Hey guys glad to meet you all through another exciting blog on SAP Activate, if you still haven’t read our earlier introductory blog for the SAP Activate Framework, Do check it out by clicking on this link. 

As we all know that SAP Activate Methodology is the newest approach for carrying out projects and delivering SAP innovations and solutions.  Being built on the Agile methodology(Agile is an iterative method of project management and software development that supports teams in providing value to their clients more quickly and with less stress.), the SAP Activate methodology employs an iterative process to continually deliver and improve the efficiency of transition in order to enhance the quality and the project’s success.

In this blog, we will give a brief of the deliverables produced in each step, discuss the work completed in each phase, and look at how the work from one phase flows into the following in order to gradually construct the solution.

The first step for any project is to identify and define the appropriate roadmap post which SAP teams and consultants will progress through the six phases of the SAP Activate methodology to address your business’s pain points.

Each touchpoint defined offers a distinct milestone in the process of helping clients through the SAP implementation lifecycle and choosing the best option for particular client requirements.

Now let’s look into the 6 phases of SAP Activate Methodology,

• Discover
• Prepare
• Explore
• Realize 
• Deploy
• Run

Discover

Finding the solution’s capabilities, comprehending its commercial value and benefits for your company, and choosing an adoption plan and timeline that is in line with the solution’s capabilities and product roadmap are the prime goals of the discover phase. Customers often access trial environments during this stage to gain practical experience with the application and help with the selection process.

Key Deliverables: 

• Planning the transformation strategy
• Application value and scoping analysis
• Access to the trial system
• Discovery assessment

Prepare

The project’s initial planning and preparation begin during the prepare phase. At this point, the project has already been initiated, the blueprints have been drafted, the project team’s resources have been assigned, and the actual work on the project has begun. Additionally, during this phase of the project, the basic technical and application environment is furnished or set up.

Key Deliverables: 

• Project team (self-)enablement
• Project initiation
• Project governance
• Plan project, schedule, and budget
• Project kickoff
• Project standards and infrastructure
• Initial environment provisioning/setup and activation of best practices
• OCM roadmap
• Access to implementation-supporting tools
• Fit-to-standard preparation, including system preparation (functionality/data/
• authorizations)
• Data migration strategy
• Testing strategy and approach
• End-user learning strategy
• Phase closure and sign-off

Explore

The explore phase’s goal is to establish configuration values, necessary extensions, and analytics needs while doing a fit-to-standard study to check that the solution’s standard functionality fits your business’s needs. The explore phase also entails developing identity and access management, identifying necessary integrations, and determining data requirements. Data requirements and configuration values are noted and added to the list for the explore phase. The project team begins assembling a learning team as part of the adoption workstream, which oversees the OCM and end-user enablement activities, as well as preparing for the execution of data migration activities, testing plans, and team building during the explore phase.

Key Deliverables: 

• Execution and monitoring of the project
• Fit-to-standard analysis
• Company execution of standard processes
• Solution definition
• Integration planning and design
• Extensions planning and design
• Analytics planning and design
• Identity and access management planning and design
• Data load preparation
• Test planning
• Mobilization of the learning team
• Phase closure and sign-off

Realize

Based on the business scenarios and process requirements discovered during the fit-to-standard analysis workshops in the explore phase, you will use a sequence of agile iterations to incrementally create, test, and verify an integrated business and system environment in the realize phase. Planning operations in the new environment, conducting adoption tasks, and loading company data are all included in this phase.

Key Deliverables: 

• Execution and monitoring of the project
• OCM alignment activities
• Initial access and setup of the development environment (SAP S/4HANA Cloud)
• Initial access and setup of the test environment (SAP S/4HANA Cloud)
• Configuration and solution documentation
• Setup of integrations
• Development and setup of solution extensibility
• Setup of output management and printing
• Legacy data migration activities
• Execution of unit and string testing in sprints
• Solution walkthrough in each sprint
• Technical operations and handover plan
• Planning of Center of Expertise (COE) for operational support
• Development of key user enablement materials
• Development of end-user training and documentation
• Preparation and execution of integration testing
• Preparation and execution of UAT
• Cutover planning
• Phase closure and sign-off
• Optional activation of additional scope items (when needed)
• System upgrade (optional and relevant especially for planning for the cloud solution (deployment)

Deploy

The deploy phase’s goals include establishing the production environment, ensuring organizational preparedness, and transitioning business processes to operate in the new environment.

Key Deliverables: 

• Execution and monitoring of the project
• Execution of OCM activities
• End user learning delivery
• Dress rehearsal
• Production cutover
• Operation readiness
• Hypercare support
• Stabilization of the production environment after cutover
• Handover to support organization

Run

After go-live, there is an unscripted phase called “run.” Its goal is to make sure the solution is operating at its best efficiency and to benefit from the frequent updates SAP publishes for the SAP S/4HANA Cloud environment. In accordance with the requirements of your organization, this phase also emphasizes the ongoing adoption of the solution by new users.

Key Deliverables:  

• Ongoing system operations
• Continuous OCM activities
• Continuous learning
• Continuous business process and system improvements
• New scope activation
• New country/countries activation
• Setup and onboarding of new users
• System upgrade

Conclusion

The SAP Activate methodology offers a thorough list of project deliverables along with step-by-step instructions on how to prepare and complete each one. For each phase and workstream, the methodology also offers accelerators, which could be documents and resources like templates, questionnaires, checklists, how-to guides, and manuals. Keep in mind that the goal is to make your implementation more effective, reliable, and repeatable.

To know more, do contact our expertise!