DSAG Annual Conference: blueworks and BKW present implementation of Focused Build
In the second half of 2018, blueworks successfully implemented SAP Focused Build at the BKW Group and upgraded the Application Lifecycle Management solution to SAP Solution Manager 7.2. The result is a reduction in costs and a significant simplification of the relevant processes, which has improved efficiency across all systems.
In a joint field report at the annual congress of the German SAP user group, DSAG, Marcel Schori from the BKW Group and Stefan Thomann from blueworks presented an overview of the details.
As an international energy and infrastructure company, the BKW Group employs over 7,000 people at locations in Switzerland and abroad. The company plans, builds and operates infrastructure for power generation and supply, and the company’s diverse portfolio requires solutions that offer the required capacity and reliability.
The successful implementation of SAP Focused Build by blueworks in the BKW Group’s system landscape was therefore an enormous challenge.
Upgrade to Solution Manager 7.2 a good opportunity to introduce Focused Build
The BKW Group’s reasons for introducing Focused Build were a combination of necessity and new opportunities. As SAP Solution Manager 7.1 is approaching the end of its useful life and an upgrade to SolMan 7.2 is becoming increasingly unavoidable, the opportunity arose to carry out the upcoming change based on the focused build methodology.
The switch to a more modern Solution Manager was also necessary for practical reasons. The implementation of SAP Support Package Stacks (SPs) is a costly and time-consuming activity in the case of a complex and customized R2D solution such as that of BKW. In addition, the individual areas within the solution were not well integrated with each other.
An inventory confirmed the ongoing benefits of SAP Solution Manager for the BKW Group’s system landscape. As soon as the decision was made to continue, the experts from blueworks were involved.
The task: reduce costs, standardize, focus on user-friendliness and agile methods
The motivation for introducing Focused Build was not only to simplify the migration to Solution Manager 7.2, but also to have access to a range of features that could reduce costs and make applied solutions and processes more standardized and user-friendly. Last but not least, the system landscape was also prepared for agile project management.
In this use case, SAP Focused Build offered a reduction in operating and maintenance costs, optimized processes in the day-to-day business of the BKW Group, simplified application lifecycle management (ALM), faster training of new employees and simpler processing of older elements from SolMan 7.1.
However, Focused Build also improves other areas, starting with the dashboard and user-friendliness.
Experience with implementation
As with any project, reality always comes with a learning curve, and the implementation of Focused Build at the BKW Group is no exception. One of the lessons learned is that you should always allocate sufficient time to each project and involve the employees and colleagues affected by the change at an early stage.
Staff training is very important, and the requirements for solution documentation should also be defined at an early stage. Here it is advantageous to start with a fixed version so that a minimum of additional information is required.
As the SAP lead of the BKW Group confirmed at the DSAG Annual Congress in September 2019, the influence of Focused Build on the company’s day-to-day business should not be underestimated. ALM processes are simplified, operational processes are optimized and the time required to implement changes is shortened.
An additional important aspect was that the prioritization process has also become simpler: this process is now carried out almost exclusively in the system instead of using Excel lists and Word documents.
Six months implementation, three months optimization
The decision to implement Focused Build was made in August 2018, with the aim of having it available in January 2019. This has worked. It took six months to set up and upgrade to SAP Solution Manager 7.2. The following three months were used for optimization and to ensure that the modified systems were up to date.
Focused Build has been used consistently since its launch in January of this year. It was used for both large-scale projects and smaller jobs. A total of 336 requirements, 952 work packages and 1,014 work items were processed.
