7

Contents

Preface ..................................................................................................................................................... 11
Introduction: The Path to Certification ........................................................................................ 17

1 SAP Activate Overview 33

1.1 Objectives of This Portion of the Test ........................................................................ 35

1.2 Key Concepts Refresher .................................................................................................... 35

1.2.1 What Is SAP Activate? ......................................................................................... 35
1.2.2 Three Pillars of SAP Activate ............................................................................. 37
1.2.3 Key Characteristics ............................................................................................... 42
1.2.4 Structure .................................................................................................................. 43
1.3 Important Terminology .................................................................................................... 49

1.4 Practice Questions ............................................................................................................... 50

1.5 Practice Question Answers and Explanations ........................................................ 55

1.6 Takeaway ................................................................................................................................ 58

1.7 Summary ................................................................................................................................. 59

2 SAP Activate Elements 61

2.1 Objectives of This Portion of the Test ........................................................................ 62

2.2 Key Concepts Refresher .................................................................................................... 63
2.2.1 Contents .................................................................................................................. 63
2.2.2 Tools .......................................................................................................................... 70
2.2.3 Methodology .......................................................................................................... 78
2.3 Important Terminology .................................................................................................... 79

2.4 Practice Questions ............................................................................................................... 79

2.5 Practice Question Answers and Explanations ........................................................ 84

2.6 Takeaway ................................................................................................................................ 87

2.7 Summary ................................................................................................................................. 88

7
8 Contents Contents

3 Agile Project Planning 89

3.1 Objectives of This Portion of the Test ........................................................................ 90

3.2 Key Concepts Refresher .................................................................................................... 91
3.2.1 Agile and Scrum .................................................................................................... 91
3.2.2 Scrum Terminologies .......................................................................................... 93
3.2.3 Scrum Team ........................................................................................................... 97
3.2.4 Scrum Ceremonies ............................................................................................... 99
3.2.5 Scrum Artifacts ...................................................................................................... 103
3.2.6 SAP Activate and Scrum ..................................................................................... 104
3.2.7 Roles and Responsibilities ................................................................................. 104
3.2.8 Agile Project Organization ................................................................................. 108
3.2.9 Agile Project Prepare Phase ............................................................................... 111
3.2.10 Creating Product Backlogs ................................................................................ 112
3.3 Important Terminology .................................................................................................... 117
3.4 Practice Questions ............................................................................................................... 119
3.5 Practice Question Answers and Explanations ........................................................ 124
3.6 Takeaway ................................................................................................................................ 126
3.7 Summary ................................................................................................................................. 127

4 Agile Delivery Approach 129

4.1 Objectives of This Portion of the Test ........................................................................ 131

4.2 Key Concepts Refresher .................................................................................................... 131
4.2.1 Release Planning ................................................................................................... 131
4.2.2 Multiple Releases ................................................................................................. 137
4.2.3 Sprint Cycle ............................................................................................................. 139
4.2.4 Testing and Deployment ................................................................................... 140
4.3 Important Terminology .................................................................................................... 143
4.4 Practice Questions ............................................................................................................... 144
4.5 Practice Question Answers and Explanations ........................................................ 149
4.6 Takeaway ................................................................................................................................ 152
4.7 Summary ................................................................................................................................. 152

8
Contents 9

5 Workstreams Overview 153

5.1 Objectives of This Portion of the Test ........................................................................ 154

5.2 Key Concepts Refresher .................................................................................................... 155
5.2.1 Project Management ........................................................................................... 155
5.2.2 Solution Adoption ................................................................................................ 164
5.2.3 Customer Team Enablement ............................................................................ 168
5.2.4 Design and Configuration ................................................................................. 172
5.2.5 Testing ...................................................................................................................... 184
5.2.6 Technical Architecture and Infrastructure ................................................... 188
5.2.7 Extensibility ............................................................................................................ 195
5.2.8 Data Management ............................................................................................... 202
5.2.9 Integration .............................................................................................................. 207
5.2.10 Analytics .................................................................................................................. 212
5.2.11 Operations and Support ..................................................................................... 214
5.2.12 Security .................................................................................................................... 220
5.3 Important Terminology .................................................................................................... 222
5.4 Practice Questions ............................................................................................................... 223
5.5 Practice Question Answers and Explanations ........................................................ 229
5.6 Takeaway ................................................................................................................................ 231
5.7 Summary ................................................................................................................................. 231

6 New Implementation SAP S/4HANA

Transition Path 233

6.1 Objectives of This Portion of the Test ........................................................................ 235

6.2 Key Concepts Refresher .................................................................................................... 235
6.2.1 Three Transition Paths ........................................................................................ 235
6.2.2 Overview of SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition Implementation ...... 239
6.2.3 Overview of SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition Implementation .... 242
6.2.4 Overview of On-Premise SAP S/4HANA Implementation ....................... 249
6.2.5 Discover Phase ....................................................................................................... 250
6.2.6 Prepare Phase ........................................................................................................ 253
6.2.7 Explore Phase ......................................................................................................... 260
6.2.8 Realize Phase .......................................................................................................... 267
6.2.9 Deploy Phase .......................................................................................................... 275
6.2.10 Run Phase ................................................................................................................ 280
6.3 Important Terminology .................................................................................................... 284
6.4 Practice Questions ............................................................................................................... 285
9
10 Contents Contents

6.5 Practice Question Answers and Explanations ........................................................ 294

6.6 Takeaway ................................................................................................................................ 299
6.7 Summary ................................................................................................................................. 299

7 System Conversion and Selective Data

Transition Path 301

7.1 Objectives of This Portion of the Test ........................................................................ 303

7.2 Key Concepts Refresher .................................................................................................... 303
7.2.1 Navigating the Roadmap Viewer .................................................................... 304
7.2.2 Key Considerations .............................................................................................. 305
7.2.3 System Conversion and Selective Data Transition Approaches ........... 307
7.2.4 Discover Phase ....................................................................................................... 315
7.2.5 Prepare Phase ........................................................................................................ 316
7.2.6 Explore Phase ......................................................................................................... 321
7.2.7 Realize Phase .......................................................................................................... 326
7.2.8 Deploy Phase .......................................................................................................... 333
7.2.9 Run Phase ................................................................................................................ 337
7.2.10 Example ................................................................................................................... 339
7.3 Important Terminology .................................................................................................... 340
7.4 Practice Questions ............................................................................................................... 341
7.5 Practice Question Answers and Explanations ........................................................ 346
7.6 Takeaway ................................................................................................................................ 348
7.7 Summary ................................................................................................................................. 349

Appendices 351

A Practice Test 1 ........................................................................................................................ 353

B Practice Test 2 ........................................................................................................................ 369
C Practice Test Answers ........................................................................................................ 385
D The Authors ............................................................................................................................ 387

Index ........................................................................................................................................................ 389

10
Chapter 1
SAP Activate Overview

What You'll Learn

Understand the basics of SAP Activate

Explain the transition roadmap

Walk through the three pillars of SAP Activate

Understand fit-to-standard analysis and fit-gap analysis

Review the key characteristics of SAP Activate

Explain the structure of SAP Activate

Describe the governance model in SAP Activate

Understand roles and responsibilities in the SAP Activate

methodology

33
34 Chapter 1 SAP Activate Overview 1 SAP Activate Overview

SAP Activate, a project management framework to implement SAP S/4HANA, is an

intelligent innovation as a service, which is pioneered on three pillars: SAP Best
Practices, tools, and methodology. This chapter will introduce the SAP Activate
framework, including the three pillars; fit-to-standard analysis; key characteris-
tics; structure, including the different phases of the methodology; and the roles
and responsibilities of the project team followed by some important terms and
questions and answers to test your understanding.

Real-World Scenario
After you completed your master’s degree in retail management seven years
ago, you joined a global chain of clothing stores as a subject matter expert
(SME). Currently, you’re working as a senior project manager. You’ve also
worked as a software developer in a regional retail organization for two years
prior to starting your master’s degree.

You learned that the company has decided to implement SAP S/4HANA, and
you approached your supervisor to speak about the SAP project manager
opportunity for the global program.

During your conversation, your boss briefs you about this transformation
initiative. Although your boss admits to not being an SAP expert, his under-
standing is that the project is to implement various modules of SAP, includ-
ing finance and accounting, human resources, core retail, warehouse man-
agement, supply chain, and many more. They are also planning to migrate
legacy system data to the new environment. You learn that the project is
starting in the next few weeks and offer your assistance and expertise in
project management along with key business processes such as pricing,
option planning, stock transfer, and retail analytics—your core area of exper-
tise.

Your boss appreciates your interest and brings up the SAP Activate method-
ology that the project team will follow to make this transition. Your boss asks
you to start looking into it and conduct knowledge-sharing sessions with all
team members, eventually leading the fit-to-standard sessions on business
processes.

So, you have a new task at hand! What is SAP Activate, and how should you
get started?

34
Key Concepts1 Refresher Chapter
SAP Activate 1 35
Overview

1.1 Objectives of This Portion of the Test

The certification examination will test your knowledge about the following topics:
Basic understanding of SAP Activate
Principles behind SAP Activate (the three pillars)
Fit-to-standard analysis and its usage to build the product backlog
Structure of SAP Activate—phases, deliverables, workstreams, and tasks

In the subsequent sections, you’ll learn about and understand these key concepts
followed by some questions and answers.

Note
Although this is the first chapter in the book, this topic carries 11–20% weightage in the
exam, leading to eight to sixteen questions in the certification exam.

1.2 Key Concepts Refresher

This section will help you understand the latest from SAP by introducing SAP Acti-
vate and taking you deeper into the topic. This chapter is the foundation for all the
SAP Activate-related tasks. As mentioned in the Introduction, it’s important to
understand this chapter irrespective of your role in the project.

1.2.1 What Is SAP Activate?

SAP Activate is a product-agnostic project management framework for all deploy-
ment options viz. on-premise, private cloud, or public cloud, across SAP products.
It’s adopted from Scrum, which is capable of quick adaptation and makes it easy to
adopt quarterly innovations from SAP and expand the solution footprint. SAP
Activate provides the framework, tools, accelerators, questionnaires, checklists,
and playbooks throughout the SAP S/4HANA implementations, whether on-prem-
ise or in the cloud. We’ll explore the phases of the SAP Activate methodology in
more detail later. For now, just understand that there are six phases in the SAP
Activate methodology, as shown in Figure 1.1.

35
36 Chapter 1 SAP Activate Overview 1 SAP Activate Overview

SAP Activate

Discover

Run Prepare
6 2
SAP Best
Practices

SAP
Activate

One Guided
Methodology Configuration

5 3
Deploy Explore
4

Realize

Figure 1.1 SAP Activate

SAP S/4HANA has three transition roadmaps, as shown in Figure 1.2.

New/Re-Implementation System Conversion Selective Data Transition

SAP Systems
SAP S/4HANA SAP S/4HANA
On-Premise On-Premise
Non-SAP SAP S/4HANA
SAP Systems Other ERP
Systems On-Premise
SAP SAP
S/4HANA Cloud Non ERP S/4HANA Cloud

SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit Software Update Manager (SUM) Data Management and Landscape
Transformation (DMLT)

Figure 1.2 Transition Roadmaps

Let’s walk through each roadmap:

New implementations
These are greenfield implementations in which the client isn’t on SAP and wants
to implement SAP S/4HANA. Data migration from non-SAP systems to the
industry-leading, intelligent, simplified, and ready-to-run business processes on
SAP S/4HANA may be a key component of greenfield implementations. A new
implementation is also applicable if the customer wants to reengineer their cur-
rent processes based on the current innovations. New implementations have
the following characteristics:
– Reengineering of existing processes
– Adoption of simplifications based on the latest innovations

36
Key Concepts1 Refresher Chapter
SAP Activate 1 37
Overview

– Utilization of innovative business processes with preconfigured processes

– Initial data load
We will review this topic in Chapter 6.
System conversions
This roadmap will provide the path, tools, accelerators, and other artifacts when
a client is on an SAP system such as SAP ERP 6.0 on SAP HANA or on another
database (from this point referred to as anyDB) and wants to move their enter-
prise resource planning (ERP) system to SAP S/4HANA. These are also known as
brownfield implementations. System conversions have the following charac-
teristics:
– Technical conversion followed by adoption of business innovations
– Ability to adopt innovations at your own pace
– Quick to go live on the new platform
– Lower implementation cost
Selective data transition (formerly known as landscape transformation)
The most complex scenario is when a client wants to consolidate their existing
ERP systems, including functionality transformation, consolidation of global
business units, or simply retiring an outdated ERP system into a new SAP
S/4HANA instance. This transition approach balances the need for innovations
and the historical data migration. Selective data transitions have the following
characteristics:
– Balance between reengineering and reuse
– Option to merge/split instances
– Migration of selective data (time slice, client, organizational units, etc.)
– De-risk implementation
System conversions and selective data transition will be covered in detail in
Chapter 7.

Note
Notice that in system conversions, you can’t move the existing SAP system to SAP
S/4HANA Cloud because of the customization in the current implementation. In an ideal
scenario of zero customization, you can convert the existing system to the cloud, but we
all know that an “ideal” system doesn’t exist.

1.2.2 Three Pillars of SAP Activate

SAP Activate is based on three pillars: SAP Best Practices, guided configuration,
and one methodology for any SAP S/4HANA implementation, as shown in Figure
1.3.
We’ll look into the three pillars of SAP Activate in this section.

37
38 Chapter 1 SAP Activate Overview 1 SAP Activate Overview

SAP Best
Practices

SAP
Activate

One Guided
Methodology Configuration

Figure 1.3 Three Pillars of SAP Activate

SAP Best Practices

The first of the three pillars is SAP Best Practices. Implementation of any ERP
requires sound functional knowledge and a strong understanding of the business
requirements. The first pillar of SAP Activate is meant to provide a standard, con-
sistent, and preconfigured ready-to-run business process optimized for SAP
S/4HANA. SAP Best Practices supports new implementations as well as the migra-
tion and integration of system conversion. For selective data transitions (or land-
scape transformations), SAP Best Practices, apart from the use cases, migration,
and integration, includes the extensibility of existing business processes with the
customer’s own processes.
SAP Best Practices help the project team in the following:
Faster time to value
The ready-to-run, preconfigured processes, along with other assets, will help
jump-start the implementation. If followed, it drastically reduces the imple-
mentation time, and customers can reap the benefits quickly.
Predictable results
The variety of business scenarios across the industry provides repeatable and
predictable results. SAP Best Practices, along with some localization, generally
forms the implementation baseline.
Quick and simple onboarding to the cloud
Easy deployment to the cloud provides flexibility for clients.

SAP Best Practices are structured in the following two formats:

Documentation
You can find the SAP Best Practices documentation via SAP Signavio Process
Navigator by clicking this link: https://me.sap.com/processnavigator/Home-
Page. From there, you can review or download the best practices content as per
your project’s needs.
38
Key Concepts1 Refresher Chapter
SAP Activate 1 39
Overview

Configuration
The preconfigured best practices are available in the system but are in a dor-
mant state and require activation. Once activated, you can execute the best
practices on the activated system.

Figure 1.4 shows the SAP Signavio Process Navigator homepage.

Figure 1.4 SAP Signavio Process Navigator

Note
SAP Best Practices scope items were previously accessed via SAP Best Practices Explorer,
which has been retired and replaced by SAP Signavio Process Navigator. However, SAP is
still in the process of updating the exam, and you may get questions related to SAP Best
Practices Explorer. Just keep in mind that SAP Signavio Process Navigator is the current
service.

Guided Configuration

Guided configuration, the second pillar of SAP Activate, supports SAP S/4HANA
implementations by providing a framework, accelerators, playbooks, checklists,
tools, and many other assets. Because SAP Activate is a common methodology for
both cloud and on-premise implementations, the tools for guided configuration
vary based on the chosen landscape. In simple terms, guided configuration is your

39
40 Chapter 1 SAP Activate Overview 1 SAP Activate Overview

personal assistant that will help you configure the system. For SAP S/4HANA
Cloud, it also helps in managing the lifecycle of the preconfigured business pro-
cess. However, guided configuration behaves differently for on-premise SAP
S/4HANA and SAP S/4HANA Cloud versions, as shown in Figure 1.5.

SAP S/4HANA Cloud SAP S/4HANA

Self-Service IMG and SAP
Configuration UI SAP Solution Solution Manager
Personalization of Builder Tool
SAP Best Practices processes
Configure from IMG or use
Expert Configuration Activation of SAP Best configuration object links from
Practice processes SAP Solution Manager
Adding new or changed processes

Figure 1.5 Guided Configuration

The SAP solution builder tool is the first step of guided configuration, which allows
you to activate the best practices. Within the SAP solution builder tool, processes
are modeled as scope items. You can develop and structure configuration content
based on the industry model. Let’s explore the guided configuration for cloud and
on-premise implementations:
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
In the activated environment, a customer or a partner can use self-service con-
figuration via the Self-Service Configuration User Interface (SSCUI) to adjust
and personalize the solution. SSCUI contains the following features:
– Personalized processes
– Ability to adjust settings based on client’s needs
– Easy-to-use SAP Fiori apps
The expert configuration capabilities, on the other hand, are available only to
SAP’s service center team, which works closely with the customer and/or part-
ner to implement the desired configuration settings in the system. Expert con-
figuration capabilities include the following:
– Deeper configuration changes
– Ability to add new processes or adjust preconfigured processes
Expert configurations are implemented in the quality system by the SAP ser-
vice center team. Table 1.1 shows what is allowed and what is restricted by the
expert configuration.
SAP S/4HANA (on-premise)
The implementation team starts with the activated SAP Best Practices in the
sandbox environment. After the fit-gap analysis, covered later in this chapter,
the implementation team uses the standard implementation guide (IMG) for

40
Key Concepts1 Refresher Chapter
SAP Activate 1 41
Overview

the configuration. Furthermore, the team uses SAP Solution Manager to cap-
ture and store the project documentations in one location.

Allows Restricts
Adaptation of editable fields within SAP Deletion of SAP Best Practices content
Best Practices Change in noneditable fields in SAP Best
Creation of new/custom processes in the Practices content
customer-owned area (also known as Z
scope items and Z building blocks)
Consideration of namespaces for
customer-owned processes

Table 1.1 Expert Configuration

You can access the guided configuration using the Manage Your Solution app to
gain the following benefits:
Evaluations of activated business processes
Initial configuration of the activated solution and updates for continuous inno-
vations
A process-driven approach to test your configured business process
A migration engine for simple data migration and end-user training

One Methodology

The third pillar of SAP Activate, which is the successor of the ASAP and SAP Launch
methodologies, is the methodology itself—one modular, simpler, and agile meth-
odology. Some of the salient features of the SAP Activate methodology are shown
in Figure 1.6. The SAP Activate methodology is wide-ranging and supports the ini-
tial implementations as well as the continuous innovations on one spectrum,
while on the other spectrum, it also covers the implementations of broad SAP
solutions such as SAP S/4HANA, SAP cloud solutions, and SAP Business Suite. And,
on yet another spectrum, it enables co-innovations with partners and customers.
The SAP Activate methodology not only provides a structured and cohesive
approach to implement the solution, but it also provides the solution, contents,
and accelerators for the three transition paths. The Roadmap Viewer is the tool
where you can find the methodology, contents, and accelerators, whereas SAP Best
Practices will provide you with the business solution and related accelerators. The
methodology, by default, uses the agile delivery approach and provides ready-to-
use, preconfigured solutions and the corresponding documentation in SAP Best
Practices. Furthermore, the methodology provides fit-to-standard analysis, con-
ducted during the explore phase of the project, to identify the gaps and adjust the
baseline solutions to fit the customer’s needs.

41
42 Chapter 1 SAP Activate Overview 1 SAP Activate Overview

Prepare Explore Realize Deploy

Successor
of ASAP/
SAP Launch

One Three
Methodology Transition
SAP Best Paths
Practices

SAP
Activate
One Guided
Methodology Configuration

Agile Project Co-innovations

Delivery

Broad
Coverage

Figure 1.6 SAP Activate: One Methodology

1.2.3 Key Characteristics

Figure 1.7 shows the six key characteristics of the SAP Activate methodology. You
start working on a system with preselected scope items based on SAP Best Prac-
tices 1. You can leverage the cloud environment to set up the system, which is
easy and quick to deploy 2. It also provides you with additional flexibility and the
speed to deploy the solution. Subsequently, the team performs the fit-gap analysis
as a part of the solution validation to build the product backlog, establishes the
delta requirements, and identifies any perceived gaps 3.
Premium engagement services from SAP play a key role during and after imple-
mentation 4. During the implementation, for example, you can engage them to
review the perceived gaps (known as gap validation service) to ensure that these
are product gaps and can be implemented in the product. Another such example
is the use of SAP ActiveAttention to ensure high performance and high scalability,
address risks and issues related to performance, and handle technical integrity
and stability.

42
Key Concepts1 Refresher Chapter
SAP Activate 1 43
Overview

Start with Best Ready-to-run and rich business

1 processes
Practices

Cloud Ready Quick and easy deployment to cloud

Fit-gap A/B provides the flexibility to

Validate Solution validate the solution and identify the delta

Premium Fully supported via SAP Support Portal

Engagement Ready

Modular, Scalar, and

Incremental delivery approach
Agile

Managable cone of uncertainty

6 Quality Built-In and early identification of risks
improve quality of deliverables

Figure 1.7 Key Characteristics of SAP Activate Methodology

Using the same versatile SAP Activate methodology, you can implement a six-
week project of SAP S/4HANA Finance in the cloud or a 60-week complex and
global implementation project of SAP S/4HANA. These projects are of different
sizes and complexities, yet you can pick and choose the deliverables and tasks
from the same basic framework. Additionally, the framework scales up or down
depending on the project and solution requirements. The iterative approach and
incremental build from the agile framework are woven into SAP Activate to
improve the quality of deliverables and the solution by conducting frequent vali-
dations 5.
Quality, a continuous focus of all SAP methodologies, is built into the SAP Activate
methodology, including structured quality management plans, quality gates at
different stages of the project, the agile iterative approach, continuous and fre-
quent validations, a focus on testing and integration, and a business-driven solu-
tion approach 6.

Tip
Pay attention to the benefits of SAP Best Practices. You’ll most likely get a question from
this topic. The question can be framed to identify the benefits of SAP Best Practices such
as “predictable results,” “faster time to value,” or “cloud ready.”

1.2.4 Structure
Figure 1.8 shows the structure of the SAP Activate methodology, which has a total
of six phases (including four project or core phases), 11 workstreams, and several

43
44 Chapter 1 SAP Activate Overview 1 SAP Activate Overview

tasks and deliverables. In this section, we’ll look into the phases of the project,
understand the workstreams, and identify the high-level tasks/activities that the
project team will perform under each phase/workstream and the corresponding
deliverables. SAP mandates the four quality gates after the prepare, explore, real-
ize, and deploy phases.

QG QG QG QG QG
Discover Prepare Explore Realize Deploy Run

Project/Core Phases
Phases Quality Gates

Project Management

Schedule Fit-to- Workstream

Standard Analysis

Cutover Plan
Tasks
Deliverable

Figure 1.8 SAP Activate Structure

Phases

A phase of the project is a group of activities or tasks grouped together logically

within a specific stage of the project. There are several activities that can and will
expand into multiple phases. However, the project and the project team can’t
move forward to the next stage (i.e., phase) without completing and getting ap-
proval during the mandatory quality gate checkpoint process—an important fea-
ture taken from the waterfall methodology.
There are four mandatory quality gates to move from the prepare, explore, realize,
and deploy phases to the next phase. The SAP Activate methodology provides a
template with a questionnaire that helps the team execute each quality gate. At
the beginning of each phase, the team performs the readiness quality gate, which
verifies that the team is well prepared to start the new phase. At the end of the
phase, the team performs the acceptance quality gate, which verifies whether the
team meets the acceptance criteria. It’s recommended that the team combine the
acceptance quality gate of the current phase with the readiness quality gate of the
next phase. The acceptance quality gate in the deploy phase is the last quality gate,
and is for the project closure.

44
Key Concepts1 Refresher Chapter
SAP Activate 1 45
Overview

Each phase of the project delivers a specific, predetermined value that helps
achieve the project’s business objective. Let’s review the six phases of the SAP Acti-
vate methodology and understand the value (or deliverables) that it delivers:
Discover
This is the most strategic phase from the organizational change perspective
whereby the executive team builds the digital transformation strategy, leverag-
ing the overall organizational strategy. The digital transformation strategy
must align with the organizational strategy, and SAP S/4HANA may be the
upcoming digital core of the technology roadmap.
During this phase of the project, a cloud trial system can be provisioned to
understand the business value and build the implementation strategy. Some of
the deliverables from this phase are as follows:
– Cloud trial
– Discover assessment
– Application value and assessment
Prepare
As the name suggests, most of the project planning happens during this phase
of the project. The project manager kicks off and officially commences the proj-
ect. Based on the approved resource planning, the resources are assigned, and
the starter system—initial technical environment—is provisioned (set up)
during the prepare phase of the project. Some of the deliverables from this
phase are as follows:
– Project plan and its components, including the risk management plan, com-
munication plan, scope management plan, project schedule and its manage-
ment plan, budget management plan, quality management plan, and a few
others
– Organizational change management (OCM) roadmap
– Fit-to-standard analysis preparation
– End-user learning strategy
– Phase closure and sign-off phase deliverables
Explore
The project team conducts the fit-gap (or fit-to-standard) analysis to ensure
alignment, understand the gaps (if any), and finalize an acceptable solution to
bridge the gaps. This is the most complicated phase of the project, where the
team has to perform a fine balancing act. Some of the deliverables from this
phase are as follows:
– Project execution and monitoring
– Fit-to-standard analysis
– Customer execution of standard process

45
46 Chapter 1 SAP Activate Overview 1 SAP Activate Overview

– Solution definition
– Product backlog
– Phase closure and sign-off phase deliverables

Note
One of the key outputs of the explore phase is the product backlog, which we’ll discuss
further in Chapter 3. However, it’s important to understand that the product backlog is a
living document and will change continually during the realize phase of the project. It’s
not signed off to freeze the requirement.

Realize
The project team uses the Scrum approach to build and test the business solu-
tion based on the product backlog that was built during the fit-gap (or fit-to-
standard) analysis in the explore phase of the project. During this phase, the
project team further plans the operational and cutover activities. They will also
migrate the legacy data and carry out some additional planning work. Like any
other phase, the project team must clear the quality gate to move to the next
phase of the project. Some of the deliverables of the realize phase are as follows:
– Project execution and monitoring
– Solution build
– Data migration
– Operational planning
Deploy
This is the phase with the most apprehension when the go-live happens. The
team sets up the production environment, completes the customer readiness
check, conducts end-user training, and carries out other production cutover
activities. The team ensures a seamless go-live, carries out hypercare activities,
documents the lessons learned, and transitions the project to the operations.
Some of the deliverables of the deploy phase are as follows:
– Project execution and monitoring
– Go-live system
Run
In this final phase, the operation is carried out based on the operational strategy
and planning, including other activities such as benefit realization, enhance-
ments, bug fixes, and optimization. Some of the deliverables of the run phase
are as follows:
– Continuous improvements
– Continuous consumption of innovations

Figure 1.9 shows the high-level activities carried out in each phase of the project.

46
Key Concepts1 Refresher Chapter
SAP Activate 1 47
Overview

Discover Prepare Explore Realize Deploy Run

Digital Prepare the Project Complete Fit-Gap Build and Test the Set Up Production
Management Plans Analysis Operations
Transformation Business Solution Environment
Strategy and Benefit
Roadmap Identify Gaps and Build Realization
Kick-Off Meeting Data Migration End-User Training
Product Backlog
Enhancements
Implementation Go-Live and
Strategy Resource Onboard Adaptation Activities
Hypercare
Bug Fixes
Impact Analysis Lessons Learned and
Start the Project Operation Planning Optimization
Project Closure

QG QG QG QG QG

Contracting End of
Contract
Customer
Customer
Project Team
Partner

Figure 1.9 SAP Activate Phases and Corresponding Activities

Workstreams

Workstreams (see Table 1.2) are collections of related deliverables that span the
phases. They are attributes assigned to a deliverable and the related tasks. A deliv-
erable must be a part of a workstream that is delivered at a predefined phase of the
project. For example, fit-gap analysis is a part of the application design and config-
uration workstream, which should be delivered during the explore phase of the
project. shows the different workstreams and what they consist of.

Workstream Description
Project management Covers all aspects of the initiation, planning, executing, monitor-
ing and controlling, and project closure
Application: Design Covers all aspects within the scope of work, starting from scope
and configuration validation, fit-gap analysis (solution validation and delta design),
configuration, unit testing (except custom development), and
customer reviews at the end of each sprint
Testing Covers all aspects of testing the solution, including test cases,
test strategy, test planning, and different types of testing based
on the need (e.g., regression testing, performance testing, pene-
tration testing, user acceptance testing, etc.)
Integration Covers all aspects of integration, including integration require-
ments, related documentation, approach, planning, and setting
up the middleware between the solution and the third-party sys-
tem

Table 1.2 Workstreams and Their Descriptions

47
48 Chapter 1 SAP Activate Overview 1 SAP Activate Overview

Workstream Description
Solution adoption Key workstream for user’s adaptability of the solution across the
organization and includes OCM, training management, and
value management
Customer team Focuses on the project team and ensures the project team readi-
enablement ness to prepare the product backlog effectively
Analytics Covers the analytics portion of the SAP S/4HANA implementa-
tion
Extensibility Covers the design, development, testing, deployment, and inte-
gration of custom code
Data management Covers all tasks/activities related to the data migration, such as
discovery, planning, mapping, cleansing, and migration of the
legacy data, as well as cutover planning/execution and hyper-
care support
Technical architecture Covers the solution landscape, technical architectural require-
and infrastructure ments, organizational policies, and conformance related to secu-
rity and its setup, operations, standardization, and processes
Operations and support Covers all aspects of transitioning the project to operation,
including help desk processes, change management processes,
service-level agreement (SLA) management, incident manage-
ment, problem management, and user-related operations and
processes

Table 1.2 Workstreams and Their Descriptions (Cont.)

There are four workstream states: planning, preparation, execution, and opera-
tions preparation.

Deliverables, Tasks, and Artifacts

Here’s a final note on a few key terms at work within the SAP Activate methodol-
ogy:
Deliverables
A deliverable is an outcome that is delivered during the course of the project.
Several deliverables are included within a workstream.
Tasks
A task is work to be performed. The outcome of a set of related tasks is a deliver-
able.
Artifacts
An artifact is the information or the document created during the process of
implementation or conversion; examples are project plan, status report, inter-
nal estimation sheet, and so on. Figure 1.10 shows how an artifact is created by
completing the deliverable or carrying out the given activity.

48
Important Terminology Chapter
1 SAP Activate 1 49
Overview

Project Activities/Tasks

Outputs
Inputs

Results/Information Assets/Artifacts

Figure 1.10 Artifacts

These key components can be summarized as shown in Figure 1.11.

Workstreams Deliverables and tasks

The activities are further Project outcomes should be obtained
grouped into 11 different by executing project activities in the
workstreams. most efficient way.
Phases
Deliverables
There are 6 phases, which are Workstreams and Tasks Artifacts
logical groupings of activities Inputs in the form of
that help the project team to documents or information
move from setup, system study, provided to the activities.
design, configuration, testing,
and deployment of the new
business process. Artifacts
Phases
Methodology

Figure 1.11 Summary of the Four Components

1.3 Important Terminology

For this exam objective, you’re expected to understand the following terms:
Fit-gap analysis
This analysis is performed to evaluate the fit of SAP Best Practices with the cli-
ent’s requirements for SAP S/4HANA implementations, find the gaps, finalize
the delta design, and build the product backlog.
Fit-to-standard analysis
This variant of fit-gap analysis is performed to evaluate the fit of SAP Best Prac-
tices with the client’s requirements for SAP S/4HANA Cloud.

49
50 Chapter 1 SAP Activate Overview 1 SAP Activate Overview

Guided configuration
The second pillar of the SAP Activate methodology provides accelerators, tools,
techniques, playbooks, and many other assets to help the project team bridge
the gap between SAP Best Practices and the client’s requirements.
One methodology
The SAP Activate methodology is applicable both for cloud deployments and
on-premise implementations.

1.4 Practice Questions

These practice questions will help you evaluate your understanding of the topics
covered in this chapter. The questions shown are similar in nature to those found
on the certification examination. Although none of these questions will be found
on the exam itself, they will allow you to review your knowledge of the subject.
Select the correct answers, and then check the completeness of your answers in
the “Practice Question Answers and Explanations” section. Remember that on the
exam, you must select all correct answers and only correct answers to receive
credit for the question.

1. What are the phases and correct order of the SAP Activate methodology?

A. Prepare, explore, realize, deploy, run

B. Prepare, explore, realize, deploy
C. Discover, prepare, explore, realize, deploy, run
D. Prepare, explore, realize, deploy

2. Which of the following are pillars of the SAP Activate methodology? (There are
two correct answers.)

A. SAP Best Practices

B. Supervisory configuration
C. Global methodology
D. Self-service configuration
E. One methodology

3. You’re a seasoned project manager and have sound knowledge of the SAP
Activate methodology. Your organization just hired an exceptional FICO
resource who wants to transition into SAP project management. Although
this resource has full support from your supervisor, at times, they annoy you

50
Practice1Questions Chapter
SAP Activate 1 51
Overview

by asking questions when you’re in the middle of some critical work. You’re
meeting with a client project manager to explain the cloud trial deployment.
The FICO resource, in front of the client project manager, asked you to explain
the resource assignment. How would you handle the situation?

A. You explain to them that the two of you can talk later in the evening.
B. You ignore them.
C. You explain that you can assign the resources in the current phase because
the contract is already signed.
D. You explain that currently you’re in the discover phase and can assign
resources only in the prepare phase.
E. You explain that you’ve completed the prepare phase and all the resources
are already assigned.

4. Match column A (taxonomy) with column B (example) in Table 1.3.

Column A (Taxonomy) Column B (Example)

Deliverable Run
Phase Cutover plan
Task Analytics
Workstream Schedule delta design session

Table 1.3 Question 4

5. Which of the following are correct about SAP Activate phases? (There are two
correct answers.)

A. Project management is an example of an SAP Activate workstream.

B. A phase can have multiple workstream attributes.
C. The project team must clear the quality gates to move to the next phase of
the project.
D. A deliverable can span multiple workstreams.
E. Run isn’t an example of an SAP Activate phase.

6. Your old friend and longtime colleague is new to the SAP Activate methodol-
ogy, although he has sound project management expertise. He is confident
that managing an SAP project using SAP Activate will be easy and doesn’t
require any training or learning exercises. You understand the challenge and
want to tell him the importance of learning and how different SAP Activate is

51
52 Chapter 1 SAP Activate Overview 1 SAP Activate Overview

from earlier methodologies. If you ask your friend to identify the correct state-
ment about the workstreams, which two options will he pick to demonstrate
sound SAP Activate knowledge? (There are two correct answers.)

A. Workstream is an attribute assigned to the deliverables and tasks.

B. There are five types of application-specific workstreams.
C. Each workstream will deliver exactly one deliverable.
D. Each workstream is applicable to all the project phases.
E. The project management workstream isn’t applicable during the run phase
of the project.

7. Which of the following is delivered as SAP Best Practices within the SAP Acti-
vate framework?

A. Only the core processes

B. Core process and some migration processes
C. Core, migration, and integration processes
D. Accelerators, SSCUI, expert configuration
E. None of the above

8. A pizza delivery company has 100+ franchise and owned business locations
across the continental United States. Last year, the company incurred huge
losses because their billing and interactive voice recognition systems (IVRS)
failed. They were unable to receive any orders online or by phone for three
days, which adversely affected their brand reputation. Although they were
able to receive in-person orders, the reconciliation of inventory and accounts
receivable was a nightmare. They are still recovering from the losses and have
a limited budget. Furthermore, they want to complete the implementation
before the start of the holiday season, which will be in four months. Which of
the following landscapes will you choose based on these requirements?

A. SAP S/4HANA Cloud seems to be a good fit because of the company’s exten-
sive and dispersed locations across the continental United States.
B. SAP S/4HANA Cloud doesn’t seem to be a good fit because of the company’s
extensive and dispersed locations across the continental United States. They
should go with an on-premise SAP S/4HANA deployment instead.
C. Assuming they will agree to SAP Best Practices, the SAP S/4HANA Cloud
option is best because it not only caters to their outage issue but also
addresses their low budget and tight implementation timeline.
D. Assuming they will agree to SAP Best Practices, the on-premise SAP S/4HANA
option is best because it not only caters to their outage issue but also
addresses their low budget and tight implementation timeline.
E. None of the above.
52
Practice1Questions Chapter
SAP Activate 1 53
Overview

9. You’re a seasoned project manager for SAP S/4HANA Cloud. One of the interns
asks you about the possibility of using the SAP S/4HANA Cloud version. Which
of the following options is correct?

A. You use the SAP Activate methodology for the SAP S/4HANA Cloud deploy-
ment, which is the same as that of earlier methodologies to implement SAP.
B. You can’t use system conversion to move the current SAP ERP 6.0 setup to
SAP S/4HANA Cloud because of numerous customizations.
C. You suggest that the SAP Activate methodology for the on-premise version
is much more robust yet flexible to accommodate a client’s requirements
compared to the SAP Activate methodology for the cloud deployments.
D. You appreciate the SAP vision of launching the SAP Activate methodology,
which will resolve all the issues related to the ASAP 8.0 methodology.
E. None of the above.

10. Which of the following is incorrect about a deliverable?

A. A deliverable is a result of coordinated tasks.

B. Work for a deliverable can start in one phase and complete in the next
phase.
C. Work for a deliverable can start in one workstream and complete in another
workstream.
D. Both A and B.
E. None of the above.

11. Which activity are you performing based on the following scenario?
You just completed a marathon meeting with a client that was attended by
several participants from both sides. However, Roger, who is the SME for the
procure-to-pay process, was unable to attend due to personal reasons. The cli-
ent project manager insisted on continuing with the meeting and suggested
that he has some preliminary knowledge of the procure-to-pay process, but he
is also doubling as the budgeting specialist. The group must complete the
analysis of at least one process today.

A. You’re performing fit-gap analysis for the procure-to-pay process.

B. You’re performing fit-gap analysis for the budgeting process.
C. The meeting was originally scheduled to complete the fit-gap analysis for
the budgeting process, and the team continued with the process.
D. The meeting was originally scheduled to complete the fit-gap analysis for
the budgeting process, but the team decided to complete the fit-gap analysis
for the procure-to-pay process.
E. It was a general status update meeting.

53
54 Chapter 1 SAP Activate Overview 1 SAP Activate Overview

12. What is wrong with the following defined setup?

You work as a project manager for an SAP S/4HANA Cloud implementation for
a retail outlet. The contract is already signed, and all the preparation work is
completed. You’ve submitted all planning documents to the client, which
they agreed upon. The gaps between SAP Best Practices and the client’s
requirements are identified. You have your functional specialists working
closely with the client’s SME of the related processes to build the delta design.
The client is very appreciative of the work performed by the team, but you
could feel the tension in the air when you met with the steering committee
yesterday.

A. There is no cloud option for the SAP S/4HANA retail industry solution.
B. There is no need for a dedicated project manager for such a small project.
C. The client must return the duly signed and formally accepted planning doc-
uments.
D. For cloud deployments, the team should not complete delta design.

13. Match column A (key characteristics) with column B (attributes) in Table 1.4.

Column A (Key Characteristics) Column B (Attributes)

Start with the best practices May carry delta design workshops
Cloud ready Modular, scalable, and agile
Validate solution May increase the implementation costs
Premium engagement ready Provides rich and ready-to-run business processes
Modular, scalable, and agile Quality built in
Quality built in For the on-premise version also, helps the project
team set up a sandbox environment

Table 1.4 Question 13

14. Which of the following statements is correct about workstreams?

A. There is no workstream to set up operations.

B. There is no workstream for knowledge transition to the client’s team.
C. The analytics workstream will give you the project analytics and is useful
for project reporting.
D. The OCM and end-user training-related workstream is active throughout
the core phases of the SAP Activate methodology.
E. The integration workstream will integrate the cloud-based functionalities
with the on-premise version for the selective data transition project.

54
Practice Question Answers and Explanations Chapter
1 SAP Activate 1 55
Overview

15. Which of the following is true about SAP S/4HANA guided configuration?

A. It’s equivalent to IMG for the SAP Activate methodology.

B. The project team can complete the solution configuration.
C. This help tool is available for functional consultants and can be downloaded
from the SAP website after procuring the SAP S/4HANA licenses.
D. B and C.
E. None of the above.

1.5 Practice Question Answers and Explanations

1. Correct answer: C
There are six phases of SAP Activate methodology: discover, prepare, explore,
realize, deploy, and run. Out of these, four phases are the core (or project) phase:
prepare, explore, realize, and deploy. Most of the sales activity happens during
the discover phase, and support activities are carried out during the run phase
of the project.
2. Correct answers: A, E
The three pillars of SAP Activate methodology are SAP Best Practices, guided
configuration, and one methodology. Self-service configuration is a part of
guided configuration, and there is nothing named supervisory configuration
or global methodology.
3. Correct answer: D
This lengthy question is loaded with so much information to distract the can-
didate. What it’s simply asking is the phase in which the resource assignment
will happen. The resources are assigned during the prepare phase of the project.
In addition, because you’re working with the client’s project manager on a
cloud trial deployment means you’re in the discover phase of the project.
4. Correct answers: See Table 1.5.

Column A (Taxonomy) Column B (Example) Explanation

Deliverable Cutover plan The cutover plan deliverable is completed
during the realize phase and executed
during the deploy phase of the project.
Phase Run The six phases of SAP Activate are discover,
prepare, explore, realize, deploy, and run.
Task Schedule delta As part of fit-gap analysis, the project team
design session completes the delta design workshop.
Workstream Analytics Analytics is a workstream specific to
SAP S/4HANA analytics.

Table 1.5 Answers for Question 4

55
56 Chapter 1 SAP Activate Overview 1 SAP Activate Overview

5. Correct answers: B, C
The question is asking specifically about SAP Activate phases and not work-
streams. Although project management is one of the 11 workstreams of SAP
Activate, option A, though correct, isn’t the right choice for the given question.
Option B is correct because a phase can have activities related to multiple work-
streams. For example, during the realize phase, the workstreams may include
activities related to project management, technical architecture and infrastruc-
ture, data migration, and more. Option C states that the project team must clear
the quality gates to move to the next phase of the project, referring to a meth-
odology with quality built in, which is the sixth characteristic of SAP Activate.
Options D and E are incorrect.
6. Correct answers: A, B
Option A is correct because a workstream is defined as an attribute to delivera-
bles and tasks. Options C and D are incorrect, as there can be multiple delivera-
bles in a workstream, and not all workstreams can span all the phases of the
project. For example, operations and support starts during the explore phase of
the project. Option E is also incorrect because the project management work-
stream, from an SAP Activate perspective, is not applicable in the run phase.
However, per the Project Management Institute (PMI), operations and service
delivery, continuous improvements, optimizations, and the management of
enhancements will continue throughout the application lifecycle. Option B is
correct; the five application-specific workstreams are application design and
configuration, testing, integration, solution adoption, and customer team
enablement.
7. Correct answer: C
SAP Best Practices delivers the rich and ready-to-deploy processes for the core
processes, along with migration and integration processes. Accelerators, self-
service configuration, expert configuration, and so on are part of guided con-
figuration.
8. Correct answer: C
On-premise isn’t the right option because of the budget and timeline con-
straints. Although option A correctly chooses the SAP S/4HANA Cloud deploy-
ment, the stated reason is incorrect. Option C is the correct choice with proper
assumption related to SAP Best Practices.
9. Correct answer: B
This question gives you limited information about the SAP S/4HANA Cloud
deployment, so you have to pay close attention to each of the options. Option
A is incorrect because SAP Activate is different from SAP Launch. Option C is
also incorrect because SAP Activate is one methodology for both cloud and on-
premise deployments. However, option D is misleading by stating that SAP
Activate will resolve all the issues related to the ASAP methodology.

56
Practice Question Answers and Explanations Chapter
1 SAP Activate 1 57
Overview

Tip
Look out for extreme words such as “all,” “never,” “forever,” and so on, as these choices
are often incorrect.

10. Correct answer: C

A deliverable is produced only by a set of coordinated tasks that can span multi-
ple phases. One such example is the project plan, which starts in the discover
phase and is completed in the prepare phase of the project. However, there are
no deliverables in SAP Activate that start in one workstream and complete in
another workstream. The project team may create a deliverable in one work-
stream, such as the cutover plan in the project management workstream, while
its execution is carried out in another workstream, which is data management.
11. Correct answer: B
This scenario can be from any meeting, but all the options except option E talk
about the fit-gap analysis. This isn’t a regular status meeting because the client
project manager stresses the need to complete at least one process.
From the fit-gap perspective, the process SME from the client side must be pres-
ent during the workshop. Roger, who is the procure-to-pay specialist from the
client side, is absent, so the team can’t complete the fit-gap analysis for the pro-
cure-to-pay process. However, the client project manager, who is also the bud-
geting specialist, is available, so the team can complete the fit-gap analysis for
the budgeting process.
12. Correct answer: D
Look for keywords in the questions. The planning document is already com-
pleted, and they have accepted it, meaning the project has moved from the pre-
pare phase to the explore phase. Options A and B are incorrect statements, in
general, while option C is incorrect in this context. In a cloud deployment, a
workshop is conducted to identify the gaps, but no delta design is conducted.
13. Correct answers: See Table 1.6.

Column A (Key Characteristics) Column B (Attributes) Explanation

Start with the best practices Provides rich and ready-to- SAP Best Practices provides
run business processes rich and ready-to-run busi-
ness processes.
Cloud ready For the on-premise version Cloud ready is applicable for
also, helps the project team the on-premise installation
set up a sandbox environ- as well.
ment
Validate solution May carry delta design It’s a fit-gap analysis.
workshops

Table 1.6 Answers for Question 13

57
58 Chapter 1 SAP Activate Overview 1 SAP Activate Overview

Column A (Key Characteristics) Column B (Attributes) Explanation

Premium engagement ready May increase the imple- SAP charges extra for these
mentation costs services, resulting in
increased cost.
Modular, scalable, and agile Modular, scalable, and agile One methodology is used.
Quality built in Quality built in Quality is built in.

Table 1.6 Answers for Question 13 (Cont.)

14. Correct answer: D

Operations and support is the workstream to set up operations, and knowledge
transition is carried out during the customer team enablement workstream.
The analytics workstream is for SAP S/4HANA analytics, and the integration
workstream is for third-party application integration. The OCM and end-user
training are part of solution adoption, which is carried throughout the SAP
Activate core phases.
15. Correct answer: B
Options A and C are incorrect. Guided configuration is neither equivalent to the
IMG nor is it a downloadable tool for functional consultants. It’s a built-in fea-
ture of the SAP Activate methodology that helps the project team complete the
solution configuration.

1.6 Takeaway
This chapter introduced you to the latest project management methodology, pre-
sented by SAP originally in 2015 with regular updates since then. We started with
the three pillars—SAP Best Practices, guided configuration, and one methodol-
ogy—of the SAP Activate methodology and discussed the importance of each.
You learned more about the methodology by looking into the six key characteris-
tics—start with best practices; cloud ready; validate solution; premium engage-
ment ready; modular, scalable, and agile; and quality built in—of the SAP Activate
methodology. We looked at how best practices and being cloud ready complement
each other to jump-start the project. We explored the validate solution concept by
understanding the complete fit-gap analysis process and how the other three char-
acteristics help the project team in fulfilling the client’s business objectives. We’ll
study the agile approach of SAP S/4HANA implementation project delivery in
Chapter 3 and Chapter 4.
Finally, we studied the taxonomy of SAP Activate and understood the concept of
project phases, workstreams, deliverables, and tasks.

58
1 Summary Chapter
SAP Activate 1 59
Overview

1.7 Summary
From this chapter, you now understand the basics of the SAP Activate methodol-
ogy and its principles. This is a foundation chapter in which you learned about SAP
Activate’s three pillars, key characteristics, and taxonomy. We dug deep into the
fit-gap analysis and understood its usages across the multiple transition road-
maps.
In the next chapter, you’ll build on the basic knowledge gained in this chapter and
learn more about the three pillars, including accessing SAP Best Practices, tools for
the project team, and the methodology itself.

59
Aditya Lal, Jeyaganesh Viswanathan

SAP Activate
Project Management
Certification Guide
Certified Associate Exam

■ Learn about the SAP Activate cer-

tification test structure and how to
prepare
■ Review the key topics covered in
each portion of your exam
■ Test your knowledge with practice
questions and answers

www.sap-press.com/6032

We hope you have enjoyed this reading sample. You may

recommend or pass it on to others, but only in its entirety,
including all pages. This reading sample and all its parts
are protected by copyright law. All usage and exploitation
rights are reserved by the author and the publisher.

Aditya Lal is an SAP practice and transformation director. He has more than 24
years of experience with managing large and complex projects. Jeyaganesh
Viswanathan is an IT lead at Zoetis with more than 20 years of experience with
SAP solution design, implementation, support, and research.

ISBN 978-1-4932-2676-4 • 397 pages • 02/2025

E-book: $74.99 • Print book: $79.95 • Bundle: $89.99