ABAP

Advanced Business Application Programming: The
programming language developed by SAP for application development purposes.
All R/3 applications are written in ABAP.

ABAP Dictionary

Central storage facility for all data used in
the R/3 System. The ABAP Dictionary describes the logical structure of application
development objects and their representation in the structures of the underlying
relational database. All runtime environment components such as application
programs or the database interface get information about these objects from
the ABAP Dictionary. The ABAP Dictionary is an active data dictionary and is
fully integrated in the ABAP Workbench. It forms part of the R/3 Repository.

R/3 is configured to satisfy the business and strategic needs of many large
corporations. The strategic needs and historical IT environment of each of these
customer has a significant effect on the way the R/3 System is implemented.
One thing unites all these customers: their need to structure the implementation
according to a global approach. Global AcceleratedSAP is designed to
provide a uniform rollout concept.

The success of AcceleratedSAP as an implementation methodology
has made it clear that global implementations can also be carried out in this
way. Global ASAP builds on the existing ASAP methodology, using ASAP’s structured
procedure accelerators, modelling methods and tools. Project teams implementing
R/3 on a global level will find additional methodological guidance and functionality
in the Global ASAP Roadmap.

Phase 5: Go Live and Support

Now you are ready to go live with your productive system! Afterwards,
the project team focuses on supporting the end users, for which training may
not be completed. It is also necessary to establish procedures and measurements
to review the benefits of your investment in R/3 on an ongoing basis. Key SAP
Services to support you in this phase include

• The Online Service System (OSS)
• Remote Consulting
• EarlyWatch® Services

These services encompass a series of remote analyses of specific R/3 System
settings, with recommendations for improving system performance.

Phase 4: Final Preparation

The purpose of this phase is to complete the final preparation
of the R/3 System for going live. This includes testing, user training, system
management and cutover activities, to finalize your readiness to go live. This
Final Preparation phase also serves to resolve all crucial open issues. On successful
completion of this phase, you are ready to run your business in your productive
R/3 System.

In Phase 4, your end users go through comprehensive training.
The last step will be to migrate data to your new system. In particular a going-live
check is carried out and an R/3 Help Desk set up.

The purpose of Phase 3 is to configure the R/3 System, in order
to have an integrated and documented solution which fulfills your business process
requirements.

In this phase, configuration of your system is carried out
in two steps: Baseline and Final Configuration. The Baseline configuration is
designed to configure about 80% of your daily business transactions and all
of your master data, and organizational structure. The remaining configuration
is done in process-oriented cycles. The Business Blueprint is used as the guide
for the system configuration, done using the Implementation Guide, which will
be described in detail in this chapter. After this, data transfer programs,
as well as interfaces, need to be tested.

In this phase you document and define the scope of your R/3 implementation and create the Business Blueprint. The Business Blueprint is a detailed documentation of your company’s requirements in Winword format. Application consultants and the Business Process Teams achieve a common understanding of how the enterprise intends to run its business within the R/3 System, by carrying out requirements-gathering workshops.

During Phase 2, the project team completes R/3 Level 2 training;
this is recommended as early as possible and before the workshops start.

The project team selects the processes that best fit your business from R/3’s functional offering, using the following tools:

In this phase of the ASAP Roadmap, decision-makers define clear
project objectives and an efficient decision-making process. A project charter
is issued, an implementation strategy is outlined, and the project team as well
as its working environment are established.

The first step is for the project managers to set up the implementation
project(s). They draw up a rough draft of the project, appoint the project team
and hold a kickoff meeting. The kickoff meeting is critical, since at this time
the project team and process owners become aware of the project charter and
objectives and are allocated their responsibilities, lasting throughout the
project.

TeamSAP refers to the coordinated network of people, processes and products
from SAP and partners that delivers continuous, fast, integrated and assured
solutions. AcceleratedSAP is the main process component of TeamSAP.

• The people: SAP employees and certified implementation partners providing
  leadership, project coordination and know-how to implement, maintain and support
  R/3 based on your requirements.
• The processes: AcceleratedSAP with the embedded Business Engineer functionality,
  as well as integrated support, services and training on all levels.
• The products: The R/3 System with its strategic product architecture and
  open interfaces, providing both scalability and flexibility in an ever-changing
  business environment. Also, hardware and software products from hundreds of
  complementary software partners and hardware providers certified by SAP.

SAP’s Accelerated Quality Review provides an independent and objective management review of your R/3 implementation project and identifies any risks to the project goals. This service is standard in all TeamSAP projects. Among others, the benefits are early recognition of potential risk areas, improved adherence to project schedules, lower cost, and faster implementation times.

The Quality Review program offered by SAP is not a review of the project for conformance to the ASAP tools and templates, but rather assists the executive management and project manager at customer sites in providing a second opinion of the implementation progress towards achieving the project goals. The scope of the review is to investigate the application, technical and project management areas of the implementation. The review looks for good implementation practices while following a prescribed methodology.

AcceleratedSAP is a comprehensive solution for the implementation of the R/3 System, comprising a proven methodology, tools and a range of services for the rapid implementation and ongoing optimization of R/3 installations.

The AcceleratedSAP Roadmap and accompanying Project Plan provide a standard implementation “how-to guide” that fills in the gaps of diverse methodologies and varying individual implementation skills and experiences.

The effectiveness of AcceleratedSAP has been demonstrated many times over at companies around the world. The Business Engineer plays a central role in AcceleratedSAP projects, being used for completion of configuration tasks.