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<DIV><SPAN class=326323516-17012008><FONT color=#0000ff size=2>Hi
Mike,</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=326323516-17012008><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=326323516-17012008><FONT color=#0000ff size=2>I'm not sure
we'll agree on this one. I hear you saying the best way to move
forward is from the highest degree of certainty possible (e.g. asking for
help from an experienced consultant). But sometimes this option is not
readily available. What then? Dealing with risk is required
instead, and it takes us out of our comfort zone (frustration, mistakes
etc). It's good that we've got some metrics out there, which is what I
think Ramanan was after. </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=326323516-17012008><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=326323516-17012008><FONT color=#0000ff size=2>Interesting
thread, nevertheless.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=326323516-17012008><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=326323516-17012008><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2>Phil</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=326323516-17012008><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=326323516-17012008><FONT color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma
size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> sap-wug-bounces@mit.edu
[mailto:sap-wug-bounces@mit.edu]<B>On Behalf Of </B>Mike
Pokraka<BR><B>Sent:</B> 16 January 2008 19:38<BR><B>To:</B> 'SAP Workflow
Users' Group'<BR><B>Subject:</B> RE: Resource planning<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV class=Section1>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">Hi
Phil,<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">I
don't know if you were referring to my responses when you talk about
"consultants who can dictate terms of reference". This is not the attitude I
would like to convey, my apologies if it came across that
way.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">This
has nothing to do with being a consultant or not. I would take the same stance
if I were working for the company concerned. In fact, it was also thanks to a
disagreement with my bosses over similar ‘strategic issues’ that I fled my
last full-time employment :-) <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">It
is a simple fact of life that none of us know everything. The tricky part can
be knowing when to ask for help (I’m not talking about questions on the WUG).
When the stakes are small, we get by with learning on the job. With 50-100
workflows however there is a lot more at stake which is why I was very firm in
my suggestion that Ramanan get outside help in. You can slice this any way
you'd like, it can only benefit the project in terms of cost, time,
frustration, knowledge. It would take a very shortsighted project manager to
disagree. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">Take
your suggestion about building a plan as an example: That could benefit
enormously from having someone with serious project management experience get
him started on mapping out all the assumptions. The problem is that all these
assumptions interact with each other on a project of that scale, and that in
itself can be a major undertaking. Many of these questions cannot be answered
over the WUG, it NEEDS someone to talk to people and get an idea of the way
they work etc. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">Cheers,
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">Mike<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<DIV>
<DIV
style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; PADDING-RIGHT: 0cm; BORDER-TOP: #b5c4df 1pt solid; PADDING-LEFT: 0cm; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0cm; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-TOP: 3pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none">
<P class=MsoNormal><B><SPAN lang=EN-US
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'">From:</SPAN></B><SPAN
lang=EN-US style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'">
sap-wug-bounces@mit.edu [mailto:sap-wug-bounces@mit.edu] <B>On Behalf Of
</B>Kisloff, Philip B<BR><B>Sent:</B> 16 January 2008 15:11<BR><B>To:</B> SAP
Workflow Users' Group<BR><B>Subject:</B> RE: Resource
planning<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></P>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Hi
Ramanan</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">I have
a lot of empathy with your situation. You have been tasked to come up with a
plan for a major workflow implementation. Some elements are known, some are
unknown. It's complex, and you feel you may get some of it wrong. How you
must envy those consultants who can dictate terms of reference, or
else walk away. Fair play to them. Then there those of us who have to
play with the hand we're dealt. Uncertain
requirements, limited resources - the usual
project scenario.</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">If I
was in your position, I would do the following: Build a plan around a clearly
written set of assumptions. Make it clear that if these assumptions are wrong,
then so will be the plan. Get buy-in around these assumptions. It helps
if they are realistic, and can be justified. Monitor your assumptions
constantly, and be quick to point out when they diverge from reality (a
blame-free culture helps). When your assumptions need changing, be
quick to amend the plan, and communicate that. Get buy-in from the project
sponsors around this approach. It shouldn't be too difficult (a blame-free
culture helps). Have a plan B for less ambitious scenarios. Have
this plan agreed, too.</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Expect
to be blamed when things go wrong - you had a choice whether to take this on,
right ? Just remember what Count von Moltke said -<EM><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">No [battle] plan survives contact
with the enemy ;)</SPAN></EM></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Good
luck, and let us know how it progresses.</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">best
regards</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Phil</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"> -----Original
Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> sap-wug-bounces@mit.edu
[mailto:sap-wug-bounces@mit.edu]<B>On Behalf Of </B>Srinivasan
Ramanan<BR><B>Sent:</B> 16 January 2008 13:43<BR><B>To:</B> SAP Workflow
Users' Group<BR><B>Subject:</B> RE: Resource
planning<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="MARGIN-TOP: 5pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 5pt">
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'">Dear Mike,<BR>I
do understand all the points in your e-mail. I completely agree that more
effort put on planning makes the steps easy in realization.<BR>The situation
is I have
is:<BR> <BR>
We expect that there will be 100 workflows in the
ECC6.0<BR>
We do also have some workflows running at differect geographical locations.
The count is 50.
<BR>
We just doubled it up that when all locations get into ECC6.0 , we predicted
that count to go to
100.<BR> We
have 4 personnels who already developed and are administering the current
50.<BR> But
please bear in mind that some WFs may not be upto best practice, thats
why needed some resources to bring these current to a best practice levels
and also contribute for newer ones.<BR> <BR>Having said all that, whats
on the planning side. No Functional specifications exist for the TO BE
workflows, which I have numbered as 100.<BR>We expect them to be
completed by Feb 2008 end.<BR>March is the kickoff for
realization. Actual work begins in April.<BR> <BR>Now all the requird
resource allocation is started, but in progress. I am in the process of
estimating the needs for WF and I know I have 4 personnels. It always take
some time to complete the re-trainng in-house personnels or
recruit new developers.<BR> <BR><STRONG><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'">So I have started my
resource planning I think very well ahead ( as you said no numbers will be
whispered until a meaningful estimate is in hand ), and I hope to come up
with a better resolution by end of Feb
2008. </SPAN></STRONG><BR> <BR>What I really meant by empirical is
a kind of stastical. I know that statistical also sometimes not considered
scientific. You can not start planning at meticulous level like ( 175
mins for a development of WF task with ABAP coding of 1500 lines ). We will
end up with very good perfectly executable plan, but would have missed the
bus ( ie. deadlines ). So I have no option but to trade of some accuracy in
my estimate to be in the game.<BR> <BR>with sincere
regards<BR>Ramanan<BR> <BR> <BR><BR> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<DIV class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'">
<HR align=center width="100%" SIZE=2>
</SPAN></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'">From:
asap@workflowconnections.com<BR>To: sap-wug@mit.edu<BR>Subject: RE: Resource
planning<BR>Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2008 11:28:09 +0000<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'"><sigh>
I just told you I wouldn’t so much as whisper an estimate without about a
month’s research. </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">Not
even a day later you have a proposal. A proposal that ignores the majority
of what I said before. </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">I
take back my statement about suggesting you get an Experienced consultant
in. </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">Instead,
I STRONGLY RECOMMEND you get an EXPERIENCED consultant to help you out.
</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">Planning
is not a game. It has a far bigger influence on cost and success than the
build itself (which should take up less than half the time). SAP only charge
a couple of thousand dollars per day. I say “only” because they’ll save you
tens of thousands (If you listen to them of course). How so? By not having
to scrap or redo parts of a badly planned project, never mind the damage to
your reputation. </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">How
do I know it’s already badly planned? See first two sentences of this email.
</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">Please
understand that I’m not having a go at you, but your two posts make it clear
that you need a reality check. Not giving you an answer is the most helpful
we can be. Anyone that gives you estimates on this list will do more harm
than good because they will probably be wrong (Ask on SDN and you will get
plenty of those).</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">Even
though the WUG ranks just behind Wikipedia in knowledge content, there are
just too many factors to do this with the help of a mailing list. Feel free
to ask about specifics as you work your way through requirements gathering.
</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">Good
luck, </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">Mike</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">PS:
Your use of the word ‘empirical’ is the exact opposite of its meaning. Your
values are certainly not based on facts and observation. </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<DIV
style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; PADDING-RIGHT: 0cm; BORDER-TOP: medium none; PADDING-LEFT: 4pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0cm; BORDER-LEFT: blue 1.5pt solid; PADDING-TOP: 0cm; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none">
<DIV>
<DIV
style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; PADDING-RIGHT: 0cm; BORDER-TOP: #b5c4df 1pt solid; PADDING-LEFT: 0cm; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0cm; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-TOP: 3pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none">
<P class=MsoNormal><B><SPAN lang=EN-US
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'">From:</SPAN></B><SPAN
lang=EN-US style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'">
sap-wug-bounces@mit.edu [mailto:sap-wug-bounces@mit.edu] <B>On Behalf Of
</B>Srinivasan Ramanan<BR><B>Sent:</B> 15 January 2008 15:01<BR><B>To:</B>
SAP Workflow Users' Group<BR><B>Subject:</B> RE: Resource
planning</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'">Thanks
Mike,<BR>I appreciate your inputs. Its really difficult to answer this
question. <BR>What I did is: ( Since I am in the position to answer this to
my company as an employee of the company )<BR>I assumed these
followings:<BR>
10 complex workflows ( having more than 20 tasks
)<BR>
30
medium (
10 to 20 tasks
)<BR>
60
simple
( less than 10 tasks )<BR> <BR>It is decided to implement HR just for
Organizational units purposes. It helps both roles and authorization
management. Hence agent assignments could be not that
complex.<BR> <BR>Having a time line of 6 months only for these work, I
am
proposing:<BR>
6 Personnels for development over six months
period<BR> 4
to 6 Personnels for maintain and administer - for support after go
live<BR> <BR>Has anyone else could share some ideas if you have
executed projects even not to this magnitude, but with some 10 - 20
workflows development. I need some info on how many personnels, how many
workflows and how many months. It will be kind of easy to extrapolate. I do
understand that it will only be an empirical value for resource planning.
But we can start with min. resource and continue to agument as and when the
workflows start development
phase.<BR> <BR>regards<BR>Ramanan<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<DIV class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'">
<HR align=center width="100%" SIZE=2>
</SPAN></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'">From:
asap@workflowconnections.com<BR>To: sap-wug@mit.edu<BR>Subject: RE: Resource
planning<BR>Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2008 23:08:07 +0000<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">Hello
Ramanan, </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">That’s
a pretty major project, and there is a good reason all projects go through a
planning phase. Faced with the same question I would estimate at least a
month’s work to come up with an answer that’s anywhere near realistic.
</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">For
starters there are many factors beyond workflow that will influence your
requirements, such as size and makeup of the overall project team, length of
project, willingness to invest in the right skills. Are you going to employ
4+ years’ experienced consultants, or find ABAPers who have built the
occasional WF, or train up inhouse staff? </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">Next
you have the workflows themselves. I’ve built approval workflows taking from
two days to over a year. Even specific workflow scenarios are no measure: an
invoice approval can take 10 days at one client and 5 months at another
(also based on personal experience). </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">You
ask how many administrators? What sort of total volumes do you expect? (You
obviously need to volume estimates of each of the workflows..). Do you use
HR? More experienced resources building the WFs will pay off in reduced
maintenance. The workflow I mentioned above created jobs for two
administrators – just looking after the one WF.</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">Based
on the info in your question, I would seriously suggest you engage an
Experienced (with a capital ‘E’) consultant for at least a few days to get
you started on answering it. </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">If
you insist on a guess: 50% chance you need between 5 and 10 people, 50%
chance you need more or less than that. Flip a coin to see which one.
</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">Cheers,
</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'">Mike</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<DIV
style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; PADDING-RIGHT: 0cm; BORDER-TOP: medium none; PADDING-LEFT: 4pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0cm; BORDER-LEFT: blue 1.5pt solid; PADDING-TOP: 0cm; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none">
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<P class=MsoNormal><B><SPAN lang=EN-US
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'">From:</SPAN></B><SPAN
lang=EN-US style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'">
sap-wug-bounces@mit.edu [mailto:sap-wug-bounces@mit.edu] <B>On Behalf Of
</B>Srinivasan Ramanan<BR><B>Sent:</B> 14 January 2008 21:58<BR><B>To:</B>
sap-wug@mit.edu<BR><B>Subject:</B> Resource planning</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'">Dear
WUG,<BR>There are 100 workflows expected to be up and running in
ECC6.0<BR>Please consider that it is not know exactly what are the workflows
now.<BR>But please consider that workflows will be used for create and
maintain of all major master data objects and pretty much for regular task
distributions like PO release, invoice processing etc.,<BR> <BR>My
questions are:<BR> <BR>How many personnels are required at the
Development phase for these 100 workflows?<BR> <BR>How may personnels
are required for 'maintain' and 'administer' the workflows?
<BR> <BR>Anyone who worked at this level, please I value your inputs
very much.<BR>Please respond with your experiences and emprical
calculations.<BR> <BR>thanks in
advance.<BR>Ramanan<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<DIV class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'">
<HR align=center width="100%" SIZE=2>
</SPAN></DIV>
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<DIV class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'">
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<DIV class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'">
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<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>