[48] in I/T Delivery
New SAP Rollout plans
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Robert V. Ferrara)
Fri May 2 07:46:15 1997
Date: Fri, 2 May 1997 07:49:51 -0400
To: delivery@MIT.EDU, it-project-news@MIT.EDU
From: rferrara@MIT.EDU (Robert V. Ferrara)
People, attached is a memo from Katie Cochrane, detailing the new SAP
rollout plans. I like them as do several others. There are a number of
challenges and opportunities for I/S in this plan.
Cheers, Bob
X-Sender: cochrane@po8.mit.edu
Mime-Version: 1.0
Date: Fri, 2 May 1997 02:31:02 -0400
To: process-owners@MIT.EDU
From: cochrane@MIT.EDU (Katherine R. Cochrane)
Subject: Strategy for First rollout-phase of SAP
Hi folks:
Please find below a summary of the meeting on April 30, 1997 with Jim
Bruce, Glen Strehle, and Bill Dickson called to discuss revised SAP Release
2 implementation strategy. I believe that it was a good meeting, that we
reached many conclusions, that we are now poised to move forward as rapidly
as we can.
If any of you have questions about this please do not hesitate to call. I
hope to get this on the agenda for our next process owner's meeting when
Bill Dickson returns from vacation.
Katie
The PowerPoint presentation done for the meeting is on the server at
<MR-ALL:Release2:Newplan.ppt>.
I. DECISIONS MADE BY BILL, JIM, AND GLEN:
* We will continue with the development effort of the "mini-web" project.
Our stretch goal will be to have the first release of the mini-web project
by June 1, 1997. (If anyone has any questions on exactly what this means,
please see Steve K. or Bob Murray.)
* We will start Phase 1 of SAP rollout on or before August 1, 1997.
Phase 1 consists of:
a) Generic Reports - as many as we can identify and put in place
b) Budget vs. actual report requires delivery of budget data for academic
and administrative accounts
c) Budgets for sponsored research accounts will take longer and require
decisions to be made
d) Display of sponsored billing data for departments
e) Build profiles required for display and report viewing
f) Use financial architecture currently in place
g) Provide Manual Reservations??
h) Calculate OH, EB, and allocations on a daily basis (OH calculations will
not be done on commitments)
i) Look-up capability for limited purchasing and A/P functions ("mini-web"
project)
j) Provide Labor Distribution System - if ready
k) Deliver Credit Card when ready
Phase 2 release of SAP functionality will start no later than January 1,
1998 and will be completed by June 30, 1998. (Bill Dickson asked if anyone
had an issue with these dates and the only date that was problematic was
June 30, 1998. We did not commit to that as a possibiity.)
Phase 2 consists of this added functionality:
a) On-line Processing of:
b) Electronic Journal Vouchers
c) "Goods Receipt" (Invoice Processing)
d) SAP requisitioning
e) Release strategies
f) Workflow for departments
g) Funds Availability Checking
h) Customized web front-end for creation of requisitions and other
Purchasing functions
II. DETAILS OF ROLLOUT STRATEGY:
1. Working Assumptions:
a) Release 2 will be divided into two phases
b) We will not customize to meet each department's needs
c) We will be supported by senior administration in this approach
d) We will not deliver savings in the first phase
e) The Data Warehouse project must be aligned with the Management Reporting
Project
f) The support strategy will support the overall strategy, even if it
doesn't match MIT's usual support approach
g) The Sloan pilot will continue. They will be testing full SAP
functionality and we will use their experience as a learning tool as we get
into Phase 2 of the release. They will be using SAP requisitioning.
4. Goals of Phase One:
a. Provide Purchasing & Accounts Payable lookup capabilities to the large
group of requisitioners and support staff ("mini-web" project)
b. Provide on-line display and reporting of financial data for the
"headquarters" audience
c. Release this overall functionality to as many users as is feasible in
the shortest timeframe
3. Target Audience
a. 'Headquarters' - A.O., Fiscal Officers, Support Staff
b. 'Account Reconcilers' and support staff to faculty
c. 'Requisitioner-only' - Graduate students, etc.
We estimate that there will be ~350 super-users in groups 1 and 2, ~1800
remaining users will need to be trained either by super-users or SAP
trainers, and approximately 4000 requisitioners.
5. The Rollout Order will be determined by soliciting volunteers (by
department)
6. Benefits to DLC's of Phase One Strategy:
a. Increased comfort level on 'display' transactions before moving to
'create' and 'change' transactions
b. More DLC's will have some functionality sooner
c. Provision of EREQ functionality for those who had it (~40%), and new
functionality to the majority of the community (~60%)
7. Benefits to MR Project of "Phase One" Strategy
a. The new approach will:
* make the support job easier and
* put less strain on MR training resources
b. Give us more time to refine and pilot training materials
c. Give the team more time to develop and define the appropriate workflow
and release strategies of SAP requisitioning
d. Won't get 'stuck' in one department as might happen with the "wave" process
e. Helps MR team focus on smaller set of deliverables
8. Possible Drawbacks of this Strategy:
a. Might make SAP look like a very expensive reporting tool
b. Perceived competition with the Data Warehouse project
c. Might increase the cost of consultants if they are needed to configure
functionality later on
d. Represents a more complex strategy for MR project to manage
e. Might confuse the community
-->We need to make data more timely to be successful - i.e. Move as many
data feeds as possible from monthly to daily
9. Possible Constraints of the Strategy:
a) The rapid deployment of the SAP GUI to the remaining DLC's
b) The work to be done on 'closings' which will take resources from
central, MR team & departments
c) The creation of the large number of user accounts & profiles
d) The approach taken on training, documentation & help-desk
10. Challenges to be faced:
a) The lack of MR Resources is still an issue
b) Alignment of Data Warehouse effort with MR strategy
c) Production response times must be tolerable even with increased load
d) Training and documentation must be prepared within the available time
frame, i.e. they must not become the "critical path."
e) Authorizations should be set up before training so in CO users can see
their own data - and only their own data. This is a major effort.
12. Next Step:
Develop a project plan to support strategy
-->Note: We are not sure whether we will do manual reservations in Phase 1.
Allowing users to create manual reservations would break the "display-only"
nature of the rest of Phase 1 and might create opportunities for
misunderstanding.
