Using Project Management

The preceding graphic shows individual elements of a project in SAP Project Management. The structure of projects in SAP Project Management is based on phases. Each phase is processed after the other and there are fixed transitions between phases. Each phase includes checklist items to ensure that no major components of the individual phases are overlooked. The tasks in each phase describe the activities or work you need to perform. These tasks form the basis for resource planning in the project.

The preceding video provides you with an overview of the basic functions of SAP Project Management. Some of these functions can be used as a standalone solution, for example, scheduling. Other functions can only be used in connection with another system, for example, controlling.

SAP Project Management offers scheduling for all elements of a project. Time scheduling can be operated easily and happens automatically to a large extent. The figure, Scheduling with SAP Project Management, gives you an overview of the dates of a project in SAP Project Management. SAP Project Management uses a phase-oriented approach that supports time scheduling. In these phases, individual tasks can be put in a time sequence and scheduled.

The tasks in a phase form the basis for scheduling. Tasks are also part of project resource planning in the project. Tasks describe the work time required to complete a task in detail, for example, the number of hours it takes to complete a task. Tasks describe the resource requirements.

Resources are internal and external employees that are assigned in the project using project roles. A project role describes an activity and its scope in the project. Employees fill project roles. Employees are then assigned to tasks. In SAP Project Management, cost planning can be based on resource planning.

Document management in SAP Project Management can be executed in the following ways:

• Document management within SAP Project Management

• Integration with SAP Document Management System (SAP DMS)

• SAP Jam as a web-based collaboration platform in virtual teams

During the course of a project, many documents are created and edited. These documents must be centrally accessible by authorized users. SAP Project Management offers several document management options, for example, an integrated document management system. It also provides the option of integrating the document management system of an SAP S/4HANA system or an external document management system.

Although SAP Project Management can be used as a standalone system, in practice, it is linked to other systems. For instance, you can set up integration with various SAP systems and products. In each case, the integration that needs to be used depends on the business processes, and on the system that is already being used. The following figure displays various integrations.

SAP systems offer the following project management functions:

• Other SAP S/4HANA modules: Integration in Controlling, Project System, Document Management, and links to various objects, such as purchase and maintenance orders

• SAP Human Capital Management (SAP HCM): Integration of human resources master records, organizational management, and qualification orders.

• SAP Jam: Offers simplified exchange of documents with partners

• SAP Business Intelligence (SAP BI): Offers detailed evaluations of projects.

• SAP Portfolio and Project Management (SAP PPM): Offers cross-project resource planning and portfolio management for strategic project management.

The project element at the highest level of the hierarchy is the project definition. A project definition contains the general data for a project in Project Management. The project definition contains the name and identification of the project as well as details about the planned start and finish date. The project definition also contains the assignment to an organizational unit of your company. The first step to create a project is defining a project. In SAP Project Management, each project has a project definition. It contains general information about the project.

In the SAP S/4HANA Project Management system, you can identify the project definition by a 24-digit alphanumeric text. You can also describe the project definition in 40-digit alphanumeric text. The name of the project is language-dependent. You can create German and English descriptions; if the short description is insufficient, you can create a language-dependent long text description.

In the project definition, you can define a responsible role for the overall responsibility for the project, the time frame for the whole project. Additionally you specify the sold-to party, customer, and assigned organizational units for the project definition. You do not plan the required capacity for the project definition. Instead, tasks and project roles are used to plan the required capacity.

The following Customizing profiles are directly assigned to the project definition:

• Project reason: This profile is relevant for evaluations.

• Priority: This profile is relevant for evaluations.

• Project type: This profile a central profile for controlling the project.

Define a project type at the latest release of the project. Project types are defined in Customizing for Project Management and determine the properties of projects in Project Management as far as possible. Authorizations that you grant at the project definition level are automatically passed on to all subordinate objects in the project. However, if necessary, you can adjust, enhance, or even revoke them at the project definition.

After the project definition, phases are the second hierarchy level of a project in SAP Project Management. You can use phases to structure the project from a time aspect. Phases are sections of a project that are completed in a certain time. Start and finish dates are calculated by scheduling or by manually specified fixed dates. Each phase can have a predecessor and a successor. Time overlaps of phases lead to schedule conflicts with the corresponding warning messages. Using approval processes, you can make the completion of a phase dependent on the approval of various decision makers. In this way, you can implement quality gates between the various phases.

Executing a phase begins with its release and ends with an approval process. You can configure SAP Project Management to ensure that a phase begins only when the previous phase is completed.

In the system, you can identify phases by 24-character, alpha-numerical text. However, as with the project definition, you can name a phase using a 40-character text and you can use a long text to describe it.

During the master data maintenance of a phase you can specify the description, the predecessor phase, the responsible role, change the status and the phase type. The phase type is a profile in Customizing that describes the approval process of a phase.

You can also maintain Grouping and Search fields for the phases. In these fields, you can enter up to 40 characters of text. You can use both fields as additional criteria when you search for objects.

You can use further assignments to expand the phases, for example, you can assign documents, create collaborations, and establish object links to SAP S/4HANA and external objects.

Checklists in Project Management are lists with items that are to be completed in the course of the project or in individual phases. . Checklists ensure that important aspects of a project or a phase are completed. Checklists are assigned to phases and are located in the third hierarchy level of a project. You can assign several checklists to a phase.

A checklist consists of a collection of checklist items. Checklist items describe important aspects of a phase. The checklist only contains a small amount of data. The basic data includes the name, description, status, priority, and a responsible role.

You can flag items of a checklist within a phase as relevant for approval or mandatory. In this way, you can ensure that these items must be completed before the phase can be approved or completed.

Checklists are usually assigned to phases or tasks, but an assignment to the project definition in form of an issue list is possible as well.

In the system, you can identify the checklist by a 24-digit alphanumeric text. Alternatively, you can name a checklist using 40 characters and you can use a long text to describe it. The text is language-dependent.

The checklist type is a Customizing profile. You need the profile to release the checklist. The checklist type determines if the checklist is an ordinary checklist or an issue list. An issue list describes unplanned items that occur but must be completed in the project. An issue list is assigned in the project definition or in a phase.

You can add further objects to checklists and issue lists. For example, you can add assigned documents, assigned collaborations, and object links.

You can create a checklist manually or by using a copy template. The copy template is marked as a reference to a checklist template. A checklist reference is resolved during the creation of the checklist reference (all checklist items are included) or later on. At the latest, it is resolved when the status of the checklist reference is changed to Released.

Checklist items are the items in a checklist. To attain the project goal, the items on the checklist must be completed. People involved in the project check off the checklist items when they are completed.

You can identify a checklist by a 24-character alphanumeric number. The number is assigned internally and cannot be changed. You can enter a short description and a more detailed description.

In the system, you can enter a sort number for the checklist item. The sort number sorts the sequence of the checklist items in an ascending order in the navigation area. SAP Project Management automatically groups checklist items in steps of ten. You can also adjust the sort number manually. During the master data maintenance of checklists, you can maintain other data such as a name, description, and responsible role. You can also define a priority and a process, which are predefined entries in Customizing and used for information purposes. The entries do not have a controlling influence on the project. A checklist item is one item, it does not have any duration.

You can define data that may be crucial for approval or confirmation of the checklist item. If a checklist item must be completed before the phase is closed, select the Mandatory checkbox. Mandatory checklist items must have the Completed status before the phase can have the Closed status. If the checklist item must be completed so the phase it belongs to can be approved, select the Relev. for App. checkbox.

The other tab pages for checklist items allow you to assign documents, collaborations, and object links.

Tasks are used to enter and structure the required processing steps and individual activities to carry out when a project is being implemented. You can define the duration and the planned work for each task.

Tasks are not only elements of a hierarchy. They can also determine time dependencies. You can use the relationships of tasks to describe the sequence in which the tasks are processed. This way, several tasks can be set up in a network-like structure. By linking tasks to each other with relationships, you can define the order and time sequence of tasks. Task scheduling is based on the relationships of tasks. There is a separate tab page to describe task relationships.

You can assign tasks directly to the project definition, phases, or checklist items. Tasks in phases and checklist items can be further subdivided into subtasks. This allows you to map entire task hierarchies in Project Management. In the navigation area, tasks can be identified by a circular symbol.

You can identify a task by a 24-character alphanumeric text. The number is assigned internally and cannot be changed. When maintaining a task in the systems, the Name field can be used to provide a brief description of the task and the Description field can be used for a detailed description. Both fields are language-dependent like the other project elements. The sort number determines the display sequence in the navigation area. Sort Number is a numeric field and can have five digits.

You can assign another project to a task. This project is interpreted as a subproject.

You can also enter the task type in the task master data. You can maintain the task type in Customizing. The task type is mostly used for information purposes. However, you can also assign a cost and revenue rate to a task type. During costing, you can use the cost and revenue rate to determine planned costs.

Additionally, you define the Priority and Process fields for the task. You can define the characteristics of both fields in Customizing. These fields are not controlling fields. You can also specify whether a task is mandatory for the completion of a phase, or if it is relevant for approving a phase. You can define cost and revenue rates and additional data for determining planned costs.

You can assign documents, collaborations, and object links to SAP ERP objects to tasks. You can also assign the project roles that are involved in the implementation of the task. If necessary, you can describe the qualifications required to carry out the task on a separate tab page.

Subtasks can be used to detail tasks and to structure the required processing steps when you implement a project. Subtasks are subordinates of a task. Depending on the setting of the project type, you may consider a superior task as a collective task that only calculates the work of the subordinate tasks. Alternatively, the work of the superior task can be interpreted in addition to that of the subordinate tasks.

Scheduling-wise, subtasks can have relationships to subtasks belonging to the same task or to subtasks belonging to other tasks. A relationship between subtasks and tasks is possible as well.

You can divide subtasks into other subtasks.

The configuration of the project typedetermines if subtasks are allowed to be used in projects. The task hierarchy field determines whether subtasks are used at all, and if they are, how their data is aggregated at the higher level.