CHAPTER 31 IMPLEMENTATION & SUPPORT PROJECTS
Table of Content
1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 2
2 What is an SAP Project? .......................................................................................................... 2
3 Various Types of SAP Projects ................................................................................................ 3
3.1 Implementation Projects ........................................................................................................... 3
3.2 Upgrade Projects ...................................................................................................................... 3
3.3 Roll Out Projects ...................................................................................................................... 3
4 Project Phases in ASAP Methodology for Implementation ...................................................... 4
4.1 Project Preparation phase ........................................................................................................ 5
4.2 Business Blueprint phase ......................................................................................................... 6
4.3 Realization phase ..................................................................................................................... 7
4.4 Final Preparation ...................................................................................................................... 8
4.5 Go Live & Support phase and Project Closure ........................................................................ 9
5 SAP Maintenance and Support Projects ................................................................................ 10
6 Online Help for resolving SAP issues .................................................................................... 13
7 SAP Documentation on help.sap.com ................................................................................... 15
8 SAP Certification documents download ................................................................................. 16
9 SAP FICO Configuration reference Books ............................................................................. 16
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1 Introduction
In this chapter, we are going to discuss about project implementation and support projects
ABC Group decided to go for ERP implementation for it. It is reviewing about a software
package which is suitable for their business and as well as a software which provide all best
functionalities for their business.
ERP Software Packages available in the market
SAP
Oracle Financials
JD Edwards
People soft
Infor
Sage
After reviewing the above software packages based on their functionalities or features provided,
cost of the package, time for implementation. ABC Group decided to go for SAP
Consulting firms, which implement SAP.
IBM
Accenture
Deloitte
Cap Gemini
CSC
2 What is an SAP Project?
We define an SAP project as a unique (i.e. one time) endeavor to achieve a beneficial change.
That endeavor of course must relate to an SAP system/landscape and must have a defined
timescale and an approved budget.
It is unique in the sense that it has a specific reason and occasion, and also has specific goals,
timelines and budget. It should also be obvious that someone is expecting a benefit from it.
SAP projects bring together two organizations: the Customer and the Consultancy organization.
We use these terms in their most general sense as follows:
“The Customer” or “the Business” represents the organization on behalf of which the
project is realized.
“ The Consultant” or “the Consultancy” represents the organization that is the service
provider to the Customer and which brings in (SAP process etc) expertise.
These two parties together are responsible for the successful completion of the SAP project.
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3 Various Types of SAP Projects
Based on the definition given in the previous paragraph, we can identify various types of SAP
Projects.
3.1 Implementation Projects
Implementation projects aim to implement business processes in an SAP landscape.
New implementations aim to replace a legacy system with an SAP System. A roll out project
is an example of a new implementation where a multinational “rolls out” its global template to a
local subsidiary.
Functionality Extension projects implement new business processes / modules into an existing
system. Examples of functionality extensions to an existing SAP landscape are the
implementation of a new SAP solution (e.g. SAP APO or SAP CRM) or the implementation of
new SAP ERP modules.
A global template consists of business process scenarios and the relevant documentation and
configuration. Most multinationals operating via subsidiaries in many countries use a global
template in order to have a common basis for tracking, monitoring and reporting on their
business transactions.
3.2 Upgrade Projects
Upgrade projects aim to upgrade existing SAP system(s) to newer versions. They can be either
technical upgrades only (i.e. no changes or extensions to the extant business processes) or
technical and functional upgrades (i.e. the “opportunity” of the upgrade is used to review the
extant business processes and maybe redesign some of them and/or implement new business
processes).
An example of a technical and functional upgrade is an upgrade from an earlier SAP R/3 4.7
version to SAP ECC 6.0 that also includes replacement of the standard G/L with the New G/L.
3.3 Roll Out Projects
If the client is having business all over the world e.g. Region which is having more number of
company codes will be implemented first, then SAP would be extended to other regions.
Suppose, if you take USA for example, we can divide it into 4 regions like East, west, south and
north. Initially implementation will take place in East zone, and then the same configuration,
master data etc will be rollout to the other regions one by one. The first was an implementation
then the others will be called as rollout projects. Decision to go for rollouts depends upon the
size of the business and complexity in their business processes.
Roll out project is creating a replica of the existing project with some country specific specific
changes.
The global template remains the same with some country specific changes like taxation etc.
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4 Project Phases in ASAP Methodology for Implementation
ASAP stands for Accelerated SAP. The word “Accelerated” refers to the many so called
“Accelerators” (Tools & Information) available in SAP to expedite the implementation of SAP in
an enterprise. Simply, ASAP is a methodology/ step-by-step approach used to effectively and
efficiently implement SAP.
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4.1 Project Preparation phase
The project preparation starts once a customer has assigned an IT service organization to the
project and a project manager has been announced. The outcome of this phase is a document
called the “Project Plan”, which contains detailed information concerning the project such as the
expected goals, the project resources, the organization of the project team, the risks associated
with the project, the financial aspects of the project, the time planning for the project etc.
The project manager must collect all the necessary information and make all the required
negotiations with the two parties (the Customer and the Consultancy) in order to write the
Project Plan. This is an important step as it will set the stage for the remainder of the project.
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4.2 Business Blueprint phase
The Business Blueprint phase aims at identifying and describing the business processes that
are to be implemented in the SAP system. A large part of the Business Blueprint phase usually
consists of face to face interviews between the consultants and representatives of the business
(usually called simply “users”). The outcome of this phase is the Business Blueprint document.
This phase is necessary in Implementation Projects and in Upgrade Projects involving also a
functional upgrade. What follows from the above discussion is that the larger the number of the
business processes to be mapped to the new SAP landscape the more important is this phase.
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4.3 Realization phase
The Realization phase aims to deliver all the necessary system customizing, testing, user
training and documentation that will lead to a successful project completion.
This is the phase that usually takes most of the duration and effort during an SAP project. In
large projects in particular and in order to keep the momentum of the project, it is advisable to
break this phase down using project milestones: these are check-points during the project
lifetime that allow the project manager to check the progress and identify any delays as early as
possible.
It is not uncommon during this phase for Change Requests to come up. A change request is a
request by the customer to alter the project scope in some way – usually to extend it. The
concept of change requests during SAP projects will be discussed in detail in the relevant article
of our series and possible ways to treat these when they occur will be proposed.
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4.4 Final Preparation
The term “Cut Over” best describes what happens in this phase: all the required system settings
as well as the necessary business data (master data and open business transactions) are
transferred to the new system.
Business transactions are recorded in the old system just up to the Cut Over and must be
recorded in the new system just after the Cut Over. For this to be accomplished the business
must stop for a short time period (usually 2-4 days) for the necessary transfer of data to take
place. This means that the Cut Over is usually a very short and intense time period that is often
planned to coincide with a holiday period or at the least with a weekend.
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4.5 Go Live & Support phase and Project Closure
When the Cut Over phase is complete, the new system can be made available for the business
i.e. the business can “Go Live”. Go Live is usually announced by the project manager when the
first business transactions (usually Sales orders) start being recorded successfully in the new
system.
After a long and strenuous effort, this is the time to celebrate and start sending congratulations
e-mails around! The “support” phase (usually up to 1 or 2 months) aims to ensure the business
is running smoothly and all business transactions are recorded correctly, before initiating the
Project Closure activities.
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5 SAP Maintenance and Support Projects
Once SAP project is implemented, it should be supported by the consultants. In Support
projects, the support team helps the customer or Client in day-to-day business operations. Each
issue is called as a ticket or incident in SAP Support process. In support projects consulting
companies will use tools to manage or track the issues or tickets. Every issue logged by the
customer is called as a ticket which will have a unique number. That will be different from
company to company. To name some tools Citrics, Remedy, HP Service Manager, Peregrine,
Lotus Notes etc. and or sometimes internal tools of the company.
What is SLA in production support?
SLAs normally are part of a contract between a customer and a service provider.
SLA is Service Level Agreements to resolve the tickets by the SAP Support team. It is the
service agreement between a Company and a service provider. For example an IT Organization
providing support of SAP / other software / hardware has a agreement. This can be for example
categorized based on criticality of the incident. High priority incident has to be resolved on 10
hours. Medium priority incident has a 3 days‟ time to resolve etc
SLA's are nothing but Service level agreements.
These are defined in project preparation phase and client would have made an agreement with
the company for the level of service. The SLA's are applicable in Production as well as
maintenance support projects. For example: if your company follows a ticketing process(a ticket
is nothing but an environment contains complete description of the problem which contains
Short description, problem, customer contact details, screen shots of the error etc.,) and for
each ticket there will be a severity for example business critical issues or problems may be
treated as high or top severities‟. In that case your company or your team has to deliver the
solution to the customer in agreed time limit or otherwise you might end up missing SLA's.
Types of issues /tickets
Configuration where issue can be fixed with changing the configuration required.
Master Data where issue can be fixed with change in the master data.
Troubleshoot/Training where issue can be fixed by giving training to the users
ABAP Development where issue can be fixed with ABAP development, need to work
with ABAP Consultant
Security/Authorization where issue can be fixed by providing authorization to the user,
here you need to co-ordinate with Basis team
OSS Note Some an issue can be fixed applying OSS note (Online Support Service)
provided by SAP. If it is a product error SAP provide OSS notes to resolve the issues.
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Sample Issues /Tickets in FICO
Issue 1:
There are a few G/L accounts where line item displays are not activated. The client would like to
see what entries are actually hitting these accounts.
There are two possible solutions regarding this problem. SAP recommends the first solution
because only standard means are used. The second solution requires the usage of a correction
report and is therefore a consulting solution.
Solution:
1. Create a new account and set the options according to your requirements.
Be sure to set the line item display indicator (SKB1-XKRES).
2. Transfer the items from the old account to the new account. You can
Only do this for accounts that you cannot automatically post to. As an
Alternative, you can transfer the balance completely.
3. Lock the old account for postings.
4. You can execute the correction program RFSEPA01. Read the document carefully.
While creating the G/L account, utmost care should be taken with the open item management
and line item management attributes of the G/L account.
Issue 2:
While posting outgoing payments through T-code F-53, the client received the error message
„The entry 1210 is missing in table T043G‟ and the system did not allow the posting payment
document.
Solution:
The SAP R/3 system returns this error when it doesn‟t find vendor/customer tolerance for your
company code. In this example, you are processing an outgoing payment for a company code
for which the vendor tolerance group is not defined.
Create vendor tolerance through transaction code OBA3 (menu path: Financial
Accounting → Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable → Business Transactions →
Outgoing Payments → Manual Outgoing Payments → Define Tolerances (Vendors)) for your
company code.
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Issue 3:
The user wants to print a check for a vendor down payment. To use T-code F-58, the system
needs an open item. When the user makes an advance payment, there will not be any open
items in the vendor account.
Solution:
Transaction code F-58 is used to process payment for existing open items. This transaction
code can‟t be used for processing advance payments. You have two options to handle this
situation: (1) create an advance payment request and pay through an APP or (2) create an
advance payment document through transaction code F-48 and print a check through trans
action code FBZ5.
Here are the steps for both options:
Option 1:
1. Create a down payment request through transaction code F-47.
2. Run the payment program through transaction code F110.
Option 2:
1. Use transaction code F-48 for advance payment to vendors.
2. Based on the posted document number, print a check using transaction code FBZ5.
Issue 4:
It is not possible to post multiple customers in transaction code FB70. Can you use F-21?
Solution:
After starting with FB70 and making as many entries as you wish, if you need to post to other
customer accounts you can press F6, which switches you back to the “old-style” data entry
screen where you can post to as many other customer accounts as you wish using the old
“posting key” method.
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6 Online Help for resolving SAP issues
You can use the below websites for Online help on SAP issues.
6.1 SAP Community Network SDN.SAP.COM
You have create user id and password for login, it is free
Click on Forums
Select the appropriate forum
Type the issue or error to check the solutions
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6.2 SAP IT Toolbox
6.3 SAP Fans.com
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7 SAP Documentation on help.sap.com
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8 SAP Certification documents download
Go to www.esnips.com and give the search word as SAP FICO Certification materials and search
9 SAP FICO Configuration reference Books
9.1 Peter Jones and John Burger
9.2 Quentin Hurst and David Nowak
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9.3 SAP Project Management by Joy Gosh
9.3 SAP Planning Best Practices in Implementation by George W Anderson
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