of an end-to-end SAP solution (Anderson,
DOCUMENTATION 2003)
The collection of current state system documentation, day-to-day and other regularly
OPERATIONS
scheduled operations tasks, various installation and operations checklists and how-to
MANUAL
process documents. (Anderson, 2003)
SAP SE is Europe's biggest software company. The head office is in Walldorf, Germany.
SAP SAP was founded in 1972 as Systemanalyse and Programmentwicklung ("Systems
Analysis and Product") by five former IBM employees in Mannheim, Germany.
SAP
A comprehensive project plan that contains all products that are delivered whilst performing
IMPLEMENTATION
an SAP implementation project (Anderson, 2003)
PROJECT PLAN
Set of software subsystems or components needed to deliver a fully functional solution, e.g.
SOLUTION STACK
a product or service.
SOLUTION STACK A list of all vendors that deliver the products that make up the SAP solution stack
PARTNERS LIST (Anderson, 2003)
SOLUTION VISION A vision of the future-state of the SAP solution (Anderson, 2003)
A test plan that is focused at determining the stability of a given system or entity. It involves
STRESS TEST
testing beyond normal operational capacity, often to a breaking point, in order to observe
PLAN
the results.
A detail of how the test will proceed, who will do the testing, what will be tested, in how
TEST PLAN much time the test will take place, and to what quality level the test will be performed. (IEEE
829)
The acquisition of knowledge, skills, and attitudes as a result of the teaching of vocational
TRAINING
or practical skills and knowledge that relates to specific useful skills (www.practicalsap.com)
TRAINING PLAN Consisting of training units, a training plan is the result of hierarchical decompositions of a
training goal, tailored according to the learning preferences and prior knowledge of the

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAP_implementation 2/9
12/21/2017 SAP implementation - Wikipedia

trainee. A plan is the means by which the trainee satisfies the goal.
(www.ece.eps.hw.ac.uk/)
Technical Support Organization. The people that are committed to implementation and
TSO
management of SAP. (Anderson, 2003)
TSO CHART A chart that depicts the structure of the TSO. (Anderson, 2003)

Activity table
The following table provides a summary of all of the activities that form the SAP implementation process. These
activities will be described with more detail and elaborated with examples in the rest of this entry.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAP_implementation 3/9
12/21/2017 SAP implementation - Wikipedia

Activity Sub-Activity Description

Refine and communicate a SOLUTION VISION of the future-state of the SAP
solution, to sketch a design that meets both business and financial requirements.
Craft The focus should be on the company’s core business and how the SAP solution
solution will better enable that core business to be successful. Some of the guidance and
vision key requirements for how to put together an ERP and SAP business case for ROI,
Project business benefit, and success includes focusing on competitive pressures, value
preparation propositions, and how the solution enables success.
Design and
Design and staff the key positions of the SAP Technical Support Organization
initially staff
(TSO), the organization that is charged with addressing, designing, implementing
the SAP
and supporting the SAP solution.
TSO
Perform cost Perform a COST OF OWNERSHIP ANALYSIS to determine how to get the best
of ownership business solution for the least money i.e. to determine where and when the costs
analysis are incurred within the context of the SAP solution stack.
Identify high
availability
Determine all HIGH AVAILABILITY and DISASTER RECOVERY
and disaster
REQUIREMENTS, to plan what to do with later downtime of the SAP system
recovery
requirements
Engage SAP
Select the best SAP hardware and software technology partners for all layers and
solution
components of the SAP SOLUTION STACK, based on a side-by-side sizing
stack
comparison
vendors

Sizing and Staff the bulk of the TSO, i.e. fill the positions that directly support the near-term
blueprinting Staff TSO objectives of the implementation, which are to develop and begin
installation/implementation of the SAP data center.
Train the various members of the SAP TSO, like data center specialists, high
Execute
availability specialist and network specialists and train the end-users to give all the
training
required SAP knowledge and skills
Setup SAP
Build a new SAP DATA CENTER facility or transform the current data center into a
DATA
foundation capable of supporting the SAP SOLUTION STACK
CENTER
Perform Install the (My)SAP components and technological foundations like a web
installations application server or enterprise portal.
Round out
Identify and staff the remaining TSO roles, e.g. roles that relate to help desk work
support for
and other such support providing work.
SAP
Address Develop a planned approach to the changes in the organization. The objective is to
Change maximize the collective efforts of all people involved in the change and minimize
Management the risk of failure of implementing the changes related to the SAP implementation.
Address
SAP Create a foundation for the SAP systems management and SAP computer
systems and operations, by creating a SAP OPERATIONS MANUAL and by evaluating SAP
SAP
operations management applications.
functional
management
development
Perform
Test the SAP business processes, by executing functional tests to ensure that
functional,
business processes work, integration tests to ensure that the organization’s
integration
business processes work together with other business processes and regression
and
tests to prove that a specific set of data and processes yield consistent and
regression
repeatable results.
tests
Perform
Plan, script, execute and monitor SAP STRESS TESTS, to see if the expectations
systems and
Final of the end users, defined in service level agreements, will be met.
stress tests
Preparation
Prepare for Plan, prepare and execute the CUTOVER, by creating a CUTOVER PLAN that
cutover describes all cutover tasks that have to be performed before the actual go-live

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAP_implementation 4/9
12/21/2017 SAP implementation - Wikipedia

Go Live Turn on the SAP system for the end-users

Implementation processes

Project preparation
Mission Key is also what defines slack. implementation.

Design and initially staff the SAP TSO

The first major step of the project preparation phase is to design and initially staff an SAP technical support
organization (TSO), which is the organization that is charged with addressing, desi Craft solution vision

The second project preparation job is to define a so-called solution vision, i.e. a vision of the future-state of the SAP
solution, where it is important to address both business and financial requirements (budgets). The main focus within
the vision should be on the company’s core business and how the SAP solution will better enable that core business to
be successful. Next to that, the shortcomings of the current systems should be described and short but clear
requirements should be provided regarding availability (uptime), security, manageability and scalability of the SAP
system.

Sizing and blueprinting

The next phase is often referred to as the sizing and blueprinting phase and forms the main chunk of the
implementation process. The phase is illustrated below.

This phase starts with performing a total cost of ownership analysis (TCO analysis) to determine how to get the best
business solution at the lowest costs. This means to compare SAP solution stack options and alternatives and then
determine what costs each part of the stack will bring and when these costs will be incurred. Parts of the stack are for
example the hardware, operating system and database, which form the acquisition costs. Next to that, there should be
taken a look at recurring costs like maintenance costs and downtime costs. Instead of performing a complete TCO
analysis for various solution stack alternatives that would like to compare, it can be wise just to do a so-called delta
analysis, where only the differences between solutions (stacks) are identified and analyzed. The image at the right
depicts the essence of a delta analysis.

Identify high availability and disaster recovery requirements

The next step is identifying the high availability requirements and the more serious disaster recovery requirements.
This is to plan what to do with later downtime of the SAP system, caused by e.g. hardware failures, application failures
or power outages. It should be noted that it is very important to calculate the cost of downtime, so that an organization
has a good idea of its actual availability requirements.

Engage SAP solution stack vendors

A true sizing process is to engage the SAP solution stack vendors, which is the next step. This means selecting the best
SAP hardware and software technology partners for all layers and components of the solution stack, based on a side-
by-side sizing comparison. The most important factors that are of influence here are the estimated numbers of
(concurrent) users and batch sizes. A wise thing to do is to involve SAP SE itself to let them create a sizing proposal
stating the advised solution stack, before moving to SAP’s technology partners/SAP vendors, like Accenture, HP and
IBM. A simplified solution stack is depicted at the right, showing the many layers for which software and hardware has
to be acquired. Note the overlap with the OSI model.

Staff TSO

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAP_implementation 5/9
12/21/2017 SAP implementation - Wikipedia

The TSO (Technical Support Organisation) is the most important resource for an organization that is implementing
SAP, so staffing the TSO is a vital job which can consume a lot of time. In a previous phase, the organization should
already have staffed the most vital positions. At this point the organization should staff the bulk of the TSO, i.e. fill the
positions that directly support the near-term objectives of the implementation, which are to develop and begin the
installation/implementation of the SAP data center. Examples are: data center experts, network infrastructure
experts, security specialists and database administration experts.

There are many ways to find the right people within or outside the organization for all of the TSO positions and it
depends on the organization how much time it wants to spend on staffing.

Training

One of the most vital stages of the implementation process is training. Few people within an organization are SAP
experts or even have worked with SAP software. It is therefore important to train the end users but especially the SAP
TSO: the people who design and implement the solution. The usual activity is to train a group of key users who in turn
train the staff (source: practicalsap.com). The organisation's key users must be involved in the implementation project
and testing of the system. Many people within the TSO need all kinds of training. Some examples of these positions:

SAP Network Specialists

SAP Database Administrators
SAP Security specialists
Documentation specialists
Et cetera
All of these people need to acquire the required SAP knowledge and skills or even SAP certifications through training.
Moreover, people need to learn to do business in a totally new way. To define how much SAP training every person
needs, a company can make use of a skillset matrix. With this matrix, a manager can identify who possesses what
knowledge, to manage and plan training, by defining the height of expertise with a number between e.g. 1 and 4 for
each skill for each employee.

Setup SAP data center

The next step is to set up the SAP data center. This means either building a new data center facility or transforming the
current data center into a foundation capable of supporting the SAP solution stack, i.e. all of the technology layers and
components (SAP software products) in a productive SAP installation. The most important factor when designing the
data center is availability. The high availability and disaster recovery requirements which should have been defined
earlier, give a good idea of the required data center requirements to host the SAP software. Data center requirements
can be a:

Physical requirement like power requirements

Rack requirement
Network infrastructure requirement or
Requirement to the network server.
Perform installations

The following step is to install the required SAP software parts which are called components and technological
foundations like a web application server or enterprise portals, to a state ready for business process configuration. The
most vital sub steps are to prepare your OS, prepare the database server and then start installing SAP software. Here it
is important to use installation guides, which are published for each SAP component or technology solution by SAP
SE. Examples of SAP components are:

R/3 Enterprise — Transaction Processing

mySAP BI — Business Information Warehouse
mySAP CRM — Customer Relationship Management

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAP_implementation 6/9
12/21/2017 SAP implementation - Wikipedia

mySAP KW — Knowledge Warehouse

mySAP PLM — Product Lifecycle Management
mySAP SCM — Supply Chain Management
mySAP SEM — Strategic Enterprise Management
mySAP SRM — Supplier Relationship Management
mySAP HCM — Human Capital Management
Round out support for SAP

Before moving into the functional development phase, the organization should identify and staff the remaining TSO
roles, e.g. roles that relate to helpdesk work and other such support providing work.

Realization
The next phase is the functional development phase, where it is all about change management and testing. This phase
is depicted below.

Address change management

The next challenge for an organization is all about change management / change control, which means to develop a
planned approach to the changes the organization faces. The objective here is to maximize the collective efforts of all
people involved in the change and to minimize the risk of failure of implementing the changes related to the SAP
implementation.

The implementation of SAP software will most surely come with many changes and an organization can expect many
natural reactions, i.e. denial, to these changes. To fight this, it is most important to create a solid project team
dedicated to change management and to communicate the solution vision and goals of this team. This team should be
prepared to handle the many change issues that come from various sources like:

End-user requests
End-User regular activities
Operations
Data center team
DBA group
Systems management
SAP systems and operations management

Next thing is to create a foundation for the SAP systems management and SAP computer operations, by creating a SAP
operations manual and by evaluating SAP management applications. The manual is a collection of current state
system documentation, day-to-day and other regularly scheduled operations tasks, various installation and operations
checklists and how-to process documents.

Functional, integration and regression testing

Testing is important before going live with any system. Before going live with a SAP system, it is vital to do many
different kinds of testing, since there is often a large, complex infrastructure of hardware and software involved. Both
requirements as well as quality parameters are to be tested. Important types of testing are:

Functional testing: to test using functional use cases, i.e. a set of conditions or variables under which a tester will
determine if a certain business process works
Integration testing
Regression testing
All tests should be preceded by creating solid test plans.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAP_implementation 7/9
12/21/2017 SAP implementation - Wikipedia

Agreements will be met. This can be done with SAP’s standard application benchmarks, to benchmark the
organization’s configurations against configurations that have been tested by SAP’s hardware technology partners.
Again, a test plan should be created at first.

Final preparation
Prepare for cutover

The final phase before going live with SAP is often referred to as the cutover phase, which is the process of
transitioning from one system to a new one. The organization needs to plan, prepare and execute the cutover, by
creating a cutover plan that describes all cutover tasks that have to be performed before the actual go-live. Examples of
cutover tasks are:

Review and update all systems-related operations procedures like backup policies and system monitoring
Assign ownership of SAP’s functional processes to individuals
Let SAP SE do a GoingLive check, to get their blessing to go live with the system
Lock down the system, i.e. do not make any more changes to the SAP system

Go live & Support

All of the previously described phases all lead towards this final moment: the go-live. Go-live means to turn on the SAP
system for the end-users and to obtain feedback on the solution and to monitor the solution. It is also the moment
where product software adoption comes into play. More information on this topic:

Product Software Adoption: Big Bang Adoption

Product Software Adoption: Parallel Adoption
Product Software Adoption: Phased Adoption

Critical success factors

In order to successfully implement SAP in an organization, there are several things that are of great importance:

1) Choose the correct SAP Consultants to have the correct blueprint. A SAP Consultant is a professional
who has the skills to speak to the managers of a company and help them creating the blueprint. For this the SAP
Consultant has the business skills of the business area he/she is working with, and also masters this area on SAP. For
example, if this is SAP FI (accountancy) Consultant, this person is an expert on accountancy and payments, gained
through experience or by the corresponding studies at the University. Also this person knows SAP FI because has
gained by the corresponding training, or the course on the SAP Partner Academy or similar. Benefits: As this person
knows about Accountancy he or she will understand the needs of the business and will bring it into reality.

2) SAP R/3 implementation is not an IT project, in fact is an Organization Project impacting all levels of a
company. So it is important to get the support from all the people that are involved in implementing SAP, but more
important the participation and commitment of all levels, especially managers, of the company.

3) The Blueprint is the keystone used as the lighthouse who must guide the whole project. A blueprint should
never be a merely mapping of IT systems. In fact a blueprint is bringing the strategy of a company into execution
through defining its processes across all business areas. Many projects have failed because the focus was on having
people with SAP knowledge, but with no business skills and so defining something that works...wrongly. Just
remember, processes must change across time, and a manual error automated could be repeated infinitely.

4) Always consider changing the way things have been done before implementing SAP. "This has always been
done like this and the Consultant should replicate it on SAP" is the start of a big problem. SAP many times could save
you time and money as it allows your organization to automate many processes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAP_implementation 8/9
12/21/2017 SAP implementation - Wikipedia

5) Test the SAP hardware and software rigorously by testing your business processes, and to ensure that the
end-users are ready to use SAP before going live, because there are many known projects that failed because of a lack
of support and SAP knowledge.

6) Design and execute a Change Management Program by communicating as early as needed all the
information that end users should have to accept the new technology and designing and executing a training plan in
order to reassure a knowledge base within the organizations.

7) Ensure executive alignment early in the project by making sure the project team, executive leadership, and SAP
Implementation partner are aligned (https://clarkstonconsulting.com/insights/switching-sap-implementation-partne
rs/) on the project objectives and success criteria.

See also
SAP ERP
T-code
Product Software Adoption
Wikipedia:WikiProject Method engineering

References
Lui, Kim Man (2008). "Rescuing Troubled Software Projects by Team Transformation: A Case Study With an ERP
Project". IEEE Transaction on Engineering Management 55 (1): 171 - 184. doi:10.1109/TEM.2007.912933 (http
s://doi.org/10.1109%2FTEM.2007.912933).
Anderson, G.W. (2003). SAP Planning: Best Practices in Implementation. Sams Publishing
Francalanci, C. (2001). Predicting the implementation effort of ERP projects: empirical evidence on SAP/R3.
Journal of information technology, Vol. 16, Issue 1, pp33–48.
Hirt, S. G., Swanson, E. B. (1999). Adopting SAP at Siemens Power Corporation. Journal of Information
Technology, Vol. 14, Issue 3, pp243–251.
Krumbholz, M., Maiden, N. (2001). The implementation of enterprise resource planning packages in different
organisational and national cultures. Information systems, Vol. 26, Issue 3, pp185–204.
Sankar, C.S., and Rau, K-H., (2006). Implementation Strategies for SAP R/3 in a Multinational Organization,
Cybertech Publishing, Hershey, PA, 2006.
Xue, Y., Liang, H., Boulton, W.R., Snyder, C.A. (2005) ERP implementation failures in China: Case studies with
implications for ERP vendors. International journal of production economics, Vol. 97, Issue 3, pp279–295.
Yusuf, Y., Gunasekaran, A., Abthorpe, M.S. (2004). Enterprise information systems project implementation: A
case study of ERP in Rolls-Royce. International journal of production economics, Vol. 87, Issue: 3, pp251–266.
Hackett, Mike (2017) "How to Know It's Time to Replace Your SAP Implementation Partner".
https://clarkstonconsulting.com/insights/switching-sap-implementation-partners/

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=SAP_implementation&oldid=811429448"

This page was last edited on 21 November 2017, at 15:27.

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using
this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAP_implementation 9/9