EC08 - Copy Chart ref. Chart of depreciation –Creating of own chart of account by copying it from standard chart of depreciation.
OAOB- Assign chart of depreciation to Co. Code –Assigning COD to company code.
SPRO- Specify account determination –Creation of account determination ID and description.
SPRO- Create screen layout rules –Creation of screen lay out ID for assets master and description.
SPRO- Define screen layout for assets master data –Setting screen layout for assets master data.
AO21- Define screen layout for assets depreciation area –Setting screen layout for assets depreciation area.
AOLK, AOLA- Specify tab layout for assets master –Setting tab layout for assets master and assigning it to assets class.
OAOA – Define no. Range interval - creating number range interval for assets master. This can be internal or external.
ANK1- Defining master data specific to COD.- Here we define COD dependent data for assets
master.
OADX- Define how depreciation areas post to general ledger –We will define here how and what depreciation areas will be posted to G/L account online or periodic.
AO90- Assign G/L account –In this step we will assign G/L account with respect to account determination key and COD. for assets acquisition and depreciation areas
OBYD- Specify posting key for assets posting –We will define here posting keys for assets posting and G/L posting.
OBCL- Assign input tax indicator for non-taxable acquisition: - Assignment of input tax indicator for non-taxable acquisition.
OAYN- Specify the financial statement version for assets report –- In this step we will assign financial statement version per depreciation area of company code.
AO71- Specify document type for posting depreciation –In this step we will specify document type will be used for assets posting.
OAYR- Specify interval and posting rule –In this step we will define in what interval depreciation will be calculated and what will be posted.
OADB- Define depreciation areas In this step we may create additional depreciation areas or can change depreciation areas, which are copied from the standard one.
OAYZ- Determine depreciation areas in assets class –In this step we will define depreciation areas in the assets class.
OABN- Determine depreciation areas –In this step we will what type of posting will be allowed for depreciation areas, the following options are allowed.
Ordinary depreciation not allowed.
Only positive values or zero allowed.
Only negative values or zero allowed.
All values allowed.
20) Define Calculation Method : In this step we will define various calculation method that will be assigned to depreciation key. The T Code and calculation methods are.
Define Base Method: SPRO
Define declining Balance Method – AFAMD
Define Maximum amount Method – SPRO
Define Multilevel Methods – AFAMS
Define Period Control Method – AFAMP
21) AFAMA – Maintained Depreciation Key –In this step we will
Assign various calculation method to deprecation key.
Set active the depreciation key.
Tells to system the deprecation type
Change over method
Change over depreciation rate
Thursday, February 15, 2007
ASSETS ACCOUNTING
The Asset Accounting (FI-AA) component is used for managing and supervising fixed assets with the SAP R/3 System. In SAP R/3 Financial Accounting, it serves as a subsidiary ledger to the FI General Ledger, providing detailed information on transactions involving fixed assets. The R/3 Asset Accounting component is intended for international use in many countries, irrespective of the nature of the industry. This means, for example, that no country-specific valuation rules are hard-coded in the system. You give this component its country-specific and company-specific character with the settings you make in Customizing. To minimize the time and energy involved in Customizing, country-specific defaults are provided in the standard system where possible.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Continuous Business Engineering
In today’s fast-moving, ever-changing business climate, companies are in a constant state of flux and their mission-critical applications must adapt and evolve at the same speed. If software cannot grow with the needs of a company, the company will quickly find itself in a straightjacket.
Furthermore, an ERP application needs to let you move forward fast, knowing that you can roll back changes without downtime.
An enterprise’s organizational structure and the corresponding R/3 implementation created using the Business Engineer are not "set in concrete", they can be modified at any time. Examples of possible changes, which can be made rapidly include the following:
Addition or removal of entities within the organization structure (for example, business units, production plants, warehouses, etc.)
Introduction of new staff, promotion, reallocation of work tasks, and maintenance of authorization profiles
Changes to the reporting or cost/profit center structure
New and concurrent currencies
Accommodation of changed legal requirements (for example, new tax rates, new employment legislation)
Activation or deactivation of R/3 functions
Optimization of business processes
Support for new and multiple versions of R/3
In addition, SAP offers a range of services if you want support for some of these changes, for example, conversion services to support mergers and acquisitions. Standard Euro services are a further example of the available services.
AcceleratedSAP and R/3 Business Engineer take the hassle out of implementation procedures and change management. Modifications can be made at any time, and the compatibility of changes can be verified with other configuration decisions, thus supporting their smooth, trouble-free introduction into the productive system.
Furthermore, an ERP application needs to let you move forward fast, knowing that you can roll back changes without downtime.
An enterprise’s organizational structure and the corresponding R/3 implementation created using the Business Engineer are not "set in concrete", they can be modified at any time. Examples of possible changes, which can be made rapidly include the following:
Addition or removal of entities within the organization structure (for example, business units, production plants, warehouses, etc.)
Introduction of new staff, promotion, reallocation of work tasks, and maintenance of authorization profiles
Changes to the reporting or cost/profit center structure
New and concurrent currencies
Accommodation of changed legal requirements (for example, new tax rates, new employment legislation)
Activation or deactivation of R/3 functions
Optimization of business processes
Support for new and multiple versions of R/3
In addition, SAP offers a range of services if you want support for some of these changes, for example, conversion services to support mergers and acquisitions. Standard Euro services are a further example of the available services.
AcceleratedSAP and R/3 Business Engineer take the hassle out of implementation procedures and change management. Modifications can be made at any time, and the compatibility of changes can be verified with other configuration decisions, thus supporting their smooth, trouble-free introduction into the productive system.
Available Tools
Embarking on an implementation project requires a lot of careful thought beforehand. You need to think about what you want to accomplish, the optimum sequence, and the business cases that are best suited to your needs. But SAP has already done a lot of the thinking for you and packaged its findings in the following tools. They are then described in more detail in the following chapters organized according to the corresponding AcceleratedSAP phases.
AcceleratedSAP (ASAP): A comprehensive solution for the introduction of the R/3 System in your enterprise. ASAP and most of its tools can be used independently of an R/3 installation.
The tools available for AcceleratedSAP are:
The Project Estimator, an internal SAP tool which enables SAP consultants to accurately gauge the required resources, the costs and the time frame of implementation. The Project Estimator takes into account the project scope and several project and risk factors.
The Concept Check Tool, a tool enabling you to carry out quality checks on the project preparation, technical infrastructure and R/3 configuration settings. This is done mainly during the first two implementation phases of the R/3 project. In this way you are alerted to potential data volume and configuration conflicts that could lead to performance issues if not addressed.
The Implementation Assistant: The ASAP navigation tool that accompanies you through the five phases of implementation down to the task level. It includes a description and a detailed “how-to” for each task in the Roadmap. Along with that, many tools, templates and documents are hyperlinked to the task. The Implementation Assistant contains the following elements:
ASAP Implementation Roadmap and Project Plan. The Roadmap contains the five phases, from which you can drill down into work packages, activities and tasks. The Project Plan contains three components, a budget plan, a resource plan and a work plan. These are explained in more detail in the next chapter.
The ASAP Roadmap is the successor of the R/3-based Procedure Model, which was used until Rel. 3.1 in R/3 implementation projects.
Knowledge Corner, containing tips and tricks for configuration from consultants, detailed documentation on SAP’s implementation services, information on technical tools, as well as simplification guidebooks and R/3 Customizing wizards.
Question and Answer Database (Q&Adb). Using the R/3 Reference Model structure, the Q&Adb is used to assist in gathering requirements for business processes, conversions, reports, interfaces, enhancements and authorizations. The database provides useful questionnaires to help you define the process needs and also serves as a repository for all this information. Since it is a database, it allows for flexible reporting. The business requirements generated from the Q&Adb are collectively known as the Business Blueprint.
Business Process Master List, to manage configuration, testing and the creation of end user documentation. The Business Process Master List is linked to pre-written Business Process Procedures (BPPs), detailled end-user documentation for R/3 transactions.
Issues Database: supporting project management, this database supports the entering, monitoring and managing of issues that come up during the project.
R/3 Business Engineer: The implementation tools for the high-quality configuration of the R/3 System are:
R/3 Reference Model: Comprehensive graphical process flows describing the R/3 functionality from different points of view. It contains scenarios, processes and functions, as well as components. The R/3 Reference Model can be viewed using SAP’s Business Navigator and the Business Navigator Web, or using third-party modeling tools available from modeling partners.
Implementation Guide (IMG): Used to configure all system parameters for the business processes in R/3. It contains project management functionality and a menu-driven view of all R/3 Customizing activities. Every activity can be documented in detail, and responsibilities and statuses can be assigned.
Preconfigured systems:
Preconfigured US and Canadian clients: Provides a head start on baseline configuration. It includes a preconfigured US/Canadian chart of accounts, print forms, account determination, units of measure, etc. The predefined test sequences that are included can be a starting point for integration testing.
Preconfigured industry systems: A number of complete preconfigured clients consisting of an industry-specific model and preconfigured business processes for the needs of a particular industry in R/3 are available. For more information on preconfigured systems, see the description of Phase 2, Business Blueprint or the information on the IDES System in this chapter.
AcceleratedSAP (ASAP): A comprehensive solution for the introduction of the R/3 System in your enterprise. ASAP and most of its tools can be used independently of an R/3 installation.
The tools available for AcceleratedSAP are:
The Project Estimator, an internal SAP tool which enables SAP consultants to accurately gauge the required resources, the costs and the time frame of implementation. The Project Estimator takes into account the project scope and several project and risk factors.
The Concept Check Tool, a tool enabling you to carry out quality checks on the project preparation, technical infrastructure and R/3 configuration settings. This is done mainly during the first two implementation phases of the R/3 project. In this way you are alerted to potential data volume and configuration conflicts that could lead to performance issues if not addressed.
The Implementation Assistant: The ASAP navigation tool that accompanies you through the five phases of implementation down to the task level. It includes a description and a detailed “how-to” for each task in the Roadmap. Along with that, many tools, templates and documents are hyperlinked to the task. The Implementation Assistant contains the following elements:
ASAP Implementation Roadmap and Project Plan. The Roadmap contains the five phases, from which you can drill down into work packages, activities and tasks. The Project Plan contains three components, a budget plan, a resource plan and a work plan. These are explained in more detail in the next chapter.
The ASAP Roadmap is the successor of the R/3-based Procedure Model, which was used until Rel. 3.1 in R/3 implementation projects.
Knowledge Corner, containing tips and tricks for configuration from consultants, detailed documentation on SAP’s implementation services, information on technical tools, as well as simplification guidebooks and R/3 Customizing wizards.
Question and Answer Database (Q&Adb). Using the R/3 Reference Model structure, the Q&Adb is used to assist in gathering requirements for business processes, conversions, reports, interfaces, enhancements and authorizations. The database provides useful questionnaires to help you define the process needs and also serves as a repository for all this information. Since it is a database, it allows for flexible reporting. The business requirements generated from the Q&Adb are collectively known as the Business Blueprint.
Business Process Master List, to manage configuration, testing and the creation of end user documentation. The Business Process Master List is linked to pre-written Business Process Procedures (BPPs), detailled end-user documentation for R/3 transactions.
Issues Database: supporting project management, this database supports the entering, monitoring and managing of issues that come up during the project.
R/3 Business Engineer: The implementation tools for the high-quality configuration of the R/3 System are:
R/3 Reference Model: Comprehensive graphical process flows describing the R/3 functionality from different points of view. It contains scenarios, processes and functions, as well as components. The R/3 Reference Model can be viewed using SAP’s Business Navigator and the Business Navigator Web, or using third-party modeling tools available from modeling partners.
Implementation Guide (IMG): Used to configure all system parameters for the business processes in R/3. It contains project management functionality and a menu-driven view of all R/3 Customizing activities. Every activity can be documented in detail, and responsibilities and statuses can be assigned.
Preconfigured systems:
Preconfigured US and Canadian clients: Provides a head start on baseline configuration. It includes a preconfigured US/Canadian chart of accounts, print forms, account determination, units of measure, etc. The predefined test sequences that are included can be a starting point for integration testing.
Preconfigured industry systems: A number of complete preconfigured clients consisting of an industry-specific model and preconfigured business processes for the needs of a particular industry in R/3 are available. For more information on preconfigured systems, see the description of Phase 2, Business Blueprint or the information on the IDES System in this chapter.
AcceleratedSAP
AcceleratedSAP is a comprehensive solution for the implementation of the R/3 System, comprising a proven methodology, tools and a range of services for the rapid implementation and ongoing optimization of R/3 installations.
The AcceleratedSAP Roadmap and accompanying Project Plan provide a standard implementation “how-to guide” that fills in the gaps of diverse methodologies and varying individual implementation skills and experiences.
The effectiveness of AcceleratedSAP has been demonstrated many times over at companies around the world. The Business Engineer plays a central role in AcceleratedSAP projects, being used for completion of configuration tasks.
The AcceleratedSAP Roadmap covers the different aspects and phases of an implementation. In the Roadmap, a detailed project plan is included for the five phases. The Roadmap provides a standard repeatable procedure for implementing the R/3 System, including project management, configuration of business processes, technical, testing and training aspects. The Roadmap serves as a backbone to AcceleratedSAP. It is located within the Implementation Assistant, a PC-based navigation tool that also contains the AcceleratedSAP accelerators.
The ASAP Accelerators represent a collection of descriptions, how-to’s, templates and examples on all subjects relating to the implementation of the R/3 System. Some are short information texts on a particular subject, others are longer texts such as white papers. There are also a number of predefined and empty templates or forms which you can use when carrying out your implementation. The SAP Simplification Group’s guidebooks are included. There are about 350 accelerators for AcceleratedSAP 4.0, and they can be accessed from an alphabetical list, as well as being linked to the individual roadmap How-to’s.
There are four levels to the roadmap – phase, work package, activity, task. As you dig deeper into the levels, you will find more detailed information, from an overview description at the phase level down to a “how-to” procedure, role assignment, triggers, and tips and tricks.
It is essential that you create a project plan when starting your ASAP implementation project. Project plans have three parts:
The Budget Plan contains the projected costs by month, against the actual costs and calculates the variance.
The Resource Plan contains the resources assigned to the R/3 implementation. It displays the planned and actual number of workdays per month, as well as the variance between the two. It also contains a cumulative planned hours work sheet.
The Work Plan contains a detailed set of phases, work packages, activities, and tasks from the AcceleratedSAP Roadmap. This information is organized in a project management planning tool (MS-Project or Excel spreadsheet). A Gantt Chart is contained within this work plan to view schedules, dependencies and resources in MS-Project.
Three sample project plans are included for a six-month duration, a nine-month duration, and an upgrade project plan. If the Project Estimator is used during the sales cycle and Project
Preparation Phase, your individual project plan is generated automatically, taking into consideration company-specific risk factors. The project plan makes sure that nothing is forgotten and that all activities can be tracked and managed. This means, for instance, that the planning for data transfer and the development and testing of interfaces is already included in the project plan.
It is now possible to implement more than one ASAP project at a time. During installation, Rel. 4.0 of ASAP asks you to specify a project name that will apply to the files being installed. In a multi-project environment a new Project Selector icon on your desktop allows you to set the active project, remove projects and review file locations.
You can select installed components such as the Implementation Assistant and Q&Adb in the respective projects as required. Each project is completely separate from the others, so in fact projects installed on the same server could be at different update levels.
AcceleratedSAP is a complete implementation solution. This means that in addition to the Roadmap, the AcceleratedSAP solution contains numerous tools and also references SAP education and services to ensure maximum time savings and a high quality implementation.
AcceleratedSAP uses the Business Engineer implementation tools at all relevant steps. In the figure below, for example, the conceptual design is based on the R/3 Reference Model in Phase 2 (Business Blueprint), whereas the Implementation Guide is accessed from ASAP Phase 3 (Realization).
Service and Support
ASAP leverages SAP’s service and support offering, that is, all the services relating to the SAP R/3 environment. EarlyWatch® Services, concept reviews, and GoingLiveTM checks are just part of the service palette which ensure total quality and let you effectively tune your R/3 System. At appropriate steps in the Roadmap, service products are mentioned and decision support is provided to determine whether you need a particular service. For example, if you have a high volume of transactions, certain tuning services can assist you in optimizing system performance.
Crucial to a fast and cost-effective R/3 implementation are well-trained project teams and highly competent consultants. SAP’s innovative R/3 Info Database (InfoDB) ensures that customer and partner employees involved in implementing, servicing and using R/3 have all the qualifications they need. The InfoDB refers to a new training concept based on a new curriculum, which also includes multimedia courses.
Level 1 courses provide an overview of the R/3 environment.
Level 2 courses introduce you to fundamental business processes.
Level 3 courses focus on providing detailed information.
Organizational Change Management
The positive motivation of employees is a key factor in ensuring a successful implementation project. However, most organizations know, or will at least assume that the R/3 implementation will trigger wider changes in the organization. Left unmanaged, these expected impacts could be viewed negatively. Therefore, any change management program must minimize the implementation risks, acccelerate the implementation process, and align SAP with the customer’s organization.
ASAP’s Change Management is done via a risk assessment tool, by which assessments carried out will help a customer’s team deal with issues of credibility, organizational impact, and individual impact of R/3 implementation. Implementing change management procedures involves accelerating the implementation by means such as a matrix that defines the degree to which jobs and responsibilities will be changed after R/3 implementation. The other aspect is to work with executive sponsors to redesign the organization’s structure or reporting relationships, for example. The ASAP change management methodology enables you to review and revise the types and sequencing of change tasks, change activities, change packages and change accelerators.
A change task is a specific job or function to be completed by the change team.
Two or more change tasks roll up into a change activity.
A change package is a collection of change activities.
Change accelerators are the tools and/or materials that speed up the team’s implementation of a processs, activity or task.
Knowledge Corner
The Knowledge Corner contains alphabetized information on all aspects of AcceleratedSAP as well as a lot of tips and tricks for configuration. The information provided here is very helpful during requirements gathering and configuration. The goals of the Knowledge Corner are:
To provide application consultants with detailed information and alternatives to configure and understand specific functionality within the R/3 System.
To provide detailed information about peripheral activities, such as support services and access to hotline activity.
To provide tips and tricks on R/3 implementation activities such as data conversion, authorization management, and forms development.
Some of the newer elements found in the Knowledge Corner are:
A link to the R/3 Interface Adviser, which provides a central pool of information to help you design and implement permanent interfaces between SAP R/3 components and non-SAP systems.
The R/3 Structure Modeler, which lets you graphically visualize the R/3 System organizational structures of your enterprise using the Structure Modeler Visio® template. Please note, you must be a licensed Visio® user to use this Accelerator.
The Report Navigator, which provides a directory of more than 2,000 operational reports available in standard R/3. The Operational Reports in R/3 help you pull and analyze critical transactional information regarding your business. You can use the R/3 Report Navigator to select the report that is optimal for the information you want to retrieve about your business transactions.
Available Languages
Primary components of AcceleratedSAP are available in German and English, as well as Spanish, French and Portuguese.
The AcceleratedSAP Roadmap and accompanying Project Plan provide a standard implementation “how-to guide” that fills in the gaps of diverse methodologies and varying individual implementation skills and experiences.
The effectiveness of AcceleratedSAP has been demonstrated many times over at companies around the world. The Business Engineer plays a central role in AcceleratedSAP projects, being used for completion of configuration tasks.
The AcceleratedSAP Roadmap covers the different aspects and phases of an implementation. In the Roadmap, a detailed project plan is included for the five phases. The Roadmap provides a standard repeatable procedure for implementing the R/3 System, including project management, configuration of business processes, technical, testing and training aspects. The Roadmap serves as a backbone to AcceleratedSAP. It is located within the Implementation Assistant, a PC-based navigation tool that also contains the AcceleratedSAP accelerators.
The ASAP Accelerators represent a collection of descriptions, how-to’s, templates and examples on all subjects relating to the implementation of the R/3 System. Some are short information texts on a particular subject, others are longer texts such as white papers. There are also a number of predefined and empty templates or forms which you can use when carrying out your implementation. The SAP Simplification Group’s guidebooks are included. There are about 350 accelerators for AcceleratedSAP 4.0, and they can be accessed from an alphabetical list, as well as being linked to the individual roadmap How-to’s.
There are four levels to the roadmap – phase, work package, activity, task. As you dig deeper into the levels, you will find more detailed information, from an overview description at the phase level down to a “how-to” procedure, role assignment, triggers, and tips and tricks.
It is essential that you create a project plan when starting your ASAP implementation project. Project plans have three parts:
The Budget Plan contains the projected costs by month, against the actual costs and calculates the variance.
The Resource Plan contains the resources assigned to the R/3 implementation. It displays the planned and actual number of workdays per month, as well as the variance between the two. It also contains a cumulative planned hours work sheet.
The Work Plan contains a detailed set of phases, work packages, activities, and tasks from the AcceleratedSAP Roadmap. This information is organized in a project management planning tool (MS-Project or Excel spreadsheet). A Gantt Chart is contained within this work plan to view schedules, dependencies and resources in MS-Project.
Three sample project plans are included for a six-month duration, a nine-month duration, and an upgrade project plan. If the Project Estimator is used during the sales cycle and Project
Preparation Phase, your individual project plan is generated automatically, taking into consideration company-specific risk factors. The project plan makes sure that nothing is forgotten and that all activities can be tracked and managed. This means, for instance, that the planning for data transfer and the development and testing of interfaces is already included in the project plan.
It is now possible to implement more than one ASAP project at a time. During installation, Rel. 4.0 of ASAP asks you to specify a project name that will apply to the files being installed. In a multi-project environment a new Project Selector icon on your desktop allows you to set the active project, remove projects and review file locations.
You can select installed components such as the Implementation Assistant and Q&Adb in the respective projects as required. Each project is completely separate from the others, so in fact projects installed on the same server could be at different update levels.
AcceleratedSAP is a complete implementation solution. This means that in addition to the Roadmap, the AcceleratedSAP solution contains numerous tools and also references SAP education and services to ensure maximum time savings and a high quality implementation.
AcceleratedSAP uses the Business Engineer implementation tools at all relevant steps. In the figure below, for example, the conceptual design is based on the R/3 Reference Model in Phase 2 (Business Blueprint), whereas the Implementation Guide is accessed from ASAP Phase 3 (Realization).
Service and Support
ASAP leverages SAP’s service and support offering, that is, all the services relating to the SAP R/3 environment. EarlyWatch® Services, concept reviews, and GoingLiveTM checks are just part of the service palette which ensure total quality and let you effectively tune your R/3 System. At appropriate steps in the Roadmap, service products are mentioned and decision support is provided to determine whether you need a particular service. For example, if you have a high volume of transactions, certain tuning services can assist you in optimizing system performance.
Crucial to a fast and cost-effective R/3 implementation are well-trained project teams and highly competent consultants. SAP’s innovative R/3 Info Database (InfoDB) ensures that customer and partner employees involved in implementing, servicing and using R/3 have all the qualifications they need. The InfoDB refers to a new training concept based on a new curriculum, which also includes multimedia courses.
Level 1 courses provide an overview of the R/3 environment.
Level 2 courses introduce you to fundamental business processes.
Level 3 courses focus on providing detailed information.
Organizational Change Management
The positive motivation of employees is a key factor in ensuring a successful implementation project. However, most organizations know, or will at least assume that the R/3 implementation will trigger wider changes in the organization. Left unmanaged, these expected impacts could be viewed negatively. Therefore, any change management program must minimize the implementation risks, acccelerate the implementation process, and align SAP with the customer’s organization.
ASAP’s Change Management is done via a risk assessment tool, by which assessments carried out will help a customer’s team deal with issues of credibility, organizational impact, and individual impact of R/3 implementation. Implementing change management procedures involves accelerating the implementation by means such as a matrix that defines the degree to which jobs and responsibilities will be changed after R/3 implementation. The other aspect is to work with executive sponsors to redesign the organization’s structure or reporting relationships, for example. The ASAP change management methodology enables you to review and revise the types and sequencing of change tasks, change activities, change packages and change accelerators.
A change task is a specific job or function to be completed by the change team.
Two or more change tasks roll up into a change activity.
A change package is a collection of change activities.
Change accelerators are the tools and/or materials that speed up the team’s implementation of a processs, activity or task.
Knowledge Corner
The Knowledge Corner contains alphabetized information on all aspects of AcceleratedSAP as well as a lot of tips and tricks for configuration. The information provided here is very helpful during requirements gathering and configuration. The goals of the Knowledge Corner are:
To provide application consultants with detailed information and alternatives to configure and understand specific functionality within the R/3 System.
To provide detailed information about peripheral activities, such as support services and access to hotline activity.
To provide tips and tricks on R/3 implementation activities such as data conversion, authorization management, and forms development.
Some of the newer elements found in the Knowledge Corner are:
A link to the R/3 Interface Adviser, which provides a central pool of information to help you design and implement permanent interfaces between SAP R/3 components and non-SAP systems.
The R/3 Structure Modeler, which lets you graphically visualize the R/3 System organizational structures of your enterprise using the Structure Modeler Visio® template. Please note, you must be a licensed Visio® user to use this Accelerator.
The Report Navigator, which provides a directory of more than 2,000 operational reports available in standard R/3. The Operational Reports in R/3 help you pull and analyze critical transactional information regarding your business. You can use the R/3 Report Navigator to select the report that is optimal for the information you want to retrieve about your business transactions.
Available Languages
Primary components of AcceleratedSAP are available in German and English, as well as Spanish, French and Portuguese.
Outlook: Global ASAP
R/3 is configured to satisfy the business and strategic needs of many large corporations. The strategic needs and historical IT environment of each of these customer has a significant effect on the way the R/3 System is implemented. One thing unites all these customers: their need to structure the implementation according to a global approach. Global AcceleratedSAP is designed to provide a uniform rollout concept.
The success of AcceleratedSAP as an implementation methodology has made it clear that global implementations can also be carried out in this way. Global ASAP builds on the existing ASAP methodology, using ASAP’s structured procedure accelerators, modelling methods and tools. Project teams implementing R/3 on a global level will find additional methodological guidance and functionality in the Global ASAP Roadmap.
Basic Concept of Global ASAP
The basic concept of Global ASAP is to map all activities not taking place at a local level onto a special structure called the Global Roadmap. This roadmap is then optimally linked to the roll-out roadmaps for the projects at the local level. The goal is to have a preconfigured central system – in the form of one or many templates – and to roll it out locally as often as necessary.
A preconfigured global system, in the sense of a “global template” is the sum of all common group-specific customizing settings, models, individual templates, etc. These are included in one R/3 System as the sole source of reference for productive systems on the global (that is, corporate headquarters) and local levels (individual companies and plants).
In contrast to the existing AcceleratedSAP Roadmap, which only supports one implementation strategy, Global ASAP must support various R/3 implementation strategies, which may contain different methods situated at a very high level, such as:
Creation of a global reference system with group-wide standards and partial functionality being defined at this level.
Extensive mapping of all group units in the reference system, for the subsequent complete rollout
Creation of a global template from a template system in order to roll back the software to the local units
Implementation of distributed R/3 systems at the same time as the creation and the rollout of a global template
Furthermore, Global ASAP must also support strategies for implementing R/3 in various local and distributed R/3 systems, as well as support the planning and execution of concurrent projects. Almost all global customers are having to deal with the topic of distributed systems. For this reason, the Global Roadmap contains accelerators for distributed processes as well as test and productive system topologies. The prerequisite for an implementation strategy with distributed processes and global templates is the standardization of organizational units, groupwide processes and data.
Managing changes is critical in global implementations. This refers not only to the correct communication of change procedures but also to the implementation of change management procedures.
The communication of changes in global implementations basically involves the same issues as in regular ASAP change management. For this reason, please refer to the section on Change Management in the Chapter AcceleratedSAP.
Global Roadmap
The predefined Global ASAP Roadmap with its four phases offers you the following implementation benefits:
Proven strategic decisions used as the basis for effectively implementing R/3 and its installation tools
The development of groupwide implementation standards
The rapid creation of a group reference system and a central productive system for setting up master records, for example.
Long-term and cost-effective support and maintenance concepts
Phase 1: Global Program Setup
In the first phase, the global implementation program is set up. The workpackages Program Management Preparation (see below) and Global Template Project Setup contain administrative and project planning steps. The workpackage Define Global Strategy is structured to facilitate the holding of senior management workshops and follow-up studies on global implementation strategies.
The basis of global SAP strategy decisions is formed by carrying out a strategy determination study. This analysis includes modeling the organizational structure, defining the functional scope and key business processes, reporting requirements and the corresponding documentation.
After this, the following elements of a global R/3 strategy need to be worked out:
System Architecture StrategyDescribes the IT standards and requirements based on the global system topology of the corporate group.
Distribution StrategyDescribes the distribution of system functionality in a system topology defined for this purpose.
Global Design/Configuration StrategySpecifies the type and number of reference template systems to be developed.
Change Management StrategyDescribes the type and scope of new implementations and the way change procedures are carried out for users and hardware.
Gap Resolution PolicyDescribes the solutions needed to bridge identified gaps in the functionality.
Implementation StrategyDescribes the number, type and way that global templates are rolled out and local systems implemented.
Center of Excellence StrategyDescribes the organization required for training, maintenance and support functions.
Customer Implementation Release StrategyExamines and describes the procedure for upgrading the R/3 System specific to country and industry solutions.
Global Program Structure and Resource StrategySpecifies the sequence of the implementation program, its organization and the corresponding allocation of resources.
The global R/3 strategy determination process is concluded with a Risk Analysis and a presentation to the enterprise’s management, which then leads to the appropriate implementation strategy decisions being made.
Phase 2: Global Business Blueprint
The second phase of the Roadmap is characterized by the creation of the development systems and template contents. This includes the reviewing of the scope defined in the setup phase, the training of the template team, and the designing of the template itself.
The analysis of local and global requirements leads to a detailed model of the business processes necessary at the global level. The standardization of business processes and functions, as well as of best-practice cases is one of the main tasks of a global template. In this connection, the special requirements for business processes and functions running on distributed systems are an important consideration.
Phase 3: Global Realization
The work packages in this phase deal primarily with the creation of the global template together with the local units. This phase also describes the way to deal with group-specific customer developments at the global level.
In order for the concept of a global template to be successful beyond the rollout phase, it is necessary to ensure smooth maintenance handling. The step of Global System Management is therefore particularly important, since it contains the description of the system architecture to be implemented and the management of the systems involved.
A further important step is the creation of a Customer Competence Center. This organization should be able to carry out first-level support and coordinate all future developments. Global ASAP provides guidelines for the establishment of a Customer Competence Center.
Phase 4: Global Maintenance and Support
Besides administrative activities, the phases after the rollout emphasize the support of the local units. Phase 4 contains information on how to tune the local system and optimize business processes. Experiences gained during the rollout should now be incorporated back into the global template and be made available for later installations of R/3. A suitable rollback procedure is also included.
Global ASAP contains procedures for dealing with ongoing systems operations and the template upgrade procedure relevant to the customer’s implementation release strategy.
Rollout Roadmap
The Rollout Roadmap has as its goal the creation of a local productive reference system and, in the case of distributed systems, the provision of a link to a central productive system in order to, for example, set up and maintain R/3 master records.
The Rollout Roadmap speeds up the implementation process in the local units, so that – depending on the enterprise’s requirements – entire implementation series can be carried out. Redundant project activities can thus be pinpointed and avoided. The advantages of this roadmap are:
The realization of groupwide implementation standards, through an efficient rollout in the local units
A rollback procedure for the exchange of general experiences, which can then be incorporated into the template. In this way the changes are passed on to the local units quickly and comprehensively.
Program Management
The implementation of the R/3 System in large multinational corporations is a more time-consuming and complicated process than for mid-sized companies. For this reason , corporations need to observe certain procedures in order to control costs and avoid the delays that a lengthy rollout might entail. The following graphic shows an example of how global templates can be used to carry out a rollout. On the global level, that is, at corporate headquarters, it is necessary to co-ordinate all activities carried out during implementation and the maintenance/support phase after implementation.
Within Global ASAP, program management is regarded not as a project, but as the providing of official channels of support for the further development of the template, the ongoing work on group-specific standards and the rollout of the corresponding system functionality. These global activities need to be carried out and clearly defined centrally for all local systems.
When local project activities are carried out, the program team at the global level is not actually responsible for the productive start of any systems at the local sites. This is the main task of the local project teams. Here it is important to differentiate between tasks carried out at the global and local levels, as well as to differentiate between resources used for development and resources used in the rollout itself.
The developments described here contain a global implementation strategy based on global templates and distributed system topologies. This is where R/3 customers will reap the greatest benefit. Within Global ASAP, further release strategies and enhancements containing new contents and functions which apply to the Global ASAP Roadmap will follow.
The success of AcceleratedSAP as an implementation methodology has made it clear that global implementations can also be carried out in this way. Global ASAP builds on the existing ASAP methodology, using ASAP’s structured procedure accelerators, modelling methods and tools. Project teams implementing R/3 on a global level will find additional methodological guidance and functionality in the Global ASAP Roadmap.
Basic Concept of Global ASAP
The basic concept of Global ASAP is to map all activities not taking place at a local level onto a special structure called the Global Roadmap. This roadmap is then optimally linked to the roll-out roadmaps for the projects at the local level. The goal is to have a preconfigured central system – in the form of one or many templates – and to roll it out locally as often as necessary.
A preconfigured global system, in the sense of a “global template” is the sum of all common group-specific customizing settings, models, individual templates, etc. These are included in one R/3 System as the sole source of reference for productive systems on the global (that is, corporate headquarters) and local levels (individual companies and plants).
In contrast to the existing AcceleratedSAP Roadmap, which only supports one implementation strategy, Global ASAP must support various R/3 implementation strategies, which may contain different methods situated at a very high level, such as:
Creation of a global reference system with group-wide standards and partial functionality being defined at this level.
Extensive mapping of all group units in the reference system, for the subsequent complete rollout
Creation of a global template from a template system in order to roll back the software to the local units
Implementation of distributed R/3 systems at the same time as the creation and the rollout of a global template
Furthermore, Global ASAP must also support strategies for implementing R/3 in various local and distributed R/3 systems, as well as support the planning and execution of concurrent projects. Almost all global customers are having to deal with the topic of distributed systems. For this reason, the Global Roadmap contains accelerators for distributed processes as well as test and productive system topologies. The prerequisite for an implementation strategy with distributed processes and global templates is the standardization of organizational units, groupwide processes and data.
Managing changes is critical in global implementations. This refers not only to the correct communication of change procedures but also to the implementation of change management procedures.
The communication of changes in global implementations basically involves the same issues as in regular ASAP change management. For this reason, please refer to the section on Change Management in the Chapter AcceleratedSAP.
Global Roadmap
The predefined Global ASAP Roadmap with its four phases offers you the following implementation benefits:
Proven strategic decisions used as the basis for effectively implementing R/3 and its installation tools
The development of groupwide implementation standards
The rapid creation of a group reference system and a central productive system for setting up master records, for example.
Long-term and cost-effective support and maintenance concepts
Phase 1: Global Program Setup
In the first phase, the global implementation program is set up. The workpackages Program Management Preparation (see below) and Global Template Project Setup contain administrative and project planning steps. The workpackage Define Global Strategy is structured to facilitate the holding of senior management workshops and follow-up studies on global implementation strategies.
The basis of global SAP strategy decisions is formed by carrying out a strategy determination study. This analysis includes modeling the organizational structure, defining the functional scope and key business processes, reporting requirements and the corresponding documentation.
After this, the following elements of a global R/3 strategy need to be worked out:
System Architecture StrategyDescribes the IT standards and requirements based on the global system topology of the corporate group.
Distribution StrategyDescribes the distribution of system functionality in a system topology defined for this purpose.
Global Design/Configuration StrategySpecifies the type and number of reference template systems to be developed.
Change Management StrategyDescribes the type and scope of new implementations and the way change procedures are carried out for users and hardware.
Gap Resolution PolicyDescribes the solutions needed to bridge identified gaps in the functionality.
Implementation StrategyDescribes the number, type and way that global templates are rolled out and local systems implemented.
Center of Excellence StrategyDescribes the organization required for training, maintenance and support functions.
Customer Implementation Release StrategyExamines and describes the procedure for upgrading the R/3 System specific to country and industry solutions.
Global Program Structure and Resource StrategySpecifies the sequence of the implementation program, its organization and the corresponding allocation of resources.
The global R/3 strategy determination process is concluded with a Risk Analysis and a presentation to the enterprise’s management, which then leads to the appropriate implementation strategy decisions being made.
Phase 2: Global Business Blueprint
The second phase of the Roadmap is characterized by the creation of the development systems and template contents. This includes the reviewing of the scope defined in the setup phase, the training of the template team, and the designing of the template itself.
The analysis of local and global requirements leads to a detailed model of the business processes necessary at the global level. The standardization of business processes and functions, as well as of best-practice cases is one of the main tasks of a global template. In this connection, the special requirements for business processes and functions running on distributed systems are an important consideration.
Phase 3: Global Realization
The work packages in this phase deal primarily with the creation of the global template together with the local units. This phase also describes the way to deal with group-specific customer developments at the global level.
In order for the concept of a global template to be successful beyond the rollout phase, it is necessary to ensure smooth maintenance handling. The step of Global System Management is therefore particularly important, since it contains the description of the system architecture to be implemented and the management of the systems involved.
A further important step is the creation of a Customer Competence Center. This organization should be able to carry out first-level support and coordinate all future developments. Global ASAP provides guidelines for the establishment of a Customer Competence Center.
Phase 4: Global Maintenance and Support
Besides administrative activities, the phases after the rollout emphasize the support of the local units. Phase 4 contains information on how to tune the local system and optimize business processes. Experiences gained during the rollout should now be incorporated back into the global template and be made available for later installations of R/3. A suitable rollback procedure is also included.
Global ASAP contains procedures for dealing with ongoing systems operations and the template upgrade procedure relevant to the customer’s implementation release strategy.
Rollout Roadmap
The Rollout Roadmap has as its goal the creation of a local productive reference system and, in the case of distributed systems, the provision of a link to a central productive system in order to, for example, set up and maintain R/3 master records.
The Rollout Roadmap speeds up the implementation process in the local units, so that – depending on the enterprise’s requirements – entire implementation series can be carried out. Redundant project activities can thus be pinpointed and avoided. The advantages of this roadmap are:
The realization of groupwide implementation standards, through an efficient rollout in the local units
A rollback procedure for the exchange of general experiences, which can then be incorporated into the template. In this way the changes are passed on to the local units quickly and comprehensively.
Program Management
The implementation of the R/3 System in large multinational corporations is a more time-consuming and complicated process than for mid-sized companies. For this reason , corporations need to observe certain procedures in order to control costs and avoid the delays that a lengthy rollout might entail. The following graphic shows an example of how global templates can be used to carry out a rollout. On the global level, that is, at corporate headquarters, it is necessary to co-ordinate all activities carried out during implementation and the maintenance/support phase after implementation.
Within Global ASAP, program management is regarded not as a project, but as the providing of official channels of support for the further development of the template, the ongoing work on group-specific standards and the rollout of the corresponding system functionality. These global activities need to be carried out and clearly defined centrally for all local systems.
When local project activities are carried out, the program team at the global level is not actually responsible for the productive start of any systems at the local sites. This is the main task of the local project teams. Here it is important to differentiate between tasks carried out at the global and local levels, as well as to differentiate between resources used for development and resources used in the rollout itself.
The developments described here contain a global implementation strategy based on global templates and distributed system topologies. This is where R/3 customers will reap the greatest benefit. Within Global ASAP, further release strategies and enhancements containing new contents and functions which apply to the Global ASAP Roadmap will follow.
Phase 5: Go Live and Support
Now you are ready to go live with your productive system! Afterwards, the project team focuses on supporting the end users, for which training may not be completed. It is also necessary to establish procedures and measurements to review the benefits of your investment in R/3 on an ongoing basis. Key SAP Services to support you in this phase include
The Online Service System (OSS)
Remote Consulting
EarlyWatch® Services
These services encompass a series of remote analyses of specific R/3 System settings, with recommendations for improving system performance.
The last phase of the implementation project is concerned with supporting and optimizing the operative R/3 System, both the technical infrastructure and load distribution as well as the business processes. Activities such as the following are carried out:
Production support facilities are defined, for example, checking system performance on a daily basis
Validation of business processes and their configuration
Follow-up training for users
Signoffs, etc.
This phase can also include a series of follow-up projects for adding new application components or automating and improving business processes, such as with SAP Business Workflow. The project manager monitors the fulfillment of the enterprise goals and the return on investment.
During Phase 5, the first EarlyWatch® session should be held, where experts from SAP analyze the system’s technical infrastructure. The aim is to ensure that the system functions as smoothly as possible. The purpose of SAP’s EarlyWatch® Service is to improve the performance of your live R/3 System by preventing system bottlenecks. The underlying concept of SAP EarlyWatch® Service is prevention: taking appropriate action before a problem situation develops.
Regular analysis of live R/3 Systems by teams of experts ensures that potential problems can be recognized and remedied at an early stage. This maintains system availability and performance at a high level. SAP EarlyWatch® measures the server, database, applications, configuration and system load. The results are recorded in a status report with recommendations for system tuning.
From early productive operation onwards, SAP EarlyWatch® provides regular performance and error analyses by evaluating statistical data on the various system components.
System and Release Upgrade
As part of R/3 system maintenance, new releases of the software, including new and enhanced application components and corrections, are shipped at regular intervals. You will normally need to verify or reconfigure some of the settings in order to use them.
AcceleratedSAP offers two kinds of roadmaps for moving the software forward to new releases or versions. One is the Continuous Change Roadmap, which provides ongoing support and assistance for the post go-live phase, and is described below. The second is the Upgrade Roadmap, which you can use to plan and carry out an upgrade to your R/3 System.
Special Release IMGs specific to your system configuration are available. You can read the online documentation for a new release directly from the IMG.
Upgrade and Release Changes
When you implement a new release, you can decide whether you want to keep working with the same functions within the selected components (Upgrade Customizing) or whether you want to implement the new functionality supplied for the existing release (Delta Customizing).
For legal changes affecting some country versions, in particular for the HR component, you can now see which legal changes have taken effect in your country and carry out the corresponding Customizing activities to have your system include these changes.
One of the strengths of the R/3 System is its ability to grow with the enterprise. Imagine you have to set up a new organizational unit, or a new plant, for example. The IMG can help, using preconfigured or existing organizational units as a basis. All you need to do is adjust the configuration until it matches your exact requirements, verifying the mandatory activities – to get a new, fully functional organizational unit, ready for accounting, purchasing, sales or warehousing, for example.
ASAP for Upgrades
AcceleratedSAP provides an Upgrade Roadmap and upgrade manuals to facilitate release changes and upgrade projects. The Upgrade Roadmap enables you to take a systematic approach to release changes and complements the available technical documentation.
Although implementing new versions of R/3 is carried out in the form of a new project, the project team will profit from their experiences during initial implementation. Many documents already exist and only need to be verified or extended.
In order to systematically carry out an upgrade project, the ASAP Upgrade Roadmap will generate a project plan with only the activities required. All other activities have either already been carried out or they are not relevant. As with the Roadmap for the initial implementation, there are descriptions of the individual tasks, and wherever possible, additional accelerators in the form of checklists, templates or examples. The technical documentation of the upgrades is extended via ASAP to include release-specific project management.
Release 4.0 of AcceleratedSAP contains the Continuous Change Roadmap, with standard activities necessary after the initial implementation. In this way, SAP provides ongoing support and assistance for post go-live activities. The tasks in that structure provide solutions for all known types of continuous change: Business changes, technology changes or changes in the user community.
The Online Service System (OSS)
Remote Consulting
EarlyWatch® Services
These services encompass a series of remote analyses of specific R/3 System settings, with recommendations for improving system performance.
The last phase of the implementation project is concerned with supporting and optimizing the operative R/3 System, both the technical infrastructure and load distribution as well as the business processes. Activities such as the following are carried out:
Production support facilities are defined, for example, checking system performance on a daily basis
Validation of business processes and their configuration
Follow-up training for users
Signoffs, etc.
This phase can also include a series of follow-up projects for adding new application components or automating and improving business processes, such as with SAP Business Workflow. The project manager monitors the fulfillment of the enterprise goals and the return on investment.
During Phase 5, the first EarlyWatch® session should be held, where experts from SAP analyze the system’s technical infrastructure. The aim is to ensure that the system functions as smoothly as possible. The purpose of SAP’s EarlyWatch® Service is to improve the performance of your live R/3 System by preventing system bottlenecks. The underlying concept of SAP EarlyWatch® Service is prevention: taking appropriate action before a problem situation develops.
Regular analysis of live R/3 Systems by teams of experts ensures that potential problems can be recognized and remedied at an early stage. This maintains system availability and performance at a high level. SAP EarlyWatch® measures the server, database, applications, configuration and system load. The results are recorded in a status report with recommendations for system tuning.
From early productive operation onwards, SAP EarlyWatch® provides regular performance and error analyses by evaluating statistical data on the various system components.
System and Release Upgrade
As part of R/3 system maintenance, new releases of the software, including new and enhanced application components and corrections, are shipped at regular intervals. You will normally need to verify or reconfigure some of the settings in order to use them.
AcceleratedSAP offers two kinds of roadmaps for moving the software forward to new releases or versions. One is the Continuous Change Roadmap, which provides ongoing support and assistance for the post go-live phase, and is described below. The second is the Upgrade Roadmap, which you can use to plan and carry out an upgrade to your R/3 System.
Special Release IMGs specific to your system configuration are available. You can read the online documentation for a new release directly from the IMG.
Upgrade and Release Changes
When you implement a new release, you can decide whether you want to keep working with the same functions within the selected components (Upgrade Customizing) or whether you want to implement the new functionality supplied for the existing release (Delta Customizing).
For legal changes affecting some country versions, in particular for the HR component, you can now see which legal changes have taken effect in your country and carry out the corresponding Customizing activities to have your system include these changes.
One of the strengths of the R/3 System is its ability to grow with the enterprise. Imagine you have to set up a new organizational unit, or a new plant, for example. The IMG can help, using preconfigured or existing organizational units as a basis. All you need to do is adjust the configuration until it matches your exact requirements, verifying the mandatory activities – to get a new, fully functional organizational unit, ready for accounting, purchasing, sales or warehousing, for example.
ASAP for Upgrades
AcceleratedSAP provides an Upgrade Roadmap and upgrade manuals to facilitate release changes and upgrade projects. The Upgrade Roadmap enables you to take a systematic approach to release changes and complements the available technical documentation.
Although implementing new versions of R/3 is carried out in the form of a new project, the project team will profit from their experiences during initial implementation. Many documents already exist and only need to be verified or extended.
In order to systematically carry out an upgrade project, the ASAP Upgrade Roadmap will generate a project plan with only the activities required. All other activities have either already been carried out or they are not relevant. As with the Roadmap for the initial implementation, there are descriptions of the individual tasks, and wherever possible, additional accelerators in the form of checklists, templates or examples. The technical documentation of the upgrades is extended via ASAP to include release-specific project management.
Release 4.0 of AcceleratedSAP contains the Continuous Change Roadmap, with standard activities necessary after the initial implementation. In this way, SAP provides ongoing support and assistance for post go-live activities. The tasks in that structure provide solutions for all known types of continuous change: Business changes, technology changes or changes in the user community.
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