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Leave Managemnent MSN Sap Duet
Leave Managemnent MSN Sap Duet
Table of Contents
Executive Summary ..............................................................................................3 Introduction ...........................................................................................................4 Planning the Architecture of a Duet Environment .................................................5 Duet Architecture and Landscape Overview .....................................................5 Recommended Duet Landscapes .....................................................................6 Single Duet Host:...........................................................................................6 Distributed Duet Host.....................................................................................7 Scalability and High Availability Considerations.............................................8 Communication Flow Authentication ..............................................................9 Where to find Duet Requirements and Documentation ...................................10 Hardware & Software Requirements ...........................................................10 Sizing...........................................................................................................10 Landscape Planning ....................................................................................10 Installation and Configuration of Duet..........................................................10 Release Information.....................................................................................10 Duet How to Guides and Blogs....................................................................10 How to get started...............................................................................................11 Duet Project Team ..........................................................................................11 Resource Requirements ..............................................................................11 Project Timelines.............................................................................................14 Technical Training ...........................................................................................15 Duet Installation Flow ......................................................................................16 Duet Best Practices ............................................................................................17 Project Planning ..............................................................................................17 Installation .......................................................................................................18 Operations and Maintenance ..........................................................................20 Conclusion ..........................................................................................................21
Executive Summary
By using Duet Software, companies can easily and quickly access SAP business processes and data via their familiar Microsoft Office environment. Duet allows customers to leverage their existing Microsoft / SAP infrastructure, providing the Microsoft Office user with an intuitive interface to access and interact with business processes. These processes include: Budget Monitoring, Leave Management, Time Management, Organization Management, Travel Management, E-Recruitment Management, Reporting and Analytics, Sales Management, Demand Planning, Contract Life Cycle Management and Purchasing Management. Duet is the result of a groundbreaking collaboration between SAP and Microsoft. It is designed to revolutionize how Information Workers interact with enterprise applications. Duet software brings together the worlds of business productivity applications and enterprise applications. It assists in not only improving the way the customer conducts business on a day-to-day basis, but allows customers to access disparate business processes exposed via SAPs Enterprise Services Architecture. In this whitepaper we will describe the various components that make up a Duet environment, a proposed landscape, as well as scalability and high availability options surrounding Duet. In order to assist customers in planning the deployment of Duet, a sample implementation timeline is provided with discussions on resource requirements, available training and best practices taken from early Duet customer implementations. For more details on the Duet Scenarios and their functionality, go to http://www.Duet.com.
Introduction
Early Duet implementations have proven to be straightforward allowing customers to leverage existing Microsoft and SAP investments already in place. The path to a successful Duet implementation requires an understanding of : The underlying Microsoft and SAP components involved A clear picture of who should be in the implementation team and what are their skills Things to consider in project timelines Implementation pre-requisites and installation Project best practices
These are: The Duet Client This is the presentation layer of the architecture. The Duet Server consisting of Microsoft and SAP Components The Duet Server provides the necessary authentication mechanism, the metadata defining available ESA web services for each scenario, the Exchange Server Interface and the Active Directory-to-SAP user mapping. SAP ERP / CRM / SRM / SCM / BI backend(s) (Can be multiple backend systems). SAP is the line of business system from which the customer retrieves their business critical data. Additional functionality can be introduced using optional pluggable services such as customizable links to a corporate portal (SAP Enterprise Portal or Microsoft Office SharePoint).
Microsoft Duet Components (IIS) Scalability Windows Load Balancing F5 Networks MSCS
SAP Duet Components (NW Web AS Java) Add clustered J2EE nodes Clustering
SAP Backend (NW Web AS ABAP) Add Dialog instances (App Servers) Clustering
High Availability
For more information on scalability and high availability solutions for a Duet environment, please refer to the Duet for Microsoft Office and SAP: SAP Operations Guide, found on the SAP Service Marketplace at http://service.sap.com/instguides .
Sizing
Duet Sizing Guide: http://service.sap.com/sizing
Landscape Planning
Duet for Microsoft Office and SAP: SAP Operations Guide in SAP Service Marketplace at: http://service.sap.com/instguides SAP xApps Duet Duet 1.5
Release Information
Duet for Microsoft and SAP: Master Guide in SAP Service Marketplace at: http://service.sap.com/instguides SAP xApps Duet Duet 1.5. Look in the section referring to important notes.
* Note: As of July 30, 2008, the SAP Service Marketplace only has documents related to Duet 1.5 SP0 and not Duet 1.5 SP1. The documents for Duet 1.5 SP1 will get published in the near future as we get closer to the new release availability.
Business Experts SAP ERP ESS/MSS, SAP CRM, SAP SRM, SAP BI etc. (depending on Duet scenarios being implemented ) Netweaver Expert Web AS JAVA Technical Expert (eg. Microsoft ADS, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Exchange, Software Deployment, Domain Administration, IIS, SQL Server)
Executive Sponsor
As with most projects, an Executive Sponsor to champion the project is recommended. This can help secure funding, as well as provide an assurance that issues are escalated during the project.
Project Manager(s)
Assigning a Project Manager will also help keep the project on track. Ideally, there should be a Project Manager from both the SAP side and the customer side and the Customer Project Manager would be the main driver. Duration: Full time during Planning phase, part time during Installation and Testing phases to monitor progress and facilitate issue resolution Skill Set: Project Management Experience
Business Expert(s)
Having someone on the project who can provide the functional (business configuration) expertise is important. The business expert(s) must ensure that the application associated to the Duet scenario being installed is fully functional and configured in the backend SAP system(s) so that they can be executed independently of Duet. For example, for the Time Management scenario, a business expert will ensure that time entries can be submitted correctly via the CATS application in the SAP Backend system. Duration: Part time during Planning, Preparation and Testing phases. They should be available for the Installation phase just in case there are issues in the backend functionality. Skill Set: This depends on the scenario that is implemented. For example, if the Duet HR scenarios are being implements ( Time and Leave Management etc), then the business expert must have expertise in SAP HCM, ESS/MSS and CATS applications.
Technical Expert(s)
Resources with expertise with various Microsoft components are required. Duration: Not required full time for the entire project but must be available for any specific task as required. Skill Set: Microsoft ADS ( User setup / Troubleshooting ) Microsoft Exchange Server ( Troubleshooting ) Software Deployment ( Client Roll out, System Management Server (SMS) ) Domain Administration ( Preparation )
Duet Expert
A resource on the project with experience implementing Duet will make the implementation efficient and effective. Microsoft and SAP Professional Services organizations as well as Partners have Duet implementation experience from the early stages of the product. If a Duet resource is not internally available, a Microsoft or SAP Duet Expert or an experienced partner should be considered. Duration: Full time throughout Planning, Installation and Testing phases Skill Set: Expert with Duet implementations and scenarios
Project Timelines
The following project plan is an estimate based on early Duet implementations performed by Microsoft and SAP. The proposed timeline is based on the following assumptions: Prerequisites mentioned in previous section are already in place 1 Duet scenario 10 production users *2 Tier landscape One Dev/QA Landscape and One Production Landscape *Note: Based on past Duet production installations, a 2 tier landscape has been sufficient because Duet uses current business processes. A 2 tier landscape will keep costs of implementing low. A 3 tier landscape can also be used if desired.
Technical Training
Since Duet reuses existing investments taken from your current Microsoft and SAP environment, technical training of the resources involved while implementing Duet should focus on the Duet configuration itself. Online learning maps are available on the SAP Service Marketplace with Duet training classes being delivered by both Microsoft and SAP. Additional information and education material is located at http://service.sap.com/education. An alternative method of training can include implementing a small test environment which can help with hands-on education. Duet installation and configuration guides are available on the SAP Service Marketplace: http://service.sap.com/instguides -> xApps -> Duet.
Complete horizontal coordination and communication between various groups within a company is mandatory Duet requires a horizontal as well as vertical collaboration within a company. This product touches various departments such as SAP systems, Exchange Systems, Security, J2ee, business groups, desktops etc. Availability and the communication within these groups will strongly influence the success, acceptance and timelines of the installation. Ensure the business community driving the Duet implementation are included in the planning Phase Start with a Phased versus a Big Bang Approach Starting with a phased approach will help to quickly isolate any issues that may arise specific to your environment. With Duet, there are interdependencies between the various systems (ABAP, J2EE, Internet Information Server, SQL Server, Exchange Server, Active Directory and the Microsoft Office client). A phased approach can be grouped by users, backend systems, scenarios etc.
Ensure Resource Availability Customer Internal Dedicated Resource Experienced Duet Resources SAP Business Expert who knows internal business processes Engage the Exchange / ADS group and the Security group as early as possible as users need to be created and security needs to be considered Determine Strategy for Duet installation on Users Client machines Carefully plan how Duet will be deployed on user machines for production with minimal effort / time by the user Test installation method on test machines or selected users before doing a mass roll out
Group(s) within a company must own Duet once it is live Assignment of who is responsible for monitoring and making future decisions about upgrades, new scenarios etc. is required Clear plan and team assignment for Operations / Administration / Support after the Golive is critical at the beginning of the project and must encompass data flow systems from Desktop to Duet Server to Exchange to SAP Backend systems.
Document your System Landscape Because of the various servers, services and tools used during a Duet implementation, it is important to document system hostnames, locations, IP addresses, operating system accounts, J2EE passwords, Visual Administrator accounts, SDM (Software Deployment Manager) passwords, SAP Agent accounts, SAP backend ABAP accounts, etc. Ensure all pre-requisites are in place before starting the Duet Installation For details on the Duet pre-requisites, refer to the Duet for Microsoft and SAP: Installation
Installation
Gather all required documentation and follow the guides during installation Start with the Duet for Microsoft and SAP: Master Guide in the Service Marketplace Have your landscape documentation on hand for quick access during the installation View Duet how to guides and blogs for tips on configuration and troubleshooting Increase Duet Logging when troubleshooting During the installation of the Duet Server, Duet Add-On, Duet Client and Business Applications, customers should regularly review the J2EE Log Viewer provided with the SAP Web Application Server Java installation. The standard log configuration does not provide information regarding all errors. However, the J2EE event log can be configured to view all errors by making modifications to specific settings in the Log Configurator found in the J2EE Visual Administration tool. Utilize Duet test and support tools for monitoring and testing throughout installation and go-live Duet Backend Check Tool Duet Client Support Tool Duet Administration UI Duet Sync Monitor tool also known as the Client Monitor Tool
For the Report and Analytics Scenario, implement controls to minimize overhead on backend system due to Report scheduling Because the reporting scenario, allows for real-time and scheduled reporting from a backend SAP ERP or SAP Business Intelligence system, some administrative considerations should be incorporated in implementation Larger Exchange mailboxes for Report Management users should be considered. Report templates can be configured with default criteria by the Duet administrator to minimize the possibility of large reports. Limit Duet reports to 4 MB and utilize the Duet option .ZIP to reduce the size of reports being delivered to Duet Only allow critical reports to be able to run ad-hoc
Conclusion
Implementing Duet takes an understanding of the various components involved and advance project preparation. Knowing what to avoid is sometimes as important as knowing what to do! From the experiences of early Duet implementations, best practices have been developed and delivered to customers to ensure ease of deployment. These best practices assist customers in moving from the implementation phase to quickly enjoying the Duet experience. Microsoft and SAP continue to jointly develop, deliver and support best-practices for global deployments of Duet.