Table of Contents

| Top of page |
| Learning Objective |
| 1. Business blueprint |
| 2. Development requirements and procedures |
| 3. Risk management plan |
| Summary

The Business Blueprint Phase

Learning Objective
After completing this topic, you should be able to

recognize the activities involved in the business blueprint phase of SAP project
implementation

1. Business blueprint
Business blueprint is the second phase in an SAP implementation project that is based on the
Accelerated SAP (ASAP) roadmap.
In this phase, the requirements of the business are analyzed from the perspective of SAP R/3.
The requirements are documented to serve as a blueprint for the subsequent activities, such as
configuration, customization, and testing.
Here are the critical activities that are carried out in the business blueprint phase:

creating the business blueprint document

defining the development procedures, and

creating the risk management plan

The business blueprint document provides the details of the business requirements and defines
how the processes and the organizational structure of the business need to be represented in
SAP R/3.
A key tool that assists in the creation of the business blueprint document is the Questions and
Answers database (Q&Adb). The Q&Adb is a part of the ASAP solution that contains critical
questions that need to be addressed while creating the business blueprint.

Drill Down Home Page

The components of a business blueprint document are developed in a collaborative mode,
which involves three workshops.

Page 1 of 3: Organizational structure workshop

The organizational structure workshop is conducted to discuss how the organizational structure
of the company needs to be represented in SAP R/3.

Page 2 of 3: Organizational structure workshop

During the workshop, the existing units of the company are mapped to the various
organizational structure units available in SAP R/3; for example client, company code, and
plant.

Page 3 of 3: Organizational structure workshop

As a result of this workshop, the proposed organizational structure for the company is
documented as a component of the business blueprint document.

Page 1 of 3: General requirements workshop

The general requirements workshop is conducted to define the standardization criteria for the
SAP implementation project.

Page 2 of 3: General requirements workshop

These are the key standardization criteria that are defined in the general requirements
workshop:

Enterprise standards are the key operational standards, such as the standard balance
sheets, for the business.

General settings are the settings, such as dates and currencies, that are used in the
day-to-day SAP R/3 transactions.

Master data stores information that is often needed to perform SAP transactions. For
example, the material master data stores the information related to the materials procured,
stored, produced, and sold by a business.

Page 3 of 3: General requirements workshop

As a result of the general requirements workshop, the enterprise standard requirements, the
general settings requirements, and the master data requirements are documented as
components of the business blueprint document.

Page 1 of 3: Business process workshop

The business process workshop focuses on identifying the business process requirements of
the company.
These requirements define how the business processes of the company would be represented
in SAP R/3.

Page 2 of 3: Business process workshop

The Q&Adb provides the Customer Input (CI) template and various questionnaires that help in
identifying the business process requirements.

Page 3 of 3: Business process workshop

The CI template and the questionnaires are completed during the business process workshop.
These completed documents form a part of the business blueprint document.
After the workshops are conducted, the business requirements documented in these workshops
are compared with the SAP standard functionality. This activity is called gap analysis.
Some of the business requirements may not be fulfilled by standard SAP functionality; these are
identified as gaps. The development requirements to fill these gaps are documented during the
gap analysis.
Here are some of the important development requirements that are documented during the gap
analysis.

Conversion requirements

The conversion requirements identify the requirements for converting data available
in existing legacy systems to data that can be used by SAP.

Interface requirements

The interface requirements identify the interfaces that are not included in SAP
standard interfaces, but are required to exchange data with external systems.

Reports requirements

The reports requirements identify the reporting requirements of the company that are
not fulfilled by the standard SAP reports.

Workflow requirements

The workflow requirements identify the business processes that need to be

automated to integrate tasks across departments, applications, and system
boundaries.

The development requirements found in the gap analysis form a component of the business
blueprint document.
After the gap analysis is complete, various components for the business blueprint document are
put together.
Next you need to extract the most essential business requirements in the business blueprint
document to create the baseline scope for the project.
The requirements that need to be put in the baseline scope depend on the complexity of the
implementation. The ASAP roadmap suggests that

the baseline scope should cover about 80% of the business requirements, and

implementing this scope should set up all the processes of the business in SAP R/3

Question
Match each requirement of the business blueprint document with the workshop or
activity where you determine it.
Some targets will be used more than once.
Options:
A. Conversion requirements

B. Customer Input template

C. Enterprise standards
D. Interface requirements
E. Master data
F. The client, company code, and plant
Targets:
1. Business process workshop
2. Gap analysis
3. General requirements workshop
4. Organizational structure workshop

Answer
The Customer Input template is completed in the business process workshop.
The conversion requirements and the interface requirements are completed in the
gap analysis.
The enterprise standards and master data are completed in the general
requirements workshop.
As a result of the organizational structure workshop, the business blueprint
document records the company's proposed organizational structure, including the
client, company code, and plant.
Correct answer(s):
Target 1 = Option B
Target 2 = Option A, Option D
Target 3 = Option C, Option E

Target 4 = Option F

2. Development requirements and procedures

After the business blueprint document is ready, the development requirements included in the
document are reviewed.
The review of the development requirements, such as reports requirements and conversion
requirements, is needed to ensure that

each requirement is complete and does not leave out any development task, and

each requirement is designed so that it can be treated as a single deliverable in the

project plan

If any issues are found in the review, they are addressed at this stage.
Once the requirements are finalized, the development procedures are laid out.
The development procedures are a collection of various components including standards and
processes that the project team needs to define. Here are some of these key components:

development tasks

Development tasks define all the tasks that will be treated as deliverables in the
project's work plan.

approval process

Approval process defines the process that will be used to review and approve the
project deliverables.

change procedure

Change procedure defines the procedure that will be followed if there is a change
required in the development designs after they are approved.

development standards, and

Development standards define the standards to be followed while in development.

These include naming conventions, styles for user interface layout, and file usage
standards.

documentation

Documentation defines the types of documents that will be required from the
developers, such as requirement documents and technical specification documents.

After the development requirements and procedures are ready, the development effort analysis
is carried out.
The development effort for each deliverable in the project is estimated and then these are
compiled as a preliminary project plan.
If there is any effort required to extract, migrate, and convert data from legacy systems, it is also
estimated at this stage.
The development requirements are also analyzed to identify the skills required by the
development team members.
Based on this analysis, the project team structure is decided and team members are assigned.
The training required for the team members is also identified and planned.

Question
Which components are included in the development procedures?
Options:
1. Approval process
2. Change procedure
3. Development standards

4. General settings
5. Reports requirements

Answer
Option 1: Correct. The approval process defines the process that will be used to
review and approve the project deliverables.
Option 2: Correct. The change procedure defines the procedure that will be followed
if there is a change required in the development designs after they are approved.
Option 3: Correct. The development standards define the standards to be followed
during development. These include naming conventions, user interface layout styles,
and file usage standards.
Option 4: Incorrect. General settings are a part of the business blueprint document.
These are the settings like dates and currencies that are used in day-to-day SAP R/3
activities.
Option 5: Incorrect. Reports requirements are a part of the business blueprint
document. These are the reporting requirements of the company that are not fulfilled
by the standard SAP reports.
Correct answer(s):
1. Approval process
2. Change procedure
3. Development standards

3. Risk management plan

Before the implementation project moves from the business blueprint phase to the realization
phase, it is important that the potential risks for the project are identified and a risk management
plan is put in place.
SAP provides you with an on-site service called the SAP Feasibility Check that helps you
assess the functional risks and technical feasibility of the business blueprint.
Based on the findings of the Feasibility Check, SAP helps you define a risk management plan
for the project.

Here are the activities involved in the SAP Feasibility Check that help in defining a typical risk
management plan:

mapping the business processes, and

The business processes defined in the business blueprint document are mapped with
SAP standard functionality and development requirements to identify any gaps in
requirements, and identify critical integration requirements.
The strategies to deal with the identified gaps and integration requirements are
documented in the risk management plan.

determining the business volume

Determining the expected business volume handled by the suggested SAP solution
helps to identify any sizing, performance, or availability risks facing the solution.
The strategies to deal with these risks are documented in the risk management plan.

After the risk management plan is in place, the system landscape required to begin the SAP
implementation is set up. This includes setting up the development environment, the testing
environment, and the training environment.
Once the system environment for the implementation project is ready, the project can move to
the next phase.

Question
Which activities are involved in creating a risk management plan?
Options:
1. Defining the conversion requirements
2. Defining the change procedure
3. Determining the business volume

4. Mapping the business processes

Answer
Option 1: Incorrect. The conversion requirements are defined while creating the
business blueprint document, not the risk management plan.
Option 2: Incorrect. The change procedure is defined as a part of the development
procedures, not while creating the risk management plan.
Option 3: Correct. While creating the risk management plan, the business volume
handled by the suggested SAP solution is determined to identify any sizing,
performance, or availability risks facing the solution.
Option 4: Correct. While creating the risk management plan, the business
processes defined in the business blueprint are mapped with SAP standard
functionality and development requirements. This is needed to identify any gaps in
requirements.
Correct answer(s):
3. Determining the business volume
4. Mapping the business processes

Summary
The business blueprint phase is used to analyze the requirements of the business from the
perspective of SAP R/3.
The first step in this phase is creating the business blueprint document. This document captures
the business requirements and defines the processes and the organizational structure that need
to be represented in SAP R/3.
After the business blueprint document is ready, the development requirements included in the
document are reviewed. Once the requirements are finalized, the development procedures are
laid out.
Before the project moves to the next phase, a risk management plan for the project is created
and the system environment needed for the project is set up.

Supplement
Selecting the link title opens the resource in a new browser window.

Job Aid

Access the job aid ASAP Phase 2: The Business BluePrint phase to read more
about the basic tasks of this phase.
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