Frequently Asked Questions

SAP Activate

Meet Todays Implementation Requirements with the

Methodology for Future Innovations

SAP Activate is an innovation adoption framework that expedites SAP S/4HANA software
implementations with ready-to-run digitized business processes, implementation tools, and
next-generation methodology. It supports any deployment mode and works with multiple
starting points, including system conversion and landscape transformation. From best practices
to quality gates, SAP Activate helps your implementation meet the highest standards.

SAP Activate for SAP S/4HANA ................................................................................................1

SAP Best Practices ...................................................................................................................4
Guided Configuration ..............................................................................................................4
SAP Activate Methodology ......................................................................................................5

DISCLAIMER
This document outlines our general product direction and should not be relied upon in making
a purchase decision. This document is not subject to your license agreement or any other
agreement with SAP. SAP has no obligation to pursue any course of business outlined in this
document or to develop or release any functionality mentioned in this document. This
document and SAPs strategy and possible future developments are subject to change and may
be changed by SAP at any time for any reason without notice. This document is provided
without a warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including, but not limited to, the
implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or noninfringement. SAP
assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions in this document, except if such damages
were caused by SAP intentionally or grossly negligent.

SAP Activate for SAP S/4HANA

Why is SAP launching a new delivery framework?

Over time, SAP has acquired a number of companies and released several new solutions. When
the ASAP methodology was developed, there were no cloud solutions. The SAP Activate
innovation adoption framework applies a single methodology that supports any deployment
mode across all cloud and on-premise solutions. With our partner ecosystem in mind, weve
designed it to be extensible. It is the one tool you need for starting your innovation and
implementation journey to the SAP S/4HANA suite.

Whats new about this framework?

The SAP Activate innovation adoption framework:

Starts with SAP Best Practices packages for any implementation and is customized for
use with SAP S/4HANA
Includes guided configuration tools for assisted implementation of SAP S/4HANA, from
initial setup through establishing the production environment
Provides one software implementation methodology for any deployment mode cloud,
on premise, hybrid, or mobile
Supports integration with adjacent cloud solutions, such as the SAP SuccessFactors
Employee Central solution and the Ariba Network; both SuccessFactors and Ariba are
SAP companies
Is designed for partner extensions, with extendable best practices and methodology
geared for partner solutions
Comes with an awareness of content history what has been configured and keeps
track of the potential impact of future configurations
Supports continuous innovation while running the solution in a production environment

How does SAP Activate compare to other SAP delivery and development methodologies?
The table below compares the ASAP and SAP Launch methodologies with SAP Activate.

Implementation Existing Now Available Supported implementation

New ASAP SAP Activate SAP S/4HANA, on-premise edition
methodology methodology for SAP Business Suite software
on-premise
implementation
New SAP Launch SAP Activate Current
methodology methodology for SAP S/4HANA, cloud editions
cloud (enterprise, marketing, and project
implementation services)

Planned for H2 2015

SAP SuccessFactors solutions
SAP Cloud for Customer solution
Ariba solutions
 System N/A SAP Activate SAP S/4HANA, on-premise edition
conversion and methodology for SAP S/4HANA, cloud editions
landscape conversions and (enterprise, marketing, and project
transformation transformations services)
(planned)

Whether youre performing a new implementation, system conversion, or landscape

transformation, SAP Activate enables the following improvements:

Support for best practices developed by SAP and leveraging our expertise and over 40
years of experience co-innovating with our customers
Agile project delivery
Streamlined project lifecycle (only four phases)
Replacement of blueprint activities with fit/gap workshops
Easier access to key guides and accelerators, with up to 10 key deliverables per phase

How will I know if SAP Activate is a good fit for my company?

If youre interested in getting started with or just learning more about SAP S/4HANA, SAP
Activate is the best place to begin. It takes into account your specific circumstances, provides
the tools you need, and guides you through your journey to SAP S/4HANA, giving you an
opportunity to get your hands on all of the SAP Activate elements.
If SAP Activate is delivered with a product, is there a separate line item or license for it?
SAP Activate is free for SAP customers and partners upon request. Additionally, when you
acquire SAP S/4HANA, your contract includes usage rights for SAP Activate, including best
practices and guided configuration. For more on the SAP Activate methodology, see the SAP
Methodologies group on the SAP Jam social software platform.
SAP Activate uses fit/gap analysis instead of blueprinting. What are the benefits of this
choice?
The most tangible benefit of fit/gap analysis over blueprinting is the speed at which your team
can confirm fit and identify gaps. The ability to see the processes in the product also speeds
understanding of solution capabilities. And early access to the system can help you feel more
confident in the solution.
SAP started using fit/gap analysis on a larger scale in the assemble-to-order delivery model; it
represents a significant innovation over traditional blueprinting. During fit/gap analysis, the
team uses ready-to-run, best-practice processes to quickly confirm the fit of the solution with a
running system and to identify any gaps or required delta configurations. The team then
conducts delta design workshops to resolve known gaps with additional configurations or
extensions that address the customers requirements. The fit/gap process is centered around a
customers business drivers and objectives, helping the team stay focused and on track.
Project managers have access to a vast number of ASAP assets and documents. When will
similar assets be available for SAP Activate?
You can access SAP Activate assets through the SAP Methodologies group on SAP Jam today.
The group offers links to accelerators, templates such as a work breakdown structures (WBS),
project schedules, predefined management plans, design documents, and other tools to speed
up your projects.

SAP Best Practices

What are SAP Best Practices?
Build on SAPs extensive industry knowledge and technology expertise, SAP Best Practices
include ready-to-run, digitized business and technology processes. Using best practices for
standard processes saves time, helps deliver predictable results, and focuses efforts on
innovation. SAP Best Practices packages provide clear guidance on integration and migration
fundamentals and include business processes such as finance and logistics. Theyre designed to
guide you through an optimal implementation or migration scenario, whether youre moving
from a legacy SAP software system or a third-party database.
Can you tell me more about the SAP Best Practices package for SAP S/4HANA?
The SAP Best Practices package for SAP S/4HANA provides fundamental, ready-to-run
enterprise business processes, supporting both online transactional processing (OLTP) as well as
online analytical processing (OLAP). It comes with the SAP Fiori user experience and covers all
deployment modes: cloud, on premise, hybrid, and mobile.
In addition to SAP Best Practices for SAP S/4HANA, additional best practices cover integration
between SAP S/4HANA and adjacent cloud solutions, including SAP SuccessFactors Employee
Central, the Ariba Network, and the SAP hybris Marketing solution. Whether you want to
migrate from a third-party database to SAP S/4HANA or migrate data from legacy systems to
SAP S/4HANA, SAP offers best-practice guidance that addresses your migration needs.
Customers and partners can enhance and extend best practices supported by SAP, or
implement their own to fit their businesses. For example, SAP Best Practices includes templates
for building customized SAP Fiori apps.

Guided Configuration
What is guided configuration?
Guided configuration is a content lifecycle management tool that helps you configure, test, and
receive support in data migration processes that are needed for your selected best practices.
You have the option to add or update your preferred best practices later. Automated updates
and intuitive configuration changes support initial implementation and help you adopt ongoing
innovation more quickly with minimal disruption while tracking your configuration history. The
result? Your business users can customize preconfigured business processes from charts of
accounts to approval thresholds without IT involvement.

Can we take a deeper dive into the guided configuration of SAP Activate?
As part of SAP Activate, guided configuration tools give you an overview of available best
practices. They can help you perform ongoing content management while adding innovations
to SAP S/4HANA, from initial setup through launch.
You can use self-service configuration to adapt business processes. To create your own
processes or make changes to the content in SAP Best Practices, use the implementation guide
in the guided configuration environment. As your configuration evolves, you can use your
configuration history to help ensure that delta implementation activities dont conflict with
previous configurations. Configuration records also help ensure compatibility with future
innovations in SAP S/4HANA.

SAP Activate Methodology

What is the SAP Activate methodology?
SAP Activate methodology is our new software implementation methodology that builds on
proven approaches and our experience to offer a consistent, agile method for any deployment
type cloud, on premise, hybrid, or mobile. It offers support for initial implementation and
continuous innovation with SAP S/4HANA. The implementation best practices walk project
teams through the planning, building, and deployment of their SAP solution. SAP Activate
methodology caters to customer-specific configuration and extensions requirements to reflect
a customers own business practices while remaining extremely scalable nimble enough for
smaller engagements and more robust for larger projects.
It looks like SAP Best Practices and guided configuration are linked. Whats the role of the
methodology element in SAP Activate?
As the speed of innovation increases, IT and business must keep pace. Many of our customers
are facing shorter release cycles, working on time-box projects, and employing agile
development principles.
The SAP Activate methodology focuses on helping customers minimize modifications of
standard SAP solutions, build solutions incrementally, and deploy them more quickly all
without disrupting the business. Customers emerge in a position to apply future system
innovations more rapidly. The methodology builds on SAPs proven approaches, backed by
more than 40 years of implementation experience, to offer a consistent, agile approach for any
deployment type cloud, on premise, hybrid, or mobile.
Starting with established best practices, the project team is supported through planning and
deployment, using validation and gap analysis to minimize modifications and achieve faster
outcomes.
As an example, project managers can pick the components they need for a particular project.
The methodology recommends an appropriate work breakdown structure and provides a high-
level overview of tasks, sizing, and roles needed for that effort.

What are the methodology phases in SAP Activate?

The SAP Activate methodology consists of four phases.
Prepare. The project is initiated and planned, including quality and risk plans. The system
environment is set up, including best practices with ready-to-run processes.
Explore. The customer team explores SAP solution functionalities while the system integrator
explores the customers business. Together, they use fit/gap workshops to identify the
configuration and extensions that best meet the customers requirements.
Realize. Together, the teams configure and extend the system, based on prioritized
requirements captured in the explore phase. Configuration and build are done in short,
iterative cycles, with regular validation and feedback from the business. Structured testing and
data migration activities help ensure quality.
Deploy. Final preparations before cutover to production help ensure that the system, data, and
users are ready for transitioning to the production environment. The transition to operations
includes setting up and launching support, then handing off operations to the organization
managing the environment.
Where can I learn more about the SAP Activate methodology?
SAP Activate methodology experts and resources are available through the SAP Methodologies
group on SAP Jam. The groups resources and resident experts can help you find out if SAP
Activate is right for your business.

Learn More
For expert insight into the SAP Activate methodology:

Visit the SAP Activate blog library on SAP Community Network

Go to SAP.com/activate
Join the SAP Methodologies group on the SAP Jam social software platform