SAP SUPPORT UPDATE A MONTHLY PUBLICATION OF THE - ENTERPRISE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS TEAM

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1 July/August 2010 A MONTHLY PUBLICATION OF THE IT@JH - ENTERPRISE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS TEAM Need Help with Purchasing? See Page 9 Two Months Later - How Are We Doing Since the Upgrade? By Zack Rose An increase in customer calls and system issues is expected after any upgrade of software, especially when the upgrade includes a completely new version of a module such as SRM (shopping cart). We had our share of those issues post-upgrade, and have been very busy handling the issues as they come up. Best practice dictates that you measure the health of your system by tracking system metrics a way to take the temperature of the system after the upgrade and see if we are getting back to normal operations. EBS has been reporting these numbers to management, and with this article, we are providing a summary report to users. How many users access SAP? Zack Rose Project Manager for the EBS team Inside this issue: Understanding Organizational Units Since the upgrade, we have seen a steady number of users accessing each of our major systems (ECC, SRM, and BW). While we did see the anticipated drop-off during the week of July 4 th, the number of Hopkins staff accessing SAP has remained consistent. Here is a recent chart. Workflow Substitutes Q&A Where to Get help for Shopping Cart Planned SAP System Maintenance Schedule End Continued on Page 2... Next

2 2 How many calls are coming in for help? Since our go-live in 2007, we have been reporting weekly to management using statistics such as the number of tickets opened, closed, and remaining open by functional categories. We do this by collecting data from the Helpdesks (this includes EBS and Shared Services). These statistics have evolved into a series of charts that give us a picture of what is going on in customer support. Over the three year period, we have seen a steady decrease in numbers of calls coming in each week that have become Help Tickets. We have also been able to do analysis of user issues that resulted in functionality or system improvements. Right after the upgrade, we saw the number of tickets significantly jump, which was as expected given the upgraded system implementation. Since then, we have seen a steady week -by-week decrease in the overall number of tickets opened. Looking at the widely-used transactions, the actual number of tickets opened for help in AP & Travel is down to the numbers seen pre-upgrade, but we are still well above our pre-upgrade volume in Shopping Cart and other purchasing-related questions. We planned for this, knowing that with the addition of the new module and the need for re-training, we would experience a higher rate of customer support calls. We are working hard to keep up with the calls, but also to identify areas where we can eliminate the need for support, through training, fixes to the system, and in general communicating with end users. Both EBS and the Shared Services have been working together to improve system usability based on customer feedback. In addition to customer support measures, we have system measures that tell us how well the system is processing and alerts us to any performance problems, such as long running processes or user time outs. We have been working with SAP to look at these results and make improvements. SAP has also performed some system health technical reviews and provided feedback to our technical team to improve how the system runs. There is a management adage If you can t measure it, you can t manage it. We have found that measuring progress has been very beneficial to the ongoing monitoring and improvement of the SAP system. As we continue to measure activities related to the upgraded environment, we find improvements and solutions. This is a continuous process that has been institutionalized within EBS and is part of our core operations activities.

3 3 Understanding Organizational Units By David Levy The highest level in the SAP organizational structure is the organizational unit. The characteristics of an organizational unit affect both positions and employees. Although it is easy to generalize organizational units as departments that is not always an accurate assessment. It is possible for a single department to be made up of multiple organizational units that are grouped based on their common attributes. In this article we ll take a look at the attributes of an organizational unit and how they affect their corresponding positions and employees. David Levy Senior HR Functional Analyst for EBS In order to see the organization unit details using transaction PPOSE, start by searching for the organizational unit of interest and then double click the organizational unit number. Then, at the top of the screen, click Goto > Detail object > Enhanced Object Description Object - The object infotype shows the organizational unit short text (Object abbr.) and the organizational unit title (Object name). The organizational unit short text should always be the Control Salary Cost Center associated with the organizational unit. This is the same number that will appear in the Cost Distribution infotype described below.

4 4 Continued from page 3 Relationships - An overview of the Relationships infotype shows all of the relationships an organizational unit has to other objects. These relationships determine the organizational unit s place within the organizational structure as well as security roles. All positions have relationships to a core set of objects. These are: A B C D E

5 5 Continued from page 4 A. A 002 Reports (line) to (O) This determines which organizational unit this one is subordinate to in the organizational structure. B. A 011 Cost Center (K) This determines the Master Cost Center for this organizational unit. The Master Cost Center is inherited by any positions and employees in the organizational unit. The Master Cost Center is a default account where salary dollars would be charged if the primary cost center was closed while payroll is processing. This cost center will always end in 98 and will default onto the Base Pay & Labor Distribution infotype for any hourly paid employee in the General Distribution section. The Master Cost Center will also be defaulted onto the Organizational Assignment infotype for all employees. If this cost center is changed any associated positions and employees will also need to be updated. C. B 002 Is line Supervisor of These relationships show any organizational units that are subordinate to this one in the organizational structure. D. B 003 Incorporates These relationships show any positions that are assigned to this organizational unit.

6 6 Continued from page 5 E. B Z61 Incorporates These relationships indicate positions that have a special relationship to the organizational unit and allow them to have structural authorization for this organizational unit when they do not fall within it. Cost Distribution The Cost Distribution infotype contains the Control Salary cost center which is used to account for any salary dollars that are not accounted for in the labor distribution of salaried employees. This cost center will always end in 99. This cost center will default onto the Base Pay & Labor Distribution infotype for any salaried employee in the section labeled as Default Cost Distribution. If this cost center is changed any associated employee records will also need to be updated. In the organizational structure as a whole, organizational units are the highest level of object followed by positions and then employees. The Johns Hopkins SAP Organizational Structure is complex but having a general understanding of how the individual objects in the structure are related to each other can help you understand why things work the way they do.

7 7 Workflow Substitutes Q&A By Sherri Flaks These frequently asked questions provide information and instructions for establishing a workflow substitute: Q: Who should assign a Substitute? A: Approvers and other users who get work items in their Inbox. Q: Where do I go to assign a Substitute? A: From toolbar select Settings - Workflow Settings - Maintain Substitute. Sherri Flaks Application Security Director, IT@JH Q: What is the difference between a Passive and an Active Substitute? A: Active Substitution Mary is going on vacation, she wants Bob to process her work items in a timely matter. Mary makes Bob her Active Substitute: Bob will automatically see Mary s work items in his Inbox during the specified time period. Note: Mary s work items will be combined with Bob s, he will not be able to distinguish the items that came to him as a result of being Mary s Substitute. Passive Substitution Tom is away from the office and travels frequently, so he asks his colleague Jane to handle the work items in his Business Workplace (Inbox).

8 8 Continued from page 7 Tom makes Jane his Passive Substitute: Jane needs to adopt Substitution, to switch from her Inbox to Tom s Inbox. Q: Do I have to assign a substitute for each business process? A: In ECC, the designated Substitute applies to all workflows in ECC (for instance, Online Payment Request, ISR, ZSR, eform, etc.). However, the designation of a Shopping Cart Substitute must be done in Shopping Cart. (see June newsletter Designating a Substitute Approver for Shopping Cart - p.4) Q: Does my Substitute automatically have access to process my Work Items? A: Your Substitute must have the corresponding approval roles. Further, for HR workflows such as ISR and eforms, the Substitute must have Org Unit access to the individual subject user (see April newsletter - Spotlight on HR Access p.4). Q: What is the effective period when I designate a Substitute: A: You will need to specify a Begin and End Date on the Substitute you assign. You can designate a permanent Substitute by specifying the End Date 12/31/9999 when you establish your Substitute. However, if you use this method, you should periodically review your Substitutes to ensure they are still appropriate. Q: My Department s Approver went on vacation and did not assign a Substitute, what can be done? A: Users who get Work Items can establish their own Substitutes (see above) and should consider their needs. However, in extenuating circumstances, a Substitute can be requested via request to SAPWorkflow@jhmi.edu and copy the original Approver and Substitute. Depending on what is customary for your area, it may also be appropriate to copy a Supervisor and/or Security Coordinator. We hope to include a ZSR Action Type for Substitution to automate this process in the future. Inactive User Policy REMINDER: After one year of inactivity, user access to SAP will be revoked. If access is needed, please submit a ZSR.

9 9 Where to Get help for Shopping Cart Questions Process Questions: If you need help Creating a Shopping cart, finding or getting the status of a shopping cart or have questions regarding a PO contact: purchasing@jhu.edu or Technical Issues: If you are receiving an error message or if Shopping Cart is not working as it should contact: SAPHelpdesk@jhmi.edu or Vendor Issues: If you need to set-up or make a change to a vendor contact: apssc@jhmi.edu or For Shopping Cart instructions from the upgrade visit: Resources for SAP. SAP Upgrade Information: Knowledge Network: Fast Facts: learning.jhu.edu Shared Services: JHU Controller s Office: For Our Readers. The SAP Support Update is published monthly to keep you informed of the activities within the Enterprise Business Solutions team and to provide tips and tricks that will make your work with SAP easier. If you have any questions or suggestions or if you wish to submit an article or tip, please us at: sapnews@jhu.edu SAP Support Update newsletter archive: SAP Support Page:

10 10 Planned SAP System Maintenance Schedule It has become necessary to schedule monthly maintenance for the SAP system in order to perform routine maintenance tasks such as: adding storage, deploying patches, and other activities that require the systems to be offline. As always, our objective is to minimize the amount of downtime during these periods while accomplishing important system management tasks. After coordinating with Shared Services and other key users, we have developed the following weekend schedule. Unless otherwise specified, the systems will be taken down for a 14 hour period, with a start time of 9:00 PM on the evening before the specified date, and concluding no later than 11:00 AM on the specified date. If the maintenance activities finish sooner, the system is released to the users at that time. Upcoming Schedule August 14 (Fri. - 9 pm - 11 am) September 18 (Fri. - 9 pm - 11 am) October 16 (Fri. - 9 pm - 11 am) November 7 (Sunday) Maintenance Maintenance Maintenance Time Change December 11 (Fri. - 9 pm - 11 am) Application of calendar year-end support packs. This date is tentative pending what is learned from SAP's support pack and notes release schedule. Training Opportunities at Johns Hopkins: A range of SAP training is offered to all employees in both e-course or traditional classroom format. Employees can access the training centers by visiting their organization s training sites at: Johns Hopkins University: learning.jhu.edu Johns Hopkins Medicine: (clinical training) Johns Hopkins Health System SAP: