SAP Activate Methodology: Boosting Achievement & Performance

SAP Activate Methodology has 6 Phases to it:

1. Discover Phase

The customer enters the Discover phase when they realise they need a solution to address a problem with their business and they begin searching for the best SAP solution to meet their needs. Customers can request a free trial of the solution during this phase, if available, and test it out for themselves to evaluate its features and functionalities. Customers can even get in touch with partners like iQuantM to receive the best consultancy advice based on years of experience using SAP products and the industry. By the time this phase is over, customers have made the decision to proceed with the necessary SAP solution and advance to the following stage of the implementation life cycle.

2. Prepare Phase

As the name implies, this stage is essential for both customers and partners because it sees the completion of major tasks that are essential to the project’s success. Following the signing of the contract with SAP and the partner, the system is made available to the customer. Key resources are simultaneously identified from the partner side in order to allow and onboard SAP Consultants. To give the consultants working on the project the appropriate requirements, business process owners are found on the customer side. The project is prepared to begin once a high-level project plan with roles and duties, the project team, the project governance process, and the escalation matrix have all been finalised.

The Business-Driven Configuration Assessment questionnaire is filled out by the business process owners at this phase, which serves as the first step in gathering requirements. The project team has easy access to this document, which they may download and utilise to expedite project delivery. Consultants must make plans for the Explore Part, the following and arguably most significant phase of the SAP Activate Methodology, based on the results of the evaluation.

3. Explore Phase

The SAP Activate methodology’s Explore phase establishes the groundwork for the overall project’s success. Through a series of SAP Fit-to-Standard Analysis sessions where the SAP Best Practice business process flows are presented to the business process owner, customers will finalize the business process to be followed in the new SAP system during the SAP Explore phase.

Establishing essential deliverable like standard migration templates and customer execution of standard processes is the aim of the explore phase. The SAP Backlog document includes a list of all the customer’s specifications for new WRICEF (Workflows, Reports, Integration, Conversions, Enhancements, and Forms) objects as well as configuration values. Stakeholders will give their approval for this.

Through a series of workshops, the fit-to-Standard analysis is carried out, enabling the validation of predetermined scenarios. Before starting Fit-to-Standard seminars, project teams should be conversant with the SAP Best Practices content offered in SAP Best Practices Explorer.

To determine how the new system will help the firm, a change impact analysis will be carried out. The goal of the Explore phase is to produce an output that will make the switch to the new system easy.

Data flow diagrams and interface maps from LeanIX can be used to spot gaps and other necessary improvements. Additionally, they create fresh workflow procedures for the intended architecture. As business and IT users analyse their ecosystem of applications, interfaces, and data exchange protocols, these maps and diagrams facilitate collaboration. Users may visualize business architectures, IT processes, and data flows without leaving their primary enterprise architecture (EA) application thanks to the integrated link between LeanIX and Lucidchart.

4. Realise Phase

The goal of the methodology’s SAP Release phase is to begin configuring the SAP systems in accordance with the Backlog document, which ought to have been approved during the Explore phase. Project teams will operate according to a number of scheduled sprints that divide the backlog needs into more manageable deliverable s. Once these deliverable s meet the established completion requirements, they will be presented to the business process owner for approval.

SAP functional consultants and business users will collaborate to ensure that the custom objects are completed on time and to a high standard. Once all deliverable s have been met, a cut over plan is developed to move the configurations, SAP WRICEF objects, and master and transactional data to the system that will be used in real-time by the business.

Customers will need to continuously update maps of their IT landscapes during the SAP Activate methodology’s development and testing phases. It is critical to visualize the impact of changes made over time. LeanIX offers extensive functionality, such as timeline sequencing and scenario planning, allowing you to dissect rapidly changing IT landscapes.

5. Deploy Phase

As the new SAP system is deployed for use, the SAP Deploy phase of the SAP Activate methodology is typically completed over the weekend or during office downtime. The SAP cut over marks the culmination of months of hard work, but once completed and approved by the partner and customer, business users will continue to be supported if they have any questions or encounter any problems.

The Deploy phase results in the implementation of the new SAP solution, allowing customers and partners to benefit from the new system while continuing to receive support in the event of problems or concerns.

LeanIX assists with the Deploy phase by instantly adding completed architectural changes to architectural documentation.

6. Run Phase

The Run Phase marks the completion of the customer’s lifecycle, from identifying a solution for their business need to finally implementing the solution and running their business processes on it. During the Run Phase, the customer project team is given only one task: to stay up to date on the latest innovations and technologies in SAP, particularly in the product they have implemented, by engaging in “Continuous Learning” to keep up with the pace of technology.

SAP Activate has evolved into an excellent methodology for SAP S/4HANA implementation and conversion projects. Everyone who has worked on a project understands how difficult it is to carry the torch from start to finish. SAP Activate has greatly aided project managers and consultants all over the world in completing projects successfully and quickly. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, many customers have successfully deployed SAP solutions via the SAP Activate Methodology. Jan Musil, Chief Product Owner of SAP Activate Methodology, and his team deserve praise for streamlining project phases, tasks, and deliverable s.

Conclusion

The SAP Activate methodology was created to assist SAP customers in implementing and upgrading critical business software, and it has evolved into a significant methodology for SAP S/4HANA implementation and other conversion projects. Following this methodology will help to accelerate and improve complex solution implementation projects by providing clear success guidelines and roadmaps.

Additional solutions, such as LeanIX EAM, can help SAP Architects and SAP Project Managers by providing deeper insights into their architecture and business processes.