Demystifying SAP Activate

April 15, 2016 | 435 Views |

John Gollihar

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As companies worldwide started implementing SAP S/4 HANA, Simple

Finance and Simple Logistics, our customers began to ask us whether the ASAP
Methodology used in the past was still relevant or if an add-on should be applied
so they could use it in a SAP S/4 HANA implementation/Migration project.
The answer is: SAP Activate is the innovation adoption framework for SAP S/4
HANA implementations.
The contents of this blog should give you a high level understanding of SAP
Activate and provide you with valuable links to information and training to help
expand your knowledge on this innovative methodology.
SAP Activate provides best practices, Guided Configuration Tools, and proven
Methodology that accelerate the time it takes to implement SAP S/4 HANA.
The SAP Activate content is structured into 5 distinct phases:
 Prepare
 Explore
 Realize
 Deploy
 Run
Just like ASAP Methodology 8.0, SAP Activate is integrated into SAP Solution
Manager 7.2.
From SAP Solution Manager 7.2 you can use the SAP Roadmap Viewer, which is
a Fiori based application that gives you access to phases of an SAP S/4 HANA
Implementation and the tasks within each phase.
The Methodology provides guided work procedure for Project team members,
deliverable for project managers, Accelerators like how to document templates
for all users, ready to use Test scenarios. All this by using SAP Best Practices,
Fit/Gap Analysis and Agile Project Management.

Let’s have a more detailed look at the five (5) phases:

Prepare

The goal of this initial phase is planning and preparation. In this phase you will
define project goals, identify at a high level the scope of the project and create
the initial project plan. Activities include items like securing executive
sponsorship for the project, defining project standards and governance
framework, etc. In preparation for the Explore phase, key deliverables include:

 Detailed project scope document

 Cost and benefit validation
 Project organization and governance
 Implementation plan and rollout strategy
 Project schedule, budget and management plans
 Project standards and policies, including ICC**
  Solution adoption approach including organizational change management
roadmap and training strategy
 On-boarding of project team
 Project infrastructure
 Technical infrastructure requirements and sizing
 Data migration approach and strategy
 Pre-assembled development infrastructure

Explore

The goal of the Explore phase is to validate the solution functionality contained in
the project scope through the performance of a fit/gap analysis. It is in the
Explore phase that a customer will prepare for and conduct various solution
validation workshops to confirm the requirements, identify any potential gaps
and refine the business requirements. This evaluation of the SAP best practice
solution content will confirm ultimately the “to be” business processes and result
in a functional solution design. As a result, functional and technical requirements
are documented in SAP Solution Manager along with any identified issues or gaps
that need to be addressed.
Key deliverables of the Explore phase include:

 Baseline system ready for Solution Validation workshops

 Solution Validation workshops
 Documented design, including:
 Project plan update
 Process definition document
 Process flows
 Solution design documents
 Functional specifications

Maintained in SAP Solution Manager, based on SAP standards

 Prioritized and estimated Backlog document with requirements and

solution gaps
  Change impact analysis and communication plan
 Legacy data migration design and plan
 Technology design and setup
 Test strategy and plan
 Inventory of gaps including interfaces and conversions
 Release and sprint plan including confirmation of go-live date
 Learning needs analysis and deployment strategy

Realize

In the Realize phase our goal is to build and test the integrated business scenarios
and processes identified in the Explore phase. The implementation of the
solution design will be done using a series of iterative steps that will allow for the
incremental build and testing of an integrated business scenario as well as the
technical infrastructure that will support it. System landscapes, therefore, need
to be in place.
Key activities in the Realize phase will include items like
configuration/implementation of the solution design in the Development
environment, end to end (E2E) testing and validation of the solution in the Quality
Assurance environment and the setup of the Production environment (and any
other landscape requirements identified for the system landscape design such as
Pre-Production, Training, or Sandbox environments. Data migration planning and
testing is also included as we prepare for the next phase of the project. Project
team training is also critical at this point in the project.
Key deliverables of the Realize phase include:

 Organization alignment and user enablement

 Technology setup for quality and production environment including
security and authorizations
 Solution configuration and tests
 Business process procedures
 Development/testing of enhancements and extensions like interfaces,
forms, workflows, conversions, or reports
  Evaluation and enhancement of security/controls
 Technical Quality Assurance
 Integration Validation**
 Preparation/delivery of train-the-trainer course
 End user training system environment
 Data migration conducted
 User acceptance test
 Technical operations setup plan, including OCC
 Cutover and transition plan

Solution documentation at this phase is critical. The project team will document
all configuration decisions in SAP Solution Manager, including relevant interfaces,
integration requirements, development requirements, reports, enhancements
needed, etc.
Deploy

Let’s get ready and go live! In the Deploy phase setup of the production system is
completed. Confirmation that the customer support organization and
infrastructure is in place, trained and ready for cut over is obtained prior to
migrating business operations onto the new production environment.
Key deployment activities will include items such as final validation ofthe
customer’s support systems and procedures, training of end user population is
completed, organizational change management plans (OCM) are executed, data
migration is completed, etc. As the transition to the new production environment
occurs monitoring of the relevant business processes and technical environment
will be conducted and all issues identified during transition will be documented
for tracking and resolution post go live.
Key deliverables in the Deploy phase include:

 Organizational and production readiness check

 Pre go-live user training delivery
 Technical and system testing, as necessary
 Setup operational support organization, including OCC
  Cutover to production including
 Cutover plan update
 Cutover simulations
 Data migration
 User IDs and profiles created
 Help desk and technical support operational
 Operational and live production system environment
 Post Go-Live support provided, including training
 Project closing including lessons learned

Run
The goal of the Run phase is to ensure that the solution and its environment are
available and performing at acceptable levels after go live. Operational standards
and processes and procedures are implemented based on SAP Best Practice
Operations Standards. Using a lifecycle approach, critical areas and processes of
operations are continuously monitored and evaluated for optimization.
Key deliverables in the Run phase include:

 An assessment of standards for optimizing solution operation, including:

 Scope
 A project schedule for implementing
 For each relevant operation standard:
 A design of processes, organization and roles, and a blueprint for tool use
 Setup of processes, tools, organization, and roles
 Transition into production
 Training and rollout

As you can see, the methodology provides a standard, consistent process

designed to focus on delivering “value” throughout the project at every phase of
the methodology. The main goal is to facilitate a faster, less service intensive
initial SAP S/4 HANA implementation, whether deployment occurs On-The-Cloud
or On-Premise.
SAP Activate Vs SAP ASAP and SAP Launch

What is SAP Activate? High level description.

SAP Activate is a methodology used in S/4 HANA and is a unique combination of

SAP Best Practices, Methodology, and SAP Guided Configuration delivered with a
reference solution. It enables customers to start fast, build smart, and run simple
while continuously innovating in the cloud and anywhere.

SAP Activate is a successor of the ASAP and SAP Launch methodology. SAP
introduced SAP Launch methodology one year ago for SAP cloud based solutions.
Now, these 2 methodologies are not the SAP suggested methodologies. In other
words, SAP Activate Methodology is designed to support a broad coverage of SAP
solutions starting with SAP S/4HANA. The methodology also enables co-
innovation with customers and is accessible for partners like us.

SAP Activate, which is a combination of SAP Best Practices, guided configuration,

and methodology optimized for S/4HANA. Let's deep dive into these 3 key
elements of SAP Activate.

1. SAP Best Practices: SAP Best Practices baseline for SAP S/4HANA contain
complete and consistent configuration settings and assets to use as enablement
and accelerators in your implementation projects. So what does it include?

Business Process Structure with technical steps that include finance and logistical
areas.

Accelerators for your implementation project.

Integration information with other cloud solutions, such as Success Factors

Employee Central or Ariba Network.

Migration documents which help to migrate either from Non SAP systems or from
legacy SAP systems.

Graphical representation of all the business processes.

Pre-defined test scripts

Testing automation process available in S\4 HANA.

2. Guided Configuration: It is a set of tools, assets and accelerators which assist

the implementation of SAP S\4 HANA. This will help right from the initial setup all
through after go live support. This guided approach helps to bridge the gap
between business and IT groups to have a successful implementation. The entire
process of collaboration will be recorded, thus supplying a configuration history.

3. One Methodology: SAP Activate Methodology is the used for initiating any
implementation of SAP S/4HANA. It is the successor of the ASAP methodology and
SAP Launch methodologies, and caters to the usage of SAP’s premium
engagements, etc.

Why is SAP Activate needed?

As explained SAP is succeeding all variants of ASAP 8 methodology and SAP

Launch.

1. ASAP 8 will be replaced with SAP Activate methodology for on premise edition.
This will be supported in SAP S/4 HANA and SAP Business Suite (ERP, CRM,
sRM,…)

2. SAP Launch will be replaced with SAP ACTIVATE methodology for cloud
enterprise edition and SAP Activate methodology for project services edition. This
will support implementations in SAP S/4 HANA, cloud editions (currently
excluding Cloud marketing edition) and in H2 2015 will be transitioned for SFSF,
C4C and Ariba.

Now, it is better to understand what the difference between these with SAP
Activate is. Compared to ASAP and Launch, SAP activate has improvements in the
below areas:

Based on use of SAP Best Practices

Reduced project lifecycle – only 4 phases

Up to 10 key deliverables per phase, thus easier access to key guides and
accelerators

Blueprint activities replaced with solution validation

Agile implementation as a default.

SAP will continue to provide access to the last version of ASAP 8 methodology in
SAP Service Marketplace for project teams that are using it today. There will be
no further content enhancements made to ASAP 8 going forward as all the new
implementation methodology assets will be made available through SAP Activate
framework.

How does SAP Activate be deployed?

The Roadmap to get to SAP S/4HANA in order to maximize benefits will vary
according to different business and IT drivers. E.g. client may already use SAP
Business Suite on SAP HANA today, client could be new to SAP, or client may have
a mature SAP landscape that you plan to simplify and transform. In order to
support the different starting points there are three main adoption roadmaps.

• New Implementation: In this scenario you are installing a new SAP S/4HANA
system and migrate your data. Clients will benefit from new implementation of
industry-leading Business Suite and Reengineering and process simplification
based on ready-to-run business processes and reference solution delivered with
the product.

• System Conversion: In this scenario you are already using SAP Business Suite on
SAP HANA or any database, and want to convert your current system into a SAP
S/4HANA system. They can leverage RDS [Rapid Deployment Solution] and benefit
from migration without reimplementation, no disruption for existing business
processes, re-evaluation of customization and existing process flows and
transformation over time.
• Landscape transformation: in this scenario you might have more complex
requirements. You may want to use SAP S/4HANA as your central finance system
or move selected applications to SAP S/4HANA. Or you might want to simplify
your system landscape by consolidating multiple business units into one new SAP
S/4HANA instance. This would be similar to RDS approach however the upgrade
to the latest enhancement package and the migration to SAP HANA are supported
by services based on SAP Landscape Transformation Replication Server. This also
have few benefits like, they would stay with current business processes and move
gradually to S/4HANA innovations, harmonized business processes and shared
master data through consolidation, carve out of single entities of the company to
SAP S/4HANA and leverage process simplification.

For each of the above scenarios, will go through the 4 phases

Prepare: Start with Best Practices by re-using knowledge assets and prebuild
content

Explore: Moving into pre assembly, rapid prototyping, solution validation

workshops and delta backlog.

Realize: In this phase iterative delta scope implementation and E2E integration
testing

Deploy: This is the final phased where the roll out is done

Where to find SAP Activate methodology content?

Assets / accelerators are linked to different phases of the methodology. They are
freely accessible:

• SAP Best Practices assets and accelerators are directly accessible through the
“Manage Your Solution” Fiori application of SAP S/4HANA. Additionally these
assets are available through Solution Manager templates and online on SAP
Service Marketplace

• SAP Activate Methodology assets are available through standard documentation

of the implementation methodologies.

In addition, SAP Activate Methodology project management accelerators are

made available through SAP JAM. The complete documentation of SAP Best
Practices through Solution Manager Templates and online on SAP Service
Marketplace will be made available.

• Request Access -http://bit.ly/SAPActivate

• Public Access - http://sap.com/activate

Conclusion: SAP Activate

In short, SAP Activate is a combination of SAP Best Practices, guided

configuration, and methodology which allows building smart and running simple.
SAP Activate gives the freedom to run fast with Fiori UX and with a lower TCO and
continuous innovation with built-in extensibility to fit different needs. The key
take away will be that SAP Activate is one methodology for any deployment mode
– cloud, hybrid, on premise, or mobile for S\4 HANA.