Scoping Questionnaire SEM-BPS

Transcription

1 Scoping Questionnaire SEM-BPS General Information: In attempting to determine the timeframe and resources required to support the implementation of SEM-BPS, an evaluation of the requirements and the corresponding complexity of the project is normally required. Set out below is a list of questions intended to assist in the assessment the project requirements. In addition guidelines to assist in determination of the corresponding complexity of the project have also been provided. Each and every project must be reviewed and evaluated based upon it s own unique requirements. Accordingly, it is not possible to provide defined rules for time determination. As a general guideline however (based on experiences to date) the following represent a starting point for the estimation of time to implement SEM-BPS based upon project complexity. Low Complexity Project: Implementation timeframe 3 4 Months. Moderately Complex Project: Implementation timeframe 4 8 Months. High Complexity Project: Implementation Timeframe 6 12 Months. With respect to individual resources required to support implementation, please refer to the documentation on Team Roles. Scoping Questions Response Lower Complexity To what extent does the Company Currently Currently use SAP R/3 (which using R/3 in modules) and which release? a significant portion of the organisation, in areas, which will be, sources for Master and Transaction al Data (i.e. Actuals) subsequentl y used in planning. Does the Company have SAP-BW installed and if so which version? For Significant amounts of Moderate Complexity Currently using SAP R/3 so have in-house SAP knowledge. Not however using R/3 in all operations (other source systems). Current use of SAP R/3 does not necessarily provide for the sourcing of all Master Data and Transactional data, which will be required in planning. The Customer is currently Higher Complexity Currently not using R/3. Actual and Master Data must all be sourced externally. Little or no inhouse SAP Knowledge Customer is currently not Created by SAP CANADA 03/05/2007 Page 1 of 13

2 what purpose is the BW currently being used? Is there existing content within the Business Warehouse, which would potentially be utilised in the Planning Process (i.e. Actual Data / Master and Meta-Data)? What is the proposed time frame for implementation? Are there other projects running concurrently which may compete for resources or upon which BPS will be dependent? What are the Customers expectations/abilities to provide in house support for implementation? IE What resources can the Customer commit to the project? transactiona l and Master data required for planning purposes already exist within the SAP Business Warehouse Environmen t Realistic in light of scope of functionality to be implemente d. Low dependency on other projects and resourcing conflicts unlikely to arise Customer will provide as much internal resourcing as possible both from the business side and technical resourcing. SAP knowledge (in particular BW, basis and utilising the SAP BW so has in-house BW knowledge and expertise. Content however may not yet extend to Master/Meta and Transactional data required for Planning purposes. Time frame is very tight, dependencies on other projects do exist, some potential resource conflicts Customer has limitations on ability to support the project. May need to rely on external consulting resources to support roles, which would otherwise be handled in house. Limited inhouse SAP knowledge. using SAP BW. Extremely aggressive timeframe, high dependency on successful completion of other projects, significant competition for resources likely to exist. Severe limitations on customer s ability to provide resources, high dependence on external consultants/co ntractors. Little or no in house SAP expertise. Created by SAP CANADA 03/05/2007 Page 2 of 13

3 Is the intent to develop a global template for rollout across the organisation? For which Business Units will planning be implemented? If known what is the planned rollout strategy and which units would be included in the initial phase of Implementation? What planning products are currently in use today? Are there currently any identified risks, which could potentially impact the ultimate success of the project? Examples might include other concurrent projects with higher authorisatio ns exists in house). Not a global design. Limited Business Units in initial phase, common processes, highly centralised Existing planning tools used with defined business models. Interfaces from source systems already exist Stable environment. Global Design, processes can largely be commonised, low resistance to commonised processes across business units. Numerous business units in initial phase with varying processes to be supported. Business units are in dispersed locations No formal planning tools in place. Common Spreadsheet based templates are however currently utilised widely across the business. Global design intended to support multiple alternate processes, high resistance within business units to adopting standard/com mon processes. Highly decentralised autonomous business units. Big Bang approach with support for multiple processes. Business Units are widely dispersed. No planning tools in place beyond locally developed spreadsheets. Limited / no use of std. Templates or business models Highly unstable business environment, lack of Created by SAP CANADA 03/05/2007 Page 3 of 13

4 priorities, acquisitions currently in process which may result in adjusted priorities, lack of experienced business resources to commit to the project etc. What are the key business benefits to be achieved and expectations of the project? Who is the owner/initiator of the Project What are the end-user training requirements and does responsibility for end-user training lie with the project team. Expectation s in alignment with timeline, resourcing and budget. Standard functionality will meet expectation s Project is being driven by the ultimate end-users. Limited Number of users. Training primarily handled via hands-on training and knowledge transfer. Power Users will exist within the enduser organisation Some management of end-user expectations will be required. Limited custom development may be required to supplement std. functionality Project is being driven by one group within the organisation but with the agreement/pa rticipation of the ultimate end-users Training involves not only hands on training and knowledge transfer but more formalised processes including significant documentatio n. Larger user base for training potentially in experienced business resources, high turnover etc. All expected benefits must be delivered. Significant custom development, integration of other components such as portals, complex BW reporting etc. required in order to meet expectations. Other groups within the organisation are driving project. Resistance to change can be expected from end-users. Detailed formalised training, WEB based sessions, detailed documentation etc to be created. Large widely dispersed user base to be trained and supported. Created by SAP CANADA 03/05/2007 Page 4 of 13

5 Does the Company have pre-defined documentation standards, project methodologies etc. which it already employs? Please provide an overview of the Organisational structure of the Company, in those areas where planning is to be implemented.. Training can be performed centrally. Standards, methodologi es etc. already in place. multiple locations. N/A N/A N/A No standards or methodologies currently exist or are in use by the Company. Created by SAP CANADA 03/05/2007 Page 5 of 13

6 Details related to Specific Planning Processes: Set out below are a listing of questions intended to assist in the definition of the requirements and corresponding complexity of the project for the actual Planning Processes themselves. In order to assist in evaluating the complexity of implementation, based on the defined requirements, the following guidelines may be useful in evaluating the potential complexity: Low Complexity Project: Conditions indicative of a Low Complexity Project. 1. The SEM-BPS project is a supplement to an existing BW implementation where significant content may already exist (I.E. Master Data and transactional data, such as actuals, which are used in planning. 2. The scope of implementation is fairly limited (i.e. one or two types of planning processes need to be supported). 3. Planning functions are fairly basic in nature (standard formula calculations, currency translation, allocation, copy etc.). Highly complex business models and/or algorithms are not utilised. 4. A primary intent of the current phase of implementation is to try and centralize an otherwise decentralised process (i.e. eliminate an environment which is highly dependent on widely dispersed spreadsheets). 5. Planning does not entail very large data volumes (i.e. 1,000,000 s of planning records). 6. Access authorisations are required but the level of complexity would be evaluated as low. 7. Limited User Base (< 100) 8. No or limited status and tracking is required. 9. Limited or no retraction of data is required. 10. Reporting is simply an extension of existing BW reporting or a limited number of basic plan/actual type queries need to be made available to users. 11. In-house SAP skills exist, in particular in the areas of Business Warehouse, Basis and Authorisations. Moderately Complex Project: Conditions indicative of a Moderately Complex Project. 1. An existing BW implementation exists, however content required for BPS does not currently exist within the BW environment. 2. A significant amount of extraction and potential retraction of data to R/3 or significant external data sourcing is going to be required 3. The scope of implementation involves multiple planning processes / applications. 4. In addition to support for basic Planning functions more complex business models will also need to be created and supported. 5. A Global design and rollout of planning is required. 6. Planning will entail the need to process large data volumes. 7. Large User Base (100+) 8. Access authorisations are required with a significant degree of complexity (i.e. restriction by one or more characteristics in addition to purely BW based). 9. Implementation of Status and tracking is required. 10. Significant additional reporting required to support the BPS implementation. 11. In-house SAP skills exist, in particular in the areas of Business Warehouse, Basis and Authorisations. Created by SAP CANADA 03/05/2007 Page 6 of 13

7 Highly Complex Project: Conditions indicative of a Moderately Complex Project. 1. No existing BW environment exists. SAP BW is being implemented for the first time in order to support the Planning Implementation. 2. A significant amount of extraction and potential retraction of data to R/3 in addition to significant external data sourcing is going to be required 3. The scope of implementation involves numerous planning processes / applications which need to be fully integrated. 4. Highly complex business models and complex algorithms need to be supported. Standard planning functions may not fully support these models; therefore custom user exit functions may need to be developed. 5. Standard delivered planning interfaces do not meet all of the Customers requirements, accordingly further Custom development using the Application Programming Interface are going to be required. 6. Very large data volumes will need to be supported. 7. A large widely dispersed User Base will exist (i.e Users) 8. Access authorisations are required with complex security restrictions (i.e. restriction based on multiple characteristic combinations). 9. Multiple / alternate Status and tracking monitors are required. 10. Highly complex reporting requirements. 11. Need for a large number of Fixed Format Published Quality reports. 12. Very limited in-house SAP skills exist, in particular in the areas of Business Warehouse, Basis and Authorisations. Created by SAP CANADA 03/05/2007 Page 7 of 13

8 Questions related to Specific Planning Processes: 1. What specific planning processes will the Company be utilising BPS for: Planning Type Cost Centre Planning Labour Cost Planning Sales and Profitability Planning Product Cost Planning Capital/Investment Planning Financial Statement Planning (B/S, I/S, Cash Flow) Response 2. Are all of these components within the current phase of implementation? 3. For each primary type of planning to be supported please provide a high level overview/documentation on the current budget/planning process, highlighting any desired changes to the current process. Please indicate which portions of the planning cycle you would be performed within SEM-BPS. 4. For each primary type of planning to be performed please complete the following. MASTER DATA What are the key characteristics or dimensions by which planning will be performed? Approximately how many characteristic values would exist for each of these key dimensions/characteristics (i.e. Number of accounts, cost centres, product masters etc.)? What is the source for Master Data and Meta-Data (i.e. Hierarchies) for these characteristics? What is the planning period (annual, monthly, weekly etc.)? RESPONSE Created by SAP CANADA 03/05/2007 Page 8 of 13

9 How many different plan/budget versions are created by the Company and what is the purpose of each? DATA SOURCES What source data is required to support the planning process (i.e. Actual results)? Where would this data be sourced? Does an existing interface currently exist to extract this information from the source system? Can this data be obtained via the use of SAP BW Data Extraction from R/3? DATA INPUT How do users currently input / process plan data? Are input templates/models available for analysis? How many different data input templates/models currently exist? What changes to the input process would you like to see? Is WEB enabled input of data a requirement? Approximately how many users currently provide input into the planning process? How many users are expected subsequent to introduction of the new system? Where Excel templates/models are currently used, would the intent be to integrate these models into the core BPS functionality or alternately to maintain the existing Excel spreadsheets and link to SEM- BPS? Are centralised templates to be developed or will different users within the organisation require the ability to create their own locally. RESPONSE RESPONSE Created by SAP CANADA 03/05/2007 Page 9 of 13

10 PLANNING FUNCTIONS For each type of planning to be performed please indicate which of the following need to be supported. Top-down planning (I.E. Target Setting) Bottom-up Planning Decentralised Planning Centralised Planning Collaborative Planning Top-down distribution Allocation (e. g. capital, headcount) Budgeting Target setting Bottom-up aggregation Copy Repost (Restatement/Realignment) Delete Revaluation Forecast Unit conversion Currency conversion Net Present Value Calculations Internal Rate of Return Calculations Depreciation RESPONSE 5. Authorisation and Control Is control over access to either plan and/or report on data required? If so by what key characteristics should access be controlled? Do multiple levels of access need to exist? If so please define at what levels? 6. Status and Tracking Is there a requirement to implement Control over the planning process? - For purposes of monitoring and communicating the current Status? - From an Approval perspective? Created by SAP CANADA 03/05/2007 Page 10 of 13

11 7. Outbound Interfaces Are there other systems to which the data created in SEM-BPS needs to be passed? What information needs to be passed to these other systems? 8. Retraction of Plan Data to SAP R/3 Is there data, which is being created in SEM-BPS, which will need to be automatically transferred back (retracted) to the core SAP R/3 system? Please define what data would need to be retracted. 9. Does the Company intend to utilise BPS to perform planning which will subsequently require Consolidation as opposed to aggregation of data? Would BPS potentially be used for the purposes of creating plan detail at an individual unit level, which would then need to be consolidated, for comparison with actual results, on a Consolidated Basis? 10. Does the Company make use of highly complex algorithms or business models where it is felt that the complexity of these models may potentially not be supported by standard delivered SAP functions? Is so please describe briefly the calculations involved. 11. Reporting. Created by SAP CANADA 03/05/2007 Page 11 of 13

12 What are the key types of reports, which need to be generated from the Planning system, and approximately how many different reports would need to be generated? Please provide examples where possible. Is OLAP (multi-dimensional on-line analytical) reporting new to the Customer or do they have similar products in-house today? Is WEB based reporting required? Created by SAP CANADA 03/05/2007 Page 12 of 13

13 12. Quantity related Data. SEM-BPS Users Planning Users Reporting Master Data by Key Characteristics (i.e. Acc t, C.Ctr., Customer, Product Etc. Characteristic 1 Characteristic 2 Characteristic 3 Characteristic 4 Planning Periods Number of Plan Versions Number of Years for which Historical Data is Required Estimated Number Comments Created by SAP CANADA 03/05/2007 Page 13 of 13