The document outlines the 6 phases of the SAP ASAP 8 implementation methodology: project preparation, business blueprint, realization, final preparation, go-live and support, and operate. It then describes the role of an SAP functional consultant in more detail, including evaluating business requirements, configuring the system, documentation, testing, training, and support. The consultant is responsible for transforming requirements into logical and technical models, customizing the system, and ensuring the new processes work as intended.

1. SAP ASAP 8 Roadmap for
Implementation Projects
An Overview by Manoj Dhir.

2. The 6 Phase Life cycle
A snapshot

3. Phase 1: Project Preparation
During this phase the team goes through initial planning and
preparation for SAP project, including:
Defining project goals and objectives.
Clarifying the scope of implementation.
Defining project schedule, budget plan, and implementation
sequence.
Establishing the project organization and relevant
committees, and assigning resources.

4. Phase 2: Business Blueprint
The purpose of this phase is to achieve a common
understanding of how the company intends to run SAP to
support its business. In addition, the original project goals
and objectives will be refined and the project schedule will
be revised in this phase. The result is the Business Blueprint,
a detailed documentation of the results gathered during
requirements workshops.

5. Phase 3: Realization
The purpose of this phase is to implement all the business
process requirements based on the Business Blueprint. The
system configuration methodology is provided in two work
packages: Baseline (major scope) and Final configuration
(remaining scope). Integration testing is conducted and end-
user document is prepared during this phase.

6. Phase 4: Final Preparation
The purpose of this phase is to complete the final preparation
(including testing, end user training, system management,
and cutover activities) to finalize your readiness to go live.
The Final Preparation phase also serves to resolve all critical
open issues

7. Phase 5: Go Live & Support
The purpose of this phase is to move from a project-
oriented, pre-production environment to live production
operation. The most important elements include setting up
production support, monitoring system transactions, and
optimizing overall system performance.

8. Phase 6: Operate
 Commonly called as Run SAP. The primary goal of this
phase is to ensure the operability of the solution
Operations Maturity Assessment -The Operations Maturity
Assessment evaluates the SAP customer's support operations
to determine areas in need of optimization
Optimizations:
Solution Documentation Optimization
Solution implementation Optimization
Template Optimization
Test Management Optimization
Maintenance, Upgrade and many other Optimizations

9. Role of a SAP Functional Consultant
 A functional consultant evaluates the demands in talking with the customer's
representatives, transforms the essence into an abstract and algorithmic business model.
Hence, he identifies the use cases and transforms them into logical and technical views.
 Then the main task starts: customizing the respective business area and making sure the
system reacts in the manner according to the constraints of the requested use case.
 The consultant documents the settings and prepares proper guidelines that allow other
consultants to do further changes or repairs with due efforts.
 The consultant takes care that proper training is given to the users and that the system is
usable, performing appropriately and the business flow is complete and correct.
 During go live he assists the technical staff by testing the behavior of the system.
 After go live he guarantees that the procedures remain usable and consistent in real live
situation and proposes enhancements.
 The main duty of a consultant is to transfer external know-how to the client. It is not
manpower that counts but intelligence, understanding of processes, a feeling for defects
and general a common sense.

10. Detailed role in End-to-End
Implementation
 1.Functional consultant is expected to generate knowledge about the current business
process, design current business flows, study current business processes and its
complication, in all we can say getting through with current business setup. Flow
diagrams and DFD are prepared, most of the time in Vision format, all this forms the
part of AS IS document.
 2. Everything configured has to be documented as per their categories in the form of
predefined templates, these have to be then approved by the team leads or who ever the
consultant is reporting to.
 3. Mapping and GAP analysis is done for each module, I have seen people defining
integration after mapping, gap analysis and configuration is done, but as per my
experience in implementation, it is a simultaneous process.
 4. Before starting configuring future business processes in SAP, the DFD/ERD are
prepared, this documentation is called TO BE, which can be also said as the result of
mapping and gap analysis.
 5. Sometimes Functional consultants are also expected to prepare test scripts for testing
the configured scenarios.
 6. End user manual and user training is also expected from Functional Consultants.

11. Looking for more?
Write to dhir.manoj@gmail.com for a full time of interim
Project or Program Management using SAP ASAP 8.
I also can help you in
Planning services to assist client program management teams in
preparing for large engagements
Vendor/Partner/Integrator Selection of SAP services
Project Health Check Reviews