SAP Planning: Best Practices in Implementation

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Anderson, George W. (Software architect), Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

SAP R/3.

Business--Data processing--Planning.

Business.

Management information systems--Planning.

Management information systems.

Client/server computing.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xvii, 695 p. ) ill. ; 1 CD-ROM (4 3/4 in.)

Edition:

1st edition

Place of Publication:

[Place of publication not identified] Sams 2003

Language Note:

English

System Details:

text file

Summary:

Everything a company needs to know to plan, organize, and perform an SAP implementation in one book! This is the only book available that shows the reader how to actually plan an SAP Data Center, install mySAP components, and set up the tools and processes necessary to monitor and manage a productive SAP system. It covers how to perform a Total Cost of Ownership analysis to help refine your SAP Solution Vision, and then how to leverage SAP¿s technology partners to work through the SAP system landscape sizing process. Staffing the project, from the SAP Steering Committee all the way down to the primary SAP basis and computer operations teams, is covered as well. It also covers building high availability and disaster recoverability into your solutions, addressing critical training required by the SAP support team as well as end users, and how to use SAP-provided and a host of other 3rd party tools to manage your mySAP landscape. Finally, this is the only book that covers in detail how to address both functional and stress testing of your solution prior to going live. Throughout the book, knowledge and processes are provided that will help you hit the ground running and help you save money. The book is written by an SAP Technical Certified Consultant with seven years of experience in SAP design and implementation who offers tried and proven approaches, scripts, and tools similar to those used by new and existing SAP customer sites. The accompanying CD of documents, presentations, scripts, checklists, and various tools valued at $50,000 saves time and makes the reader productive fast. Coverage includes notated screen shots of real productive systems; custom checklists, how-to procedures, organization charts that can be leveraged immediately for staffing teams; PowerPoint presentations that can be used by management to sell, present, and provide status updates on their mySAP projects internally; tools, utilities, and XLS spreadsheets used to design, size, and understand SAP system architectures; actual Microsoft Project plans and implementation schedules to get the customer and 3rd party Project Manager's started quickly; and documentation templates and approaches that may be used at once.

Contents:

Cover

Contents

Part I: Preparing for Your mySAP Business Suite Implementation

1 Introduction to SAP Implementation Planning

Welcome to SAP Planning!

My Audience and Approach

Addressing the Real Challenges of SAP Implementations

What Exactly Is SAP?

SAP Infrastructure Planning-What It's All About

Special Materials Provided by the Book

Summary

2 What an SAP Project Looks Like

In the Beginning

Tactical Reasons for Implementing SAP

Strategic "Big Picture" Goals of Implementing mySAP.com

Beware-When SAP Projects Are Less Than Successful

Setting the Stage for a Successful Implementation

The Structure and Role of the Steering Committee

Moving Beyond the "Napkin" Plan

Tools and Techniques

3 Crafting Your mySAP Solution Vision

What Is a Solution Vision?

SAP System Landscape Design and Planning Approaches

Capturing Your mySAP Solution Vision

Outsourcing-Another Method of Achieving Your Solution Vision

4 Designing and Initially Staffing the SAP Technical Support Organization (TSO)

Overview-What Is an SAP Infrastructure TSO?

TSO Overview-Roles and Responsibilities

Organizational Chart Approaches in the Real World

Recruiting the Core TSO Leads

Consultants Versus Training Your Own Internal Resources

Revising the SAP Infrastructure Implementation Budget

Part II: Getting Started-Sizing and Blueprinting

5 Total Cost of Ownership Analysis in Preparation for Sizing

Purpose of This Chapter

What Is Total Cost of Ownership?

How the SAP Solution Vision Drives TCO

TCO and the SAP Solution Stack

Lowering TCO Through People and Processes

Updating the RFI, RFP, or Internal Knowledge Repository

Summary.

6 Identifying High Availability and Disaster Recovery Requirements

Introduction to Availability

Addressing Availability Early in the SAP Project

Determining Your Required Level of Disaster Tolerance

Remedying Single Points of Failure in the Stack

SAP Data Center Infrastructure SPOFs

SAP Server SPOFs

Disk Subsystem Single Points of Failure

Single Points of Failure Inherent in the OS

SPOFs and the Database Layer

mySAP.com Single Points of Failure

SAP General Availability and DR Best Practices

A Final Look at the SAP System Landscape

7 Sizing: Engaging the SAP Solution Stack Vendors

Overview-The Sizing and Blueprinting Process

General Sizing Best Practices and Approaches

Preparing for the SAP Sizing Process

SAP Hardware, OS, and Database Sizing

Sizing Considerations for mySAP Components

Selecting Your SAP Solution Stack Partners

Executing the SAP Infrastructure Planning Sessions

8 Staffing the Technical Support Organization

Best Practices Approach to Staffing the SAP TSO

Staffing the SAP TSO: Rapid Deployment

Bringing in the Best of the Best

How to Retain Your SAP Staff!

9 Critical SAP Training Requirements

Introduction to SAP Training

Training and the Role of the SAP System Landscape

Approaches to SAP Training

Feedback Loops-Improving the Value of Training

10 Developing the SAP Data Center

Introducing the SAP Data Center

The SAP Data Center "Big Picture"

Data Center Physical Requirements

Rack Planning for Data Center Resources

Network Infrastructure for SAP

Network Server Preparation

General Storage Considerations

On the Road to Implementation

11 Performing mySAP.com Component Installations

Implementation Methodologies for SAP Installations

Rounding Out Your SAP System Landscape

Leveraging Installation Documentation, Tools, and Approaches

Installing Your mySAP-Enabling Foundation-NetWeaver

Installation Details for mySAP Components

Addressing General mySAP Post-Installation Tasks

12 Rounding Out Support for SAP

Identifying and Staffing the Remaining TSO Roles

Approaches to "Filling in the Final Holes"

Let's Give a Big Warm Welcome to the "Specialists"!

The Most Overlooked Critical SAP Support Function

The Role of the SAP Help Desk

Putting It All Together in the Real World

Part III: Moving Into SAP Functional Development

13 Gaining Control of Change Control

An Overview of Change Management

Change Management Best Practices and Approaches

Change Control Affects Everything

Change Control and the SAP Solution Stack

How to Organize and Plan for Change in the Real World

Change Management Lessons Learned in the Real World

14 SAP Systems and Operations Management

Back to SAP Operations

What Is the SAP Operations Manual?

Systems Management Techniques for SAP

Piloting a Systems Management Application for SAP

Evaluating Enterprise Systems Management Applications

Additional SAP Management Tools and Approaches

15 Functional, Integration, and Regression Testing

Testing SAP Business Processes

Three Types of Business Process Testing

How to Approach Business Process Testing

Executing Business-Process-Specific Testing

Part IV: Preparing the Production Environment

16 Systems and Stress Testing.

Introduction-Preparing for Production Stress Testing

System-Level Stress Testing and Pre-Tuning

Key SAP Stress-Testing Considerations

How to Test mySAP Components

Script Development and Preparation in the Real World

Stress Test Execution During "Test Week"

Additional Stress-Testing Goals

Extracting the Last Drop of Value out of Testing

Lessons Learned in the Real World

17 Preparing for SAP Go-Live

Overview-Preparing for Cutover

Preparing for Technical Go-Live

Final Administrative Technical Details

The Changing Role of the SAP TSO

Preparing SAP Operations and the Help Desk

Addressing Future Service and Support

The First Week of Go-Live

Index.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9786612649011

9781282649019

1282649019

9780768664348

0768664349

OCLC:

1027204650