19
7/28/2019 Implementing SAP BW http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/implementing-sap-bw 1/19  Implementing SAP BW  with SourceCode Inc. Version 2.0 M arch 2006 ©2006 by SourceCode, Inc.  

Implementing SAP BW

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

Page 1: Implementing SAP BW

7/28/2019 Implementing SAP BW

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/implementing-sap-bw 1/19

 

Implementing SAP BW

 with SourceCode Inc. 

Version 2.0 March 2006 ©2006 by SourceCode, Inc. 

Page 2: Implementing SAP BW

7/28/2019 Implementing SAP BW

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/implementing-sap-bw 2/19

  Implementing SAP BW 

©2006 by SourceCode Inc. Washington D.C. * New York * Mumbai [email protected] 

2

 

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................3 

WHY SAP BW?............................................................................................................................4 

BW IMPLEMENTATION APPROACHES..............................................................................5 

 TIME DIMENSION - IMPLEMENTATION APPROACHES............................................... 6 

SCOPE DIMENSION - IMPLEMENTATION APPROACHES ............................................7 

IMPLEMENTING SAP BW OFFSHORE: FACTORS AFFECTING IT ........................... 11 

REASONS FOR OFF-SHORING.............................................................................................15 

BW IMPLEMENTATION: THE ONSITE – OFFSHORE MODEL ....................................16 

GL OSSARY ................................................................................................................................19 

REFERENCES............................................................................................................................19 

Page 3: Implementing SAP BW

7/28/2019 Implementing SAP BW

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/implementing-sap-bw 3/19

  Implementing SAP BW 

©2006 by SourceCode Inc. Washington D.C. * New York * Mumbai [email protected] 

3

 Introduction

In today's competitive business environment, the need to make faster, more informed decisions at all

levels in the organization has never been more important. However, the information to make these

decisions is often not readily available and accessible. The result is countless hours spent obtaining,

organizing and analyzing information to understand your business and make better, more informed

decisions.

Companies who recognize that information is a key part of building a competitive advantage have

embraced data marts, data warehouse and business intelligence solutions. These environments become

the focal point for the organization's information needs by storing integrated, accurate, historic and

detailed data for use across the enterprise. They enable transformation of raw data into applied strategicknowledge, up the Information Value Chain.

Figure 1: Information Value Chain

When properly implemented, a data warehouse acts as a foundation for all information distribution and

reporting needs, thus providing an entire organization a "single version of the truth." Through direct

access to this data, business intelligence solutions minimize the time spent gathering data and maximizethe analytical capabilities. A data warehouse that is cross-functional and core to business strategy will

best position an organization for maximum results.

Page 4: Implementing SAP BW

7/28/2019 Implementing SAP BW

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/implementing-sap-bw 4/19

  Implementing SAP BW 

©2006 by SourceCode Inc. Washington D.C. * New York * Mumbai [email protected] 

4

 

Key Characteristics of a Data Warehouse

• Solves a critical business problem

• Adds value beyond the mere collection of data

• Aligned with stated business strategies and advances business strategy in a measurable way

• Integrates key business processes, initiatives and capabilities

• Enables business innovation by leveraging cross-departmental data (previously unattainable)

• Integrates back-end analytical applications

• Business models drive data warehouse solution

• Integrates metadata across the data warehouse environment

Key Success Factors of a Data Warehouse Strategy

• Strong internal collaborative sponsorship

• An environment that provides the highest level of cross-functional/cross-organizational data

sharing

• Application of rigorous data quality standards and improvement

• Follows an architectural framework (blueprint)

• Incorporates an architecture/methodology that allows a repeatable process for designing and

implementing data warehouses and data marts

Why SAP BW?

According to the Gartner Group, organizations that are pursuing a SAP ERP strategy with a high volume

of transaction data processing in SAP, the logical choice for a decision support environment is SAP’s

complimentary tool Business Information Warehouse. The Gartner Group estimates that “By 2008, more

than 80% of SAP’s R/3 installed base will implement BW to meet their operational focused decision

support needs (0.8 probability).”

SAP BW is all about meeting the reporting needs of the various role-players in an organization. It is a

central reporting tool that tightly integrates with online transaction processing systems like SAP R/3, at

the same time also pooling in data from other internal and external information sources. Traditionally, BW

implementations have focused on providing information owners with consolidated data, varying from a

day to a month. However, going forward, newer versions of BW will be supporting real time updates from

the OLTP system with latency reduced to almost a minute. With this new trend, BW implementations may

Page 5: Implementing SAP BW

7/28/2019 Implementing SAP BW

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/implementing-sap-bw 5/19

  Implementing SAP BW 

©2006 by SourceCode Inc. Washington D.C. * New York * Mumbai [email protected] 

5

 

soon need to adopt a different strategy. The BW system could then act as a single point for all reporting

needs, both operational and analytical.

SAP BW shouldn’t be viewed as a stand-alone data warehousing implementation, but one that can act as

the foundation of the organization’s business intelligence architecture. SAP BW can act as a hub for all

closed-loop analytical applications, feeding and receiving data to other analytical applications like SAP

SEM, CRM and APO. When integrated with portals, it can form the basis of a collaborative Web based

business intelligence framework. 

BW Implementation Approaches

Organizations implementing SAP solution suite can be categorized into two classes:

Brown Field Approach 

 These organizations have already implemented R3 and are looking at BW for leveraging the benefits

across the organization through better decision support.

Green Field Approach 

 These are organizations which do not have an existing enterprise wide integrated transaction processing

system in place but are looking at faster realization of benefits by parallel deployment of R3 and BW.

Brown field implementations are relatively easy to structure since the OLTP deployment has already

taken place and therefore the inter-linkages are less complicated. There are however certain limitations of 

such implementations which are discussed in subsequent sections.

From a Green field implementation perspective, there are multiple parameters involved in terms of 

structuring the BW implementation vis-à-vis the R3 implementation schedule. Green field implementations

obviously have their own set of challenges.

Structuring Dimensions

 There are two key dimensions involved in structuring BW implementations:

• Time Dimension

• Scope Dimension

Page 6: Implementing SAP BW

7/28/2019 Implementing SAP BW

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/implementing-sap-bw 6/19

  Implementing SAP BW 

©2006 by SourceCode Inc. Washington D.C. * New York * Mumbai [email protected] 

6

 

Time Dimension - Implementation Approaches

 The following three approaches can be structured based on time dimension:

• Parallel Implementation

• Lagged Implementation

•  Deferred Implementation 

Parallel Implementation

R3 Implementation and BW Implementation projects are executed in parallel.

Key Success Factors:

• Program & project management

• Quick resolution of issues on a day to day basis

• Client team training and understanding of SAP (R3 as well as BW) before initiating the projects

• Comprehensiveness and clarity of business process owners in simultaneously articulating the

requirements on the process as well as reporting aspects

Lagged Implementation 

R3 Implementation and BW Implementation projects are mapped in such a way that there is phase-lag

between the two implementations. Therefore, start of BW blueprinting is linked to end of R3 blueprinting

phase and so on.

Key Success Factors: 

• Clarity in articulation of reporting requirements

• Capturing all possible business processes and reporting scenarios during blueprinting phase

• Quick resolution of issues during each phase

• Program & project management

Page 7: Implementing SAP BW

7/28/2019 Implementing SAP BW

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/implementing-sap-bw 7/19

  Implementing SAP BW 

©2006 by SourceCode Inc. Washington D.C. * New York * Mumbai [email protected] 

7

 

Deferred Implementation

R3 Implementation and BW Implementation projects distance each other by a considerable time period.

 Therefore, BW implementation in such cases would be initiated after R3 implementation has been

completed and has been operational for quite sometime.

Key Success Factors:

• Maintaining the organization-wide initiative and momentum gathered during R3 implementation

• Change management

• Keeping the ABAP related report development effort to minimum during the R3 implementation

• Ensuring that R3 implementation takes into account the data modeling issues for BW

implementation, at least from a broader perspective

Scope Dimension - Implementation Approaches

 The following two approaches can be structured based on scope of BW implementation:

• Big Bang Implementation or Top-Down Approach

• Pilot Implementation or Bottom-Up Approach

Page 8: Implementing SAP BW

7/28/2019 Implementing SAP BW

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/implementing-sap-bw 8/19

  Implementing SAP BW 

©2006 by SourceCode Inc. Washington D.C. * New York * Mumbai [email protected] 

8

 

Figure 2: Top-Down Approach vs Bottom-Up Approach

Big Bang Implementation or Top-Down Approach

Implementation scope covers all organizational processes and reporting requirements.

 The BW solution suite is deployed across various functions in parallel. Therefore, whether it’s finance,

materials, production planning or sales the end-users in all the functions would use BW simultaneously.

 The upsides to a “top down” approach are:

• Coordinated environment

• Single point of control & development

 The downsides to a “top down” approach are:

• “Cross everything” nature of enterprise project

• Analysis paralysis

• Scope control

• Time to market

• Risk and exposure

Page 9: Implementing SAP BW

7/28/2019 Implementing SAP BW

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/implementing-sap-bw 9/19

  Implementing SAP BW 

©2006 by SourceCode Inc. Washington D.C. * New York * Mumbai [email protected] 

9

 

Pilot Implementation or Bottom-Up Approach

Implementation scope covers select processes and key reporting requirements, which have a high

business impact.

 The pilot implementation acts as a showcase and is followed by next phase of enhancement where in

other processes and reporting requirements are also covered.

 The challenge lies in identifying those quick hit processes and reporting requirements while at the same

time keeping all business groups enthused about the implementation.

 The upsides to a “bottom-up” approach are:

• Quick ROI

• Low risk, low political exposure learning and development environment

• Lower level, shorter term political-will required

• Fast delivery

• Focused problem, focused team

• Inherently incremental

 The downsides to a “bottom up” approach are:

Likely “curse of success” (overwhelming success overwhelms resources)• Multiple team coordination

• Must have a common architecture to integrate incremental data marts

Page 10: Implementing SAP BW

7/28/2019 Implementing SAP BW

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/implementing-sap-bw 10/19

  Implementing SAP BW 

©2006 by SourceCode Inc. Washington D.C. * New York * Mumbai [email protected] 

10

 Structuring Options

 The above set of structuring dimensions and the state of implementation can throw open multiple

structuring options as shown below:

 The above six structuring options can be rated broadly on various key impact parameters and compared

as shown below:

Figure 3: An SAP BW implementation phased along various structuring dimensions

It’s important to note that the ratings shown above are relative across various options without

understating the fact that differences across organizations do exist and the impact of one can be

managed to some extent through adequate controls over a range of parameters mentioned above.

Identifying the right mix of implementation approaches and structuring, the BW Initiative is a critical factor

that can have a significant impact on the success of the initiative. Each organization is distinct in its

environment and therefore no two organizations might have the same recipe for success.

Page 11: Implementing SAP BW

7/28/2019 Implementing SAP BW

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/implementing-sap-bw 11/19

  Implementing SAP BW 

©2006 by SourceCode Inc. Washington D.C. * New York * Mumbai [email protected] 

11

 

Implementing SAP BW Offshore: Factors Affecting It

 The extent to which activities in a SAP BW implementation can be off-shored is contingent on severalfactors. The section below discusses each one of them. It is important to consider all these factors

holistically before deciding on how much and what to offshore.

Type of Engagement

BW engagements can broadly be classified into three categories: baseline implementation,

enhancements to an existing implementation, and production support. The purpose of a baseline

implementation is to quickly deploy a BW based reporting and decision support system, which is based

on standard business content provided by SAP. Enhancement projects build on the baselineimplementation and incorporate customer requirements not met by standard business content. Some

examples of enhancement projects are: implementing additional reporting environments like Web

reporting, Portals interface, third party reporting tools, incorporating non-SAP data sources and creating

new info cubes. Production Support projects monitor the live production system ensuring successful data

loads into BW, resolving issues that end-users may face and incorporating minor enhancements to the

existing information models and queries.

 The offshore component will vary depending on the type of engagement. A rough guide is given in Figure

4. The baseline implementation has been assumed to be a lagged big-bang implementation.

More work can be off-shored in an Enhancement project compared to the baseline implementation. The

business users have a good understanding of the features of the product and there is greater clarity in

specifying the requirements. BW implementations in which custom extractors and custom info cubes need

to be built are good candidates for off shoring. Developing custom extractors requires significant ABAP

programming efforts and should be off shored. As the efforts in these scenarios tend to be higher, the

cost reduction will also be higher when outsourced.

Enhancement projects such as implementing Web reporting for an existing BW implementation can be

successfully handled from offshore if the reporting requirements are static and the major effort is directed

towards Web enabling the queries with small cosmetic changes to the pages. If the requirement is to

incorporate additional functionality with significant changes to the reporting and cosmetic aspects, the

level of off shoring should be judicious.

Page 12: Implementing SAP BW

7/28/2019 Implementing SAP BW

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/implementing-sap-bw 12/19

  Implementing SAP BW 

©2006 by SourceCode Inc. Washington D.C. * New York * Mumbai [email protected] 

12

 

Figure 4: A rough guide to the varying offshore component

Production support of BW systems is the best candidate for off shoring. While level one support can be

considered at onsite, level two and level three should be done from offshore. Skilled resources for quick

ramp-up and ramp-down are more readily available at offshore. If the support is handled by the same

vendor who has done the implementation, the transitioning is easier. If you are considering off-shoring the

support activities to a vendor different from the implementation partner, it is important to ensure aneffective knowledge transition. You should also consider having them at onshore for a short initial period

to gain a good understanding of the systems before moving work offshore. Additionally, it is important to

verify the information security practices of the vendor.

Implementation Approach

A BW implementation can be phased along various structuring dimensions as shown in Figure 3. Each of 

these structuring options has its unique aspects and hence affects the extent to which the activities can

be executed at offshore in each phase.

 The offshore component for each of the structuring options is shown in Figure 5. This should be viewed

as an approximate guide; the actual component may again vary depending on other factors.

Page 13: Implementing SAP BW

7/28/2019 Implementing SAP BW

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/implementing-sap-bw 13/19

  Implementing SAP BW 

©2006 by SourceCode Inc. Washington D.C. * New York * Mumbai [email protected] 

13

 

Figure 5: The offshore component for various structuring options

In Figure 5, since blue predominates, apparently it may suggest that the offshore component is not

significant. However, since the realization and later phases comprises approximately 70% of the project

duration, the actual leverage drawn is substantial. Figure 6 contains the leverage drawn per phase and

the overall cost savings for a Parallel Big Bang BW implementation with significant custom development.

In all the structuring options, the planning and blueprinting phases should be executed onsite. Starting

with realization phase, one can start off-shoring.

 The offshore component in the pilot structuring option generally tends to be low. BW pilot

implementations generally have a narrower scope and the emphasis is on demonstrating the analytical

reporting capabilities, brining in a culture of analytical decision support based information systems and

building confidence on the business warehouse as a product to meet business requirements. As delivery

timelines are smaller, peak team size tends to be high. High requirement changes are a characteristic of 

pilot implementations and when executed in parallel with the OLTP implementation, it tends to be much

higher. In a lagged pilot the design and data requirements for the OLTP system are not as fluid as in the

parallel option. Hence off-shoring opportunities are comparatively higher. In a deferred pilot, the

dependencies on OLTP changes are minimum. Hence the offshore component should be higher than the

pilot and the lagged. However, it is offset to some extent because of the standalone nature of the project

in comparison to the pilot and the lagged options. Additionally, a pilot project should be seen as an

opportunity to build a strong foundation in terms of business process and reporting needs understandings

so that during big bang, off-shoring can be pursued more aggressively.

Page 14: Implementing SAP BW

7/28/2019 Implementing SAP BW

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/implementing-sap-bw 14/19

  Implementing SAP BW 

©2006 by SourceCode Inc. Washington D.C. * New York * Mumbai [email protected] 

14

 

Big Bang BW implementations require dedicated project monitoring and control. In Big Bang BW

implementations, the extent of off-shoring is significantly higher with the lagged option having the highest

offshore component assuming similar implementation scope. A parallel implementation has dependencies

on the OLTP implementation in terms of business process design. Any change in the OLTP design

configuration may have an effect on the BW design. Thus the degree of interactions with the end-users

and business process owners is considerably higher. Off-shoring is a possible option in Big Bang

implementations as the scope of implementation itself spreads across the various business units, which in

turn implies that peak team sizes tend to swell. Also, usually Big Bang implementations tend to have

comparatively higher degree of non-standard configuration and development requirements, which in turn

increases the off-shoring potential.

Scale of Implementation

 The scale of implementation determines the extent of off-shoring as it balances the coordination costs

and the cost savings. The scale is determined by the business units involved, geographical spread,

modules covered, number of source systems and the number of users. As each of these factors increase,

the scale increases and hence the offshore components. BW implementations as a standalone project,

with a small team size, covering single business units and only a few modules may not justify the setting

up of offshore facilities. The associated co-ordination costs will tend to offset the cost leverage gained

from off-shoring. Hence it’s preferable to have such projects onsite and as the scale of engagement

increases, off-shoring should be considered.

Project engagements where the scale is big and there are other projects being implemented

simultaneously are excellent candidates for off-shoring. The c-ordination and project management costs

tend to be small and gains significant.

Vendor Track Record

It is important to ensure that a vendor has a proven track record of executing offshore projects of a similar

nature. Thus it is essential to see the number of data warehousing projects that were successfullyexecuted using the onsite-offshore model and the required domain expertise. Ensure that the vendor has

robust quality processes and are certified at CMMI level 4 or higher. Check if the vendor has strong

project management and relationship management practices in place. The higher a vendor measures on

these parameters, the greater the off-shorability.

Page 15: Implementing SAP BW

7/28/2019 Implementing SAP BW

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/implementing-sap-bw 15/19

  Implementing SAP BW 

©2006 by SourceCode Inc. Washington D.C. * New York * Mumbai [email protected] 

15

 Reasons for Off-shoring

On mention of the word “off-shoring” the first thing that springs to mind is cost benefits. While this is true,

off-shoring offers many other equally important benefits. The various reasons and benefits of off-shoring

are discussed in the next section.

Cost Savings 

 The primary driver for off-shoring is the cost benefits. Figure 6 shows the typical cost savings for a parallel

Big-Bang BW implementation with significant custom development. The realization phase draws the

highest leverage with over 40 % savings. We achieved an overall savings of 30 % for one of our major

clients in the energy and utilities sector.

Figure 6: Cost savings on a Big-Bang BW implementation

Page 16: Implementing SAP BW

7/28/2019 Implementing SAP BW

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/implementing-sap-bw 16/19

Page 17: Implementing SAP BW

7/28/2019 Implementing SAP BW

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/implementing-sap-bw 17/19

  Implementing SAP BW 

©2006 by SourceCode Inc. Washington D.C. * New York * Mumbai [email protected] 

17

 

Figure 7: Offshore executing model for a baseline BW implementation using the ASAP methodology

 The above model is for a baseline BW implementation. The percentage wise split of the major

activities in the realization and later phases is shown in Figure 8. The various specifics of a BW

implementation such as the type of implementation and scale of the program will require the

model to be suitably modified to get the maximum benefits with manageable risks.

Page 18: Implementing SAP BW

7/28/2019 Implementing SAP BW

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/implementing-sap-bw 18/19

  Implementing SAP BW 

©2006 by SourceCode Inc. Washington D.C. * New York * Mumbai [email protected] 

18

 

Figure 8: The percentage wise split of the offshore component for each phase of the implementation

Page 19: Implementing SAP BW

7/28/2019 Implementing SAP BW

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/implementing-sap-bw 19/19

  Implementing SAP BW 

©2006 by SourceCode Inc. Washington D.C. * New York * Mumbai [email protected] 

19

 

Glossary 

BW: Business Information Warehouse

OLTP: Online Transaction Processing

 ASAP: Accelerated SAP – SAP’s implementation methodology

Business Blueprint: ASAP Implementation phase primarily referring to the requirement analysis related

activities.

Realization: ASAP Implementation phase primarily referring to the configuration and development

related activities.

 ABAP: Advanced Business Application Programming, development environment in SAP

InfoCube: Used to store information in BW in a multidimensional format

Business Content: Standard ready to deploy content delivered by SAP 

References 

1. mySAP Business Intelligence (http://www.sap.com/solutions/bi/)

2. ‘Chief Executives define their own data needs’, John F Rockart, Harvard Business Review

3. ‘Management Information Crisis’, D Ronal Daniel, Harvard Business Review

4. ‘Phasing SAP Business Information Warehouse Implementations’ –by Sandeep Kumar

5. ‘Supporting SAP Offshore’ by Byron Miller and Stephanie Moore - Giga Research

6. ‘Offshore Data Warehousing : Proof Points’ by Lou Agosta - Giga Research