3108: Enterprise Upgrade Lessons Learned

John BottriellPatricia Coughlin

Government of Canada

Background

• IFMS Program Office is the centre for research and development for the Government of Canada implementations of R/3 (FI, CO, FM, MM, SD, PS, PM)

15 production instances 37,000 Users, 25 company codes,

Background

• Current landscape

1 development4.7 + EA-PS

24.6c

14.6c + ISPS

124.0b + ISPS

installationsVersion

Challenges

• User community buy-in to R/3 Enterprise upgrade– Business case– Funding model– Implementation timing – Migration strategy to keep SAP components

synchronized across departments – Change realization of new/improved SAP processes

• SAP Ramp-up customer obligations– service pack application– attend specific training– SAP resources on team

SAP Ramp-up support

Early knowledge transfer made availableExcellent access to developers and

product managementGood O.S.S. support for issuesFirst-rate support from SAP CanadaWeb site of on-line knowledge products

with latest documentation on Enterprise for Ramp up customers until training in place

Lesson #1 - Change Realization

Never too earlyrepeat message oftendevelop Strategies and plans

• Implementation• Change realization• communication

consider impact of Enjoy screens on:• end users• business process documentation• training materials

Lesson #2 -Migration Strategy

• Technical landscape changes required with web application server (Web AS).

• Shorter production upgrade downtime.

• Need to coordinate separate upgrade cycles for Web AS, R/3 & EA’s.

• No major R/3 upgrade to 2007

• loss of SAP support for R/3 v4.0b (12/31/03)

Lesson #3 - Standardization

• Potential savings in sharing environment.

• Opportunity to introduce “best practices”.

• Survey community to identify processes.

• Working group focus sessions.

• Gather sufficient support to change existing business processes? Desire to change vs. edict

Lesson #4 -Footprint definition

• Drop unwanted processes/configuration.

• conduct extensive Gap analysis between existing footprint R/3 v3.0 and Enterprise.

• Redefine Enterprise base deliverable.

• Ensure no scope creep.

Lesson #5 -Challenge of BCS

• Issues with current Industry Solution Public Sector (IS-PS)

• Validate user requirements after 5 years of FM

• Newness of EA-PS (knowledge & training)

• Opportunity to change update profile

• Adoption of new fields

• close liaison with SAP during ramp-up

Lesson #6 -New Functionality

• Assessment of new transaction codes– codes instead of tree structure for reports– new codes for new “enjoy” screens

• Many new tables– improved efficiency of processes– additional disk space

• New modules to our landscape– PS, PM

Lesson #7 -Reporting

• little changed from existing reporting.

• SAP strategy assumes Business Warehouse installed.

• ABAP List viewer (ALV) improves transaction analysis

• Rely on Report Writer and Report Painter to deliver BCS reporting with EA-PS release 2.0.

Lesson #8 -MM Version Management

• Demanded by users for several years

• Very flexible choice of trigger fields.

• Working group engagement to ensure optimum implementation.

• A big plus for our purchasing community!

• Not available for MRP documents.

Lesson #9 - Derivation Tool

• CO-PA tool now available for FM MM SD & EA-PS

• Replaces some FI substitution rules

• User learning curve

• Flexible and powerful – plan your design!

• Practice with tool before you commit.

Lesson #10 -Authorizations

• Additional objects to assess– “enjoy” & reporting transaction codes

• Currently rolling out profile generator under 4.0b

• Design and maintenance of user menus

• link authorization to user menu.

• Standardize and change realization

Summary

• Change realization – sooner is better

• Process owner involvement & buy-in

• Opportunity to establish “best practices”

• New upgrade migration choices

• Learn new tools (derivations, enjoy, ALV)

Success is not a destination; it is a journey

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Session Code: 3108