Best Practices for Winshuttle Enterprise Deployment

2012 Winshuttle, LLC. All rights reserved. 1/12

www.winshuttle.com

Introduction
This document provides advice and examples of best practices for organizations planning an Enterprise Deployment of the Winshuttle Platform. In this context, Enterprise Deployment refers to the deployment of multiple client installations under the management of Winshuttle Central. Specific Winshuttle products in an Enterprise Deployment include: Winshuttle Central for licensing, administration, and governance Winshuttle Studio for client-side solution authors Winshuttle Runner for runtime access to Winshuttle solutions Winshuttle Server for Auto-post functionality and job scheduling (optional) Winshuttle Connect for license management (optional but recommended; scheduled release 01/2012)

Roles and Responsibilities

The Winshuttle Platform delivers value by enhancing SAP usability and enabling SAP users to work more efficiently and effectively. To realize this value, organizations must find the right balance between centralized and decentralized administration, as well as between IT and business unit ownership. Winshuttle recommends a Champion Super User model (Figure 1 and Table 1), in which a single Champion acts as the ultimate owner, administrator, and point of integration for the organizations Winshuttle deployment, while specific Super Users are responsible for Winshuttle training, support, and management in their respective business units or functional areas.

Figure 1: Winshuttle Champion Super User Model

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Table 1: Winshuttle Champion Super User ModelRoles and Responsibilities

Role Champion

Responsibilities Owns Winshuttle relationship Administers Winshuttle Central Sets Winshuttle policies Answers escalated support questions and contacts Winshuttle support Selects and trains Super Users Authors and runs scripts with Winshuttle Studio Reviews and approves scripts developed by other users Trains and supports users; escalates support requests to the Champion May author scripts with Winshuttle Studio Runs scripts with Winshuttle Runner Approves spending Oversees planning Manages infrastructure Advises on policies

Profile Project manager or analyst in a business unit or shared SAP services group. Often a member of the SAP center of excellence (COE). Capable of common SharePoint administrative tasks. Analyst working in or supporting a business unit or functional area, with strong knowledge of relevant SAP Transactions. Technical nondeveloper (e.g., Excel power user). SAP user. Executive with purchasing authority. Member of IT group with authority and capability to set up and administer SharePoint.

Super User

User Executive Sponsor IT Manager

In most cases, Champion and Super User responsibilities do not constitute full-time jobs and can be performed in addition to each individuals standard workload. The assumption is that these individuals have existing duties related to the use and management of SAP, and that their Winshuttle-specific duties can be added incrementally to that workload. As the number of Winshuttle users in the organization increases, the number of Super Users and the demands on the Champion rise as well. In such cases, some large organizations have opted to make the role of Champion a dedicated position. Winshuttle customers report that key success factors in determining roles and responsibilities include: Clearly articulating the Champions role and authority to enforce policies Selecting an Executive Sponsor who appreciates the business value of the Winshuttle solution Choosing motivated Super Users and empowering them to find innovative uses for Winshuttle tools

Script and Solution Development

Winshuttle Studio lets non-programmers create powerful solutions using SAP transactions and data without writing code. Nonetheless, organizations should apply to the building, testing, and deployment of Winshuttle scripts and templates the same or similar best practices and quality control procedures as used in custom development activities.

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In addition, Winshuttle has observed the following best practices in organizations with large Winshuttle solution development efforts: 1. Functional specs: The discipline of creating a functional specification at the beginning of a development project helps eliminate unnecessary or duplicate efforts and identify potential problems early in the process. This can be particularly valuable for business users who are not accustomed to developing solutions for other users. 2. Naming conventions: Creating a consistent naming convention for Winshuttle scripts and solutions is a simple but effective way of ensuring clarity and efficiency over time. Recommended elements include: a. Transaction code b. Descriptive name c, Business unit or SAP system ID Winshuttle script names and data folders are displayed as URLs in Winshuttle Central, so spaces and special characters should be avoided and length should be limited to 260 characters.

Figure 2: Naming Convention Examples

3. Standardized templates: Establishing standards for template design can speed up approval, reduce support costs, and make it easier for other solution creators to take over the development of existing projects. All users creating Winshuttle templates should adhere to design, layout, and naming conventions specified by the organization, which should be communicated through examples and documentation. 4. Capacity and dependency testing: Winshuttle solutions should be subjected to comprehensive and realistic testing in a setting that mimics the production environment as much as possible. While Winshuttle does not introduce any new functionality to SAP, it often allows users to perform activities at a much faster rate or using much higher volumes of data. Testing should be designed to identify any capacity limits, timeouts, or chokepointseither in SAP or in dependent systemsthat may have previously gone unnoticed.

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5. Explicit approval process: Development of a new script should include an explicit approval process before the solution is posted to Winshuttle Central. Most organizations design a formal submission process requiring approval from appropriate stakeholders. 6. Documentation: Winshuttle Central allows supporting documentation to be submitted and stored with a script or template. Supporting documentation may be a functional spec or specially created datasheet listing the purpose and use of the solution. Organizations are strongly encouraged to use this feature to inform the approvers in the review approval process of new scripts, as well as to create a body of institutional knowledge around Winshuttle solutions that will persist if the Champion or key Super Users leave. 7. Extended metadata: Winshuttle Central has several built-in attributes for storing metadata with scripts or solutions. Most organizations find it valuable to customize these attributes, adding information that is appropriate to their specific environment. These attributes are stored as SharePoint document properties and are easily customized using the standard SharePoint interface.

Permissions and Policies

Winshuttle Central uses a role-based permissions model that grants different levels of access to individuals, depending on the group or groups to which they are assigned. Key groups are listed in Table 2, along with recommendations for which users should be assigned to which groups. The Winshuttle Champion is responsible for managing permissions and assigning permissions to new users.
Table 2: Recommended Permissions

Group Name Central License Administrators Central Site Administrators Central Reports Viewers Transaction Reviewers Query Reviewers Data Reviewers Transaction Developers Query Developers Transaction Runners Query Runners
1

Function/Permissions Provides access to Central license functions: activate and manage licenses. Provides access to Central administration functions: LDAP, log settings, and SAP credentials.

Champion Yes

Super User No

User No

Yes

No

No

Provides access to Central reports: Yes audits, logs, and user reports. Provides user(s) reviewer/approval Yes access for transaction scripts. Provides user(s) reviewer/approval Yes access for query scripts. Provides user(s) reviewer/approval Yes access for data files. Provides user(s) access to create transaction scripts. Provides user(s) access to create query scripts. Provides user(s) the ability to run transaction scripts. Provides user(s) the ability to run query scripts. Yes Yes Yes Yes

Yes Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes Yes Yes

No No No No Maybe2 Maybe2 Yes Yes

Some organizations prohibit script authors from reviewing their own work, and give the authority to the Champion for final approval of all scripts. 2 In most organizations, subsets of users have authoring permissions.

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Runtime policiessuch as T-Code/table restrictions, limits on number of records, and capacity scheduling should be determined in conjunction with IT and through testing. Most organizations report that users are more likely to respect policies limiting the scope of what they can do if the reasons are clearly articulated and based on actual usage or test data, rather than arbitrary or unexplained limits.

Enterprise Deployment Project Management

Standard project planning methodologies for deploying new software are appropriate for a new Winshuttle Enterprise Deployment. Most organizations approach the project in three phases: planning, implementation, and ongoing management. Most organizations also establish a formal group headed by the Champion for the planning and implementation phases, as well as create specific policies to govern ongoing management. The involvement and responsibilities of the different roles during each phase are summarized in Table 3.
Table 3: Project Involvement by Role and Phase

Planning Champion Super User High: Project manager for the overall planning effort. Medium: Represents interests of business unit or functional area. Medium: Advises on and approves infrastructure requirements. Low: Approves overall plan and spending.

Implementation High: Project manager for implementation. Medium: Provides User training and change management.

Ongoing Management Medium: Owns Winshuttle relationship. Medium: Provides training and support.

IT Manager

High: Oversees installation Low: Provides infrastructure support. of infrastructure and rollout to clients. None Low: Approves additional licenses and other spending.

Executive Sponsor

Winshuttle has observed the following best practices in organizations that have performed an Enterprise Deployment: 1. Implementation timeline: Most organizations opt to implement Winshuttle in stages, rolling out the product in sequence to specific business units, functional areas, or geographical locations. For each unit or area, the Champion should work closely with the Super Users to ensure a successful rollout that addresses training and change management needs. 2. License management: Organizations should consider license management at the earliest stages of planning. Most Winshuttle customers are surprised at how quickly demand for the product spreads. Winshuttle Central includes license management tools, and Winshuttle Connect enhances the ability to centrally assign and manage licenses. The Champion must have a purchasing authority or a clear process for acquiring new licenses as the need arises. 3. Monthly usage reports: Organizations should monitor usage logs and create monthly usage reports as part of an ongoing management. The collected data can help match license inventory to the actual usage for managing growth, as well as be used to calculate ROI on the Winshuttle investment. Winshuttle Central provides logging functionality, and Winshuttle Connect self-service license management utility greatly enhances centralized logging and reporting capabilities. 4. End user documentation and resources: Organizations with large Winshuttle deployments report that investing in documentation and self-training for end users results in greater productivity and fewer support calls. Short videos illustrating common tasks and instructional tabs embedded in templates can be particularly effective. Most organizations use these resources in addition to the initial face-toface training; some have also invested in full-fledged self-training modules with satisfactory results.

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Considerations for Upgrade or Consolidation Deployments

Many organizations have initially deployed Winshuttle on a small scale or ad-hoc basis, often without the Winshuttle Central management component. In such cases, organizations face the added challenge of enforcing changes to the existing habits and practices, often among the very Super Users they are relying on to make the deployment a success. They may also face license management issues as they transition from a purely client-based system to a centrally managed one. Organizations that have gone through this process recommend several best practices for success: 1. Strong communication: Early and explicit communication with individuals who have been using Winshuttle independently or as a desktop-only solution is the most critical factor for a successful deployment. Ideally, the Winshuttle Champion should reach out to these individuals and involve them in the planning early, adequately explaining the need for any policies or practices that are perceived as restrictions.

2. Timing and deadlines: While most organizations opt to upgrade in phases, deadlines should be established for each phase to ensure that the overall process occurs in a timely fashion. This is particularly important in cases where Users and Super Users will be responsible for transferring their created scripts and templates into Winshuttle Central. 3. Versioning: All users should be utilizing the same version of the Winshuttle software and the appropriate version of the .NET framework before migrating to Central. In some cases, this will require users to first manually upgrade their client software, a process that must be planned and documented. 4. Script inventory: Organizations moving from an ad-hoc to a managed deployment should budget time for thoroughly reviewing existing scripts with the goal of eliminating duplicates, enforcing new naming conventions, and establishing procedures for testing and approval, if necessary. 5. License inventory management: Organizations that have previously deployed Winshuttle client software using the node-lock license will need to plan for the roll-up of those licenses into Winshuttle Central, either in separate user collections or as a single group. 6. License policies: The project team should work with Winshuttle to ensure that the organization has an adequate number of licenses and that all Super Users have licenses for the products they need. The Winshuttle license model should be thoroughly explained to the Executive Sponsor, in order to minimize resistance should future additions or upgrades become necessary.

Conclusion
Winshuttle recommends a Champion Super User model to achieve the best balance in managing an Enterprise Deployment while taking maximum advantage of the products ability to empower users. While creating Winshuttle solutions does not require coding or development skills, the same or similar best practices and quality control procedures as used in custom development activities should be applied to the building, testing, and deployment of Winshuttle scripts and templates. Organizations that are transitioning to a centralized Winshuttle deployment model from a client-only installation need to pay special attention to user training and license management. The key to a successful Winshuttle deployment is good planning for all stages of the process. For more information contact Winshuttle support or your Winshuttle certified partner.

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Winshuttle is the ERP Usability Company, providing software products that enable business users to work with SAP directly from Excel, Web forms and other interfaces without any programming. Winshuttle focuses on a simple fact when using SAP applications, time is money. Winshuttles usability solutions radically accelerate SAP user transactions, saving and redirecting millions of dollars for SAPs customers every day. These financial benefits are achieved by significantly reducing employee and contractor costs and increasing resources to address more strategic priorities. Thousands of customers use Winshuttle to make their SAP lives easier. Headquartered in Bothell, Washington, Winshuttle has offices in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and India. For more information, visit www.winshuttle.com.

Corporate Headquarters
Bothell, WA Tel + 1 (800) 711-9798 Fax + 1 (425) 527-6666 www.winshuttle.com

United Kingdom

London, U.K. Tel +44 (0) 208 704 4170 Fax +44 (0) 208 711 2665 www.winshuttle.co.uk

Germany

Bremerhaven, Germany Tel +49 (0) 471 140840 Fax +49 (0)471 140849 www.winshuttle-software.de

France

Maisons-Alfort, France Tel +33 (0) 148 937 171 Fax +33 (0) 143 683 768 www.winshuttle.fr

India

Research & Development Chandigarh, India Tel +91 (0) 172 663 9800 www.winshuttle.in

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