© 2007 wellesley information services. all rights reserved. a comprehensive guide to plan, manage,...

© 2007 Wellesley Information Services. All rights reserved.

A Comprehensive Guide To Plan, Manage, and Execute a Successful Global SAP BI Implementation Project – Part 1

Dr. Bjarne Berg

2

In Part 1…

• Writing your SAP BI business case and determine global architecture

• Defining the global scope of your implementation• Writing a milestone plan• Developing your global staffing plan• Budgeting• On-boarding, training and global staffing issues• Writing your workplan• Monitoring the progress and risk of your global project• Monitoring quality / instituting a formal approval process• Why you need an SAP BI “user acceptance group”

3

In Part 2…

• The blueprinting phase Leveraging the standard content Modeling for your solution Deliverables

• The realization phase Best practices for managing the implementation of ODS and

InfoCubes Managing the environments and transports Managing unit, system, integration & stress testing of SAP BI

• The implementation phase Executing the cut-over to production Conducting end-user and power user training Establishing the end-user support organization Post-implementation review and next steps

4

What We’ll Cover…

• Writing your SAP BI business case and global architecture• Identifying your requirements, scope, and plan-of-attack • Staffing your project: lessons and examples• Budgeting: how much? and for how long?• Final preparations: on-boarding, writing the workplan, etc. • Wrap-up

5

Writing the Overall Business Case for a Global Project

• The business case must be aligned with some concrete multi-national business benefits

• The best way to write a business case is to align it with one of these areas:

Money

Strategy

Reducing time and effort of delivery

Improved information quality and access for end users

6

Example Business Benefits of SAP BI

Users get earlier access to information

Load times in BI are less than traditional,custom- developeddata warehouses

Business users need a high Availability solution

Information Access

Users spend less time on reconciling data, and moretime analyzing it.

BW is “closer” to the source system, and more accurately reflects data

A substantial portion of the data warehouse effort is spent on reconciling information

Reconciliation Effort

Enables web initiatives to get closer to the source data,both in time and consistency.

BW is closely integrated with R/3, and can deliver data that reflects the source system at short time intervals.

Web delivery requires rapid data delivery of high consistency with the source system.

Web strategy

Substantial cost savings, bynot having to redevelop newextract programs for eachSAP upgrade

BW – R/3 integration points are maintained and tested by SAP

Updating extract programswhen upgrading R/3 is expensive.

Cost Avoidance

SAP is responsible for maintenance of the product.

Maintaining a custom developed BI solution is complex and expensive.

Cost of Ownership

BenefitBW ObservationArea

Information Access

Reconciliation Effort

Web strategy

Cost Avoidance

Cost of Ownership

BenefitSAP BI ObservationArea

Substantial maintenancecost savings

Money Reducing Time and Effort of delivery

Strategy Improved information quality & access

7



Area Observation SAP BI Benefit

Faster Deployment Need to increase time to deliver new applications and enhancements existing areas

Typical use of 60-80% of pre-delivered content increases development speed

Reduced development time for new decision support areas

Integrated Products SAP continues to offer new products and modules that the organization might wish to leverage in the future

SAP BI is the “cornerstone” of SAP’s New Dimension product offerings

Enables closer integration with other SAP modules

Query speed Business users need fast access to their data

Through use of summaries, TREX, and the new accelerator, SAP BW’s architecture lends itself to faster query performance

Users get the data they need quickly to perform their job functions

Example Business Benefits of SAP BI (cont.)

8

Area Observation SAP BI Benefit

SAP Strategy It is the organization’s SAP strategy to leverage investments in the SAP to the fullest extent, and maximize SAP resource utilization.

SAP BI is a SAP product, and is based on standard SAP NetWeaver technologies (Basis, ABAP, etc.)

Strategic fit and synergy with SAP. SAP Basis, ABAP, etc. resources can be used across SAP projects, including SAP BW.

Tool Standardization

The organization must be able to leverage industry standards to enable business users to access data in a variety of ways

Microsoft’s ODBO application interface and Java (SAP BI 3.5) are supported by a variety of major presentation and web tools.

Simplifies user access to data, expands options for using standard presentation and web tools, or developing your own.

Industry Trend The organization’s competitors and some of the organization’s business areas are installing SAP BI

Increased industry resource pool and knowledge of SAP BW

Enables the organization to leverage industry solutions and know-how.



Example Business Benefits of SAP BI (cont.)

9

OperationalReporting

More SummarizedMore Ad Hoc

Management InformationLightly Summarized

Real-timeInquiry

Dividing Line

ERP DW

What Logically Belongs in a Global BI System?

Five years ago, with version 3.0B, BI became increasingly able to report on operational detailed data. But some reports still belong in R/3 or other transactions systems…

10

The Global Target Architecture – An Example

Meta Data

Data Warehouse and Decision Support Framework

R/3

LegacySystems

External systems

Internet

Messaging

Source Data

DataExtractionTransform

andLoad

Processes

Extract

Summation

Marketing& Sales

Purchasing

Corporate

Product Line

Location

OperationalData Store

Translate

Attribute

Calculate

Summarize

Synchronize

Transform

SummarizedData

Data Subsetsby Segment

DataWarehouse

OLAP

DataMining

Batch Reporting

Managed Query Env.

Access

Data MartsVendor

Provided

Reconcile

Finance

Supply

11


• Writing your SAP BI business case • Identifying your requirements, scope, and plan-of-attack • Staffing your project: lessons and examples• Budgeting: how much? and for how long?• Final preparations: on-boarding, writing the workplan, etc. • Wrap-up

12

Alternative Global BI Approaches

CO

NT

INU

E

TOP-DOWN APPROACH

Build a global data warehouse for the company, and proceed sourcing local data from old legacy systems driven from a top-down approach.

CH

AN

GE

BOTTOM-UP APPROACH

Focus on a bottom-up approach where the BI project will prioritize supporting and delivering local BI solutions, thereby setting the actual establishment of the global Data Warehouse as secondary, BUT not forgotten.

13

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 it’s 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.

14

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.

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…

Intercultural Know How

15


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

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?

Infrastructure Prerequisites

16

Documentation


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

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?

3. Have you installed Unicode on your BI system?

Training

17

Identifying Your Business Requirements

• One of the first steps is to gather the right requirements. This is done in a variety of ways, depending on which methodology you employ. It is a complex process involving:

1. Discovery and Education 2. Formal communication3. Reviews 4. Final approvals

An SAP NetWeaver implementation involves more than just black-and-white technical

decisions; just because something is technically feasible, doesn’t mean it is wise or desirable from a business perspective.

An SAP NetWeaver implementation involves more than just black-and-white technical

decisions; just because something is technically feasible, doesn’t mean it is wise or desirable from a business perspective.

What the user wanted How customer described it How analyst specified it How designer implemented it

18

Defining The Scope Of Your Global SAP BI Implementation

• First, determine what the local and shared business drivers are, and make sure you meet these objectives.

• Define the scope in terms of what is included, as well as what is not included, make sure everyone is at least heard. In some cultures, process is as important as outcomes.

• Make sure you obtain approval of the scope before you progress any further. All your work from now on will be driven based on what is agreed to at this stage.

• As part of the written scope agreement, make sure you implement a formal change request process. This typically includes a benefit-cost estimate for each change request and a formal approval process.

Change management is done to manage scope, timelines and competing business requirements. Put in place a process for capturing feedback & requests.

Note

19

Defining The Scope Of Your global SAP BI Implementation (cont.)

• For the first go-live, keep the scope as small as possible e.g., Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, G/L, or COPA

• You have only 3 dimensions to work with:

If one of these dimensions changes, you have to adjust at least one of the others

Time

Scope

Resources(people, technology

and money)

Warning

20

Prioritizing the Enterprise Global Scope (Example)

July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb MarApr May Jun July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun July Aug Sept Oct Nov DecProcurement details & summary receipts

Contracts

Settlements

Inventory

Sales

Master Agreements

Contractor

General Ledger

A/R & Credit Mgmt

SNOP

Cost

Procurement

Inventory Planning

Source Analysis (enhancements)Sales opportunity

Blueprinting Realization Cutover and go-live

2005 20062004

Tax-severance & processor

Plan multiple implementations, and write a long-term outline. Control change with a formal change request process.

21

Selecting A Methodology

• Many times, there are several potentially “right” choices i.e., when time-to-delivery is moderate, or when the impact of failure

is moderate. Also be aware of local variations of the methodologies

Joint Application Design(JAD)

Rapid Application Development(RAD)

Extreme Programming(EP)

System development Life-Cycle based methodologies

(SDLC)

Impact of FailureLow High

Low

High

Time to Delivery

When to Select Different Methodologies

The diagram is intended to illustrate the differences among

the appropriateness of each methodology.

The decision is clearer in the extreme. In practice, however, there are “gray zones” where more than one answer may be

correct.

The diagram is intended to illustrate the differences among

the appropriateness of each methodology.

The decision is clearer in the extreme. In practice, however, there are “gray zones” where more than one answer may be

correct.

22

Post this plan on the walls and in the

hallways of ervyone affected.

Don’t hide it in the PM's office in a different country.

Keep it under 30 items

Writing A Global Milestone Plan

• Use milestone plan to illustrate dependencies and high-level tasks

7/2

7/9

7/1

6

7/2

3

7/3

0

8/6

8/1

3

8/2

0

8/2

7

9/3

9/1

0

9/1

7

9/2

4

10

/1

10

/8

10

/15

10

/22

10

/29

11

/5

11

/12

11

/19

11

/26

12

/3

12

/10

BI Environment install & verificationBI Accelerator Install & verificationPortal Environment installUser security migration and testingPCA ODS and Cube creationG/L line item ODS and Cube creationData loadsQuery replicationData validationQuery validationTesting and demoScope definitionBlueprintingRealizationTesting and demoScope definitionBlueprintingRealizationTesting and demoScope definitionBlueprintingRealizationTesting and demoScope definitionRealizationTesting and demoScope definitionBlueprintingRealizationTesting and demoScope definitionBlueprintingRealizationTesting and demoAddress outstanding issuesRe-testing Outstanding items & lessons learned

Migration CIM to integrated planning

Report Designer & Query Designer

(POC)

Content Migration (POC)

Visual Composer (POC)

Analysis Process Designer (POC)

SAP ETL, Daemon & XI

(POC)

Wrap Up

November Dec.

Environments

BI Accelerator (POC)

July August September October

23



24

Six ways to organizing the Global BI development effort

Benefits Risks

1 Single site

2 Distributed analysis

3 Distributed analysis and design

4 Co-located analysis and design

5 Multiple co-located analysis and design

6 Fully distributed development

Option

The more distributed the SAP BI development effort becomes, the more difficult it is to maintain communication and get cohesive requirements.

25

Developing Your Staffing Plan: Lessons Learned

• Developer training should start early for all project team members

• SAP R/3 skills are not easily transferable to SAP BW Hands-on experience is needed It’s very hard to learn while being productive

• The quality of the team members is much more important than the number of members An experienced SAP BI developer can accomplish in one

day what 3 novice developers can do in a week The tool has a steep learning curve

Note

26

Developing Your Staffing Plan: Lessons Learned (cont.)

• Project time and cost estimates should be based on team’s experience level

• Plan on formal knowledge-transfer from external resources from day one Link inexperienced members with experienced ones

• Have identified “go-to” resources available in all areas Make a list!

(we will take a second look at this when we do the budgeting!)

27

Sleep, Travel and Time Zones…..

• People crossing 4 or more time zones need over 36 hours to adjust! This increases to over 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 8-11am in Europe, nor between 2-5pm in the US.

Fly to the destination the day before, or allow at least 4 hours downtime for sleeping and showering at the hotel.

Don’t 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)…

Source: Leveraging resources in global software development Battin, Crocker, Kreidler, Subramanian, Software, IEEE

28

Example: Small local SAP BI Project for Single Subject Area

• E.g., Billing, Inventory, or Accounts Payable

4-5 team members and normally 3-6 months duration depending on scope

Basis and functional R/3 support

Note: These are roles, not positions (sometimes one team member can fill more

than one role)

29

Example: Mid-sized global SAP BI Project, Single Complex Subject

• E.g., Global Cost and Profitability, international cross organization or consolidated billing




than one role)

30

Example: Large Global BI Project for Multiple Subject Areas

• E.g., global Sales, Finance, and Material Management



Portal developer(s)

SAP BI Architect

Business analyst/(sub-team lead) SAP BI developer

Presentation developer(s)ETL developer

Sales Team



Finance Team



Material Mgmt. Team

Project Manager

Project sponsor/Steering Committee


than one role)

31

How Tightly Should Multiple Global BI Projects be Controlled?

Source: The Conference Board Survey

The relationship between global control and success:

88% Successful88% Successful 30% Successful30% Successful

Loose Cooperation(38%)

Independent(38%)

Tight Central Control(24%)

100% Successful100% Successful

Coordination of Multiple Data Warehouse Projects

32



33

SAP Business Intelligence Project Budgeting Process Steps

1. Size the SAP BI effort based on the scope

2. Prioritize the effort

3. Map the effort to the delivery schedule

4. Plan for number of resources needed based on the scope, delivery schedule and the effort.

1. Create the Milestone Plan and Scope Statement first, before attacking the budgeting process!!

2. Start the budgeting process by estimating the workload in terms of the development effort. Refine based on the team’s

skill experience and skill level

We will now lo

ok at an example

how this process works in

the

real world

Tip

34

1. Size SAP BI Effort Based on the Scope – Real Example

Customization

Tech. Dev. infocube

Extraction and transforms

Report and roles

Security and scheduling

Web develop-

ment

User support/ planning

Project mgmt and admin

System docs & manuals

Tech infra-structure

Bus. Analysis, training, req.

gathering, change mgmt.

Total Hours

FinancialsL General ledger line item (ODS) 216 229 188 101 132 134 100 79 150 403 1,732M COPA 158 286 153 127 153 152 120 94 180 470 1,893L Prod cost planning released cost

estimates (COPC_C09)216 229 188 101 133 135 100 79 150 403 1,734

M Exploded itemization standard product cost (COPC_C10)

238 286 216 126 153 152 120 94 180 470 2,035

L Cost and allocations (COOM_C02)

216 1144 188 101 132 135 100 79 150 403 2,648

M Cost object controlling (0PC_C01)

238 286 216 137 153 152 120 94 180 470 2,046

Order L Billing 216 229 187 101 132 135 100 79 150 403 1,732L Sales order 216 229 187 101 132 135 100 79 150 403 1,732L Acct. Rec. (0FIAR_C03) 216 229 187 101 132 135 100 79 150 403 1,732

Deliver L Shipment cost details

(0LES_C02)216 229 187 101 132 135 100 79 150 403 1,732

L Shipment header (0LES_C11) 216 228 187 101 132 135 100 79 150 403 1,731L Stages of shipment (0LES_C12) 216 228 187 101 132 135 100 79 150 403 1,731

L Delivery data of shipment stages (0LES_C13)

216 228 187 101 132 135 100 79 150 403 1,731

L Delivery service (0SD_C05) 180 229 133 101 132 134 100 79 150 403 1,641Planning and Scheduling

L Material Movements (0IC_C03) 216 457 132 101 132 134 100 79 150 403 1,904

M APO Planning 277 832 216 127 153 152 120 94 180 470 2,621M SNP Integration 277 832 216 127 153 152 120 94 180 470 2,621

Manufacturing Processes M Production Orders 277 832 216 127 153 152 120 94 180 470 2,621M Cross Applications 277 832 216 127 153 152 120 94 180 470 2,621

Total Hours 4,298 8,074 3,587 2,110 2,656 2,681 2,040 1,606 3,060 8,126 38,238

Remember that your sizing also has to be based on the team’s experience and skill level.

35

2. Prioritize the Effort

Financials qtr 1 qtr 2 qtr 3 qtr 4 qtr 1 qtr 2 qtr 3 qtr 4 qtr 1 qtr 2 qtr 3

General ledger line item (ODS)COPAProd cost planning released cost estimates (COPC_C09)Exploded itemization standard product cost (COPC_C10)Cost and allocations (COOM_C02)Cost object controlling (0PC_C01)Order Billing Sales orderAccounts receivables (0FIAR_C03)Deliver Shipment cost details (0LES_C02)Shipment header (0LES_C11)Stages of shipment (0LES_C12)Delivery data of shipment stages (0LES_C13)

Delivery service (0SD_C05)Planning and Scheduling Material Movements (0IC_C03)APO PlanningSNP IntegrationManufacturing Processes Production OrdersCross Applications

2005 2006 2007

The next step is to prioritize and outline the effort on a strategic timeline

Make sure your sponsor and the business community agree with your delivery schedule

36

3. Use Project Estimates & the Timeline to Create Project Load Plan

There are 480 available work hours per project member per quarter. Knowing this, we can plan the number of team members we need…

NOTE: Remember to plan for different vacation schedules (i.e. in Europe a 3-4 weeks vacation is not unusual).

Financials qtr 1 qtr 2 qtr 3 qtr 4 qtr 1 qtr 2 qtr 3 qtr 4 qtr 1 qtr 2 qtr 3

General ledger line item (ODS) 866 866 1,732COPA 946.5 947 1,893Prod cost planning released cost estimates (COPC_C09)

867 867 1,734

Exploded itemization standard product cost (COPC_C10)

1017.5 1017.5 2,035

Cost and allocations (COOM_C02) 1324 1324 2,648Cost object controlling (0PC_C01) 1023 1023 2,046Order Billing 866 866 1,732Sales order 866 866 1,732Accounts receivables (0FIAR_C03) 866 866 1,732Deliver Shipment cost details (0LES_C02) 866 866 1,732Shipment header (0LES_C11) 865.5 865.5 1,731Stages of shipment (0LES_C12) 865.5 865.5 1,731Delivery data of shipment stages (0LES_C13)

865.5 865.5 1,731

Delivery service (0SD_C05) 820.5 820.5 1,641Planning and Scheduling Material Movements (0IC_C03) 952 952 1,904APO Planning 1310.5 1311 2,621SNP Integration 1310.5 1311 2,621Manufacturing Processes Production Orders 1311 1,311 2,621Cross Applications 1311 1,311 2,621

Total 1,813 1,813 4,232 4,232 2,598 2,598 4,283 4,283 3,573 6,195 2,622 38,238

2005 2006 2007

Note

37

4. Result: Good Input for the Staffing Costs and Planning

Many companies plan a 60%- 40% mix of internal and external resources for a first go-live. Also, most use $50-$90 per hr for internal budgeting and $90-$170 per hr for external resources.

Number of team members

-

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

qtr 1 qtr 2 qtr 3 qtr 4 qtr 1 qtr 2 qtr 3 qtr 4 qtr 1 qtr 2 qtr 3

Use this information to plan for training, on-boarding, and staffing

Tip

This spike in resource needs is due to an overlap in the delivery schedule

Now might be a good time to review that decision…

38



39

Global On-Boarding and Training

Ideal Yrs Experience (minimum)

Training days (if new in the

role)

In-house training

daysBW Developer 2+ 15 3-5ETL Developer 3+ 15-20 3-5Presentation Developer 1+ 5-10 3-5Project Manager 5+ 10-15 3-5Business Analysts 5+ 5-10 3-5

Don’t underestimate the value of in-house, hands-on training in addition to formal SAP training classes.

It is also important to provide technical training to the team members in their own language and this is normally best done in their respective countries,

Note

40

Writing the Workplan – SAP Best Practices for BI

• A sample workplan can be downloaded from the SAP Best Practices for BI web site

A test drive is available on the Web site: http://help.sap.com/bp_biv170/index.htm

41

ID TASK

28-M

ay

29-M

ay

30-M

ay

31-M

ay

1-Ju

n

2-Ju

n

1 SAP Best Practices BI Implementation Roadmap - read Notes11 Blueprint Phase & Planning Phase12 Apply for Going Live Check 13 Finalize Project Scope [selected scenarios]14 Check Content delivered by Best Practices 15 Determine those issues affecting BW Implementation and assign risk to project 16 Present Final Scope to Customer and Get Signoff of Scope17 Project Planning Phase18 Set Up Development Environment19 Define transport Strategy20 Activate TMS21 Define Project Organization and Create Teams22 Analyze Roles and Tasks by Standard Content Areas and Technical 23 Update delivered Project Plan & finalize, including resources assignments24 Define customer rollout & training strategy for SAP BW 25 Define types of users of the BW26 Determine Number of users for BW27 Determine Data Access Requirements

400 to 1000 line-item workplans are not unusual for mid-size and large SAP BI implementations

More Details on workplan writing available here: “Writing Solid and Realistic Work Plans for a SAP BI Implementation Project”, SAP Project Mgmt Conference 2005,http://csc-studentweb.lrc.edu/swp/Berg/articles/PM05_Berg_Writingasolid.ppt

Writing the Workplan

• The Workplan1. Write a detailed workplan that references the methodology.2. Make sure the workplan is detailed enough to track project progress.3. Progress can be measured by hours used, vs. % of tasks completed.

42

Effort, Duration and Mistakes on Global BI Projects

Source: “Planning and improving global software development process” by Setamanit, Wakeland, Raffo, May 2006, international workshop on Global software development

Recent research have demonstrated that global projects that spends more days (duration) on similar tasks, have less defects and less re-work.

Since team members are more likely to work on multiple tasks not related to the project, longer durations on developing the SAP BI system does not mean more effort (i.e. work hours).

43

Global Project Risk Mitigation Strategies

L - Limitations (what are the assumed, existing and design limitations)

A - Assumptions (what assumptions are made, and what happens when these assumptions are no longer true?)

R - Risks (what are the risks created by this approach, what are the impacts of failure, and how can these risks be minimized)

Developers, designers and business analysts should be forced to write at least one paragraph on each of these item.

It forces new thinking as well as the constant questioning of assumptions (which may not be accurate).

State 3 items in every design, budget and final deliverable:

44

Plan for solving Global SAP BI project issues

Having IT people engaged in SAP BI global development without providing the right infrastructure, approach and management is a recipe for failure

Source: Leveraging resources in global software development Battin, Crocker, Kreidler, Subramanian, Software, IEEE

45

Global Project Risk Mitigation Strategies

Add 15% more project time for travel and adjustments

Rotate travel so that the stress is more evenly distributed on the team

Plan to spend 5-10 days at the beginning of the project to level set and build trust and social networks before the real work begins.

Create a formal escalation process of issues related to the project and make sure one culture does not dominate.

Select a project language formally and make sure all team members are proficient in it.

Spend time rewarding inter-team cooperation and create opportunities for promotion within and outside both teams (“cross pollinate”)

46

Monitoring Progress

• Manage the workplan from a percent complete standpoint on a weekly basis

• Create weekly status reports with core progress metrics and send to all team members (keep it high-level and tangible)

• Require monthly status reports from all team members in a fixed format

• Keep a close eye on the deadlines for the deliverables and make to follow-up personally on late tasks

• Track percent complete tasks in the workplan against the number of hours, or days worked, to see if you are on-track.

Note

Warning

SAP BI is a complex environment that has many dependencies. Late tasks can have significant impacts on the overall project.

47

Monitoring BI Quality and Formal Approval Process: Example

Create Functional

specs

Peer Review

Complete?

Complete?

Create Technical

specs

Peer Review

Complete?

Complete?Structured

walkthrough

Approved?

Configuration

Unit Testing

Integration

Testing

System Testing

Structured

walkthrough

Approved?

No

No

No

No

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

48

The User Acceptance Group and Its Role

• Create a user acceptance team consisting of 5-7 members from the various business departments or organizations

• Keep the number odd to assist with votes when decisions need to be made. With fewer than 5 members, it can be hard to get enough members present at each meeting

• Make this team the focus of your requirements gathering in the early phase, then let this team perform user acceptance testing during 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 them

Issue

This approach is hard to execute when also managing scope, but is essential to make sure that the system meets users’ requirements

49



50

Resources

• Dr. Bjarne Berg Home page (80+ articles and presentations): http://csc-studentweb.lr.edu/swp/Berg/BB_index_main.htm

• Five Core Metrics: The Intelligence Behind Successful Software Management By Lawrence H. Putnam & Ware Myers

• Waltzing With Bears: Managing Risk on Software Projects – By Tom Demarco & Timothy Lister

• Mastering the SAP Business Information Warehouse By Kevin McDonald, Andreas Wilmsmeier, David C. Dixon

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/0932633552/ref=dp_primary-product-display_0/002-2293929-8434401?_encoding=UTF8&n=283155

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/0932633609/ref=dp_primary-product-display_0/002-2293929-8434401?_encoding=UTF8&n=283155

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=xt1Vb1JAwj&sourceid=M000000269&isbn=0471219711&itm=1

51

7 Key Points to Take Home

• Write the business case around the areas of greatest benefit to more than one user community - think globally act locally!!

Warning: Don’t use a “shotgun” approach, keep it focused

• Define your scope in-terms of what is included, and state what is not included and make it clear to everyone from the start

• Establish a formal global change control process that is well communicated and that have instruments for capturing feedback

• Plan your global project based on the hours required for the effort, and the project teams’ experience and skill levels. Add 15% more time than you would for a local project.

52

7 Key Points to Take Home (cont.)

• Establish milestone dates, and map the work hours required to these dates. Include local vacation schedules and holidays. Be sensitive to local work practices and don't 'enforce' your management style on the team (accept diversity).

• Establish a formal global “on-boarding” plan for project resources and make sure they receive appropriate training.

• Establish a formal process for quality control and approval of deliverables. Communicate often and spend time on team building activities.

53

END OF PART 1. Next: How Do We Deliver What We Promised?

How to contact me:[email protected]

© 2007 wellesley information services. all rights reserved. a comprehensive guide to plan, manage,...

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