ASAP: Accelerated Systems Application and Products in Data Processing All implementation projects have the following phases:

SCOPING - What is to be implemented i.e., which sub modules are to be implemented some clients may not require credit management for example. Look at the project scope document carefully, it will tell you what SAP sub-modules in SAP you should be prepared for. Usually the sales people along with project manager do it. AS- IS - Here you understand the existing business processes of the client. Your BPO collect all the ISO-documentation (if client is ISO certified), reports and forms at this stage and you analyze how and when the reports/forms are generated, where the data is coming from. You also do a Level -2 training for your BPO so he is made aware of all the required transactions in SAP. Once this is over BPO can start learning with the consultants help more about SAP. This is crucial because if you miss out any transactions the BPO may forget about some of his Business processes which may come up later. It is a good practice to ask the BPO to make flow charts to explain business processes. TO-BE - Parallelly you map these processes to SAP. Processes that you are not sure of as to whether they are present in SAP or not you try to do a configuration of those processes, and along with the BPO (Business process owner: he is the clients employee who knows about the clients business processes probably a middle management guy, there can more than one), BPO involvement is required as he may be able to tell you his requirements better. Once you do the business modeling you will also be made aware of the gaps between as-is and to-be, here decisions have to be made as to whether a ABAP development/system modification is required or not and so on. Involve the BPO as much as possible and document everything it is good practice do not be lazy about it. BUSINESS BLUEPRINT: Here the as-is and to-be and GAP Analysis is explained. This is the document that you will be using to do your configuration in the realization phase. REALIZATION PHASE: Here you do the configuration in the development server (there are three clients -development, quality, production). You also decide on the master data format, so that BPO can go collect the master data. You also gave ABAP specifications for forms, reports etc., system modifications etc. UNIT TESTING: Your BPOs and a few key users sit down and test your configuration in your module only. It is good to test the BDCs that you need for uploading data at this stage, so you have more realistic data and your BDCs are tested. INTEGRATION TESTING: Once all modules unit testing is over then the configuration is transported to the Quality server, where testing for all the modules is done by BPOs and end user, this is to check if any problems are there in integration between various modules. Once all is okay from the QA server configuration is transported to the production server.

GO LIVE PREPARATION Data uploading: The collected master data is checked and the uploaded into production server (server and client I have used interchangeably). Now you are ready for go live i.e., users can now use the production server. ASAP methodology means nothing but standard process for implementation of SAP, it consists of 5 phases. 1. Project preparation - consists of identifying team members and developing strategy as how to go. 2. Business Blue print - consists of identifying the client current process, requirement and how SAP provides solution. Consists of detailed documentation 3. Realization -The purpose of this phase is to implement all the business and process requirements based on the Business Blueprint. 4. Final Preparation - The purpose of this phase is to complete testing, end-user training, 5. Go Live and Support All the functional consultants need good rapo with ABAPers right from uploading of legacy data, developing customized reports, BDC's, Forms etc., here functional consultants need to give guidance as to get the required data for reports and all.. like the table name, fields etc. What is baseline configuration in sap? Base line and Final configuration is the third phase in ASAP methodology. The purpose of this phase is to implement all the business & process requirements based on business blue print. You customize the system step by step in 2 work packages: Base Line Configuration & Final Configuration. - Base Line Configuration: this phase comprises the priority requirements of the enterprise, ensuring that they can be implemented quickly. This phase can be completed without programming or enhancements to SAP systems. - Final Configuration: in this phase you confirm that all your requirements are met in the R/3 system. Final configuration is a transportation process that expands that base line solution. What is GAP Analysis? GAP Analysis: In simple terms: GAP means small cracks. In SAP world or in Information Technology world, GAP Analysis is the study of the differences between two different information systems or applications (ex: existing system or legacy system with Client and new is SAP), often for the purpose of determining how to get from one state to a new state. A gap is sometimes spoken of

as "the space between where we are and where we want to be." GAP Analysis is undertaken as a means of bridging that space. Actual GAP Analysis is time consuming and it plays vital role in Business Blueprint Stage. A thorough GAP Analysis will identify the gaps between how the business operates and its needs against what the package cant do. For each GAP there will be one of three outcomes which must be recorded & actioned. a) GAP must be closed and customized software can be developed b) GAP must be closed but software cannot be written therefore a workaround is required c) GAP does not need to be closed A point worth mentioning here is that at time people confuse between user-exits and GAP Analysis. USER EXITS are standard gateways provided by SAP to exit the standard code and we can write our own code with the help of ABAP workbench, its not new functionality which we are trying to build in sap but its slight enhancement within the same code. GAP Analysis is start point of Realization & once Business Blueprint is finished, we have to find the realization of SAP system for client requirement & there will be certain gaps when compared to system fit. Those gaps can be closed either by re-engineering of business process to fit with SAP or we have to use USER EXITS in case of small deviations or complete enhancements with the help of ABAP to fit with the SAP System. The Gaps can differ from company to company. Most commonly, however, missing functionality is industry-specific. https://forums.sdn.sap.com/thread.jspa?messageID=3245270 https://forums.sdn.sap.com/thread.jspa?messageID=3091212 https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/thread?messageID=2983387