Project Planning in BW

Gary Nolan Efficient SAP NetWeaver™ BI Implementation and Project Management Bonn Boston Contents at a Glance 1 The BW Project Lifecycle ........................................ 25 2 Defining an Implementation Strategy .................... 59 3 Common BW Implementation Mistakes ................ 97 4 Project Planning in BW .......................................... 147 5 Gathering and Analyzing BW Requirements .......... 187 6 Sound BW Development Strategies ....................... 223 7 Preparing for Go-Live and the Go-Live Process ...... 273 8 After BW Go-Live ................................................... 307 9 Epilogue .................................................................. 327 Appendix ................................................................. 333 Contents Contents Introduction .............................................................................................. 19 1 The BW Project Lifecycle ..................................................... 25 1.1 ECC vs. BW Implementations ................................................... 26 1.2 BW from A-Z ........................................................................... 26 1.2.1 Extraction ................................................................... 27 1.2.2 Staging and Storage .................................................... 27 1.2.3 Transformation ............................................................ 28 1.2.4 Presentation ............................................................... 29 1.3 External Data: What is the Big Deal? ........................................ 29 1.4 Build for the Present, Keep an Eye on the Future ..................... 30 1.5 Dirty Data ............................................................................... 32 1.6 Can’t BW Just Clean the Data? ................................................. 33 1.7 Understanding BW .................................................................. 33 1.8 Reasons for Implementing SAP BW .......................................... 34 1.8.1 Analytical System Access from the Transactional (ECC) System ............................................................... 34 1.8.2 Transition to a Single Version of the Truth .................. 37 1.8.3 Consolidation, Harmonization, and Centralization of Information ...................................... 38 1.8.4 Establish an Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) .......... 40 1.8.5 Competitive Advantage ............................................... 41 1.8.6 Provide Flexible Analysis of Information Assets ........... 41 1.8.7 Business Information to More People in the Organization ............................................................... 42 1.9 Why Not Another Data Warehouse? ........................................ 43 1.9.1 Data Extraction From ECC is Much Easier with BW ..... 44 1.9.2 BW is Already Part of the Landscape ........................... 44 1.9.3 BW is the Foundation for Most NetWeaver Products .. 45 1.10 What BW is Not Designed to Do ............................................. 45 1.10.1 BW is Not a Transactional System ............................... 46 1.10.2 BW is Not the Only Reporting System ......................... 47 1.10.3 BW is Not Usually Updated in Real-Time .................... 47 1.10.4 BW is Not a Silver Bullet ............................................. 48 1.11 Ingredients for a Successful SAP BW Project Manager .............. 49 1.11.1 Good Communication Skills ........................................ 49 1.11.2 Knowledge of BW and Data Warehousing ................... 51 9 Contents 1.11.3 Knowledge of Business Processes and Analysis Goals .. 53 1.11.4 The Need for Political Savvy ........................................ 54 1.11.5 Highly Organized and Quality Minded ........................ 55 1.11.6 Willing and Able to Develop and Enforce Standards .... 55 1.11.7 Team Building ............................................................. 56 1.11.8 Budget Accountability ................................................. 57 1.11.9 Willing to Say Both “Yes” and “No” ............................ 57 1.12 Summary ................................................................................. 58 2 Defining an Implementation Strategy ................................. 59 2.1 Defining an Upgrade Strategy .................................................. 60 2.1.1 Landscape Strategy ..................................................... 60 2.1.2 Think About the Training Environment ........................ 64 2.1.3 Adding a Production Support System .......................... 66 2.1.4 Keep Development, QA, Production Environments in Sync ........................................................................ 66 2.1.5 Assess New Phases of Development ............................ 68 2.2 Upgrade Landscape ................................................................. 71 2.3 Transport Strategy ................................................................... 72 2.3.1 Develop and Communicate the Transport Path ........... 73 2.3.2 Implement Transport Approval Process from the Beginning .............................................................. 75 2.3.3 Make Sure Each Developer Locks Objects ................... 75 2.3.4 Transport Steward Process .......................................... 76 2.3.5 Keep Thorough Log of Transports ............................... 77 2.3.6 Develop a Process for Troubleshooting Failed Transports ................................................................... 77 2.3.7 Some Objects Will be Changeable ............................... 78 2.4 New Release Rollout Strategy Challenges ................................. 80 2.4.1 Timing of BW Rollout .................................................. 81 2.4.2 Rollout Scope ............................................................. 81 2.5 Upgrade Rollout Strategy ......................................................... 82 2.5.1 Timing ........................................................................ 82 2.5.2 Features and Functionality .......................................... 82 2.5.3 Upgrade Testing Strategy ............................................ 82 2.5.4 Upgrade Change Management Strategy ...................... 82 2.6 Database Strategy .................................................................... 83 2.7 Enterprise Data Warehouse and Global Rollup Strategies ......... 84 2.8 Query Strategy ......................................................................... 86 2.8.1 Pros and Cons of developing Queries Directly in Production .................................................................. 87 10 Contents 2.8.2 How Do I Allow Development of Queries in Production? ................................................................ 87 2.8.3 Developing Queries in Production vs. Development .... 89 2.8.