Applies to:
All SAP’s Supplier Relationship Management version (technical) upgrade
Summary
This paper outline the basic aspects of an SRM upgrade any organization should know when considering or evaluating such projects. This will help facilitate a better overall approach to upgrade, reduce the hurdles, significantly plan well ahead to mitigate any risk and incorporate contingency.
Author(s): Sachin Rao
Created on: March 1st, 2013
Author Bio
Sachin a Mechanical Engineer by education has been in the field of SAP consulting for over 8 years, having core expertise in the modules of SRM, MM and WM. He has worked on several projects in SAP comprising implementation, roll-outs and support engagements. He has a good understanding of the business and its drivers especially in Automobile, Chemicals and Petroleum and Banking Domain. He is also the author of the whitepaper ‘Need of Post Implementation Audits for ERP Implementation’ & ‘Due Diligence & ERP’
Introduction
From the stakeholder perspective there is a basic requirement for understanding the various aspects of an SRM upgrade. The purpose of this document is to provide this understanding and also outline the approach an organization has to / can take when considering upgrade to their existing versions of SAP SRM system. This also provides some insight on the impact from the technical and business process perspective. Although majority of the points covered will be part of any / many SRM upgrade project, however this may vary to the extent of emphasis each aspects may have based on the business, the client is involved in and how integrated the procurement function of indirect procurement is embedded within the organization.
Evolution SAP SRM since inception
The companies having SRM are on various versions ranging from BBP to EBP to SRM as listed below, the latest version being SRM 7.0 = SRM2008
SAP BBP 2.0B = SAP EBP 1.0 Basis 4.6C
SAP BBP 2.0C = SAP EBP 2.0 Basis 4.6D
SAP EBP 3.0 = SRM 1.0 Basis 610 (BBPCRM 3.0)
SAP EBP 3.5 = SRM 2.0 Basis 620 (BBPCRM 3.5)
SAP EBP 4.0 = SRM 3.0 Basis 620 (BBPCRM 4.0)
SAP EBP 5.0 = SRM_SERVER 5.0= SRM 4.0
SRM_SERVER 550= SRM 5.0
SRM_SERVER 600= SRM 6.0 = SRM2007
All the SRM versions up till EBP 4.0 (SRM3.0) if upgraded then it has to be a 2 step process, one to upgrade it to SRM5.0 and then to SRM7.0. For all latter version a single step upgrade to SRM7.0 is possible.
Context for Upgrade
To understand why an organization think of investing time and money in upgrading an existing system when an equal if not less cost has been invested in implementing the system.
There are some important factors which drives an organization to consider the upgrade of their existing system. The below are the list of factors majorly considered but not confined to these
If any one of the above points fits into the consideration of any organization then there is a need to take the next steps in the direction of approach to upgrade.
Myth about Upgrade
Any SRM technical upgrade will not be a purely technical upgrade, this will come along with some functional changes which will impact the process to a certain extent like
Thus it will be worthwhile to start engaging with the business or process owners as early in the project as possible, this will reduce any noise coming from business and also help build a more efficient version of SRM with early collaboration.
Approach to Upgrade
Points for Consideration
Any SRM technical upgrade will bring with it additional features and pre-requisites to be incorporated in order to leverage the benefit that comes with any improvement in versions. Some are mandated by the technological improvement and some with the vendors product strategy in this case SAP.
The following points are to be considered and integrated with the project plan which will require additional resource and expertise as well as participation from Business/Process owners
Technology Consideration
This is a technical component to implement and maintain workflow where the move in the new version is more towards functional maintenance rather than technical one.
Product Strategy
As all future releases of the new version will only be aligned with SRM-MDM for all its catalogue management, it becomes mandatory sooner or later to adopt this tool. Having said that SRM 7.0 can still be integrated with the current catalogue management tool like Requisite as long as it is OCI compliant.
Conclusion
The success or failure of any upgrade project depends on how thoroughly the upgraded system has been unit, integration, regression and user tested and how effective has been the communication and training strategy adopted and implemented. The more effort goes into the testing and training of the system the less are the chances of the project getting into red. It should also be noted that the involvement from the top management in driving this at all levels also matter in the success of the project. The upgrade project also should derive potential improvements in terms of the procurement cost of indirect material from business perspective and/or the reduction in the TCO from the technical perspective of the on-going cost.
Glossary
BBP - Buyer Business Procurement
EBP - Enterprise Buyer Professional
SRM - Supplier Relationship Management
ITS - Internet Transaction Server
BAU - Business As Usual
MDM - Master Data Management
OoM - Order of Magnitude
OCI - Open Catalogue Interface
TCO - Total Cost of Ownership
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