Implementing SAP S/4HANA

The implementation methodology for all SAP S/4HANA implementation projects is SAP Activate. The SAP Activate Methodology includes a structure of project phases, tasks, and deliverables that vary based on the solution you are implementing.

You will find this methodology structure in the SAP Activate Roadmap Viewer. It is the central tool that guides your SAP S/4HANA implementation project by providing specific instructions and supporting accelerators to help you execute tasks and deliverables throughout each implementation phase and after go-live. Content is continuously updated to provide current and accurate information.

The structure of SAP Roadmap Viewer includes:

• Phases

  stages of the project, including Discover, Prepare, Explore, Realize, Deploy, and Run. At the end of each phase, a quality gate exists to verify the completion of the deliverables.

• Deliverables

  outcomes that are delivered during the course of the project. Several deliverables are included within a phase.

• Tasks

  work to be performed. One or several tasks comprise a deliverable.

• Workstreams

  a collection of related deliverables that show time relationships within a project and among other streams. Streams can span phases and are not necessarily dependent on phase starts and end.

• Accelerators

  provide assistance in the form of How-to guides, Best Practice recommendations, prescribed templates, and links to learning materials. Accelerators can be linked to Phases, Deliverables or Tasks.

First of all SAP Best Practices provides so-called Scope Items for each solution, which contain Process Flows and Test Scripts as well as pre-configured content for the corresponding business processes. Each scope item is identified by a 3-digit code (f. ex. BH1) and contains the pre-configured content for a specific process.

This is particularly important for customers of SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud, as the system configuration almost exclusively relies on these scope items. The use of scope items in Public Cloud is mandatory - whereas it is optional in Private Cloud / On Premise.

The number of available scope items differs between the Public Cloud and the Private Cloud / On Premise deployment model. However, some scope items are identical - f.ex. BH1 (Corrective Maintenance).

In addition, SAP Best Practices provides Configuration Tools, available for cloud and on-premise deployment models.

In the context of Public Cloud SAP Activate provides the following:

• Best Practices

• Configuration Tools

• Methodology

SAP Best Practices for Public Cloud provide the Scope Items for each solution. For deployment model Public Cloud all available processes are pre-configured via the corresponding scope item.

Scope Items for SAP S/4HANA Asset Management Public Cloud are:

• Corrective Maintenance (BH1)

  Standard process for breakdowns or failures.

• Emergency Maintenance (BH2)

  Unforeseen and urgent maintenance work by processing notification and order in a single app (Report & Repair Malfunction).

• Improvement Maintenance (4VT)

  Perform and track work that leads to improvement of assets such as redesign, upgrades etc. - integrated with Project Management (Supports the phase model).

• Operational and Overhead Maintenance (4WM‏)

  Record activities such as training, development, documentation, routine work, and so on (Supports the phase model).

• Preventive Maintenance (‏BJ2‏)

  Perform regular inspections and maintenance activities.

• Proactive Maintenance (‏4HI‏)

  Same as Preventive Maintenance - in addition supports the phase model.

• Reactive Maintenance (‏4HH‏)

  Same as Corrective Maintenance - in addition supports the phase model.

• SAP Maintenance Assistant (‏4RV‏)

  Mobile solution (Cloud) that enables a maintenance technician to perform their daily tasks related to asset management in SAP S/4HANA Cloud.

• Maintenance Resource Scheduling (‏43R‏)

  Monitor workload and plan work based on schedules.

• Integration with Asset Central Foundation (‏3YE‏)

  Connect with cloud-based applications of Intelligent Asset Management.

The following graphic contains an overview of the available business processes and the corresponding scope items.

The green check mark in the above graphic means that the process is generally available.

For deployment model Private Cloud / On Premise you can use the available scope items for automatic configuration or use the Implementation Guide to manually configure the process.

Scope Items for SAP S/4HANA Asset Management Private Cloud and On Premiseare:

• Corrective Maintenance (BH1)

  Standard process for breakdowns or failures.

• Emergency Maintenance (BH2)

  Unforeseen and urgent maintenance work by processing notification and order in a single app (Report & Repair Malfunction).

• Preventive Maintenance (‏BJ2‏)

  Perform regular inspections and maintenance activities.

• Proactive Maintenance (‏4HI‏)

  Same as Preventive Maintenance - in addition supports the phase model.

• Reactive Maintenance (‏4HH‏)

  Same as Corrective Maintenance - in addition supports the phase model.

The green check mark in the above graphic means that the process is generally available.

SAP Cloud ALM is the application lifecycle management offering for cloud-centric customers. It provides extensive implementation and operations capabilities for cloud solutions. SAP Cloud ALM is included in the SAP Enterprise Support for cloud editions, and therefore is available for both SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition and SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition.

SAP Solution Manager is a comprehensive application lifecycle management solution that can be used to manage an implementation of SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition. SAP Solution Manager has an additional license fee, and is not relevant for the SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition solution.

Core Data Services (CDS) is a common set of domain-specific languages and services for defining and consuming semantically rich data models. In other words, the CDS layer provides a universal language to read and process data across different applications.

You can create CDS views in SAP S/4HANA Cloud to model data from the database for analytical purposes, or to generate application programming interfaces (APIs) to allow other applications to consume the data. In general, CDS views are intended to be consumed by a user interface (UI), analytics, or other systems.

SAP Central Business Configuration is a tool that will make it possible to configure business processes spanning multiple SAP cloud solutions from one central place.

The Custom Code Migration app is a technical migration tool for customers converting their existing SAP ERP on premise systems to SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition. The Custom Code Migration app analyzes the custom code in a customer's system for compatibility with SAP S/4HANA.

It also evaluates usage data to identify unused custom code, which can then be removed from a customer’s system during the conversion process to lower the memory footprint.

In the Private Cloud and On Premise deployment model you can activate a number of Business Functions to extend your functionality.

Business Functions enable you to considerably simplify the process of introducing and using SAP S/4HANA. This technology enables you to selectively introduce individual features and to optimize selected business processes.

With business functions, SAP provides features in self-contained units to enable you to use specific features and enhancements for your various business processes.

The business function concept has two aspects:

• The business function as a self-contained entity comprising special features.

• The business function as a technical object in your ABAP-based system. Along with this object, you also activate the features in your ABAP-based system using transaction SFW5.

When you have activated a business function, the following changes and additional features are visible:

• New menu entries

• New fields on the user interfaces

• Customizing activities required for the implementation

• New table entries in Customizing tables and system tables

Before activating Business Functions you must consider that some of the functions are always active and others have to be activated. So the following groups must be considered:

• S/4HANA Always On Functions

  Functions such as LOG_EAM_POM / LOG_EAM_POM2 (Project-oriented Maintenance / MEB) and LOG_EAM_ROTSUB / LOG_EAM_ROTSUB2 (Reburbishment / Subcontracting).

• Enterprise Business Functions

  Functions that you can activate individually.

The usual naming convention for Business Functions in Asset Management is LOG_EAM_XXX_XX. The available Business Functions can be divided into the following groups:

• LOG_EAM_CI_xx - continuous improvements for SAP GUI
• LOG_EAM_SIMPLICITY_xx - web applications for Asset Management
• LOG_EAM_xxx_xx - individual Business Functions containing new functionality

The simplification list is a collection of single simplification items. The impact of each customer-relevant item is listed in the specification list. A simplification item can have a business impact and a technical impact. For example, if the data structure is simplified, the related custom code needs to be adapted. In other cases, functionality is replaced by a new, and simpler, successor application — possibly even based on an unchanged data structure.

Simplification items have simplification categories and provide information about the potential impact for the customer. Based on the simplification item, a custom code check analysis can be executed. Related service offerings are available, or will be available over time.

Note

The Simplification List for SAP S/4HANA is release-dependent. It is part of the official SAP S/4HANA documentation.