Best Practices for

Planning, Managing, and

Executing a Global SAP
BW Project
Dr. Bjarne Berg
Lenoir-Rhyne College
2004 Wellesley Information Services. All rights reserved.

What Well Cover..

Why build a global BW system?

Designing a global BW architecture
The six dimensions of global BW project management
Global BW project examples

An in-depth look at a global Telecom

A global industrial company
A glance at four other global BW implementations

Getting the team together

Lessons learned: global BW project management

Project Management, the team composition, the BW Product and other lessons
learned

Wrap-up

What Well Cover

Why build a global BW system?

Business case
Scope
Approach
Performance measures
Tool selection

Designing a global BW architecture

The six dimensions of global BW project management
Global BW project examples
Getting the team together
Lessons learned: global BW project management
Wrap-up

Where Does Senior Management Think It Is?

82% of senior executives believe that the

information they need to make decisions
is available in the company, but very
hard to get a hold of.
Source: Forbes Magazine, 2003

Why??
4

Why is Management Not Getting What It Wants?

82% of senior executives believe that the

information they need to make decisions
is available in the company, but very hard
to get a hold of.
Source: Forbes Magazine, 2003

1. Reporting is still organized around departmental functions

2. Reporting is organized around geographical boundaries
3. Tools are not standardized
4. The focus has been on standardizing processes
Most importantly: A global enterprise reporting
architecture has not been implemented
5

Why Not Use Yesteryears ERP Reporting Tools?

ERP-system

Executive I nfo Systems

I nformation Center

1970s

1980s

Spreadsheets

1990s

2000s
Source: Fredrick Hoggren
Swedish Civil Economist Association

While providing higher flexibility, more interactive analysis capabilities and

ability to consolidate data from many sources, data warehouses and ODSs
have rapidly replaced many of the earlier ERP reporting tools
6

Why Consider a Global Data Warehousing Solution?

The more access a company
has to global information, the
faster it can respond to
opportunities, threats and risks.

BI

DW (BW)

Operational Data
Store
(BW)
Transactions (i.e.
R/3)

Note

Monthly performance reporting

is simply not adequate to run a
modern multi-national
organization

The advantages that data warehousing offers faster market

response, reduced operating costs, knowledge-based strategic
decision support, and more have made it a required tool of the
global economy. Paul Foote in State of the Marketplace. Faulkner Information Services

Analytics vs. Reporting

Decide early on how
much analytics vs.
basic reporting the team
is going to deliver.
Balanced scorecards
based on key performance
indicators require more
substantial more work
than creating simple
financial reports.
How will users access
data in multiple areas?

Analytics contains pre-developed

rules to view or examine data

What Activities in the Supply Chain Drive the Company?

Develop
Products/
Services

Research Customer/
Market Needs
Conduct Basic Research
Design & Develop
Products / Services
Test-market Product
Develop Resource
Requirements Plan
Develop & Implement
Manufacturing Processes
Develop & Implement
Service Processes

Produce
Products/
Service

Perform
Procurement

Manage
Vendor/Contractor
Relationships
Order Materials/Supplies
Manage Inbound Logistics
Receive
Materials/Supplies
Manage Material/Supply
Quality
Manage Raw
Material/Feedstock
Inventory
Return Materials to
Vendors
Qualify & Select
Vendors/Contractors

Do not build a global

system around what data is
easily "available".

Manage Engineering
Changes
Manage Product/Service
Quality
Obtain, Install, & Maintain
Production Equipment
Develop & Maintain
Production Procedures
Plan Capacity
Plan Production
Requirements
Schedule Production
Produce & Package
Products/Services
Perform Production
Control
Manage Work-In- Process
Inventory
Develop & Maintain Bills
of Material/Formulae

Manage
Logistics/
Distribution

Plan Inventory Levels

Manage Finished Goods
Inventory
Manage Outbound Product
Flow
Manage Transportation
Perform Shipping
Manage
Warehouses/Distribution
Centers

Perform
Marketing/
Sales

Develop Market Strategies

Develop Marketing Plan
Develop Assortment/Brand Plan
Develop Product Packaging
Create Demand Forecast
Establish & Manage Distribution
Channels
Manage Finished Goods
Inventory
Manage In- Store Merchandising
Manage Sales Force/Brokers
Plan & Execute Promotional
Events

Manage
Customer
Service

Process Customer Orders

Manage Product
Packaging/Configuration
Manage Product/Service Pricing
Manage Scheduling
Manage Customer Credit
Ratings
Handle Inquiries/Complaints
Collect Customer Data
Provide Customer Service
Handle
Warranties/Claims/Returns

STEP 1: Determine what activities in the supply

chain drives the profit of your company.
Regardless of organizational, geographical
or system boundaries.
9

Determine Your Global Performance Measures

Develop
Products/
Services

Equipment/Labor (Utilization)
Headcount
Process Steps (Number
Product Development (Cost)
Product Development (Cycle Time)
Product Introduction (Number)
Schedule/Cost Estimates (Accuracy)

Perform

Equipment/Labor (Utilization)
Headcount
Process Steps (Number)
Purchase Discounts (Value)
Purchase Order
(Volume/Frequency)
Purchase Price Variance (Value)
Purchasing (Cost)
Purchasing (Cycle Time)
Supplier Defects (Number)
Supplier Lead Time
Supplier On-time Delivery
Suppliers (Number)

STEP 2: Determine what performance

measures you need to track in BW.
Consider what successful companies
in your industry are doing..

Produce

Changeover/Turnaround (Cycle Time)

Defects/Off-Quality (Cost)
Defects/Off-Quality (Volume/Quantity)
Engineering Design Changes (Cycle Times)
Engineering Design Changes
(Volume/Frequency)
Equipment/Labor (Utilization)
Headcount
Inventory Work In Process (Level/Value)
Manufacturing (Cycle Time)
Parts/Stock Keeping Units (Number)
Process Steps (Number)
Production Lot/Batch Size
Production Schedule (Accuracy/Fulfillment)
Productivity/Throughput
Quality of Service
Rework (Cost)
Rework (Volume/Frequency)
Scheduled Maintenance (Cost)
Scheduled Maintenance (Cycle Time)
Scheduled Maintenance (Frequency)
Scrap/Waste (Cost)
Theft/Shrinkage (Cost)
Unscheduled Maintenance (Cost)
Unscheduled Maintenance (Cycle Time)
Unscheduled Maintenance (Frequency)

10

Look to the Industry for Best Performance Measure Practices

Market / Sell
Products /
Services

Distribute
Products

Carriers (Number)
Dock-to-Stock (Cycle Time)
Equipment/Labor (Utilization)
Headcount
Inventory (Accuracy)
Inventory Finished Goods (Level/Value)
Inventory Finished Goods (Turnover)
Inventory Intransit (Level/Value)
Inventory Raw Materials (Level/Value)
Inventory Raw Materials (Turnover)
Picking (Accuracy)
Picking/Packing (Cycle Time)
Process Steps (Number)

NOTE: The performance measures

may be different than those you are
reporting on today
Ignore organizational, geographical or
system boundaries.

Advertising Effectiveness (Awareness)

Advertising Effectiveness (Perception)
Annual Purchase Volume
Closure/Conversion Rate
Customer Complaints (Volume/Frequency)
Customer Retention Rates
Customer Returns (Number)
Design/Formulation/Package Changes
Distribution Channels (Number)
Event ROI
Forecast (Accuracy)
Forecast (Cycle Time)
Headcount
In-Stock Ratio on Promoted
items/Rainchecks
Marketing (Cost)
Marketing (Cycle Time)
Marketing Effectiveness (Cost)
Marketing Effectiveness (Cycle Time)
Product/Brand Forecast (Accuracy)
Product/Brand Forecast (Cycle Time)
Shelf/Floor Allotment
Shopping Frequency
SKUs (Number)
Traffic Count & Transaction Size
Variance to Plan (Market Share)
Variance to Plan (Production Cost/Volume)
Variance to Plan (Sales Value/Units)

Manage
Customer
Service

Adjusted Orders (Volume/Frequency)

Backorders/Stockouts
(Volume/Frequency)
Billing (Cost)
Billing (Cycle Time)
Credit/Debit Memos
(Volume/Frequency)
Customer Satisfaction Rating
Equipment/Labor (Utilization)
Headcount
Inquiries/Complaints
(Volume/Frequency)
On-time Delivery Rate
Order Fill Ratio
Order Fulfillment (Cycle Time)
Order Processing (Cycle Time)
Order Processing (volume)
Process Steps (Number)
Response/Wait Time
Warranties/Claims/Returns (Cost)
Warranties/Claims/Returns
(Volume/Frequency)

11

Where Are We?

Why build a global BW system?

Designing a global BW architecture
The six dimensions of global BW project management
Global BW project examples
Getting the team together
Lessons learned: global BW project management
Wrap-up

12

What Logically Belongs in a Global BW System?

Real-time
Inquiry

Operational
Reporting

ERP

Management Information
Lightly Summarized

More Summarized
More Ad Hoc

DW

Dividing Line

Organization

Location

Business
Process
Data

Application
Technology
Source: Siemens

Two years ago, with version 3.0B, BW

became increasingly able to report on
operational detailed data. But some
reports still belong in R/3 or other
transactions systems
13

Why Is Management Not Getting What It Wants?

In the next section well take a look at the typical global

Data Warehouse architecture and see how SAP BW maps
to this conceptual architecture
Afterwards we will look at an example how this may
integrate with multiple environments from an enterprise
perspective.

14

The Global Target Architecture An Example

Meta Data
Source Data

Extract

External
systems
Messaging
Internet

Transform

Data
Warehouse

Marketing
& Sales
Data
Extraction
Transform
and
Load
Processes

Corporate

Translate
Summarize

Product Line
Summation

Location
Finance
Supply

Access
Managed
Query Env.

Purchasing

R/3
Legacy
Systems

Operational
Data Store

Calculate
Attribute

OLAP
Data Subsets
by Segment
Summarized
Data

Synchronize
Reconcile

Vendor
Provided

Batch
Reporting
Data
Mining

Data Marts

Data Warehouse and Decision Support Framework

15

Where Do I Start?
This table illustrates the reported focus areas from companies in the US and Europe for their
DSS development.
Focus on an area that solves a
problem instead of becoming a
"replacement" project. Gradually,
using a prioritized phased
approach, solve other business
problems.
A good way to think of BW rollout
planning is in terms of business
problems.

BUSINESS PROBLEM

MCM

CUSTOMER SEGMENTATION

69 %

TARGET MARKETING

65 %

FCM

FINANCIAL REPORTING

55 %

PROFITABILITY REPORTING

55%

COST ANALYSIS

46 %

CUSTOMER SERVICE

43 %

CATEGORY MANAGEMENT

30 %
30 %

INDUSTRY SPECIFIC APPLICATIONS

29 %

BUDGETING/PLANNING

27 %

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

Reporting
Enterprise
Portals

SAP-CRM

SAP-BW
Data
Warehouse

SEM/
SCEM

Financial
Analysis

62 %

25 %

13 %

Supply Chain
Management

Procurement
SAP-HR

22 %

CREDIT RISK MANAGEMENT

TODAY

Other

Reporting projects since most

companies have more than one
project, totals in each business
area may exceed
100%
Source: Rainer
Gebhardt, Insights

16

Where Are We?

Why build a global BW system?

Designing a global BW architecture
The six dimensions of global BW project management
Global BW project examples
Getting the team together
Lessons learned: global BW project management
Wrap-up

17

The Six Global Dimensions

There are six core global dimensions you must consider before embarking on a global DW strategy.
Project management is important, but its only one of these dimensions. Failure to account for the
others may result in project failures.

Source: Peter Grottendieck, Siemens

For each dimension, articulate an approach, constraints,

limitations and assumptions before you start your project.

18

The Six Global Dimensions (cont.)

Be aware that US management styles can often come across as very aggressive and
authoritative. To get local buy-in, assign meaningful leadership roles to local
managers.

Intercultural Know How

Culture, language, attitudes and politics can get in the way of a global project
Make sure you have a blend of local resources in leadership roles and consider
local consultants instead of bringing in US resources

19

The Six Global Dimensions (cont.)

One of the first steps is to make sure you have reliable connectivity and
bandwidth to move the data each night

Infrastructure
Prerequisites

What happens if the data movement fails?

How can you get access to backup tapes?
Can the bandwidth handle end-of month high volumes?
What infrastructure do each source site use?

20

The Six Global Dimensions (cont.)

Do all team members and end-users communicate as effective in English?

Training

Documentation

1.

Do we need multi-language training and documentation?

2.

Does basic conversational English mean that users can read

and understand technical training material and
documentation?

21

How Tightly Should Multiple BW Projects be Controlled?

Coordination of Multiple Data Warehouse Projects

The relationship
between global control
and success:

Tight Central Control

(24%)

Loose Cooperation
(38%)

Independent
(38%)

88%
88%Successful
Successful

30%
30%Successful
Successful
100%
100%Successful
Successful

Source: The Conference Board Survey

22

Where Are We?

Why build a global BW system?

Designing a global BW architecture
The six dimensions of global BW project management
Global BW project examples

An in-depth look at a global Telecom

A global industrial company
A glance at four other global BW implementations

Getting the team together

Lessons learned: global BW project management
Wrap-up

23

Lets Look at a Global BW Project Example

A case study

Fortune 100 company with operations around the world

230 systems identified as mission critical
23 installations of SAP R/3 on 6 continents
Other ERP systems:

JD Edwards
Custom-developed Oracle systems

24

Data Warehouse Initiatives

A case study

These were the DW initiatives that

corporate HQ knew about

25

Alternative Global BW Approaches

Build a global data warehouse

for the company, and proceed
sourcing data from old legacy
systems driven from a topdown approach.

BOTTOM-UP APPROACH

CHANGE

CONTINUE

TOP-DOWN APPROACH

Focus on a bottom-up approach

where the BW project will prioritize
supporting and delivering local BW
solutions, thereby setting the
actual establishment of the global
Data Warehouse as secondary,
BUT not forgotten.

A case study

26

Bottom-Up Approach Rationale

Improved Project
Management
Enables future
migration of
standardized data
architecture to a Global
DSS architecture
through standard local
solutions.
Ensures higher quality
of local deliveries and
projects through
increasing focus on
providing local
solutions.

Improved Cost
Efficiency
Minimizes local investments through a
consolidated hardware
environment.
Leverages buying
power in front of
vendors through provision of guidelines
and corporate
agreements.
Enables lower
development costs
through centralized
user documentation
and training.

Establishes a better
working environment
between local units and
central project
Substantially reduces
management through
ABAP report
the positioning as a
programming costs
Competency Center for
through providing
Local Needs.
support for an efficient
SAP BW roll-out.
A case study

Secured Commonality
across Company

Leveraged SAP
Decision Support

Ensures use of
common definitions.

Provides users with a

fast way to integrate
ERP reporting to
advanced standardized decision
support systems
through simplifying the
roll-out of SAP BW
Enables the inclusion
of future SAP-based
standard decision
support modules
(SEM, EC and others).

Ensures uniformity
through eliminating
options to develop
regional, functional or
non-standard
solutions.
Provides centralized
testing of vendor
software (combined
with ESOE etc).
Using ONE
methodology - one
way of working.

Reduces delivery time

of decision support for
SAP R/3 through
usage of a
standardized
application.

Ensure reusability.
Reusability will ensure
commonality !

Creates a
Competence Center
for SAP BW.

27

SAP BW Activities and Architecture

4. Migrate existing solutions into Company

architecture

3. After local solutions are implemented and

standardized, consolidation to a Global
Data Warehouse is simplified and faster
2. Coordinate development
efforts and activities:
-Tool selection
-Methodology
-Organization
-Deliverables
-Data standards
-Training
-Documentation

A case study

Global DW

SAP
BW

DW

Local
DW

Local
DW

Oracle
Sybase
MVS
Others

Oracle
Sybase
MVS
Others

5. Install SAP BW based solutions

(SEM, EC and consolidated BW)
for business and financial
management together with Shared Financial Services

Local
DW

Oracle
Sybase
MVS
Others

SAP
BW

SAP
BW

SAP
BW

SAP
BW

SAP
R/ 3

SAP
R/ 3

SAP
R/ 3

1. Test, productify
SAP BW and install
standard
solution(s) locally:
-Software
-Hardware
-Testing
-Training
-Documentation

28

An Approach to BW Reporting Architecture Development

BISC (Business Information Supply
Chain) Responsibilities

SAP Business Warehouse

BISC would take the responsibility for productfying and installing SAP BW standard solutions
locally, including software, hardware, testing,
training and documentation.
BISC could support for SAP BW based solutions
for business and financial management (SEM,
EC and consolidated BW together with SFSC
etc).

Global DW

SAP
BW

DW

Local
DW

Oracle
Sybase
MVS
Others

Local
DW

Oracle
Sybase
MVS
Others

Local
DW

Oracle
Sybase
MVS
Others

SAP
BW

Local Data Warehouses

SAP
BW

SAP
BW

SAP
BW

SAP
R/ 3

SAP
R/ 3

SAP
R/ 3

BISC coordinates development efforts and

activities within the Data Warehousing field at
Company. This includes guidelines on tool
selection,
methodology,
organization,
deliverables, data standards, training and
documentation.
Global Data Warehouse
BISC has the overall responsibility to establish
the Global DW within Company, which is
achieved through prioritizing development of
consistent local DW solutions enabling our long
29
term goals.

SAP BW Rollout Approach

CHANGE

Bottom-Up
Fixed Departure

Departure I - 3 months

Departure II - 3 months

Departure III - 3 months

Departure IV - 3 months

The project delivered local SAP

BW solutions and packaged
solutions for decision support as a
first priority, and the Global Data
Warehouse as a second priority.
A fixed departure approach was
applied with focus on delivering
solutions rather than projects and
software; specific BW solutions
were developed according to a predefined schedule where local
business units were invited or
encouraged to participate.

A case study

30

A Global Rollout a Different European Example

UK

North West (Den Haag)

Ireland

Local
Local
AMC/Dev
AMC/Dev
Spiridon
Spiridon
/CRM
/CRM

BW

Spiridon

others

CRM
CRM

(one client)

Global
Development
Spiridon/CRM

Netherland
s

BW

others

Local
AMC/Dev
Spiridon
/CRM

BW

Spiridon

Mid South (Wien)

Local
AMC/Dev
e.p@ss
/CRM

BW

e.p@ss

Austria

South West (Madrid)

Portugal

others

Switzerland

CRM

Turkey

Belgium

CRM

Spain
Source: Siemens Corp information 2003

In this case, the company created both a local

and global BW system for CRM data

31

Some Lessons Learned From Other Global Implementations

BW version
Largest
Volume

Lessons
learned

Business
drivers

Success

Very large
global telecom Co.

Global oil co.

3.1c
5-20 million
transactional records
in FI cubes

3.1c
Largest cubes have 18.8
million, 18.4 million, and
11.2 million records
each.
Should not have gone
live on 1.2a, should
have used more than
one presentation tool.
The extract and load
process is the most
complex, strong BW
experience is essential

Keep scope and

development effort
focused, use more
than one
presentation tool,
dont underestimate
the extract and load
effort
Standardized global
reporting

Creation of corporate
enterprise-wide data
warehouse

Very happy with

implementation
added 3 more
countries last year

Overall happy. Have

accomplished in 6
months what would
have taken 5 years.

Note

Global oil co.

3.0b
35 million rows

Fortune-500
Retailer
3.2
120 million records in
sales, and 230GB in
Sales and finance

Data movement is
Custom coding cannot
the most complex
overcome the BW
part of BW. The
extractors. Integration
project would not
with non-R/3 data was
have accepted as
technically easy, but
many enhancements
conceptually hard.
if done again.
The team members must
You need a really .
have solid BW skills
strong BW architect
SAP R/3 was being Custom global reporting
installed, and SAP
has a too-high cost
BW is the reporting of ownership and is too
strategy for all key hard to manage. Want
performance
content and features.
indicators
Is being rolled out to Very happy with the
speed of delivery and
more subsidiaries
and management is
user satisfaction
pleased with results

The major findings highlight the need for specialized BW

skills and very strong scope control

32

Deciding Which Front-end To Use For A Global BW System

A major decision for the global BW system is the

selection of which delivery mechanism to support
and who get access to which tool.

Most companies start with BW

OLAP for web and add other types
of interfaces later..

33

Example Summary
A conceptual architecture is the first
step and the physical architecture is a
product of this. It should be driven by
the user needs and the types of
interfaces needed, and not by an internal
IT exercise.
SAP BW can now be used as an
enterprise Data Warehouse and a Global
rollout can be accomplished.
There are two core ways to succeed, but
both require strong central control and
support.
34

Where Are We?

Why build a global BW system?

Designing a global BW architecture
The six dimensions of global BW project management
Global BW project examples
Getting the team together
Lessons learned: global BW project management
Wrap-up

35

Practical Tips: Getting The Global Team Together

Involve relevant business departments, regardless of
organizational and geographical boundaries.

Create a user acceptance team with a total of 5-7 members from the
various business departments or organizations. Keep the number odd
to assist with votes when decisions are made. With fewer than 5
members it can be hard to get enough members present during some
meetings.

Make the team the focus of requirements-gathering in the early phase

and let this team later become the user acceptance team (testing) in the
realization phase.

Meet with the team at least once a month during realization to refine
requirements as you are building and have something to show the team.

Issue

This approach is hard to execute when also managing scope,

but essential to make sure the system meets the requirements

36

Practical Tips: Getting The Global Team Together (cont.)

These are roles not positions.
(sometimes one team member
can fill more than one role)
P r o je c t s p o n s o r /
S t e e r in g C o m it t e e

Tip: Keep back-end developers

centralized, while query
developers can be decentralized.

P r o je c t M a n a g e r
B W A r c h it e c t
P o r t a l d e v e lo p e r ( s )
S a le s T e a m
B
B
P
E

F in a n c e T e a m

u s in e s s a n a ly s t / ( s u b - t e a m le a d )
W d e v e lo p e r
r e s e n t a t io n d e v e lo p e r ( s )
T L d e v e lo p e r

B
B
P
E

u s in e s s a n a ly s t / ( s u b - t e a m le a d )
W d e v e lo p e r
r e s e n t a t io n d e v e lo p e r ( s )
T L d e v e lo p e r

M a t e r ia l M g m t . T e a m
B
B
P
E

u s in e s s a n a ly s t / ( s u b - t e a m le a d )
W d e v e lo p e r
r e s e n t a t io n d e v e lo p e r ( s )
T L d e v e lo p e r

Basis and functional R/3 support

15-25 team members and normally 6-18 months duration depending on scope

37

Sleep and Travel

People crossing 4 or more time zones need over 36 hours to
adjust, increasing to > 72 hours when crossing 6 or more time
zones. Some simple rules to address this:

Create a "project time" in the middle. I.e. for European

and US projects, middle time would be Eastern US time +3
hrs, and European central times less 3 hours. No
meetings would be scheduled between 8 AM and 11 AM in
Europe, nor between 2 PM and 5 PM in the US.
Fly to the destination the day before, or allow at least 4
hours downtime for sleeping and showering at the hotel.
Schedule meeting times around when people are
traveling.
Keep each trip over 5 days minimum to adjust for sleep, or
risk running the team "into the ground"
Plan extended weekends for family time for staff after a
long trip (including consultants)

38

Getting Local "Buy-in" And Developing Local Support

Should a set of Ambassadors be

part of the rollout-strategy?

Issue

Issue

How can this be done with

minimal organizational disruption?

39

The Use of Ambassadors

Getting power users involved early is important to
the overall success of a Data Warehousing project

To help support the businesses that have already

gone live, a strong local community of
ambassadors is needed. If you dont have them,
on-going projects may get bogged down with
basic support of reports.

40

Ambassadors - How To Use Local Resources

Great
Feature

Of the total work of 7,061 hours for presentation

development from August though October, 58% of the
enhancement work was performed by local resources.
This allowed the central team to move their focus to the
next implementation, while ensuring local support and
empowered Ambassadors to help the users in each
organization.

Germany, Holland

Ambassadors
(PowerUser)

USA

Business Content

TASKS (partial list):

Customize for local needs

Austria

Reconcile old and new reports

1. Presentation developer

Spain

2. User requirements analyst

Local support and delivery

Ensure reusability of solutions
Ensure change management

Italy

Oct. 02

Mar. 03
Jan. 02

Jun. 03
May. 03

41

Some Benchmark Indications on Ambassadors

Note

Increased business
involvement increases
the probability for data
warehouse project
success.

Can you use a

BW Ambassador
in your user
organizations?

Business Units Involved in Development

No
(10%)

50%
50%
Successful
Successful

Yes
(90%)

70%
70%
Successful
Successful

Survey of 84 companies: The Conference Board.

42

Where Are We?

Why build a global BW system?

Designing a global BW architecture
The six dimensions of global BW project management
Global BW project examples
Getting the team together
Lessons learned: global BW project management

Project management
Team composition
BW Product
Other lessons

Wrap-up

43

Lessons Learned: Project Management

A user acceptance team (UAT) of 5-7 people should be created from the
first day, and all acceptance criteria should be established well in advance
of the implementation
Use of Rapid Application Development is the preferred development
methodology
Use a phased business content approach with standard delivered content
first, then customize if absolutely needed
It is hard to estimate accurately the data movement effort 80% of
delays and surprises occur in this area, and this work is often underestimated
Treat the workplan only as a tool and adjust it as needed
Spend less time on the project preparation phase and as much as
possible on the realization phase. Many issues cannot be planned, but
time can be set aside to deal with them.
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Lessons Learned: Team Composition

Developer training should start early for all project team members
SAP R/3 skills are not easily transferable to BW hands-on
experience is needed (its hard to learn while being productive)
The quality of the team members is much more important than the
number of members. A skilled BW developer can accomplish in
one day what 3 novice developers can do in a week.
Project time and cost estimates should be based on teams
experience levels
Plan on formal knowledge transfer from external resources starting
from day one. Link inexperienced members with experienced ones
Have identified go-to resources available in all areas (make a list)

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Lessons Learned: The BW Product

The time to develop BW will depend on how much
customization was done when R/3 was installed
The tool has a high learning curve and training cannot
substitute for experience.
Plan on spending 10-15% of overall effort on performance
tuning of queries and data loads. Test the performance as
part of the development effort.
Implementation of LIS, SIS, EIS are no longer needed to use
most standard extractors from BW, but most extractors are
normally enhanced. Plan on using 50-60% of the project
effort on data extraction, movement, validation, load,
scheduling and testing.

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Lessons Learned: The BW Product (cont.)

Use the statistics cube to monitor system performance and dont forget
to use the cost-based optimizer if you are using Oracle as your database
Direct updates to InfoCubes (non-loads) are complex. If this is needed
for reconciliation efforts, create a data staging area, make changes here
and re-load the data. Direct cube updates for non SEM/ APO, SCEM
cubes are hard to make work in practice.
Do not succumb to using BW as a dumping ground some reports
belongs in R/3.

Finally, do not attempt to cram all data into one

cube. Keep InfoCubes logically organized and use
multi-cube queries as needed.

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Other Lessons Learned

Global user training should be custom-made and tailored to
each country or region.
A global line support organization should be established and be
part of the development effort (knowledge transfer).
Buy hardware early (international delivery times can delay the
project)
Locate the users as soon as possible and take a look at the
network
Finally, create Ambassadors, road shows and/or brownbag sessions.

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Where Are We?

Why build a global BW system?

Designing a global BW architecture
The six dimensions of global BW project management
Global BW project examples
Getting the team together
Lessons learned: global BW project management
Wrap-up

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Resources

Global Project Management Handbook by David L.

Cleland, Roland Gareis. Hardcover: 672 pages.
McGraw-Hill Professional; ISBN: 0070113297

International Journal Of Project Management, Magazine

Publisher: Elsevier Ltd ASIN: B00007AYDS
The Distance Manager: A Hands On Guide to Managing
Off-Site Employees and Virtual Teams by Kimball
Fisher, Mareen Fisher. Hardcover: 252 pages Publisher:
McGraw-Hill; ISBN: 0071360654

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7 Key Points to Take Home

Use the 6 dimensions framework to guide your BW development
Plan for a truly Enterprise Architecture that is designed, not evolved
Spend much time on getting the right resources on your team
Involve the local staff in a proactive manner and make them part of your
leadership team.
Dont re-invent the wheel use experienced resources that have done it
before and pay particular attention to management styles, politics and
culture.
Conduct post-implementation reviews with each local organization in order
to learn from experience and to give the subsidiaries a voice in how the
project is executed.

Good

Consider an "ambassador" concept to assist in local support and buy-in. Thing

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Your Turn!!!

How to contact me:

bergb@lrc.edu
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