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WorkingTogether:CollaborationinSAPIBPfor...|SCN

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SAPIntegratedBusinessPlanning

WorkingTogether:CollaborationinSAPIBPforsales
andoperations
PostedbySteveRamptoninSAPIntegratedBusinessPlanningon19May201610:32:28
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AsconceivedbytheOliverWightInternationalmodernIntegratedBusinessPlanning(IBP)meansbreakingdownthe
functionalsilosthatexistinmanyenterprisestodayandtrulyworkingtogethertoachievecommonobjectives.Inthis
articleIwanttoexplorewhycollaborativeworkingisimportant,thedifferenttoolsavailableandthefunctionalitythat
SAPIntegratedBusinessPlanningitselfdeliversinthisarea.

Whatiscollaborativeworking?

TheCambridgeDictionarydefinescollaborativeworkingas:theactoftwoormorepeopleororganizationsworking
together for a particular purpose. In the context of IBP, the particular purpose is the creation of a consensus
demandandsupplyplanthatmeetstheorganisationsfinancialobjectives.IBPmayalsobringinotherorganisations
thatarekeystakeholdersintheplansuchasdistributorsorsuppliers.

Whyiscollaborativeworkingimportant?

It may seem obvious and what should probably be the default way of working, but when I started work in the late
seventiesthiswascertainlynotthecase.DepartmentssuchasProductionEngineeringandFinanceinhabitedvery
separateworlds,oftenwithlittleinteraction.Thisoftenmeantthatdifferentpartsofthesamecompanyhadseparate
andverydifferentplans.Theboardmayhavedefinedastrategyfortheorganisationatthehighestlevel,buteach
departmentcreatedtheirowninterpretationofthestrategyandhowtheywouldexecuteonit.Typicallythiswillresultin
anunderperformingcompany,butinextremistheconsequencescanbemuchmoreseriousandunfortunatelysome
companiesstillseemtooperateinthiswaynearly40yearslater!InanarticlefortheHarvardBusinessReviewin
2012 entitled The Silent Killer of Big Companies, Boris Groysberg and Michael Slind give some memorable
examplesofwhatcanhappengivenalackofcommunicationinanorganisation.OneexamplewashowNokiafailed
to create clear plans to bring new phones to market and instead held fuzzy deliberations over strategy. The White
House commission that studied the Deepwater Horizon tragedy found that poor communications and a failure to
shareimportantinformationwerecontributoryfactors.
Ontheotherhandtheincreasingpaceofinnovation,newproductintroductionandcustomerleddemandaredriving
theneedforevercloserworkingwithinorganisationsandtheirpartnercommunity.
For Integrated Business Planning itself Oliver Wight International define 4 stages of maturity each of which puts a
differentslantontherequirementsforcollaborativeworking:

Figure1:StagesofIBPMaturity(afterOliverWight)&CollaborationNeeds

Whatarethedifferentwaysofsupportingcollaborativeworking?
In the mideighties I moved to Lucas Systems & Engineering and worked for the late and great Professor John
Parnaby.AswellaspioneeringtheuseofmanyJapanesetechniquessuchasKanbanandQFD,weintroducedthe
SingleOffice concept to Lucass factories. In essence it tries to create an owner managed small business within a
largerorganisation.Atitscoreisthebeliefthatsmall,tightknitteamsworkingcloselytogetheraremoreeffectiveand
flexible.WellinthosedaysthePersonalComputerhadonlyjustarrivedandwewerestillpilotingtheiruseontheshop
floor.SotheonlywayofachievingtheSingleOfficewasbyphysicallymovingpeopleintothesameopenoffice
itselfanoveltytomany.Forprobablythefirsttimestafffromdifferentdepartmentsdiscussedissuestogether,informally

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overtheirdesksratherthanbytheinfamousInternalMemo:aseeminglyinnocentinstrumentthatcouldandwasused
bymanyasanorganisationalfirststrikenuclearweapon!
Nowadayswedohavealternativemeansofencouragingandsupportingcollaborationintheworkplace.Theserange
fromdocumentstores,throughinstantmessagingtosocialmedia.InthenextsectionIwillshowthefeaturesthatSAP
IBPhastosupportcollaborationbetweenthevariousstakeholders.

CollaborationinSAPIBP

SAPIBPhasseveraldifferentfunctionalitiesthatsupportcollaborativeworkingtodefineandreviewplansandsolve
issues.InthisblogIwillonlycoverthoseaimedatIBPforsalesandoperations,therearehoweverotherfunctionalities
such as the Custom Alert, Case and Task management intended for Control Tower and I aim to cover these in a
subsequentblog.
ForIBPforsalesandoperationsthereareseveralfunctionssupportingcollaborationandIwillstartwiththemainones
ofSAPJamandIBPProcesstemplate.AfterthatIwilltouchonthesharingofExcelviewsandAnalyticChartsandthe
useofScenariosforwhatifanalyses.

SAPJamandtheIBPProcess
TherearetwomainelementstothesupportforcollaborativeworkinginIBPforsalesandoperationsthatareactually
closelycoupled.SAPJamisbestseenassocialmediafortheenterprise,andwasaproductSAPacquiredwhenthey
boughtSuccessFactors.ThisiscloselylinkedtoamechanismwhichallowsuserstorepresentthestepsofanIBPor
S&OPcycleandtheirstatus.LetslookatSAPJaminmoredetailfirst.
Jamisaclean,easytouseproductthatIcanattestisalsoveryheavilyusedwithinSAPitselfincludingtocollaborate
withpartnersandcustomersonspecifictopics.AlthoughcustomershavetolicenceSAPJamseparatelytoIBPthetwo
products are tightly coupled. Like IBP and HCI, Jam is run in the cloud so there is no installation required at the
customerside.ThereisalsoatrustrelationshipdefinedbetweenJamandIBPsooncethelinkbetweenausersIBP
andJamaccountsisdefinedtheycanaccessJamdirectlyfromIBPwithoutlogginginagain.InfacttheJamscreens
aredisplayedwithintheIBPWebUImainframeitself.JamhastheconceptsofGroupswhicharesomewhatanalogous
toFacebookpagesforagroup.InIBPitisenvisagedthateachIBPreviewstepwouldhaveitsowngroup.Someof
thekeyfeaturesofgroupsarelistedbelow:

Figure2showsanexampleoftheOverviewpageforaJamgroupfortheExecutiveReviewstepofacompanyand
whichillustratessomeofthefeatureslistedabove.

Figure2:AnexampleJamGroupfortheExecutiveReviewIBPStep

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AnIBPorS&OPcyclenormallyconsistsofasequenceofstepsorreviews.TypicallythesestartwithaProductReview
tolookatnewandwithdrawnproducts,thenSalesandDemandReviewstodefinethedemandplan,followedbya
SupplyReviewtoseehowthedemandcanbemetprofitablyandculminatinginConsensusandExecutiveReviews
whereissuesareraisedandresolved.Inmostcasesacompletecyclerunsoveramonthbuttherearecompaniesthat
haveweeklyS&OPcycles.
Thereareacoupleofimportantpointsabouttheprocessandsteps:
DifferentcompaniesusedifferentnamesforstepsManagementBusinessReviewinsteadofExecutiveReview
forexample.
Somestepsmaybeomittedorcombinedifitmakessense.
Onecompanymayhaveseveralindependentprocessesfordifferentbusinessunitsorgeographicalpartsofthe
companythatruninparallel.
Therecanbespecialprocessesforexampleanannualbudgetcycle.
TheprocessanditsindividualstepsaredefinedinIBPasplanningprocesstemplatesandeachcyclecreatedasan
instanceofatemplate.TheaboveexplainswhySAPhavechosennottopredefinethestepsandtheirnamesbutto
allowcustomerstodefinetheirownandtohavemultipletemplates.

Figure3:AnExampleIBPProcessInstance

Figure3isanexampleofaprocessinstanceforacompany.InthiscasetheearlierstepsofProduct,Demandand
SupplyReviewshavealreadybeencompleted.TheConsensusreviewhasjustbegunandthefinalExecutiveReview
isstilltostart.Whatmaynotbeobviousfromthefigureis:
EachstepislinkedtoaJamgroupandtheusercanaccessthegroupdirectlyiftheyclickonthesteptitle.
Thereisadefineddurationandstartday(relativetotheprocessstart)forastep.
Astephasanownerandalistofparticipantsthelatterbeingderivedviaanauthorisationroleforsimplicityof
maintenance.
WhenastepisputintoprogressataskiscreatedautomaticallyinJamforeachparticipantwhichtheycanuseto
indicatetheircompletionoftheiractivitiesforthecycle.Aseachpersoncompletestheirtasktheprogressbaris
updatedtoreflectthenumberofcompletedtasks.
Byclickingontheiinthebottomleftofeachstepyoucanseethedetailoftheparticipants,processandstep
ownersaswellastheduedateandlinkedJamgroup.
Aseachparticipantreviewsandmakestheirinputstotheplan,whetherintheformofadjustments,directinputsor
runningplanningjobsIBPwillpromptthemtopickoneormorereasoncodesfromacustomerdefinedlist,givesome
explanatorytextandchoosewhichoftheJamgroupstheywouldliketopostitto.

Figure4:Sharingtherationaleforchanges

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YoucanseefromFigure4thatanaccountmanagerhasmadeanadjustmenttotheSalesforecastbasedonsome
informationreceivedfromcustomerC&R.HegivesitareasoncodeofCustomerInputandpostsittotheDemand
ReviewJamgroupascanbeseeninFigure5.Notehowthereasoncodehascomeacrossasahashtag.Youcan
clickonthehashtagstogetalistofallpostswiththesametag.

Figure5:PostingmadetoDemandReviewJamGroup

ItisalsoworthpointingoutthatyoudontneedtogointoJamtoseetheFeedforgroups.Ifyouclicktheicon(Illcallit
aloudspeakericon)thatiscircledinFigure6thescreenwillchangedtodisplaythefeedasalisttotheleft.Youcan
choosewhichJamgroupsareshownandcanalsopostdirectlytochosengroup.

Figure6:JamfeeddisplayedinIBP

SharingExcelViews
Onekeyenablerofcollaborativeworkingistobeabletoshareinformation.Intheplanningworldhowmanyofushave
seenlarge,complexspreadsheetssharedaroundtheteambyemailorstoredondocumentsharingsites?Thishas
good and bad aspects. One key, and good, aspect is that the information is available to the team in a form that is
understood and familiar to all. However on the negative side generally all the information has to be stored in the
spreadsheetatonce,makingitunwieldyandhardtolimitvisibilityforsegregationofdutiesetc.AlsoImsureweveall
hadsuchspreadsheetscorruptedinadvertentlybyacolleague.
ToasignificantextentSAPIBPallowsustogetthebestofbothworlds.Ateamleaderorpowerusercandefinea
workbookwithoneormultipleviewstobestsuittheirteamsrequirementsandthensharethisworkbookwithother
members of their team. They can decide who to share with by individual or to reduce further maintenance by role.
Figure7belowshowsanexamplewhereaSalesInputviewisbeingsharedwithothermembersofthesalesand
sales management teams. Subsequent changes to the view will become visible to the other members and the
workbookisstoredintheIBPsystemitself.Thedataitselfdoesn'thavetobestoredintheworkbook:itisfetchedfrom
IBPwhentheuseropensorrefreshesitandonlyreturnsdatatheyareauthorisedtosee.

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Figure7:SharinganExcelViewfromFavourites

Ofcourseitisstillpossiblefortheowneroftheviewtocorruptit.ThereforeIstronglyrecommendedthatpeoplekeepa
backupcopyoftheworkbooksomewheresafe!
AnExcelworkbookcontainingIBPviewsisstillattheendofthedayjustaspreadsheetanditisstillpossibletoshare
themwithothersbyemail.TherecipientcanopenthemasusualandiftheylogontoIBPrefreshthedataandstoreto
theirownfavourites.Howevertheconnectiontotheoriginalworkbookislost.

SharingAnalytics
InSAPIBPAnalyticchartsandDashboardsareveryusercentric.Theyaredesignedtobecreatedbyusersandare
owned by their creator. When I say owned I mean completely: noone else can edit or delete them. So if you are
creatinganalyticsaspartofaprojecttakecarewhichuseryoudoitunderanddont,underanycircumstances,delete
it!
Howeverdespitethisitispossibleforanalyticstobeshared.InasimilarfashiontoViewsausercanshareachartor
dashboard by user id or role see Figure 8 as an example. There are global parameters that makes charts and
dashboardspublicbydefaultbutthisisunlikelytobesomethingyouwantandalsocluttersupusersWebuiscreens.

Figure8:SharingaChartinIBP

AchartisrecognisedasapictureinExplorersoyoucanalsosaveitasapictureoremailittocolleagues.Simplydoa
rightmouseclickandpicktheoptionyouwantfromthecontextmenu.

Scenarios
AkeydifferentiatorofIBPfromotherproductsistheabilitytoperformwhatifs,quicklyandeasily.Thiswasalwaysa
wishfromAPOthatwasneverfulfilled.Theworkinvolvedincopyingdatatoanewversionwassimplytoolaborious.
IBPhastwofunctionalitiesthatarekeytomakingwhatifsreal:

Scenarios:Usercreatedsubsetofthedatatowhichchangescanbemadeandtheresultsofthechanges
calculated.NotehoweverthatscenariosandtheirdataarenotvisibleinAnalytics.

Sharingscenarios: When a scenario is created the creator can decide who else can see and work with it. This
allowsmultiplepeopletocollaborateondifferentaspectssuchasdemandchangesand
supplyplans.

Comparingscenarios:Itisn'tmuchuseifyoucannotcomparetheresultsofthescenariowiththeoriginalplan.InIBP
Excelviewsyoucandisplaykeyfiguredataformultiplescenariosatthesametimeand
uselocalmemberstocalculatethedifferencesasinFigure9below.

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Figure9:Scenariocomparisonview

Whatmoreisrequired?
AsalwaysnoproductisperfectandtherearesomefunctionsthatIwouldlovetoseeinIBP:
WehaveaclosecouplingbetweenIBPandSAPJamandyetnowaytodirectlypostasnapshotofachartorpart
ofanExcelviewtoaJamgroupfeedorcontent.Itwouldallowplannerstoincludetheevidencefordiscussionof
anissueorhelpdocumentaplanreview.
Thereisnowaycurrentlytoaddnotestochangesthatarethenvisibleintheviewitselflinkedtothecontextin
termsofkeyfigureandtimebucketchangedalongwiththeattributelevelused.Suchnotesarehelpfultoallow
multiplepeoplecollaboratingondefiningthesamedatatoexplaintheirrationale.Theyareunlikelytosearch
throughtheJamFeedtocheck!

Ifyouhaveanyquestionsthenpleasedropmealine.

Categories:IBPforsalesandoperations
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Tags:collaboration,scm,s&op,jam,sop,sales_and_operations_planning,sapjam,sop_cloud,integrated_business_planning,ibp,
supply_chain_planning,s&op_hana,sop_on_hana,integratedbusinessplanning,ibp_featured

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JimHoughton19May201610:49

ThanksSteve,averyclearanddetailedintroduction!
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