The Roadmap Viewer provides you with an easy-to-navigate way to access SAP Activate methodology guidance for your specific solution.
You can access the full content of the SAP Activate methodology in the SAP Activate Roadmap Viewer via https://go.support.sap.com/roadmapviewer/. The SAP Activate Roadmap Viewer provides easy-to-navigate access to SAP Activate methodology guidance for your specific SAP solution—or, if a solution-specific roadmap isn’t available, you can use the generic SAP Activate methodology for the cloud or on-premise solution to get guidance aligned with your deployment approach. (Note that we’ll refer to SAP Activate Roadmap Viewer in the rest of this section as Roadmap Viewer.)
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.
On the bottom of the screen in the Highlights section, you can quickly access highlighted methodology content for topics such as GROW with SAP, RISE with SAP, and SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP). Next, you can click the blue Explore All Roadmaps button to navigate to a list of available SAP Activate methodology roadmaps.
The list is grouped into following categories:
- Cloud Specific Methodology
- On-Premise Specific Methodology
- Upgrade Methodology
- General Methodology
Each grouping provides access to individual methodology roadmaps for specific solutions or products. The number in brackets next to the title indicates the number of methodology roadmaps in each category. SAP continues to deliver new content, and in between publishing the previous edition of this book and writing the current edition, there are 10 new methodology roadmaps available to users of the Roadmap Viewer.
You can click on the star symbol in front of one or more methodology roadmaps to make them as 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 favorited 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 or 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 notes that provide 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
- A release date and time stamp, so you know when the content was last published
- 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 in the next figure.
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 the completion of that deliverable. Use the > sign on the left side of the deliverable to expand it and see the tasks, as shown in the next figure. 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, b, assigned Product, roadmap-specific Tags, or project Roles. You’ll find these selection filters on the left side of the screen. By default, only the Phases list is shown, you’ll need to expand the other lists by selecting the > symbol to the left of each section. In general, we recommend using the filters when searching for content as in our experience, selecting two filters or, say, Phases and Workstreams, significantly reduces the number of shown tasks and makes the navigation a lot easier, even for experienced users.
After you navigate to the deliverable or task description, you’ll learn about its purpose and procedure to follow for the successful completion of the task. The Roadmap Viewer will provide access to accelerators and additional web links that support you in completing the task or deliverable. The next figure provides an example of one task from the SAP Activate methodology for SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition and shows the structure of the task description and additional Accelerator(s) and Web Pages 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 screen both on the task or 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 the navigation).
If you’re looking for a specific accelerator and don’t remember on which task it’s assigned, you can navigate directly to the complete list of accelerators assigned to the roadmap 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. The next figure shows the result of filtering the accelerators screen for the Explore phase, Application Design and Configuration workstream, and Business Process Expert role.
In addition, on the Overview page, Content page, or Accelerators page, you can download the project WBS using the down arrow icon at the top right. The WBS can be imported into your preferred project scheduling tool, or you can leverage the provided formats.
The Roadmap Viewer offers additional capabilities that help you locate specific assets, such as accelerators, tasks, or deliverables, very quickly. You can use the Search function (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. Additionally, you can narrow down the results by the content type as shown in this figure.
We recommend that you, as an SAP Activate user, experiment with the features in the Roadmap Viewer tool as they continue to evolve based on user feedback. You can always send feedback to SAP using the blue Feedback button on the left side of the screen.
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 Cloud and SAP S/4HANA by Sven Denecken, Jan Musil, and Srivatsan Santhanam.
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