SAP Implementation For Yes Chemist Pty Ltd

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The purpose of this document is to propose a detailed project plan discussing the overall SAP implementation project for Yes Chemist Pty Ltd. This project plan enlists in detail the outline of the proposed set of tasks, deliverables, milestones, and phases needed to complete the project, as mentioned previously in the project charter. This document gives a complete understanding of the project scope, the need, and the cost along with the key reports and matrixes on risk analysis, resources, and communication for a better understanding of the overall implementation. Lastly, this project plan also includes a complete schedule of tasks, deliverables, milestones, and phases needed in order to complete the project, accompanied by a Gantt chart file separately for thorough understanding of the overall time requirement and precedents of each task and process for a successful implementation (PDA, 2007).

The objective of the project is to implement SAP system for business growth in the Yes Chemist Pty Ltd such that the strategic objectives of the organization are met. In order to do that it is important the requirements for the project deliverables are considerably explored and the scope of the project is made clear such that all the deliverables are sufficiently met. While implementing IT projects, there have been several cases of failure that result from certain risk factors. However, if these risks known in advance and appropriate steps are taken then the risk can either be avoided or the damage can be minimized. Thus, this project plan has been made that explores the scope of the project in detail as well as presents a risk analysis of the project. Major milestones and tasks have been identified to allow project monitoring against the plan so that project manager can assure that all the tasks defined in the plan are completed on time (BIS, 2010).

The aim of the project is to improve the business growth of Yes Chemist Pty Ltd by replacing their current accounting, inventory, and HR management systems with more integrated system. To achieve that VUISC has been hired to implement the SAP S/4HANA for SAP Business All-in-One for the business. This update of the management system will address the operational weaknesses revealed in the business operational review of January 2017. The SAP implementation will ensure one platform is used throughout the enterprise by integrating all the major departments of the business (Bright Hub Media, 2015).

Project Name	SAP Implementation
Project Sponsor	Russel Bray	Project Manager	Bariha Naqvi
Start Date	27th July 2017	Expected End Date	26th March 2018
Scope Description	In Scope: ·         Delivery and installation of suitable hardware ·         Installation & configuration of SAP system ·         Testing of the new system ·         End user training to the head office staff and inter-state store pharmacists ·         Creating user acceptance testing team to facilitate sign-off process Out of Scope: ·         Training sales or other employees other than key super users – per module. ·         Any activity regarding 2nd phase – CRM implementation
Project Deliverables	·         Completion of requirement sessions with client SMEs ·         Completion of server room modifications ·         Completion of server installation ·         Completion of SAP system installation ·         Completion of data conversion ·         Completion of documentation ·         Completion of testing ·         Completion of training & sign off
Quality Standards	The formal sign-off will not happen for the application to go live until: ·         Hardware & software installation is successfully completed ·         Completion of successful data conversion ·         Completion of all required training ·         Completion of user acceptance testing (PMI Standards Committee., 2015)
Constraints	Project has some constraints including: ·         The project is allotted a maximum budget of $5,012,085 ·         The project needs to be completed within 8 months after it begins ·         The available human resources are fixed for the project and no additional resources can be acquired  by the company directly
Assumptions	The implementation project would be executed with certain assumptions like: ·         The available funds are sufficient for the completion of all the tasks on the project include emergency ask unless a major deviation is expected in the project scope ·         The consultant chosen for the SAP implementation has sufficient experience of handling similar projects in past and is efficient in the work (PMI, 2015)

Project Details

The project has been planned with an aim to improve the business processes of Yes Chemist Pty ltd by replacing legacy systems with SAP S/4HANA All-in-One solution. The solution would have the modules for managing accounting, inventory management, and human resource systems. It would also include reporting modules for finance, human resource, procurement, and analytics systems of the company. Success would be achieved if the implementation would improve the control of the company management over the quality of its services and allow staff to follow up with customers, understand their expectations and fulfil them efficiently. The result would improve services in terms of speed, information availability, and inventory management. This could bring significant benefits to the organization as it would enhance the productivity of staff and bring in satisfaction n customers. These benefits would reciprocate into increase in sales as well as savings for the company achieve with reduction of paper work and other administrative tasks that would be automated and would take less time to complete. The benefits that this project would bring to the company are listed in the table below:

Current Status	Status after SAP implementation
Staff is using a manual excel based database in which inventory and sales is recorded. There is no additional analytics capabilities and the staff has to analyse the manually when needed for reports.	A large amount of data can be recorded in the database which also provides analytics capabilities allowing staff to generate reports automatically without manual analysis which is easy, more effective, and less time consuming than earlier method
When a customer asks about the inventory to the staff or the manage wants to know the operational status, the staff has to search for required data manually and in case the data is not updated, a wrong status of availability may get reported	With the analytics capability, the application provides  a dashboard system which make it easy to access information both for customers and for the management reporting
Accounting is manual and difficult to handle for the accounting staff. The staff also commits some errors due to work pressures at times	Using the accounting module, the calculations, invoicing and payment updates would be made automatic such that there a no human errors in accounting and the process would become fast and real time
The data of the employees and their work related communication is managed over emails or through paper work and face to face communication. This makes the work tedious for the administrative staff	With HR module implemented, employment processes like assigning tasks, disbursing compensation, approving leaves, etc. Can be handled through the system
The procurement process is manual and so is the planning for procurement which is time consuming and hectic for staff	With reporting on procurement and inventory, the staff would be easily able to get the visibility on the items that need to be replenished such that orders can be placed to suppliers faster without complete exhausting of the inventory. This would increase the availability of items in the store.
Managing accounts and finance is a manual process and reporting is done once in a month	With implementation of the accounting module, the reporting can be made fast and thus, financial reporting can be done anytime with least efforts
The staff at the reception does not always have the details of the inventory which has to be manually checked when the customer places a request	With  inventory management module, a real time visibility into the inventory system would be possible which would allow the staff to immediately know the inventory status and give the information to the customers
Because most processes are manual, there are errors seen in accounting and inventory tracking	Human errors would be significantly reduced with most processes made automated or simpler to handle (Pearson, 2000).

• Because of implementation of SAP which is a complex technology solution, the company would require to train their staff on usage. This can be time consuming as well as would incur opportunity costs as the staff would not be able to do their regular work at the time of training.
• Another drawback is that because of the complications involved, employees who are used to legacy systems would resist the implementation of new technology and thus, may not accept it easily.
• Another challenge is that the implementation of the technology is a significant cost to the company but does not guarantee any direct returns. If the company is unable improve its sales or save enough, the investment would not be justified.
• The technology being exposed to internet can also risk cyber security threats such as data breach, data modification, and hacking in which case, the company risks losing its customer data and even earnings
• The technology is new to the company and thus, users can face challenges in adoption and learning in which case, they may not be able to use it very effectively(SPSU, 2015).

The project is divided into 9 phases including the following (Graphiq Inc., 2017):

Initiation: In this stage, requirements of the IT project would be explored by taking inputs from the stakeholders through discussions.

Infrastructure development: In this phase the infrastructure for the SAP system implementation would be developed including set up of the server room, cables installation and hardware purchase and installation

Equipment Testing: All the hardware and equipments installed would be tested and server would be installed along with the SAP configuration and installation.

Integration and Testing: The system would be integrated with existing system and then testing would follow including system testing, integration testing, regression testing, and security testing. The testing results would be defect report which would be submitted to the technical officer for correction.

Cloud hosting: Once the system is both implemented and tested, a cloud solution would be purchased and the SAP solution would be shifted to the cloud (Lacaster University, 2006).

Monitoring & Control: Any change requests would be accommodate in this stage such that the suggested changes are implemented for correction of defects. The performance of the system would be measured and reviewed against expected performance. This stage would also involve validation, verification and system audit.

Documentation and Training: Once all the system defects are corrected and it is performing as per expectation, the documentation would be done for the user to understand how the system can be used and training would be conducted for them. The feedback of the training would also be taken from users to ensure they understood the working of SAP system.

Scope Overview

Acceptance: At this point, the project would be completed and a sign off would take place after user acceptance testing.  The lessons learned from the project would be recorded and project closure report would be submitted by the project to the project sponsor.

Data Conversion: Once the project is completed, the legacy data has to be understood and migrated to the new SAP system through data extractor. In case there are defects found, they would be corrected and an analysis would be conducted post migration.

Table A: RACI Matrix

	Project Sponsor	Project Manager	Developer	Consultant	Finance Manager	Designer	Store Manager
Funding	RA	AC	I	CI	RAC	I	I
Initiation	R	RAC	I	CI	I	I	RAC
Infrastructure development	I	RAC	CI	CI	I	CI	CI
Testing	I	RAC	CI	CI	I	I	I
Procurement	I	RAC	CI	CI	I	I	RAC
Monitoring & Control	CI	RAC	I	I	RAC	I	RAC (FME, 2014)
Documentation	I	RAC	CI	I	I	CI	CI
Training	I	RAC	I	I	I	I	CI
Project closure	RC	RAC	I	I	I	I	CI
Data Migration	CI	CI	CI	I	I	I	I

R: Responsible; A: Accountable; C: Consult; I: Inform

The budget allotted for the project is $5,012,085 and most of this budget would be utilized in software implementation and integration. Every phase of the project is allotted a part of budget such that the project manager must ensure that individual budget components are not exceeded through monitoring and control of costs (WSDOT, 2015).

In case the budget is exceeded due to emergencies caused by inevitable events, a contingency budget of 10% would be used which is set aside in addition to the budget. Thus, the final approval would be taken for $5,513,293.

Any project can face risks that can affect the project outcomes in a negative way and if they are not taken care of, the project can face a failure. Thus, it is important to identify risks that can be caused on project and identify appropriate response strategy to manage the situation of risk. Risks can be avoided, transferred to other partner, or mitigated if they cannot be avoided. The response is decided on the basis of the probability of occurrence and impact on project outcomes and project quality. Risks that are less likely to occur and does not have any major impact on project can be avoided if their resolution efforts consumer time and money that cannot be justified (Team FME, 2014).

For this, a risk register is prepared which records risks, their probability of occurrence, impact, response strategy and ownership of the person who would resolve the issue. Risk register can help project team keep track of the issues as well as resolve them. It can be created at the beginning of the project learning lessons from past project and is updated after project begins as and when the project is exposed to risks.

Risk	Risk Category	Impact	Probability	Rating	Response Strategy	Owner
Budget overrun	Budgeting risks	Moderate	Moderate	4	Mitigate: Monitor project activities to ensure that individual components do not exceed the budget and in case, the budget is still exceeded, contingency funds may be used.	Finance Manager
Project delays	Time Risks	Moderate	High	6	Mitigate: Monitor project activities to ensure that individual components of projects are completed within given time but if there are delays caused then they have to handled and steps can be taken to make up for delays such that the final project delivery is not affected (Masons Thelen Reid LLP, 2006)	Project Manager
SAP Implementation failure	Implementation problems	High	Low	3	Avoid: Ensure that required hardware is procured which is compatible with SAP	IT manager Project Manager
Inability to access legacy data from SAP	Functional risks	Moderate	Low	2	Mitigate: Test the system and resolve the bugs causing problems	IT Manager Project Manager Developer
Insufficient resources for project execution	Resource issues	High	Moderate	6	Mitigate: If the human resources leave the project in between, new resources have to be hired (Office Timeline, LLC, 2016)	HR Manager Project Manager
Scope creep	Scope issues	High	High	9	Avoid: Involve project stakeholders while developing requirements	Project Manager
Inefficient design	Quality issues	High	High	9	Avoid: Get the requirements approved before the design specifications are finalized.	Quality Manager
Poor quality of software	Quality issues	High	Moderate	6	Avoid: Validate the requirements with stakeholders and users before beginning development	Quality Manager

It is important to have smooth communication happening between project team members and project stakeholders. Thus, it is important to have an effective plan for communication. A project communication matrix would help define the communication needs, modes of communication and the parties involved in communication.

Project communication matrix can be useful for the project manager as well as the team as it would organize the project communication and make it streamlined. I would also be useful in avoiding and resolving conflicts between teams.

Communication purpose	Sender	Receiver	Frequency	Mode
Approval documentation	Project manager	Project sponsor/Director	At the start of project	Meeting Email
Task allocation	Project manager	Project team	After approval of project plan	Email
Issues to be resolved on project	Project team	Project manager	As and when required	Email Meeting Call
Project progress report	Project Manager	Project Owner Stakeholders	Monthly	Meeting Email
Requirement gathering	Project Manager	Stakeholders	At the start of the project	Meeting
Project sign off	Project Manager	Project Owner	At the end of the project	Meeting
Testing of software	Developer	Project Manager Users	In the testing stage	Meeting Email
Recording lessons learned	Project team Project Manager	Project owner	In the stage of closure	Meeting (Caltrans, 2007)

This report presented the plan for the implementation of the SAP solution in a Chemist store. It included project scope, schedule, business case, resources, budget, risk register, and communication matrix. The budget allotted to the project is $5,513,293 including the contingency funds and the schedule of 8 months for implementation.

References

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Caltrans. (2007). Project Communication Handbook. Caltrans.

EPMA. (2017). Art of Microsoft Project Scheduling: Using Milestones and the DBS. Retrieved May 8, 2017, from https://blog.epmainc.com/art-microsoft-project-scheduling-using-milestones-and-dbs/

FME. (2014). Project Human Resources Management. FME.

Graphiq Inc. (2017, September 26). Microsoft Project. Retrieved from Software Insider: https://project-management.softwareinsider.com/l/3/Microsoft-Project

Lacaster University. (2006). Case Study of Successful Complex IT Projects. THE BRITISH COMPUTER SOCIETY .

Masons Thelen Reid LLP. (2006). Managing Payment Risks on International Construction Projects. Overseas Construction Association of Japan, Inc.

Office Timeline, LLC. (2016). IT Project Management. Retrieved May 8, 2017, from https://www.officetimeline.com/gantt-chart-template/it-project-management-download

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PMI Standards Committee. (2015). A guide to the project management body of knowledge. Project Managemeetn Institute.

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Team FME. (2014). Human Resource Management: Project Skill. FME.

WSDOT. (2015). Cost Estimating Manual for Projects . Washington State Department of Transportation