Enhancements to Business Driven Configuration in S...

janmusil · ‎04-06-2018

This post is a continuation of the blog series about SAP Activate for SAP S/4HANA Cloud. I have introduced the concept in the earlier blog about Business Driven Configuration in December.This post provides more details about the improvements released in SAP Activate Methodology for SAP S/4HANA Cloud 1802 that were released in February of this year.

SAP introduced Business Driven Configuration in SAP Activate for S/4HANA Cloud 1705 with goal to increase business focus in the fit-to-standard workshops, and to connect it closer with configuration activities. Since that first release, the concept has evolved based on customer feedback, experience in the field and questions coverage significantly increased.

In SAP Activate for SAP S/4HANA Cloud 1802 the business driven configuration questionnaire provides close to 400 questions that cover core business topics in Finance, HR, Manufacturing, Project Services, R&D Engineering, Sales, Sourcing and Procurement, and Supply Chain. This represents 10 fold increase in the number of questions from the initial release in May of last year. The 1802 release also brings updates to fit-to-standard process guidance that is available in SAP Roadmap Viewer.

How to work with Business Driven Configuration assets

In this section I’ll provide outline of how Business Driven Configuration support the deployment of SAP S/4HANA Cloud, specifically how it enriches Fit-to-Standard process.

(1) The very beginning of the process is driven by the information captured during the Discover phase, including the customer solution scope (list of scope items in/out of project scope).

(2) Then in the Prepare phase customer business users answer questions relevant to their project scope and area of their business expertise (link).

(3) Consultants in the Explore phase use the answers as one of the inputs for preparation of fit-to-standard workshops (link).

(4) During the workshop, the answers assist the customer and consultant to clarify the business needs and determine the appropriate configuration settings that are captured in the configuration backlog (link). In addition the project team captures the list of extensions and integrations.

The questionnaire is also helpful later in the Realize phase, when consultant configures the system (link) as the questions contain reference to specific SSCUI apps (or SSCUI groups).

The concept, questions and process have been developed in close collaboration between SAP S/4HANA Cloud Product Management and SAP Digital Business Services experts. The team has received positive feedback from both customers and partners since the introduction of the concept. We continue to work closely with customers to continuously improve the quality of questions and fine tune how they are best used during the project. If you have feedback or suggestions, please share them in the comments to this post.

Stay tuned for few updates planned in the next release of SAP Activate for SAP S/4HANA Cloud in few weeks when the 1805 version of SAP S/4HANA Cloud is released to the market.

We will be showcasing the SAP Activate and all its concepts at SAPPHIRE NOW in Orlando in early June. Come see us at the demo booth on the show floor in the SAP S/4HANA area. We will provide more details about where to find us in subsequent blog posts.