Phase 1: Project Preparation

In this phase of the ASAP Roadmap, decision-makers define clear project objectives and an efficient decision-making process. A project charter is issued, an implementation strategy is outlined, and the project team as well as its working environment are established. The first step is for the project managers to set up the implementation project(s). They draw up a rough draft of the project, appoint the project team and hold a kickoff meeting. The kickoff meeting is critical, since at this time the project team and process owners become aware of the project charter and objectives and are allocated their responsibilities, lasting throughout the project.

Initial Project Scope/Technical Requirements

As the reference point for initial project scope, and updates or changes to the R/3 Implementation, the project team can use the Enterprise Area Scope Document to compare the enterprises requirements with the business processes and functions offered by R/3. In this way the project scope is roughly defined from a business and IT view. The former view concentrates on the enterprises business processes that are to be supported by IT; the latter focuses on the IT required, down to the network and memory requirements.

Project Organization and Roles

One of the first work packages in Phase 1 is the definition of the overall project team and the specification of project roles to be assumed during implementation. The main roles in an implementation project are that of the project manager, the application consultants, the business process team leader, the technical project leader/systems administrator, and the development project leader. The project manager is responsible for planning and carrying out the project. The application consultant creates the Business Blueprint by identifying the business process requirements, configures the R/3 System together with the business process team, transfers knowledge to the customer team members and assists the business process team with testing.