To initiate the SAP Ariba deployment, SAP Ariba Shared Services will lead the Deployment Kickoff call to meet with your company's team and align on scope, resources, and timelines. Do you have teammates who will participate in the deployment with you?
Yes, several team members will help with data collection and process management activities for their respective areas. There will be some power users and process leads mixed in with some of the early adopters. Do you have a list of duties that are typically performed by project team members so I can better understand what is expected from our team?
We do! Within the Deployment Overview and Deployment Kickoff presentations, we have a section that outlines different key team members and their duties within the deployment. We have several high-level categories for customer contacts and their duties.
Different types of customer team roles are:
- Customer Project Sponsor: Acts as a champion for the project and provides overall project vision. Escalation contact for deployment issue resolution.
- Customer Project Manager: Primary point of contact for overall deployment. Partners with SAP to drive project timeline and deliverables. Manages customer resource activities and helps resolve issues as necessary.
- Functional Lead: Defines business processes and participates in data collection and configuration efforts. Completes unit testing and leads roll out testing and training efforts post-deployment.
- Administrator: Becomes a technical expert in SAP Ariba. Maintains templates and configurations. Administers master data. Serves as primary contact for SAO Ariba Customer Support.
- Process Experts / Pilot Users: Provide input to configuration decisions. Participate in testing as needed. Help drive early adoption.
Keep in mind, various duties may be split between team members, as each company may have a different team and strategy. For example, in our deployment, you may fall under both Administrator and Customer Project Manager as you are both helping lead key configurations during the deployment, and will also maintain administrative data post go-live. These are intended to help as a guide, not necessarily something that is definitive.
This helps. As a Customer Project Manager, I will coordinate with my team after the Deployment Kickoff call, and include them in our working sessions to get acclimated to system functionality and complete data collection requirements.
Who from SAP Ariba can we expect to be engaged with us throughout the deployment?
I am the Functional Consultant who will be doing most of the heavy lifting with the Deployment Lead; including project management, delivery of all of the mentions within the Deployment Description, and day to day duties. However, there are a few other SAP Ariba contacts.
SAP Ariba Key Team Members
| Title | Shared Services Deployment Lead | Functional Consultant(must be purchased) | Shared Services Delivery Manager | Customer Engagement Executive (CEE) | Services Account Executive | Account Executive (AE) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Role | Shared Services remote resource responsible for delivery of Deployment Description scope | Work with client to understand current business processes, and provide recommendations on configuration design Assist client in completing deliverables within client scope outlined in SOW | Deployment Lead’s manager | Operational advocate and relationship manager Escalation point of contact | Commercial point of contact concerning consulting services, integration, added scope, timeline extensions | Commercial point of contact concerning software entitlements |
OK, great. Thank you. I believe I have met our CEE.