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Introducing SAP Central Business Configuration

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to give an overview of SAP Central Business Configuration

Introduction to SAP Central Business Configuration

SAP Central Business Configuration (CBC) is a tool designed to configure business processes across various SAP Cloud solutions from a central place. It supports SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition and aims for seamless implementation of end-to-end business processes across SAP’s cloud portfolio. The vision is for CBC to support implementation of all solutions in SAP’s Intelligent Enterprise, including SAP SuccessFactors and SAP Ariba.

Key Solution Characteristics:

Scoping via business adaptation catalog (BAC) and end-to-end processes.
Quick access to a preconfigured, ready-to-run system.
Option to adapt preconfiguration to customer needs.
Extended configuration for areas not preconfigured.
Enable delta deployment of scope extensions (for example, additional countries or regions).

SAP Central Business Configuration Process Overview

SAP Central Business Configuration allows management of configurations for SAP S/4HANA Cloud implementations and ongoing operations centrally via Project Experience.

Overview of the four process steps: Scope, Organizational Structure, Product-specific Configuration and Production System Settings.

The guided workflow process steps include:

Scope: Select the scope items (business processes) and countries in which to activate them, then assign systems as the deployment targets.
Organizational Structure: Specify primary finance settings such as group currency and fiscal year variant, set up the organizational structure, and deploy the settings.
Product-Specific Configuration: Carry out configuration activities to define business processes and release transports to the target systems. The configuration activities visible are based on the active scope.
Note
Releasing transports takes place in SAP Central Business Configuration (2-system landscape) or in SAP S/4HANA Cloud (3-system landscape).
Production System Settings: Maintain settings for the Production System.
Note
Maintaining current settings in the Production System Settings phase via SAP Central Business Configuration is only relevant in a 2-system landscape. In a 3-system landscape, dedicated apps are available within SAP S/4HANA Cloud to grant access to such production-system-specific settings.

Project Experience in SAP Central Business Configuration

Project Experience is the main user interface in SAP Central Business Configuration, guiding users through evaluation and implementation projects, and ongoing operations. Projects are structured into phases with specific activities.

Key aspects of Project Experience:

Project Types: Start with an evaluation project to explore business processes, followed by an implementation project for actual deployment.
Scoping and Deployment Targets: Define capabilities by choosing countries/regions and business scenarios, and assign deployment targets for system tenants.
Organizational Structure Management: Set up and maintain organizational structures with predefined units and templates.
Configuration Activities: Adjust system settings to business requirements in a structured manner.
Ongoing Operations: Continuously maintain SAP S/4HANA Cloud post-go-live by making necessary changes to scope and configurations.

Differences in Project Experience in a 2-System Landscape and a 3-System Landscape

Depending on whether it is a 2-System or 3-System Landscape, there are a few differences covered in the following list.

Project Experience in 2-System Landscape and 3-System Landscape

	2 system Landscape (2SL)	3 system Landscape (3SL)
Project Phases	You have three project phases Scope and organizational structure phase Product-specific configuration Phase Production system settings phase	You only have two project phases: Scope and organizational structure phase Product-specific configuration phase
Project Types	You work with two projects One evaluation One implementation	You work with four projects Two evaluations Two implementations
Deployment Targets	In the Deployment Targets app, you assign a deployment target to your project for each system (starter, quality, and production).	In the Deployment Targets app, you assign a deployment target to your project for the following systems: Starter system: You assign one starter customizing tenant and one starter development tenant. Development system: You assign one customizing tenant and one development tenant
Systems Tab	The Systems tab is displayed, where you need to carry out the following: Request systems, quality system, production system Release Configuration settings into Production system	The Systems tab is not displayed since its related project activities are handled outside SAP Central Business Configuration.
Ongoing Operations	After completing the last milestone Confirm Production System Settings Are Completed, the project switches to ongoing operations mode.	The project remains open in the product-specific configuration phase. The project does not close or switch to ongoing operations.

Scoping And Deployment Targets

In the scoping phase, define the solution's capabilities by selecting relevant countries/regions and business scenarios. This phase includes mandatory selections (for example, countries/regions and scope bundles) and optional selections (for example, additional scenarios). Deployment targets represent dedicated system tenants and must be assigned during the scope phase.

The scope phase in SAP Central Business Configuration consists of:

A scoping-related project activity, which guides you in selecting the capabilities of your solution.
An Assign Deployment Target activity, in which you connect your project to the dedicated SAP S/4HANA Cloud System.
A Confirm Scoping is Completed milestone

Key Features

The Define Scope project activity guides you through the process of defining the scope of your solution.
You define the scope of your project by selecting countries/regions and scenarios. A scenario contains predefined content for the implementation of a business process. Scenarios can also be grouped into a bundle.
Because each company has unique business requirements, the system enables you to make a series of business decisions to adjust the content and determine which of the available features and functions you want to incorporate into your solution.
Built-in rules ensure that your selected content is logical and consistent from a technical and business point of view.
The system calculates the configuration settings that are needed to realize the business scenarios for the countries/regions that you have selected for this project.
You can add any additional countries/regions or scope later via the Initiate Change feature.

Screenshots of the Mandatory and Optional Selection during Scoping

Mandatory Selections

Countries/regions
Scope bundles

Optional selection (directly by the customer):

IFRS or/and US GAAP non-standard group ledger scenarios
Additional standard scenarios
Non-standard scenarios that do not require additional manual steps to be performed by SAP

Optional selection (via a ticket)

Locked non-standard and license dependent scenarios can be added to the scope by the SAP support team.

Deployment Target

A deployment target represents a dedicated system tenant of the assigned solution. To exchange content from your projects to a cloud solution, you must specify a deployment target in the Deployment Targets app, where deployment targets are listed and can be assigned or removed.

When opening the app, you see a list with deployment targets that are available and provisioned by SAP cloud operations. You can only assign deployment targets that are not assigned to any other project. The available deployment targets also depend on your project type (evaluation or implementation project). In case no system tenant is provided, the list is empty.

A list with all deployment targets that are available and provisioned by the SAP operations team display on the Deployment Targets tab.

One deployment target can be assigned to only one project.
You can assign or remove a deployment target only during the Scope phase.
The data from SAP Central Business Configuration deploys to the assigned target SAP S/4HANA Cloud system.
After initial deployment to the target system, you can check the deployment and activation details using the navigation button on the Deployment Targets tab.

Screen showing the selection for the deployment target.

Confirming Scope

Based on the scope selection, relevant customizing and configuration activities are identified.

Screen in SAP Central Business Configuration showing the confirmation message for confirming scoping

By confirming scoping is completed, relevant configuration activities are being calculated. The subsequent activities are dependent on the chosen scope.

Note

After confirming your scope, you cannot delete any countries/regions, bundles, or scenarios. These choices are irreversible. It is possible to add enhancements (for example, additional countries/regions) later.

Note

There is no system-supported license check in place for license-dependent scenarios. Before confirming this milestone, make sure you have requested these scenarios and the ticket is completed.

Organizational Structure Management

The Set Up Organizational Structure app supports creating and adapting the organizational structure. It includes graphical and table views for creating organizational units and ensures that all necessary relationships are established.

Define your organization structure and then activate the content data.
Enhance your organization structure as per the business requirement, when you've already been using an activated solution and want to enhance your organizational structure using the tool, for example, to add a new plant to your existing organizational structure.

You adapt the organizational structure in the product-specific configuration phase. The Set Up Organizational Structure app is closely connected with the scoping. The selected scope specifies which organizational units are required to run the underlying processes.

The Set Up Organizational Structure app is a key user application based on Business Application Factory meta data information. You need to specify all relevant parameters for every organizational unit.

The Set Up Organizational Structure app is a flexible tool with which you can create your organizational structure while following some rules:

All countries/regions you chose in scoping have at least one company code defined, and one of the company codes is defined as the default company code.
Every sales organization has a plant assigned as the recommended delivery plan.
Note
There are restrictions and limitations when you create relationships between organizational units.

Screen showing CBC with the graphical interface for creating the organizational structure.

After the organizational structure is confirmed, two follow up actions are triggered:

Organizational structure templates with all dependent configuration settings are instantiated to the workspace.
Organization dependent configuration activities can be identified (for example, specify the company code currency).

Key Features

Graphic view – graphical, scope-dependent, and guided creation of organizational units
Table view – all org units are listed in a table
Org structure can be set up as draft and reviewed before activation. Deleting and changing units and assignments is possible anytime before confirming them.
Checks in place to make sure all mandatory organizational units and relations based on the selected scope have been created

Product-Specific Configuration

To adjust system settings to your business requirements, you carry out configuration activities.

To perform configuration activities, the scope and organizational structure phase and all related project activities must be completed and you are in the following phases:

Product-specific configuration and production system settings phases (a 2-system landscape)
Product-specific configuration phase (a 3-system landscape)

In the Configuration Activities tab, you can see the configuration activities in the tree view. The configuration activities are organized hierarchically according to their business areas. Each configuration activity has a unique identifier (ID), which is the configuration activity ID also used in other reference materials.

You can find the status of each configuration activity in the Status column, and change the status if you are in the product-specific configuration phase. You can also see the number of configuration activities in each hierarchical level. Position the cursor on the numbers to see detailed information of the configuration activities status.

Note

The availability of configuration activities including their documentation depends on the SAP S/4HANA Cloud solution.

Note

Launching a configuration activity in Project Experience opens the target system where you can process the activity. To process configuration activities, you need to have corresponding authorizations in the target system as well.

Configuration activities are labeled as mandatory, recommended, or optional configuration activities:

Mandatory configuration activities are implementation and project management activities that you need to complete before you can go live with your solution.
Recommended configuration activities are the ones that are commonly used to adapt or change something.
Optional configuration activities can be reviewed and adjusted where necessary.

In the product-specific configuration phase, configuration activities cover detailed settings of the solution process, for example, define a sales organization. Launching a configuration activity opens the SAP S/4HANA Cloud system where you can perform the activity. Furthermore, some configuration activities provide easy access to setup instructions (CIAS) or setup guides.

Key Features

By performing configuration activities, you can centrally tailor business processes via SAP Central Business Configuration to meet your company’s requirements.

Configuration activities take your scope and country selections into account.
Flexible ledger setup and assignment of accounting principles.
Flexible chart of accounts and renumbering of G/L accounts.

Standard Roles and Authorizations

Roles and authorizations enable the users to access the system and relevant features in a secure way.

SAP Central Business Configuration provides a set of standard roles providing authorization to perform different implementation tasks in Project Experience. The system can be accessed only by users with authorization.

Users can access only those projects to which they are assigned. The only exceptions are users with program manager and auditor roles who always have access to all projects.

Roles And Authorization

Role Names	Role IDs/ User Groups	Authorizations and Tasks
Program manager	SAP_CBC_CONSUMPTION_PROGRAM_LEAD	Performing Project Experience tasks across all projects, without being assigned to the projects. There is no access restriction to specific projects.
Project manager	SAP_CBC_CONSUMPTION_PROJECT_LEAD	Performing Project Experience tasks within assigned projects
Key user	SAP_CBC_CONSUMPTION_KEY_USER	Performing Project Experience tasks within assigned projects, except critical activities such as creating a project and initiating a change
Display user	SAP_CBC_CONSUMPTION_DISPLAY_USER	Read access to Project Experience tasks within assigned projects
Auditor	SAP_CBC_CONSUMPTION_AUDITOR	Read access to Project Experience tasks, access to Change Logs tab and download change logs CSV across all projects

Note

When new roles become available in SAP Central Business Configuration, the list of related user groups needs to be updated in the Identity Authentication service.

Configure Product-Specific Elements

Performing Configuration Activities and Calling Up Setup Instructions

The following procedure describes how to perform a configuration activity or call up setup instructions.

Prerequisites

Milestones Confirm Scoping is Completed and Confirm Scope and Organizational Structure Phase is Completed are confirmed.

Procedure

In Project Experience, go to the Configuration Activities tab.
Search for the configuration activity you need.
To search for a configuration activity:
In the filter bar, enter the name or the ID of the configuration activity in the search field, or filter by business area.
For example, select the business area Manufacturing to get all configuration activities for manufacturing. Or enter manufacturing in the search field to get all configuration activities with "manufacturing" in their name. Searching with a name can get all the matching business areas in the result as well.
You can also search with the ID. For example, you can enter 102004 to find the configuration activity, Define Production Order Types.
To call up a setup instruction, choose the Open Guide hyperlink in its row.
After performing the activity, choose Complete Activity to set the Status of this configuration activity to Completed.

Screen showing configuration activities in SAP Central Business Configuration.

Note

You need to save your configuration in the activity to have the configuration performed in SAP S/4HANA Cloud. Marking a configuration activity as completed in SAP Central Business Configuration does not necessarily mean that the configuration is performed in SAP S/4HANA Cloud.

Calls of Setup Instructions

In the filter bar, you can enter name or ID in the search field to search for configuration activities, and use filters such as go-live relevance, status, and business areas to limit your search.

To call up a setup instruction, choose the Open Guide hyperlink in its row.

Configuration Activities

You, as the key user for configuration, can check and change configuration settings or create new ones if needed in your Environment configuration of SAP S/4HANA Cloud.

Recommended Resources

Links to Recommended Resources

Note

Open the links to standard websites in your regular desktop browser instead of the remote desktop browser used for the SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition training system. Use the remote desktop browser only for accessing the training system.

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