The Roadmap Viewer provides you with an easy-to-navigate way to access SAP Activate methodology guidance for your specific solution.
Or, if solution-specific roadmap isn’t available, you can use the generic SAP Activate methodology for the cloud or on-premise solution.
The Roadmap Viewer entry screen presents you with a few tiles that help you understand the role and functionality of the tool, as shown in the figure below. The content behind these tiles helps first time users explore the key functionality of the Roadmap Viewer and learn how to use it most efficiently. The information includes an explanation of the content provided in the Roadmap Viewer in the 1. Overview tile, navigational instruction with short video showing how to get around the tool in the 2. How to Use tile, and the 3. Learn More tile offers a list of additional resources and links. The 4. SAP Cloud ALM tile teaches how to access and use SAP Cloud ALM. You can click the Explore All Roadmaps button to navigate to a list of available SAP Activate methodology roadmaps.
The list is grouped into following categories, as shown in the below figure:
- Cloud Specific Methodology
- On-Premise Specific Methodology
- Upgrade Methodology
- General Methodology
You can click on the star in front of one or more methodology roadmaps to favorite specific instances of SAP Activate. Once they are favorited, the tool will show them automatically on the home page when you enter the Roadmap Viewer tool. You can arrange the tiles on the home page in any sequence by simply dragging the tiles to the desired spots. You can open a methodology roadmap either directly from the categorized list of from the home page if you select a favorite roadmap; simply click on the tile on the home page or click on the name of the roadmap.
After you pick a specific roadmap and open it, the screen will show the roadmap overview information that provides the description of the roadmap's purpose, the solution supported by the roadmap, and an overview of the approach and key deliverables in each phase, as shown in the next figure. This page offers additional details as well, including the following:
- A link to the release blog that provides information about the latest updates to the methodology content
- A link to the overview presentation that helps you understand the overall flow of the methodology for your selected implementation roadmap
- Additional links to additional important assets that are available to the users of this roadmap
After reviewing the roadmap Overview section, you should navigate to the work breakdown structure (WBS) of the methodology to access all the details of the methodology content. In the Content tab, you can then browse the methodology hierarchy by phases and access specific descriptions and accelerators attached to the deliverables or tasks in the methodology hierarchy, as shown below.
You can either click on a specific deliverable to see its description and associated accelerators or expand the deliverable to show the tasks that are contributing to completion of that deliverable. Use the > sign on the left side of the deliverable to expand it and see the tasks, as shown below. You can also use the up-and down-pointing arrows on the top right of the screen to expand all or collapse all items in the list. This way, you can quickly expand or collapse the entire methodology hierarchy with just one click.
In addition, you can filter the hierarchy by selecting specific (or multiple) phases, workstreams, assigned products, or additional roadmap-specific tags available in the More section; you will find these items on the left side of the screen.
If you're looking for a specific accelerator you need at the moment, you can navigate directly to the complete list of accelerators assigned to the roadmaps by clicking on the Accelerators tab at the top of the screen. This will bring you to a page with all accelerators sorted by phase. This page provides similar navigation and filtering capabilities as those for the WBS navigation, shown previously. You can use these filters to narrow the search for an accelerator by phase and workstream to locate the specific accelerator or template you need.
In addition, on the Overview page, Content page, or the Accelerators page, you can download the project WBS using the down-arrow icon in the top right. The WBS can be used in your preferred project scheduling tool or can be directly loaded into the SAP Solution Manager tool.
After you navigate to the deliverable or task description, you'll learn about its purpose/process, and the Roadmap Viewer will provide access to accelerators and additional web links that support you in completing the task or deliverable. The figure below provides an example of one task from the SAP Activate Methodology for SAP S/4HANA Cloud and shows the structure of the task description and additional accelerators and links at the bottom of the description.
You can also make favorites of your frequently used tasks and deliverables by clicking the star icon in the top-right corner of the task description in the deliverable. This information can later be used for filtering the content in the WBS.
When you want to navigate between tasks under the same deliverable, you can use the <> arrows at the top right of the screen to navigate back and forth in the list of tasks without needing to exit the task. In addition, you can use the breadcrumb links at the top-left side of the screen to navigate back up to the deliverable, the phase, or the list of all deliverables and tasks (note that the filters you select on the complete task list are persistent throughout all navigation).
The Roadmap Viewer offers additional capabilities that help you locate specific assets, such as accelerator, tasks, or deliverables, very quickly. You can use the Search functionality (magnifying glass icon) at the top right of every screen to either search all roadmaps in the Roadmap Viewer or search for a specific roadmap or group of roadmaps.
Learn more about agile project delivery for SAP in this free chapter excerpt.
Also explore five golden rules for implementing SAP S/4HANA with SAP Activate here.
Editor’s note: This post has been adapted from a section of the book SAP Activate: Project Management for SAP S/4HANA by Sven Denecken, Jan Musil, and Srivatsan Santhanam.
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