SAP HCM workforce deployment

Right Person, Right Place, Right Time SAP

Workforce Deployment Solutions
by Joachim Frderer | SAPinsider
January 1, 2003

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by Joachim Frderer, SAP AG SAPinsider - 2003 (Volume 4), January (Issue 1)
Deploying the right people with the right skills to the right position, job, or project is more
than just another task to be streamlined for many companies, its a strategic issue as
well. As companies compete for customer loyalty and demand higher productivity, the
ability to quickly and accurately match the most talented employees to the right roles,
especially in customer service or product development, is key to rising above lessresponsive competitors.
With the evolution of employee placement from paper- or spreadsheet-based processes
to more automated solutions, now is the time to both leverage the information residing in
your existing ERP system and take advantage of new state-of-the-art technology like
enterprise portals. Adopting these applications means increased flexibility in deploying
employees, a faster planning process with shortened reaction times, and bettermotivated employees whose individual needs are being met. The result is higher
workforce efficiency, significant cost savings through better utilization of the resources,
and ultimately, higher customer satisfaction.
In this context, deployment, or workforce deployment (WFD), can mean anything from
scheduling customer service agents (even in intervals of just a few minutes) to assigning
consultants to projects over several months. Although each business scenario has
unique industry- or function-specific characteristics, these business scenarios also share
some elements employee skills and availability information, for instance where HR
plays a key role in implementing and supporting any WFD strategy (see sidebar, below).

The HR Contribution to Workforce

Deployment Processes
Business drivers for a WFD solution may range from expected call volume, to expected
number of customers per hour, to project opportunities just to name a few. While these
drivers are not under the direct influence of the HR department (or an integral part of the
HRMS), HR does make a significant contribution when it comes to workforce
deployment. After all, information about employees skills, work schedules, and
availability, as well as basic employee information in master data, are all relevant to the

deployment process. Furthermore, related topics like performance management and

analytics, career planning, workforce education, etc., should take into account (and
influence) the results of a WFD strategy.
HR should hold responsibility for this information and be heavily involved to ensure
consistent and well-structured support for all the value-generating processes in the
company. The message here is about HRs contribution to the success of the business
a dramatic shift from the more traditional, pure administration of backend HR processes.
For organizations looking to optimize deployment processes, SAP offers the following
five solutions:

mySAP CRM Resource Planning Tool Field Service and Dispatch

mySAP CRM Interaction Center Scheduling

Collaboration Projects for mySAP Product Lifecycle Management

Professional Services with mySAP CRM: Project Resource Planning

SAP xApp Resource and Program Management

Figure 1 briefly introduces you to these solutions. This article provides further details
about their scope and audience, with a focus on resource scheduling and assignment
functions, along with a look at how these solutions will be further integrated in the future. 1

Tool
mySAP CRM
Resource Planning
Tool Field
Service and
Dispatch
mySAP CRM
Interaction Center
Scheduling

Functions
Dispatch of service staff to
service orders, appointment
setting.

Description
mySAP CRM Service
solution for field
enablement and
appointment setting.

Shift-scheduling and task

assignment for call center
staff.

mySAP CRM component

with strong integration
capabilities into CTI
(Computer Telephony)
for call volume
forecasting.
Runs stand-alone but is
integrated into the PLM
backend functionality.

Collaboration
Quality-oriented project
Projects for mySAP management with project
Product Lifecycle staffing.
Management
Professional
Acquisition, management, and Uses elements from
Services with
staffing of consulting and
mySAP CRM, mySAP
mySAP CRM service projects.
PLM cProjects, and R/3
Project Resource
Enterprise within the
Planning
offering for Service
Providers.
SAP xApp
xApp for project portfolio
xApp that runs on top of
Resource and
management, enhanced skills backend applications in a
Program
tracking and management,
corporation and can

Management

project consolidation, and

consolidate data from, for
project staffing for internal
example, various project
research and development
systems.
projects.
Figure 1Five SAP Solutions to Support Your Workforce Deployment
Strategy

Solution Overview
mySAP CRM Resource Planning Tool Field Service and Dispatch
The mySAP CRM Resource Planning Tool supports the full cycle of activities for field
service processes from the assignment of a customers request for service, through to
execution, confirmation, and billing. In this process, resource planners assign work to
service teams, taking into account each employees schedule (see Figure 2).

Figure 2Field Service and Dispatch Screen mySAP CRM Resource

Planning Tool
From the Resource Planning Tool, service employees can access, accept, or reject new
assignments, and maintain their availability on their laptop or handheld devices. Paging
integration gives resource planners an additional channel for easy communication of new
assignments. Once an assignment has been accepted and executed, employees can
confirm working times, materials used, and relevant codes on their mobile devices and
transfer this data during synchronization back to the service organizations server.
This closed-information loop ensures that up-to-date and relevant information is
accessible to all involved, supporting the businesss efforts to provide the best possible
service to its customers.
For further synchronization, the teams service-related data can also be posted

automatically to integrated back-office components of the mySAP.com platform, such as

SAP R/3, and to the SAP Business Information Warehouse for reporting and analysis. 2
mySAP CRM Interaction Center Scheduling
In contact center environments, finding ways to take full advantage of staff resources and
new communications channels, like email and online text chat, is an ongoing
management challenge. mySAP CRMs interaction center workforce management
capability was built from the ground up to include multi-channel support, and gives
managers easy access to these capabilities from their own role-based portal (seeFigure
3).

Figure 3Manager's View for Interaction Center Workforce Management

Key enhancements for managing call centers will soon be available in mySAP CRM,
including forecasts of your contact centers workload and labor distribution, to ensure you
meet customers expectations, no matter which communications channel they might
choose. Advanced scheduling techniques support multiple sites to ensure that the most
qualified personnel perform specific operations when needed. Finally, sophisticated
planning capabilities enable managers to staff according to volume, skill sets, activity,
corporate goals, and customer expectations.
Collaboration Projects for mySAP Product Lifecycle Management
Collaboration Projects (cProjects) for mySAP Product Lifecycle Management (mySAP
PLM) applies to any industry where a defined project setup and execution process is
used internally to develop or improve a product. In a nutshell, cProjects
enablescollaborative project management to efficiently plan, execute, and monitor

development cycles.3
The cProjects functions of mySAP PLM support such proven methodologies as stage
gate and Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP). These are seamlessly integrated
into mySAP PLMs existing collaborative engineering functions, along with program and
project management capabilities to enable web-based collaboration in virtual teams.
cProjects can easily integrate with the xApp SAP Resource and Program Management
(discussed later in this article), thereby realizing additional portfolio and resource
management benefits in heterogeneous system environments.
Starting with a template for adding a new project to the system, you then input your
project team information and assign roles (project leader, decision maker, etc.) to
each participant. From there, you assign authorizations to individual roles and objects
(such as documents) to prevent sensitive project information from ending up in the wrong
hands.
A rich project structure allows for phases, tasks, checklists, and lists of individuals
responsible for each element. Phase and task deadlines can be entered manually or
automatically scheduled by the system. Project elements can also be linked to
documents and other business objects (e.g., purchase orders) in other systems.
Likewise, additional development-related objects can be assigned to the project, even
while it is in progress.
Once a development project is under way, project participants use cProjects functions to
confirm the completion of tasks, mark off completed points on checklists, and release
individual phases, so you can always see what stage of each phase your project is in.
For safeguarding project planning and execution quality, checklist items must be marked
off before approval of a phase. This stage gate function ensures a controlled transition
between project phases. The system also provides automated workflows tailored to
project-specific needs, along with functions to ensure that processes will go uninterrupted
if a team member is unavailable.
Professional Services with mySAP CRM: Project Resource Planning
For consulting firms and other professional service providers, it has never been more
important to provide excellent customer relationship management in order to win and
retain a valuable customer base, and offer value-added services for increased revenue
and ensured profitability. SAPs offering in this area consists of these main scenarios:

Opportunity Management, including sales support, pipeline analysis, and

quotations

Project Management, including project planning, monitoring, scheduling,

and cost tracking

Project Resource Planning, including skills management, resource search

and assignment, and calendar integration

Engagement Management, including contracts, time and expenses, billing,

and financials

With Project Resource Planning tools, roles are identified to specify the criteria required
for each staff member. For example, in one case, a consulting project could require a
project lead with project management experience, particular product skills, and team lead
experience. It might also require five project members, each with expertise in a different
sub-area of the product. Tasks can then be assigned to each of these six project roles,
even if the person to fill the role has not yet been identified.
The search for the right employees (or external resources) can then be conducted based
on skills (specific language skills, product knowledge, etc.), organizational data, or
availability of resources. From information on previously assigned projects, and from sick
leave or leave of absence information in the mySAP HR Time Management system, an
employee will be determined to be available.
The resource planner then assigns the suitable candidate to each project role.
Groupware integrated with employees calendars completes this solution, for easy
communication of project assignments.
Overall, the Professional Services with mySAP CRM, available as of mySAP CRM
Release 4.0, delivers:

Increased visibility of sales and project pipeline

Optimal utilization of resources

Improved billing accuracy and time-to-bill

Excellent insight into project profitability, resource allocation, etc. SAP xApp
Resource and Program Management
SAP xApp Resource and Program Management

(SAP xRPM) is a new application for optimizing complex projects in R&D and IT
organizations. xApps are a new breed of highly integrated applications from SAP. This
particular xApp integrates information from your existing project management, HR,
financial, and time-tracking systems for a complete overview of an organizations project
portfolio. SAP xRPM enhances steps in the project management lifecycle to help
organizations better select, define, staff, and monitor major enterprise projects.

Workforce Management Core (WFM

Core) as the Integration Layer
Looking at WFD strategies, the common elements are clear: all scenarios need
information about staff availability, skills, and existing assignments. Ideally, an additional
component would be a true optimization engine for optimal synergy between these
solutions.
SAP recognized the value of this, and created the Workforce Management Core (WFM
Core) to hold all relevant deployment information. The WFM Core consists of a central
database for demands, resources, and assignments. To support and synchronize
employee availability information working time, attendance, absence information it
provides an interface for time management data for integration with mySAP HR Time

Management. Both manual and automatic scheduling (based on heuristics) is possible,

the latter with the help of the SAP APO scheduler and liveCache.
Currently the mySAP CRM Resource Planning Tool and the mySAP CRM business
scenario Project Resource Planning benefit from the WFM Core concept. In the future, all
the WFD scenarios discussed here are slated to adopt the WFM Core for maximum
consistency.
By consolidating project data across multiple systems and existing enterprise
components, SAP xRPM supports a complete view of project demand across the
enterprise. Project data is presented in a timely, role-based manner so executives,
project managers, and team members can easily view data and drill down to more
detailed information (see Figure 4). As an xApp, SAP xRPM provides all the advantages
of role-based intra- and inter-project collaboration among team members. It includes:

Project portfolio management capabilities, with a dashboard of relevant

project data including key performance metrics on budgets, schedules, and
staffing

A complete suite of calendar, to-do items, threaded discussions, document

management, and role-based notifications across the project team
Functionality for assigning staffing resources

An advanced skills management feature to maintain up-to-date information

on team members skills

Comprehensive reporting options with project portfolio analytics for

continuous process improvement throughout the project lifecycle

Workflow features that help guide executives in the creation and approval of
new projects

Figure 4SAP xAPP Resource and Program Management

Because employee experiences and skill sets change over time and from one project to
the next, project managers are constantly trying to match available talent to their project
needs. SAP xRPM captures and maintains profiles of employees project experience and
provides an efficient means for project managers to search for the right staff for
upcoming projects, and allows employees to opt into projects that advance their careers.
Even before a project kickoff, planning managers can use SAP xRPM to view all active
projects. This helps development organizations optimize resources and skills, and
reduces the number of redundant or inefficient projects. Competitive enterprises can
quickly identify deficiencies and apply resources to increase expertise in those segments.
By viewing all resources assigned to each active project schedules, at-risk elements,
and current employee skills planning managers can better prioritize projects in
alignment with corporate strategy.

Conclusion

SAP offers a widespread, comprehensive, integrated solution portfolio that helps

companies pursue their WFD strategy. Depending on the business drivers involved, you
will find the solutions reside within their respective solution environment in the mySAP
CRM or mySAP PLM solutions, or in the cross-application xApps. The mySAP HR
solution then provides all HR-related information, including skills, availability, and master
data, to these applications either directly or, for optimal integration, via a shared
database, the Workforce Management Core (see sidebar).

In the near future, look for various applications to share even more common features that
will enhance deployment processes across all areas in your organization.