ARIS Expert Paper - SAP Upgrade - IDS Scheer AG

ARIS Expert Paper
ARIS
Platform
Expert
Paper
Aligning Business with IT
Simplifying SAP Upgrades Through
Business Process Management (BPM)
www.ids-scheer.com

ARIS Expert Paper
Simplifying SAP Upgrades Through Business Process Management (BPM)
Aligning Business with IT
Many companies who are at mature stages of their SAP investments are
struggling with the decision to upgrade.
Is it necessary? Can’t the current system just be optimized? What are the
business reasons for upgrading and what kind of an upgrade would be most
beneficial for the company?
How do companies get the most benefit out of a SAP upgrade project through
business process management (BPM). How do they define their SAP
upgrade requirements in the areas of a technical, functional or strategic
upgrade? How do they cut project times and costs for SAP upgrade projects
using standardized methodologies? And most importantly, how do companies
truly align business with your IT?
Find out how companies can:
� Get the most benefit out of a SAP upgrade project through
business process management
� Cut project times for upgrade projects using standardized
methodologies
� Align business with IT
The Business Drivers for Upgrading SAP with IDS Scheer
The SAP Upgrades Scenario by IDS Scheer combines the market-leading ARIS
Business Architect for SAP software with a technical diagnostic service for your
as-is SAP landscape, bundled in a business process offering that helps to effectively
run an SAP upgrade project based on the business processes actually
used.
The offering enables companies to:
� Perform a fully comprehensive as-is analysis of the current SAP (4.x)
processes and configuration with RBE (Reverse Business Engineering);
� Identify sub-optimal business processes, out-of-date functions, and thirdparty
application consolidation opportunities;
� Design an agile to-be SAP business process strategy that leverages ERP
6.0, SAP Business Suite, and SOA;
� Accelerate the upgrade blueprint phase via collaborative business / IT
process design based on standard, proven SAP reference processes.
Some of the key benefits include:
� Alignment and improved communication between IT and businesses;
� 20 - 40% reduction in blueprinting costs;
� Ability to go live faster and better;
� Savings through the reduction of custom features and unused transactions.
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About the Authors
Eric Brabänder
is Head of global ARIS Product
Marketing at IDS Scheer AG. He
supported the strategic development
cooperation with SAP AG as
responsible product manager for
ARIS for SAP.
Fabian Erbach
is the Head of the Center of
Excellence at IDS Scheer AG,
responsible for the ARIS Solution
for Process-Driven SAP
Management. He manages the
development of IDS Scheer‘s standard
approach, ARIS Value
Engineering (AVE) for SAP and
oversees its global roll-out and
implementation in the field.
Contact:
arisproductmarketing@ids-scheer.com

In addition to reducing the cost of the SAP system environment, the SAP Upgrade Scenario harmonizes and standardizes
business processes, providing a solid foundation for future SAP ERP upgrades and SAP NetWeaver deployments.
This Expert Paper provides the answers to the most critical questions on upgrading SAP and how the Process-Driven SAP
Upgrade Scenario from IDS Scheer will simplify it through effective Business Process Management (BPM).
� Which potential process improvements can we achieve by upgrading?
� How can I close the gap between business requirements, business process design, and SAP implementation?
� How can I make sure my blueprint documentation matches the actual implementation?
� Which parts of my business can be mapped using SAP standard functionalities and where do I need to change SAP?
� How can I standardize and consolidate different business processes and applications?
� How can I ensure that my end-to-end business processes are implemented in SAP?
� How can I better communicate with and train SAP end users during and after the upgrade?
� How can I cut the project time for SAP upgrades?
SAP Upgrades Offer Strategic Opportunities
The decision driver for upgrading SAP has often been to ensure fast availability of executable solutions. Unfortunately,
acting on this driver alone means that the system’s enormous capabilities and benefits cannot be realized. Best practices
for upgrades require comprehensive analysis and process-oriented documentation of existing systems.
SAP ® User Group Group delegates at recent upgrade symposiums agreed that building the business case and planning
the upgrade project were the two most critical issues. All too often, many aspects of the environment are simply
unknown, making it impossible to compile this information. The business case needs a solid foundation that includes both
business and IT drivers. With the help of IDS Scheer’s offerings, organizations can now link their SAP upgrade program
to business strategy, operational excellence, sustainability, and TCO reduction. At the same time, next-generation SAP
solutions need to be business process-driven and focused on innovation and growth.
There have been significant innovations to SAP ® R/3 ® 4.6. Today, CIOs want to transform their organizations into agile,
SOA-ready enterprises. IT leadership now needs to map the path from technical upgrade through functional upgrade to
strategic upgrade in order to leverage strategic opportunities:
� Technical upgrade – Retain existing functionality, migrate database to Unicode, if required.
� Functional upgrade – Enable new and optimized business processes based on new ERP & industry-solution functionality.
� Strategic upgrade – First step to Enterprise SOA; enrich new business processes with enterprise services.
This path from technical to functional and strategic upgrade is supported by IDS Scheer’s SAP Upgrade Scenario in the
ARIS Solution for Process-Driven SAP Management.
Using ARIS Solutions as a Basis for SAP Upgrades
ARIS Expert Paper
ARIS Solutions combine selected ARIS products with the ARIS Value Engineering procedural models designed to meet
specific needs. These specialist solution portfolios have proven successful in numerous customer projects. Leveraging
this experience enables fast, cost-effective creation of customized solutions.
All solutions are based on the central, integrated ARIS repository, so data can be exchanged and processed across multiple
solutions. All the targeted user groups – the organizational department and management, operational and IT departments,
and financial controllers – work in an integrated environment. Integrated process management is therefore possible
throughout the enterprise.
SAP ® software helps enterprises to implement business processes. But how can companies ensure that the processes
incorporated in the standard software properly reflect their corporate strategy? What is the best way to meet the requirements
of the sales, marketing, procurement, and production departments in your SAP ® system?
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ARIS Expert Paper
The ARIS Solution for Process-
Driven SAP Management supports
companies throughout the
entire SAP ® lifecycle, from strategy
and requirements analysis
through blueprinting to configuration,
testing, training, and rollout.
Business processes are documented
using ARIS Business
Architect for SAP and analyzed
within the context of the SAP system
environment.
Taking a comprehensive, pro -
cess-centric approach to SAP ®
initiatives by using the ARIS Value
Engineering (AVE) approach and
procedural model, this solution
helps users to analyze, define,
validate, and manage the business
value of enterprise SOA
technologies from SAP.
ARIS Solution for Process-Driven SAP Management currently supports application scenarios for SAP ® implementation,
SAP upgrade, and enabling enterprise SOA.
ARIS Value Engineering
Content is king! Knowing how best to deploy processes and products is becoming crucial to success and key to increasing
speed. IDS Scheer’s BPM experts have responded to this need by developing the ARIS Value Engineering Framework,
which bundles tried-and-tested procedural models, best practices, and application methods with ARIS Platform tools.
The ARIS Value Engineering (AVE) procedural models are designed to support the complete business process lifecycle –
from strategy, design, and implementation to controlling. Each phase contains tool-supported AVE work packages that
describe how to achieve a specific result (the AVE work product) via recommended AVE work steps. Pre-configured
questionnaires, reference processes, and templates accelerate creation and implementation of the work products.
The sequential work packages in the procedural models guide users through a project. Customers benefit in two ways:
First, projects can be launched faster; and second, this equips customers for future upgrades because all tools and solutions
are based on a common architecture. Customization to meet the specific needs of individual organizations is another
valuable feature.
The modular design concept means that project results can be reused in other scenarios. For example, processed packages
from the AVE for SAP procedural model can be reused in an SOA project, allowing enterprises to leverage their initial
investment many times over. The ARIS Value Engineering Framework is being continually upgraded to meet new challenges.
All procedural models share a process management-oriented approach (i. e., describing processes, implementing
processes, and monitoring processes). The ARIS Platform repository guarantees that processes are homogeneous and
transparent. Rather than being empty shells, the tools incorporated into the AVE procedural models already include the
required standards, guidelines, support (AVE accelerators), and sample solutions (best practices) to prevent enterprises
from having to reinvent the wheel over and over. This creates ideal conditions for significantly accelerating project implementation
and boosting quality.
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The ARIS Platform as a Foundation
IDS Scheer has been optimizing business processes for over 20 years, gaining a wealth of business process management
(BPM) experience that has driven the development of ARIS Platform products. Research by leading technology analysts
highlights the market-leading position enjoyed by ARIS Platform due to this combination of extensive project experience
and innovative software development.
With its intuitive user interface, smart Web technologies, and high level of scalability, ARIS is the benchmark for enterprise-wide
BPM and other process-oriented solutions. Integration with various modeling methods and frameworks, such
as, EPC, UML, BPEL, BPMN, ITIL, TOGAF, DoDAF, TEAF/FEAF, ArchiMate, and Zachman, supports the deployment of ARIS
in many different business areas. All these methods are combined in the central ARIS repository.
The ARIS Platform and the optimized combination of the integrated components are the basis for every ARIS Solution.
ARIS Products and Tools Used in the SAP Upgrade Scenario
To upgrade SAP systems, a number of different tools are used during the individual project phases:
ARIS Business Architect
ARIS Business Architect is Web-based and supports professional, enterprise-wide business
process modeling. It offers maximum flexibility for modeling, analyzing, and optimizing business
processes and benefits from an intuitive user interface.
ARIS Business Architect contains extensive functionality for administering ARIS databases,
users, scripts, etc. Alongside proven methods like Event-driven Process Chains (EPC), ARIS also supports BPMN, BPEL,
UML, and other architecture concepts, such as, DoDAF, IT City Planning, and Zachman.
ARIS Business Designer
ARIS Business Designer is the Web-based tool for getting started with end-to-end business
process modeling. With its client-server architecture and enhanced user interface, ARIS
Business Designer allows even non-technical users to design professional business processes.
All ARIS tools are based on a central repository, ensuring that process models are consistent
and can be recycled. This means that business process design is possible on a global
scale via access to this central resource.
ARIS Business Architect for SAP
ARIS
Business Architect for SAP
ARIS Business Architect for SAP enables enterprises to define business management
re quirements from a process perspective. Requirements are mapped using
business process models and can be enriched with all the necessary additional
information and subjected to analysis. Bidirectional integration with SAP ® Solution
Manager enables the models to be constructed on the basis of SAP ® reference con-
tent for a process-based SAP ® solution. They can then be seamlessly implemented in SAP Solution Manager.
ARIS Business Publisher
ARIS Business Publisher guarantees permanent, low-cost availability of process information
via Web-based portals, plus publishing of business processes and related SAP upgrade information.
Due to rights-based and role-based access to process models, content is only displayed
to the relevant target group. This prevents users from being overwhelmed and protects
critical process knowledge. All portal content is dynamically generated when the user signs in, thus minimizing export
times and guaranteeing up-to-the-minute information for decision-making. All SAP-supported business processes and
end-to-end process models can be published using ARIS Business Publisher. This published information enables greater
process transparency, while also supporting test descriptions and end-user training. SAP ® transactions can be directly
accessed via the published business process model.
ARIS Business Server
ARIS Expert Paper
ARIS Business Server facilitates ARIS multi-user capabilities, user management, access rights
management, and worldwide access by different ARIS Platform products to a central database.
ARIS Business Server also enables optimal resource management and load balancing in multiuser
environments.
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ARIS Expert Paper
SAP Solution Manager
SAP Solution Manager is a centralized, robust solution management toolset that facilitates implementation
and operations support for distributed systems – with functionality that covers all key
aspects of solution deployment, operation, and continuous improvement. It combines tools, content,
and direct access to SAP to increase the reliability of solutions and reduce total cost of ownership.
SAP Solution Manager addresses the entire IT environment, supporting both SAP and non-SAP software and covering
current and forthcoming SAP solutions. As part of SAP NetWeaver, SAP Solution Manager is included in the annual maintenance
fee for SAP solutions. SAP Solution Manager targets both technical and business aspects of SAP solutions,
focusing strongly on core business processes. It supports the connection between business processes and the underlying
IT infrastructure by offering SAP process and implementation reference content. As a result, together with ARIS
Platform products it facilitates communication between the IT department and users. In short, SAP Solution Manager
ensures that an organization’s IT investments are leveraged to maximum effect.
ARIS Process Performance Manager
ARIS Process Performance Manager (ARIS PPM) helps enterprises to analyze
IT-based business processes, agreements, and workflows. Its comprehensive
analysis functions reveal the best-practice processes that can be reused with -
in the organization.
ARIS PPM is a patented software product that leverages key performance indicators to visualize, document, and assess
“real-world” corporate processes in IT systems. Using actual processes, ARIS PPM generates intuitive management
dashboards that display the current corporate objectives and communication relationships. An integrated early warning
system (Early Alert) automatically monitors each step and issues an alarm in the event of deviation from planned values.
ARIS PPM thus makes a key contribution to achieving sustained improvement in business processes.
ARIS Value Engineering for SAP: A Roadmap for Upgrades
The ARIS Value Engineering (AVE) approach developed by IDS Scheer AG for managing SAP systems (AVE for SAP) is a
holistic, model-based framework that covers all key aspects of an ERP implementation (processes, systems, data, organization).
It is aligned with SAP’s popular AcceleratedSAP (ASAP) roadmap methodology and comprises three major
Solution Scenarios:
� SAP Implementation
� Enabling Enterprise SOA
� SAP Upgrade
All these approaches support working with and toward SAP, providing a sophisticated set of procedures and accelerators
that optimize SAP implementation and upgrade projects.
AVE for SAP is more than just a
framework; rather, it is a complete
cycle that includes every phase of
business process management
from strategy, design, and implementation
to controlling.
Standardized work packages and
products are defined for each
phase. These build on each other
and are created in ARIS Business
Architect for SAP and SAP
Solution Manager. The result is an
exact definition of the content
required in the individual phases
of the project, the form in which it
needs to be created, and information
on which tools support each
of the phases. This ensures a consistent
approach and process-oriented
view.
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ARIS Expert Paper
The work packages themselves are shared among other AVE Solution Scenarios and can be combined with other
approaches, e.g., in order to add IT architecture information or specific compliance requirements to an SAP upgrade project.
The standard procedure and work packages can also be adapted to suit individual customer situations and needs.
Deployment of ARIS Business Architect for SAP and SAP Solution Manager ensures that the required information is centrally
documented, re-used where possible, and properly structured. The documentation includes a description of how
the company’s business process requirements are realized in terms of software.
Effective analysis of the existing SAP system, both from a process and a technical point of view, is a key aspect of every
upgrade project. Based on the defined migration scope, SAP systems are examined with regard to used or unused transactions,
custom features, system
settings, and user exits in order to
get a clear picture of the SAP ®
capabilities that are currently
supporting the business processes.
Business processes are then
created and adapted to the customer’s
needs to provide a basis
for designing the (business)
upgrade blue print. All these activities
are described in the work
packages that make up the SAP
Upgrade roadmap, helping to
streamline and plan the project.
In addition to the roadmap and its
work packages, the AVE approach
provides a defined set of work
products that are the result of the
work packages and deliver value
to the customer. The range of
work products covers everything from system transformation during the strategy phase, where the planned system
changes are documented (e.g., migrating two SAP ® R/3 ® systems to one SAP ® ERP 6.0 system), to technical upgrading,
where customizing settings are applied.
Focusing on a process-oriented upgrade allows customers to establish which functionalities they really need and how
these identified business capabilities can best be supported by the new system – and implemented efficiently. Generation
of business processes is supported by a semi-automated approach called SAP Redocumentation. Based on SAP ®
Reverse Business Engineer (RBE) and its siblings, it allows automatic gathering of technical data and process information,
which is the basis for creating process models and a specific SAP upgrade recommendation.
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ARIS Expert Paper
How to Benefit from the Process-Driven SAP Solution
Strategy Phase
Before starting an SAP upgrade project, it is
important to define the exact objectives,
based on the organization’s business,
process, and IT strategy. During the strategy
phase, the company can then obtain information
about the relevant solutions available
from SAP. The ability to evaluate a desired
business scenario without defining individual
components, or to create custom scenarios,
enables an early insight into the way SAP
sees the individual processes and which
SAP ® products are needed in order to support
the planned scenario.
The typical starting point for a process-oriented
SAP upgrade is defining the process
architecture. A company’s process architecture
describes its business processes consistently
from a purely business management
level, through a configuration-oriented view, down to an integrated description of executable processes. Work on the
process architecture commences with an Enterprise Process Map. This describes the core, management, and support
activities, helping to establish which process areas are directly impacted by the SAP upgrade and which process areas
are only partly affected.
A complete process architecture thus supports seamless integration of processes across all aspects of customer relationship
management, e-commerce, supply chain management, and business intelligence. These processes connect the
various multi-level systems used by purchasers and sales staff, as well as customers and suppliers (end-to-end).
In addition to the process architecture and end-to-end scenario that describe the business variants of processes, the
system landscape and its planned transformation play an important role during an SAP upgrade. In many cases, the technical
upgrade is accompanied by
a consolidation of systems and
therefore also a harmonization of
processes: many processes that
were distributed over several
systems will now run on a limited
number of new systems.
Strategic planning of the SAP
upgrade helps to determine the
full scope of the project and the
impacted company assets, such
as, processes, departments, and
systems. The output of the planning
process can later be reused
to manage the project and facilitate
process-oriented upgrades
in the future. Companies can also
identify system- and processrelated
KPIs for monitoring
processes and IT performance while the process-oriented upgrade is being carried out.
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Design Phase
With SAP Upgrade Scenario from IDS Scheer, companies can quickly determine which processes are actually running
on their systems. The redocumentation approach to generating this information runs semi-automatically and does not
involve experts devoting valuable
time to protracted interviews. It
also helps to establish the real asis
usage situation, rather than
relying on user perceptions. Only
then can a company deploy a system
to maximum advantage.
During SAP redocumentation,
process-related configuration
information and adaptations or
extensions to SAP systems are
evaluated with reference to special
SAP ® reports. This information
is then automatically consolidated
and linked to the SAP reference
content in SAP Solution
Manager. The reference content
is synchronized with ARIS Business Architect for SAP and used as the starting point for more in-depth analysis, optimization
recommendations, and the requirements description for future processes in the SAP ® landscape. This procedure
delivers both technical and process-oriented results.
Although SAP Solution Mana ger
plays an important role during the
SAP upgrade, it is not a requirement
in the design phase. It is
therefore possible to create
design deliverables, such as, the
SAP upgrade recommendation
report or to-be processes, which
are synchable with SAP Solution
Manager, before SAP Solution
Mana ger has actually been
installed.
During the project, customers can
discover the answers to the following
questions:
� Who uses which functionalities
and how often?
� Which business processes
have been implemented, but
are never used?
� Which customer-specific transactions and reports do we have, how frequently are they used, and who created
them?
� Which functions should be prioritized during an upgrade?
� What are the usage differences between the various SAP ® R/3 ® systems?
ARIS Expert Paper
� What is the best way to relate system-supported processes back to the standard process in the event of an
upgrade?
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ARIS Expert Paper
Implementation Phase
All these questions are answered
through the aid of ARIS Platform
products. Technical indicators
can be assigned to modeled business
processes. Planned
processes transformations from
as-is to to-be can be both visually
presented to management and
analyzed with regard to impacted
processes and the possible need
for organizational changes.
SAP Solution Manager plays the leading role during the deployment phase. To enable configuration of the individual
processes, the user can go straight from a structure element in ARIS to the SAP Solution Manager configuration view.
Test scenarios can then be created in Solution Manager based on the end-to-end scenarios defined in ARIS. In a later
phase of the project, the intended users of the SAP system will be trained on how to handle transactions in the context
of business processes.
All these activities are based on the business processes that are generated during redocumentation and synchronized
between the ARIS Platform and SAP Solution Manager.
Inside SAP Solution Manager,
accelerators, such as, upgrade
roadmaps and upgrade content,
support the steps needed to perform
the technical upgrade.
Another advantage of using the
ARIS Platform to document SAP ®
blueprints is the standardization
of SAP blueprints across decentralized
locations. In many global
businesses, SAP systems are initially
implemented at one location,
and these defined systems
are subsequently rolled out to
other sites. However, the systems
are usually inadequately documented,
which can lead to costly
delays or inconsistent system settings.
The ability to link process models
with SAP ® transactions via ARIS
Business Architect for SAP and to connect SAP transactions to process models (ARIS Online Guide), combined with the
multilingual capability of ARIS, enables optimum implementation of the defined system in near-real time at all locations.
Docu mentation can be maintained centrally and exchanged worldwide via an intranet or the Internet. Adaptations to the
basic system which are necessary to meet country- and company-specific requirements are then planned and documented
at the individual sites.
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Controlling Phase
Deploying ARIS PPM offers the following benefits:
� Extraction of process data from IT systems
� Auto-visualization of real-world processes using reverse modeling technology
� Communication and organizational analysis
� Management dashboards for top-level overviews, plus a powerful reporting engine
ARIS Expert Paper
Implementation is followed by the controlling phase,
in which business, system, and organizational performance
can be monitored. A cost/benefit calculation
is conducted at the same time to allow any necessary
corrective action to be taken.
Using actual processes, ARIS Process Performance
Manager (PPM) generates intuitive management
dashboards that display the current corporate objectives
and communication relationships. An integrated
early warning system (EarlyAlert) automatically monitors
each step and issues an alarm in the event of
deviation from planned values. ARIS PPM thus makes
a key contribution to achieving sustained improvement
in business processes. The measurement is
based on the key performance indicators defined during
the strategy phase of the SAP Upgrade project.
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ARIS Expert Paper
© Copyright IDS Scheer AG, Saarbruecken, 2007. All rights reserved. The contents of this document are subject to copyright. Any changes, modifications, additions
or amendments require prior written consent from IDS Scheer AG, Saarbruecken. Reproduction in any form is only permitted on the condition that the copyright
notice remains on the actual document. Publication or translation in any form requires prior written consent from IDS Scheer AG, Saarbruecken. “ARIS”, “IDS” ,
“ProcessWorld”, “PPM”, ARIS with Platform symbol and Y symbol are trademarks or registered trademarks of IDS Scheer AG in Germany and in many other
countries worldwide. “SAP NetWeaver” is a trademark of SAP AG, Walldorf. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
ID-Number: EP-SAP-1208-E
ARIS
Platform
Expert
Paper
IDS Scheer AG
Headquarters
Altenkesseler Str. 17
66115 Saarbruecken
Phone: +49 681 210-0
Fax: +49 681 210-1000
E-mail:info@ids-scheer.com
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