Introduction
In order to evaluate the interface transition options, the below criteria should be considered for an evaluation and to aid the traceability of requirements.
Transition Period, the period of time during which legacy system changes to new system, during that process both systems operated to sustain the business stability. In a nut shell one state or stage to another without impacting the business
1. 1) Business Impact Assessment
The table below indicates that the common Business Impact to SAP Implementation will be assessed for evaluating the transition options. This includes business functions, modules ang processes.
Measure separately against:
- Interacting Business System
- Legacy System
- ECC Integration layer
- Data Synchronisation
| Aspect | Criteria Explanation | Scale Explanation |
|---|
| Business functions and processes | What is the impact on the business functions and end-users that relate to interfaces? Will current processes need to be changed to accommodate the transition period? Will manual workarounds be adopted during the transition period? | 3 = Minimal changes to business practices 2 = Some changes to business practices 1 = Comprehensive changes to business practices |
| Skills and competencies | What specific skills and competencies will be required by business users as related to interfaces during the transition period? Will specialized training be required? Will self-learning be sufficient or will instructor-led training be required? | 3 = Minimal training required 2 = Intermediate training required 1 = Comprehensive training required |
| Accommodate changes | Will business system led changes be accommodated during the transition period? | 3 = Most changes accommodated 2 = Some change accommodated 1 = No changes accommodated |
1. 2) Interface Impact Assessment
The table below indicates how the Interface impacts to Interacting Business Systems will be assessed for evaluating the transition options.
| Aspect | Criteria Explanation | Scale Explanation |
|---|
| ECC interface requirements | What is the impact of the ECC interface requirements? | 3 = Minimal changes to interfaces 2 = Some changes to interfaces 1 = Comprehensive changes to interfaces |
| New Interfaces | Will new interfaces be accommodated during the transition period? | 3 = Most changes accommodated 2 = Some change accommodated 1 = No changes accommodated |
1. 3)Support Impact Assessment
The table below indicates how the operational support and maintenance aspects will be assessed for evaluating the transition options.
Measure separately against:
- Interacting Business System
- Legacy System
- ECC Integration layer
- Data Synchronisation
| Aspect | Criteria Explanation | Scale Explanation |
|---|
| Support resources | What level of support is required during the transition period? | 3 = Current support levels are adequate 2 = Some additional support is required 1 = Strong additional support required |
| Vendors | What will be the impact on SLA’s with vendors? Will there be any requirements to cover the transition period? | 3 = Minimal impact 2 = Some impact 1 = Strong impact |
4)Testing Assessment
The table below indicates how the testing aspects will be assessed for evaluating the transition options.
Measure separately against:
- Interacting Business System
- Legacy System
- ECC Integration layer
- Data Synchronisation
| Aspect | Criteria Explanation | Scale Explanation |
|---|
| Interface testing | What level of testing is required for the interface during the transition period? | 3 = Minimal testing required 2 = Some testing required 1 = Comprehensive testing required |
| Enterprise interfaces | What number of enterprise wide interfaces will require some level of splitting/routing during the transition period? Additional comprehensive testing is required for any data flows being split and/or routed | 3 = Less than 3 2 = Between 3 to 10 1 = More than 10 |
| Testing environments | What is the availability of business system integration testing environments? Can integration testing be carried out with the involvement of the business system in a real environment? Will a simulated (mocked) environment have to be used in lieu? How representative of the productive environment will the test be? | 3 = Integration replica of production available 2 = Integration environment available but not fully representative of production 1 = No integration environment available |
5) Data Assessment
The table below indicates how the data aspects will be assessed for evaluating the transition options.
| Aspect | Criteria Explanation | Scale Explanation |
|---|
| Master data strategy | What level of complexity will be required to orchestrate the master data strategy during the transition period? | 3 = Minimal orchestration 2 = Some orchestration 1 = Comprehensive orchestration |
| Data migration | What level of additional effort will be required for the data migration during the transition period? | 3 = Minimal 2 = Some 1 = Substantial |
| Data reconciliation | What level of effort will be required to orchestrate and perform data reconciliation to ensure interfaces meet data integrity and quality requirements? | 3 = Minimal 2 = Some 1 = Substantial |
6) Deployment and Reversion Assessment
The table below indicates how the deployment and rollback aspects will be assessed for evaluating the transition options.
Measure separately against:
- Interacting Business System
- Legacy System
- ECC Integration layer
- Data Synchronisation
| Aspect | Criteria Explanation | Scale Explanation |
|---|
| Interface rollback | What level of involvement and commitment will be required by the interfaces to orchestrate and enact an enterprise wide reversal/rollback from ECC to Legacy System? | 3 = Minimal involvement 2 = Some involvement 1 = Strong involvement |
| Achievable and realistic | How achievable and realistic is a rollback of interfaces? This can be verified and measured by planning, simulations and testing. | 3 = Strongly achievable 2 = Somewhat achievable 1 = Likely not achievable |
Summary
It is a high level evaluation for the Interface Transition strategy, the scale explanation may vary as per the project requirement.
The goal of the blog is to help users to make aware of the Interface Transition Evaluation Guidelines, recommendations are based on my personal experience in SAP Implementation as a technical architect.The user can follow the suggestions provided by the blog and it should supplement with additional information,the suggestion provided by the blog may vary as per the project requirement.
SAP Help, at http://help.sap.com, provides official documentation from SAP. It is structured help that is indexed and includes diagrams to illustrate key points. This site is open to the public; no login information is required.
