PORTFOLIO, RESOURCE, AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT EXPLORING THE BENEFITS OF A SOLUTION BUILT ON COMPLEMENTARY SAP APPLICATIONS

Transcription

1 SAP Solution in Detail SAP Product Lifecycle Management PORTFOLIO, RESOURCE, AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT EXPLORING THE BENEFITS OF A SOLUTION BUILT ON COMPLEMENTARY SAP APPLICATIONS In a competitive marketplace, you can t afford to waste resources on projects that may or may not produce measurable improvement to your business or your bottom line. That s why more and more companies are turning to enterprise software from SAP. By combining the portfolio, resource, and project management functionality of complementary SAP applications into a single solution, you can align your portfolio with corporate strategy, adhere to schedules and budgets, optimize resources, and assess progress and risk at an early stage. This document outlines the functions and advantages of such a solution and demonstrates its use.

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3 CONTENT 4 Comprehensive Solution from Complementary Applications 6 SAP RPM 6 Optimizing Portfolio Management 8 Offering Complete Transparency 9 cprojects and cfolders 10 Providing a Broad Range of Project Management Functions 13 Team Collaboration: The Key to Success 14 SAP ERP: Project System Functionality 14 Managing Project Phases 16 Automotive Industry 17 Professional Services Industry 18 IT Industry 19 An Efficient SAP Solution

4 COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTION FROM COMPLEMENTARY APPLICATIONS CLARIFYING PORTFOLIO STRATEGY, STREAMLINING PROJECT OPERATIONS To meet the long-term goals and short-term objectives that keep your company competitive, you need to manage portfolios, projects, and operations holistically and efficiently. This kind of management typically involves five basic activities: strategic planning, resource and schedule planning, cost and profitability planning and control, and the information transparency that enables management oversight. A solution that combines complementary SAP applications and components supports better execution of each of these activities: Strategic planning Prioritize, plan, and execute activities aligned to corporate strategy and quickly provide the resources needed to meet your objectives Resource and schedule planning Plan and track activities more precisely to improve speed of execution and achieve faster time to market Cost and profitability planning and control Plan and monitor budgets and resources and maximize financial returns; support both portfolio and project decision- making processes; minimize risk, redundancy, and bottlenecks through better resource planning and allocation Information transparency Enable management oversight; support overall decision-making processes 4 SAP Solution in Detail SAP Product Lifecycle Management

5 Whether you are looking to manage IT, consulting, and development projects or run complex, long-term engineering and production projects, SAP can help for example, with comprehensive functions for accessing project cost-controlling data around the clock and monitoring production processes efficiently. By combining complementary SAP software applications, you can build an efficient solution for portfolio, resource, and project management. And because this software is closely integrated with the logistics and accounting components of the SAP ERP application, it provides immediate access to the data you need. To be effective, your solution should be based on three key SAP applications that provide complementary functions: SAP Resource and Portfolio Management (SAP RPM) application Collaboration Projects (cprojects) application, which incorporates the Collaboration Folders (cfolders) application SAP ERP application, and in particular, its project system component These applications work well with each other as well as with other SAP applications such as the SAP Product Lifecycle Management application. SAP RPM is the core application used for managing large portfolios of projects and for directly managing resources within the context of each project. It enables you to align activities, resources, and budgets with business priorities, which results in better use of limited resources, timely monitoring of performance, improved resource forecasting, avoidance of bottlenecks, and more-informed decision making. Too often, information on resource availability is so obsolete it becomes meaningless. By using SAP RPM to leverage your core HR system, you can reduce the administration of resource data and improve its accuracy. cprojects helps you manage project operations throughout the entire product development process, enabling strong project management functionality as well as extensive team-oriented collaboration. It is particularly useful in managing phase-based projects. Through predefined templates based on industry best practices, it delivers highly specialized support for product development, professional services, Six Sigma, IT, and other project scenarios. It supports structuring, scheduling, and visualization; strategic direction setting; and operative planning and execution. And it lets you collaborate with a variety of internal and external groups (incorporating cfolders for external collaboration) to improve efficiency in different areas. By collaborating with the procurement group, for example, you can drive down supplier costs. SAP ERP covers the controlling and logistics functions of project management through tight integration of its project system component with components related to sales and distribution, materials management, production, plant maintenance, and financial accounting and controlling. It also offers unparalleled transparency and control. This helps you better manage complex projects where detailed cost accountability is a major requirement. In addition, the three applications just outlined combine seamlessly with SAP Product Lifecycle Management to provide you with a full life-cycle solution for product development. This solution incorporates information from SAP and non-sap software as well as from a range of project management, HR, financial, and time-recording software. As a result, you can monitor and coordinate all activities in your enterprise and make the most of limited, constrained resources regardless of where they originate. And you can better transfer information compiled during product development to minimize the rework associated with downstream activities related to specification development and compliance. SAP Solution in Detail SAP Product Lifecycle Management 5

6 SAP RPM BALANCING YOUR ENTERPRISE PORTFOLIO SAP RPM gives you an overview of your entire project portfolio, allowing you to monitor the progress of all your activities for both projects and operations. Its sophisticated portfolio management functions let you identify and prioritize worthwhile initiatives, projects, and project proposals; set priorities; select the most suitable employees or contractors for each project; and monitor and coordinate project activities. Because SAP RPM works well with SAP and non-sap project scheduling, HR, and financial systems, it enables you to manage all aspects of your portfolio while leveraging your existing IT investment. With the help of SAP RPM, you can minimize project risk and combine labor and financial resources optimally. You can also analyze and keep track of changing requirements, metrics, time schedules, and personnel resources. As a result, you can accelerate implementation timelines, keep budgets under control, and keep team members better informed. SAP RPM is one of several applications from SAP that are built on an enterprise service-oriented architecture based on the SAP NetWeaver technology platform. As a result, it better enables you to connect existing software to new, cross-functional processes. This boosts the flexibility of your enterprise, enabling it to react more quickly to changes in the market. Optimizing Portfolio Management SAP RPM updates you on all ongoing and planned activities, keeps costs under control, helps you select the right people for new roles, and lets you perform a variety of activities, including the following: Portfolio Management Strategic buckets: Define flexible, multilevel portfolio hierarchies that reflect the decision-making, budgeting, and resourcing structure of your enterprise Decision support: Identify and monitor key decision-making criteria and trend it across the complete portfolio life cycle to identify operations and projects not meeting expectations or service levels Dashboards and status: View the status of all initiatives, projects, proposals, operational services, and other portfolio objects in an item dashboard (see Figure 1) and monitor key indicators such as budget, schedule, staffing, net present value, anticipated benefits, and risk across the entire portfolio life cycle Financial planning: Use granular financial planning measures to display and monitor costs and benefits along a time axis across different cost and benefit elements, comparing estimated values against baseline plan, forecast, and actual values Annual and long-range financial planning: Eliminate the complexity and inefficiencies associated with spreadsheets by rolling plans from the bottom up and distributing resources and budget from the top down, across the different entities that encompass your organization Annual and long-range resource planning: Identify long-range resource demand, which enables you to estimate prospective headcount, measure it against your available resources, identify potential bottlenecks or shortfalls, and transform your workforce to meet the needs of the future Sophisticated analytics: Aggregate operational data that feeds sophisticated analytics, which you can use to visualize opportunity, risk, and performance issues across your portfolio Questionnaires and risk assessment: Evaluate quantitative and SAP RPM lets you align activities, resources, and budgets with business priorities, which results in better use of limited resources, timely monitoring of performance, improved resource forecasting, avoidance of bottlenecks, and more informed decision making. 6 SAP Solution in Detail SAP Product Lifecycle Management

7 Figure 1: Item Dashboard in the SAP Resource and Portfolio Management Application qualitative soft indicators, such as risk or feasibility, via questionnaires and available data; use questionnaires to make qualitative data less ambiguous and feed scoring models so that you can better evaluate your portfolio and compare different initiatives that are competing for the same resources Prioritization and alignment: Compare quantitative and qualitative metrics in evaluation models and display projects, proposals, and baseline services in ranked lists based on one or more scoring models; plot results to clearly identify initiatives that look most promising Gate and portfolio reviews: Prepare and carry out portfolio and gate reviews (Note: These can be routine or spontaneous; they support decision making on, for example, whether a project should be added to the portfolio, terminated, or postponed and what resources and budget may have to be pulled to support this new initiative.) What-if analysis: Copy your current portfolio into a virtual offline scenario in which you can introduce and evaluate the impact of new budget and headcount constraints, increased material costs (for example, for steel or oil), revised revenue targets, or other potential critical changes so that you are in a better position to make informed decisions SAP Solution in Detail SAP Product Lifecycle Management 7

8 Resource capacity management Leverage reliable resource data including employee availability and qualifications by integrating employee data directly from your HR software (SAP or non-sap) Use the analytical tools provided in SAP RPM to forecast resource bottlenecks, highlight needed resource types, and compare available resources against those required Identify future staffing needs and take appropriate action Plan long-term resources for the entire portfolio along a time axis and allocate them on the basis of the capacities and qualifications needed (Note: You can reuse these plans at a later stage for operational resource planning in cprojects.) Leverage a user-friendly, crossproject service staffing table or fast-entry screen Plan and monitor the allocation of resources using various reports on resource requirement, assignment, and availability Portfolio performance and program monitoring Leverage data from underlying software systems (including project management, idea management, HR, and financials) and incorporate it in a portfolio cockpit that provides a clear overview of status, resourcing, work or revenue pipeline, and planned versus actual costs Gain transparency into upcoming work and costs over time by rolling up the work breakdown structure (WBS) data from underlying projects View status and drill down into underlying details on projects or service areas directly from the portfolio dashboard, and then update selected metrics directly from the dashboard and synchronize changes Set up a virtual collaboration room in which project members, stakeholders, and team members can maintain threaded discussions in chat rooms; work together on documents; and view project calendars, status of risks, or other issues Send notifications to team members and stakeholders when information is updated or changes are made Offering Complete Transparency Without transparency and enforceable governance, projects and operations may be executed inconsistently or, worse, incorrectly. SAP RPM provides you with clear, comprehensive, and up-to-date information on your entire portfolio and supporting resources, enabling your enterprise to achieve the following advantages: Accelerate time to market for new products For product development organizations, you can streamline the capture and assessment of new product concepts, assign the necessary resources to only the most appealing projects, expedite and enrich the gate-review process, and coordinate downstream launch and supply chain activities, removing obstacles and speeding products to market. Optimize your portfolio Bring your portfolio in line with corporate objectives. Direct resources and budget to key corporate directives and fund or staff only those initiatives that score high against these priorities. SAP RPM provides support for multiple scoring models, enabling discreet groups to prioritize within their domain. For initiatives that benefit multiple organizations, you can view the priority of an initiative across different organizations. Identify risk early on Different kinds of risks and issues related to technical, commercial, resource, or budget concerns can be created and monitored throughout the complete project life cycle. As projects progress, you can visualize trends on risks and other issues, highlighting which initiatives need more analysis or, possibly, need to be eliminated. Reduce administration Preparation typically required for regular portfolio, project, and program management office reviews can be drastically reduced when stakeholders, managers, project leaders, and team members all have fingertip access to the data they need. Whether you want to support a gate meeting or decide on funding for a new proposal, SAP RPM rolls up and readily accesses and produces needed information from source systems, empowering you to make well-informed decisions. 8 SAP Solution in Detail SAP Product Lifecycle Management

9 cprojects AND cfolders FOCUSING ON EFFECTIVE PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND COLLABORATION Project managers know the story well: costs are spiraling, suitably skilled employees are unavailable, and communication among team members is poor. Against this backdrop, you want to implement new process methods and procedures and run your projects with rigorous standards so you can meet the expectations of your customers. cprojects helps you deal efficiently with the difficulties you encounter in executing IT and techno l- ogy projects, developing products and software, providing professional services, or initiating other time-critical, gated projects. SAP provides cprojects for collaborative project management and cfolders for design collaboration. cprojects helps you standardize and improve project management execution and reduce associated administrative and system costs by providing robust project management functions that can be deployed independently or integrated into base systems, including HR and financials. As part of a broader portfolio management offering, cprojects allows you to structure your projects into discreet phases so that, well in advance of their completion or launch, you can leverage phaseacceptance checklists or quality gates to identify issues, risks, and obstacles at an early stage. By facilitating the communication of this critical information to stakeholders and partners, you enable more informed go-versus-hold decisions. The cfolders application helps you improve the consistency of your data when communicating with external partners, and this consistency accelerates project implementation. For example, you can set up collaboration teams to exchange documents, material data, and product structures over the Internet securely. Both cfolders and cprojects are compatible with the document management system in SAP ERP. cprojects is a Web-based, flexible, and intuitive project management application that is specifically geared toward development, consultancy, and IT projects. It can also map quality improvement projects which use methodologies such as Six Sigma. One key advantage of cprojects is that it works well with the SAP ERP functions for accounting, HR, customer relationship management, supplier relationship management, product data management, and sales-order processing. In addition, you can link your project structures in cprojects with existing work breakdown structures in SAP ERP (specifically, the project system component), which allows you to better plan your costs and expenditures, avoid resource bottlenecks, analyze projects, and settle related costs. Used in this way, cprojects supplements SAP ERP by providing more flexible project management functions. cprojects allows everyone in the project chain to have all relevant information at hand and to integrate all components as required, even across geographic divides. SAP Solution in Detail SAP Product Lifecycle Management 9

10 Providing a Broad Range of Project Management Functions As an operational project management application, cprojects covers the entire range of project management activities from planning to implementation to project closeout. You can also seamlessly orchestrate portfolio planning (top-down and bottom-up) processes by integrating it with SAP RPM. This allows you, for example, to manage your high-level resource demand by distributing resources to operational projects. In doing so, you can meet the needs of your entire project and portfolio management processes, from individual projects to the more granular portfolio and from period planning through project conceptualization and successful implementation. To manage projects, you rely on the following key functions of cprojects and cfolders: Project structuring (Note: Project structuring in cprojects is shown in Figure 2.) The cprojects function: Lets you compile tasks and checklists for all project phases or use project and project checklist templates to standardize procedures Allows you to plan deadlines for your tasks, link them with relationships, and use a number of methods to calculate your project deadlines Includes an interactive Gantt diagram, which represents project plans graphically so that you can check whether all required activities have been carried out before you release the current phase and move on to the next Team collaboration cfolders lets you cooperate with external partners by exchanging different objects and documents. For example, by integrating the back-end of cfolders with SAP ERP, you can transfer revised bills of material directly to SAP ERP. You can also set up a virtual collaboration room for various components of a project a place where project members can exchange information. Project status reports With cprojects, you can collate project data into status reports, compiled as interactive Adobe PDF forms. The forms can either be generated by cprojects or used to update project data in cprojects. You can store the forms in cprojects or the document management system in SAP ERP or have cprojects workflow sent automatically to team members via . To meet the long-term goals and short-term objectives that keep your company competitive, you need to manage portfolios, projects, and operations holistically and efficiently. Document management You can save project-related documents, such as CAD drawings or minutes of meetings, directly in cprojects, in cfolders, or in the document management system, where they are available for collaborative work. In meetings, cfolders enables your team to work together on documents, display changes on screen, and create different document versions. A uniform WebDAV-enabled interface allows you to connect WebDAV clients to the document repository. Project versions With cprojects, you can use project templates to create project versions for operational projects. And you can take snapshots and display simulations of how specific changes impact an operational project. Comprehensive authorization functions At the project and document levels, you can use cprojects to assign 10 SAP Solution in Detail SAP Product Lifecycle Management

11 Figure 2: Project Structure in the cprojects Application additional authorizations for individual users, user groups, and organizational units. Multiproject management Project tasks often rely on other activities. With cprojects, you can map these cross-project dependencies in your project structure. Project overview and evaluations cprojects contains a user-friendly project dashboard, which provides you with clear, personalized access to your projects. You can view the status of your projects at a glance before you start processing. Powered by SAP NetWeaver, cprojects also provides you with comprehensive reports and evaluations, both in the SAP NetWeaver Business Intelligence component and in cprojects itself. Portfolio management Because cprojects is integrated with SAP RPM, it provides you with a clear overview of all your projects and key figures, allowing you to monitor and prioritize your projects quickly. Integrated resource management To ensure project success, it is vital that you allocate and use your resources optimally. In cprojects, you can search for project members with the required profile and assign a suitably qualified employee to a specific role. And you can draw on data that is directly linked with business partners and the qualifications catalog of the SAP ERP Human Capital Management (SAP ERP HCM) solution. Business partner availability (indicating a person s absence because of medical leave, vacation, part-time schedule, and SAP Solution in Detail SAP Product Lifecycle Management 11

12 Project and Engagement Service Delivery Project Management Project Manager Project Accountant structure such as the project system component to fulfill your accounting and controlling requirements, as shown in Figure 3. Project Header cprojects 4.00 SAP ERP 6.0 Preliminary Audit: Define Audit Scope Preliminary Audit Main Audit: Main Audit Debriefing: Debrief Client cprojects for Project Planning and Execution so forth) is another very useful piece of HR data you can access via cprojects. You can also use cprojects to assign external resources to your project, via its connection to the SAP Supplier Relationship Management application for services procurement. A separate component, the workforce deployment tool, offers resource managers additional functions that support planning and the assignment of staff to multilevel projects. Alignment with accounting cprojects is closely aligned with the SAP ERP Financials solution. You can assign project tasks in cprojects to Account Assignment Manager (n:1 relationship) Annual Audit 2005 for Client XYZ Annual Audit 2005 Billing Element Preliminary Audit Main Audit and Debriefing Work Breakdown Structure for Project Controlling Figure 3: Multilevel Controlling: Relationship Between cprojects and the Project System Component different account assignment objects, such as internal orders or WBS elements in the project system, to provide detailed, hierarchical costcontrolling functions. And you can call up planned or actual comparisons for your costs at any stage. Assignment of staff to multilevel projects Multilevel controlling enables you to build flexible relationships between cprojects tasks and their related accounting objects. Thus you can structure the cprojects tasks under project management considerations and at the same time use a different Integration with SAP Customer Relationship Management The project management functions in cprojects work well with the opportunity management functions in the SAP Customer Relationship Management application, which provides support during the project acquisition phase. Integration with time management and SAP Travel Management You can record time spent on project tasks quickly using either crossapplication time sheets or Duet software (which enables you to record time directly in your Microsoft Outlook calendar). Because cprojects is directly connected with SAP ERP HCM, you can incorporate any recorded time inputs into your project for evaluation and then post them to the relevant accountassignment object. The same applies to travel expenses in the SAP Travel Management application. Ability to leverage SAP NetWeaver Portal cprojects leverages the SAP NetWeaver Portal component. SAP provides additional predefined selfservices for the portal, allowing casual users in particular to access cprojects data quickly. SAP NetWeaver Portal leverages the latest industry standards to enable maximum inter operability between SAP applications and other portal-based applications. 12 SAP Solution in Detail SAP Product Lifecycle Management

13 Team Collaboration: The Key to Success cprojects enables you to steer and implement your projects efficiently across enterprise boundaries so you can react quickly to market requirements and realize the following benefits: Increased execution speed and lower costs The project templates in cprojects enable you to standardize project execution processes and optimize tasks. This speeds up implementation and reduces administrative burden, saving you time. Integration of information from a wide variety of areas cprojects provides seamless alignment with a wide range of SAP solutions in particular, SAP ERP functions for logistics, accounting, and HR. All internal project members have rapid access to information that is relevant to them, such as customer information, financial data, and project evaluations. Improved cooperation with partners cfolders allows you to exchange in - formation with external partners easily and efficiently using the Internet. This means that all parties in volved have the same level of know ledge, which boosts transparency. Identification of problems at an early stage cprojects collects key information from different software systems and automatically sends notifications should critical metrics related to costs, scheduling, and resource allocation exceed predefined variances. Detailed progress tracking As soon as a project has kicked off, you can confirm activities, compile checklists, and release individual project phases. This means you can see at a glance how much work remains to be carried out. You can also take advantage of resultsanalysis methods used by established auditors. cprojects provides 15 valuation methods such as work in progress and percentage of completion as standard. You can modify these methods at a later stage to suit your specific requirements. Efficient use of resources You assign employees at the right time to the right place (and from the right pool), enabling them to achieve their full potential. You also enable employees to apply for vacant project roles, which can increase their morale. Implementation of best practices Using cprojects as a cross-enterprise project management tool allows you to implement process methods in line with industry standards such as those from the International Standards Organization ISO 9001 and ISO/TS and pursue a uniform project approach. cprojects is a flexible application and can incorporate continued process improvement to create the optimal process. SAP Solution in Detail SAP Product Lifecycle Management 13

14 SAP ERP: PROJECT SYSTEM FUNCTIONALITY PLANNING AND CONTROLLING PROJECTS EFFICIENTLY SAP ERP lets you track and access certain aspects of project management, such as controlling, by efficiently monitoring overhead costs, investments, engineering, and production projects. For example, if you want to plan, implement, and evaluate a complex project, the relevant processes call for in-depth integration with accounting, purchasing, sales, and production data. SAP ERP helps you manage the project through its entire life cycle, from setting up a structure, to drawing up detailed plans, to implementing and completing the project. You can use WBS, networks, and milestones in SAP ERP to structure the project and determine its time schedule. These tools help you plan deadlines, resources, documents, and materials as well as project costs and revenue. To guide you through project implementation, SAP ERP provides a number of functions for production, external procurement of materials and services, billing, and cost and activity allocation. It also lets you record confirmations using time sheets, for example and analyze progress. And it provides a budget management function to help you prevent overspending before it actually occurs. How does this benefit your enterprise? By allowing you to plan, monitor, and steer project costs and revenue as well as optimize project cash flow. As a result, you can better manage time schedules and materials and optimize use of your labor and machinery. Managing Project Phases SAP ERP contains a wide variety of functions you can use to meet the specific needs of your enterprise and deal optimally with the different phases in a project. The following list highlights several of these functions: Time scheduling Manually plan and monitor deadlines Automatically identify deadlines and floats on the basis of planned activities and interrelated schedules Resource planning Determine the internal resources required (for labor, production, and assembly, for example) and analyze availability Optimize these resources using capacity leveling Allocate planned tasks to people, positions, or HR organizational units for exact periods Plan required external procurement and trigger corresponding purchasing processes Material planning Plan, steer, and monitor the prompt procurement and use of materials Use procurement processes in purchasing or materials planning Project controlling Choose different cost- and revenue-planning options Allocate budgets hierarchically for relevant projects and monitor use of allotted funds Compare costs and revenue on a fixed basis to determine the outcome of a project (profit and loss) at an early stage; plan and analyze project-related payments Integrate data with controlling, investment management, and sales components (for example, by transferring targeted values from sales orders to corresponding projects) Progress tracking Assess project status and measure progress by analyzing actual data (costs, deadlines, and capacities) and comparing it with targeted data Draw up forecasts of project progress as far as project completion based on key dates and rescheduled deadlines Monitor and steer projects using standard procedures such as progress analysis, milestone-trend analysis, and cost forecasting Use the progress analysis workbench as a single point of access for analyzing project status and recording the degree of processing By using SAP RPM as a single source of information for your IT system, you can optimize synergies across the enterprise, focus on specific analytical results, and then prioritize these results accordingly. 14 SAP Solution in Detail SAP Product Lifecycle Management

15 Project evaluation Evaluate individual projects, project parts, or several projects together Carry out standard, routine evaluations and draw up reports on special issues Format and analyze up-to-date project data from different viewpoints in a transparent and comprehensive manner (Note: Project evaluation is described in Figure 4.) SAP ERP, with its project system functionality, also lets you carry out the following activities: Access all project-related documents such as CAD drawings, pixel graphics, and contracts using document management system functions Document the status of project tasks using confirmations, and use these confirmations to forecast future progress Identify deviations from project plans, determine responsibility, and plan follow-on costs and activities using claims management functions Use simulation versions to replicate and save changes to a project without impacting day-to-day business Make versions of projects at a particular stage, or use project versions to document the status of a project at a particular time or when a specific action is carried out Transfer material components from a bill of materials or from the product structure of the integrated product and process engineering function to the project system component; use the open catalog interface from SAP to assign materials from internal or external Internet catalogs to projects Figure 4: Managing Projects in the Project System Component You can modify the powerful and comprehensive project management software in SAP ERP to meet your individual company needs and achieve the following: Structure projects clearly Through WBS, you can structure your projects into hierarchies and define their organizational setup. And you can use networks to map complex procedures and interrelated schedules of individual tasks. Optimize use of resources You can determine requirements of internal and external resources so that you can plan available internal capacities flexibly and efficiently. Optimize materials management By planning and monitoring material requirements and procurement costs, you can procure required materials on time and within budget. Incorporate project costs into enterprise controlling Because the project system component is compatible with components for controlling, accounting, materials management, and sales and distribution, you can incorporate project costs into enterprise controlling. The cash management function allows you to plan and monitor the flow of payments on a project-specific basis. SAP Solution in Detail SAP Product Lifecycle Management 15

16 AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY MANAGING NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS Companies in a variety of industries must manage projects and portfolios both strategically and operationally. Car manufacturers, in particular, face ever-increasing pressures to reduce time in the product development process, improve vehicle quality, and drive the independent development of components. SAP ERP and cprojects allow manufacturers to accelerate development projects, helping them reduce costs and improve cooperation with partners. Component suppliers also play an increasingly significant role in automotive industry development. Manufacturers demand not only that suppliers complete components on time but also that they adhere to standards such as ISO/TS and keep spiraling costs under control. Using cprojects, manufacturers can map advanced product quality planning measures, generate a phase-oriented process model, monitor their project costs, and exchange data efficiently with suppliers and customers. Car manufacturers use increasingly complex repetitive development processes. SAP ERP can help expedite them, since it is closely interlinked with production, procurement, and capacity requirements planning. In many companies, it is often difficult to pinpoint who is doing what and when. Thanks to the WBS in the project system component, this is no longer a problem. Manufacturers can organize projects hierarchically in different parts (for example, for developing gearboxes or interiors) and then decide whether to use internal or external resources for implementation. By comparing target and actual data, they can keep a steady eye on how the project is progressing. The phase-oriented process model available in cprojects identifies clear tasks, checklists, and responsibilities. Using cprojects and cfolders, managers in automotive plants can work in collaborative teams to exchange project plans, engineering and design documents, and bills of material with other enterprises. This helps them improve the consistency of their product data and accelerate project activities. All parties involved in the exchange have the same level of knowledge, which increases transparency and optimizes quality. As every manufacturer knows, recall campaigns are expensive and damage a brand s image. To avoid them and keep projects on track, all parties involved must work together constructively, even if they are scattered across the globe. cprojects allows everyone in the project chain to have all relevant information at hand and to integrate all components as required, even across geographic divides. cprojects complements the functions carried out via the project system component. It carries out operational project planning tasks in the development process while SAP ERP deals with project controlling. For more complex production processes that require in-depth integration with logistics, manufacturers can implement the SAP ERP software on its own to achieve the comprehensive range of functions needed for successful implementation. 16 SAP Solution in Detail SAP Product Lifecycle Management

17 PROFESSIONAL SERVICES INDUSTRY MANAGING FIXED-PRICE PROJECTS Today, consulting projects are increasingly implemented on a fixed-price basis. This means that consulting companies must calculate the exact inputs required for a project, costefficiently assign staff to handle them, and effectively implement activities. They also need to keep tabs on project controlling, optimize cooperation with partners, and identify business opportunities at an early stage. The user-friendly interface of cprojects incorporates the functions consulting firms need to meet these challenges. In the acquisition phase of a consulting project, company managers can use the sales and marketing tools in cprojects to record the needs of existing and potential customers and offer services on their company s own initiative. They can also align cprojects with SAP Customer Relationship Management to ensure that project planning is coordinated with the sales process. cprojects helps them carry out costing tasks and revenue planning. For example, it lets them calculate travel expenses to the project location and determine whether it is more costeffective to assign internal or external employees. cprojects also enables managers to draw up realistic quotations that incorporate their experience from previous projects and based on the close alignment of cprojects with SAP ERP generate quotations automatically. During the project planning phase, cprojects allows a consulting organization to select consultants based on qualifications, availability, and costs, ensuring the organization always assigns the consultants most suited to the task. With cprojects, company managers get an up-to-date overview of their employees workload and qualifications. In addition, they can easily define a project structure by specifying phases, milestones, and tasks and assigning people to be responsible for these project elements. Via cprojects, consultants can confirm their activities throughout the course of the project, providing a transparent overview of progress and of remaining work from the point of view of both a project manager and a project controller. In cprojects, a consulting firm can define project standards and record methods. In this way, it can standardize project management procedures, accelerating project implementation and reducing costs. The firm can also ensure that a project adheres to required quality standards. cfolders allows improved collaboration with external partners, enabling all parties to create, change, and exchange data especially to exchange productrelated data as technical documents and bills of material. Because cprojects integrates with SAP ERP, it allows a consulting firm to automatically transfer information on cost trends to accounting. This simplifies project controlling and enables the firm to settle accounts quickly and precisely. In addition, it ensures the project-assessment methods used comply with external auditing standards. Consulting firms can use cprojects in the services sector worldwide. SAP RPM, too, is often used for strategic planning in consulting firms. It enables consultants to develop longterm plans for business areas and projects. These strategic revenue plans and resource plans are defined in SAP RPM, and actual projects are then created in cprojects and tracked against the firm s portfolio. For example, consulting companies must be able to pinpoint the current status of each project in their entire project portfolio. The project dashboard in SAP RPM contains a traffic-light icon that displays the status of a project and informs the project manager if the status becomes critical. This allows a manager to react quickly and prioritize activities as required. SAP Solution in Detail SAP Product Lifecycle Management 17

18 IT INDUSTRY MANAGING AN IT PROJECT PORTFOLIO IT plays a strategic role in all enterprises, underpinning far more than just operational business processes such as financial accounting and controlling. Today, IT systems are also used to implement corporate strategies and map innovative processes. Comprehensive IT portfolio management is critical to a company s success, but many companies yours may be one find it difficult to keep track of how IT projects are being implemented. Some opt to use several solutions to manage their IT projects and operations, making it difficult to establish which system provides the most accurate and precise data. By using SAP RPM as a single source of information for your IT system, you can optimize synergies across the enterprise, focus on specific analytical results, then prioritize these results accordingly. SAP RPM includes an operational project management component, cprojects. It can also be used to integrate information from other project management software (for example, the project system component in SAP ERP, Microsoft Project, or other software). This allows you to continuously monitor your entire portfolio and recognize particularly promising opportunities. Moreover, it optimizes the transparency of partner implementations, which is a crucial advantage given that IT activities are often carried out by third parties, require large-scale investment, and by their very nature are difficult to monitor. Establishing a bird s-eye view of your IT portfolio gives your enterprise a strategic edge: it helps you identify conflicting project objectives and ensures that all IT projects target your corporate objectives. Because SAP RPM is also closely aligned with SAP ERP HCM, you can staff assignments optimally, based on employees qualifications, availability, and experience. Enterprise resource management functions help you coordinate personnel planning and select employees on the basis of their suitability to a role. Your IT managers must create a scope for investment. The more cost-cutting potential they achieve, the easier it will be for them to generate valuable funds. They need an enterprise solution that is aligned with financials and HR for project and portfolio management one that helps identify costs and their triggers, enabling you to combat overspending and tap cost-cutting opportunities early. Establishing a bird seye view of your portfolio gives your enterprise a strategic edge: it allows you to identify conflicting project objectives and ensure that all IT projects target your corporate objectives. 18 SAP Solution in Detail SAP Product Lifecycle Management

19 AN EFFICIENT SAP SOLUTION LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR SUCCESSFUL PORTFOLIOS Building a solution for strategic and operational project and portfolio management on compatible SAP software functions and applications lets you constantly monitor the status of your project activities, pinpoint at a glance the resources assigned to projects, and prioritize analytical results as required, in line with corporate strategy. Your solution gives you the fundamental and reliable information required for planning and decision making and ensures that your project portfolio is constantly geared toward corporate objectives. And because the software is based on the SAP NetWeaver technology platform, it can be easily combined with other complementary SAP applications and solutions for example, SAP ERP, SAP Customer Relationship Management, and SAP Supplier Relationship Management as well as with solutions developed by other software providers. Because your software for project and portfolio management is based on SAP NetWeaver, it can easily be integrated with other SAP applications and solutions as well as with solutions developed by other software providers. For more information on managing projects and portfolios via complementary SAP applications, go to Or send an via SAP Solution in Detail SAP Product Lifecycle Management 19

20 QUICK FACTS Summary Is your organization in sync with your overall corporate strategy? Are you running projects and operations efficiently? Why not leverage new and existing SAP software to build a solution for portfolio and project management? By basing your solution on complementary SAP applications and functions, you can keep your activities in line with corporate objectives, prioritize and monitor project activities, and gain quick access to the resources and information you need to complete these activities as scheduled. Challenges Keep execution aligned with corporate strategy Prioritize activities based on their contribution to the company s bottom line Optimize don t waste precious resources Adhere to budgets and schedules Assess progress and risks Supported Business Processes and Software Functions Cost control Provide access to project cost-controlling data 24x7 Project monitoring Track production processes efficiently; send critical alerts when necessary Transparency Access the data you need when you need it to enable better decision making Business Benefits Lower costs Improved resource efficiency Better internal and external collaboration Improved monitoring of project or service status and portfolio performance Alignment of activities, resources, and budgets with business priorities For More Information Call your SAP representative or visit us online at (08/04) 2008 by SAP AG. All rights reserved. SAP, R/3, xapps, xapp, SAP NetWeaver, Duet, PartnerEdge, ByDesign, SAP Business ByDesign, and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries all over the world. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. Data contained in this document serves informational purposes only. National product specifi cations may vary. These materials are subject to change without notice. These materials are provided by SAP AG and its affiliated companies ( SAP Group ) for informational purposes only, without representation or warranty of any kind, and SAP Group shall not be liable for errors or omissions with respect to the materials. The only warranties for SAP Group products and services are those that are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services, if any. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty.