ASAP stands for “Accelerated SAP”. SAP AG provides a core set of methodology for SAP implementation which is called ASAP roadmap. It has 5 phases;
- Project Preparation
- Business Blue Prints
- Realization
- Final Preparation
- Go Live and Support
Project preparation phase provides initial planning and setting up the project plan, project governance and project schedule. This is the first step to your ASAP implementation project.
Business blue print is a detailed document prepared by the consultants with all the customers’ requirement in it. In this phase of ASAP you define the customer’s requirement by understanding the business process and document it in business blue prints. Blue print preparation has two phases i.e. “AS IS study” and “TO BE”. In as is study you study the present system that company is following and based on which you will be implementing various modules. In “to be study” you mention how different modules in the present business processes will be mapped in SAP. This blue print document will be signed by both process owners and consultant based on which implementation will be carried on.
In Realization phase you configure based on the business blue prints prepared. You configure in two phase 1) baseline configuration 2) final configuration
In final preparation phase of ASAP you prepare for go live phase. You do all kind of testing, carry on user training and manage the system for go live.
In the final step of ASAP you watch the system’s technical infrastructure and make the production system live to end user.
Baseline and Final Configuration in ASAP
In realization phase of ASAP we configure it in two steps;
- Baseline configuration
- Final Configuration
Baseline configuration is done to match the present requirement of the business with SAP. You do all kind of configuration and try to get the result that is required by business. This configuration will not over as long as business is not getting their desired result out of it.
Once the configuration is finalized and all the business requirements are met, you move to the final configuration phase. In final configuration you do the configuration in development box and move it to other boxes for testing and end user’s use.