An introduction to SAP technology for non-technical managers: Demystifying the SAP technical architecture

This session is specifically designed to introduce you to SAP technology and terminology in non-technical terms. In this session, you will:

• Get the layman’s definition of the many technical components of an SAP environment.
• Find out how business and configuration requirements for SAP systems are supported or hindered by the underlying infrastructure.
• Examine, in non-technical language, critical aspects of SAP technology and emerging technologies that could significantly reduce the cost of ownership or complexity of SAP technical operations.
• Gain a clear understanding of the server equipment and infrastructure needed to support an SAP project.
• Get a high-level understanding of the route from an end user’s SAP desktop through the network, into the server, database, and back, to follow what happens when a transaction is executed.
• Take home a diagram of an SAP technical environment and a list of key SAP technology terms and definitions.

How to develop and deliver effective technical presentations

• Understand how to create and deliver an effective, informative presentation and how to quickly communicate the key points of your message to make an impact with your audience.
• Receive specific advice on planning your presentation, and how to identify the right details to dive into by surveying your audience to see what metrics they consider important.
• Gather tips on how to divulge enough information to establish your expertise early on without giving a boring litany of your past achievements.
• Learn how to create a powerful demo to help illustrate your message and where to place it within your presentation for the biggest impact. 
• See how to prepare your presentation from scratch, including developing an outline, just how much information to place on slides, how visuals can either make a powerful statement or be the ruin of a talk and learn why the tempo and placement of information makes the difference for any speaker.
• Leave knowing how to give your audience the information they need in a way that will have them asking you for more.

Proven techniques to deliver presentation ready reports and infuse more interactivity using your existing SAP BW tools

• Obtain proven techniques for delivering professional looking, presentation quality and aesthetically pleasing reports straight out of BW Excel Analyzer.
• Explore the new and advanced features available with BEx Analyzer and BEx Query Designer, including currency conversion, exception aggregation, and planning settings.
• Weigh the advantages, features, and drawbacks of using convert-to-formula BExGetData) to generate formatted reports.
• Learn how to apply advanced design elements such as check boxes, radio buttons, and drop-down lists, to create user-friendly reports.
• Learn time-saving tips and tricks for entering selection-screen values and features such as copy-sheet, drill-across sheets, Local Formula, and Exit macros to enhance workbook functionality.
• Get tips to improve workbook performance and to create company-wide branding workbook template.
• Take a critical look at the SAP NetWeaver BW 3.x to 7.x workbook migration.

What every SAP customer now needs to know about SAP ERP upgrades, enhancement packages, and SAP Business Suite 7

Gain a deeper understanding of SAP Business Suite 7.0, and determine if, when, and how this might impact your next upgrade.

• Learn about the methodology, processes, and tools for upgrading SAP ERP 6.0 with enhancement package 4 - a radically different approach from the "traditional upgrade".
• Find out what enhancement packages offer SAP customers and the key things you need to know before implementing them.
• Explore the recommended approach for getting started with, installing, and activating enhancement packages, whether you have already upgraded to SAP ERP 6.0 and have not leveraged any of the enhancement packages to date or if you are just in the planning stages of your upgrade project.
• Examine the methodology and full array of upgrade tools available, especially the latest enhancement package installation tool available as of enhancement package 4, Maintenance Optimizer of SAP Solution Manager.
• Come away knowing how your business can continually innovate and stay competitive without significant business disruption.

An overview of Business Process Operations in SAP Solution Manager

SAP Solution Manager provides the possibility to monitor business processes and interfaces, as well as the data consistency in the system landscape that comprises the most important application related operations topics necessary to ensure the smooth and reliable flow of the core business processes to meet a company’s business requirements. This session will provide an overview of the main components of SAP Business Process Integration & Automation Management (BPIAM), including:

• Business Process & Interface Monitoring
• Job Scheduling Management
• Data Consistency Management
• Data Volume Management

During this session you will learn how BPIAM helps to optimize the return on your investment within your SAP landscape and also learn how Business Process Analysis and Monitoring within Enterprise Support helps to optimize the return on your investment in the SAP ERP application, by identifying optimization potential for your core business processes. You will also learn how the Business Process Analysis can be a good starting point for setting up Business Process Monitoring in SAP Solution Manager.

How you can benefit from an early adoptor’s implementation of SAP Supply Chain Management (SCM) Extended Warehouse Management (EWM)

If you are currently using SAP software to manage your warehouse activities and are looking to upgrade, or are considering migrating from a best of breed or legacy solution to SAP, this session will provide insights as to the strategies and implementation path of an early adopter of SAP EWM to help you successfully move forward with your project.

• Examine the decision criteria and motivation that led to a four-site SAP EWM deployment, including a review of the technical and functional scope of the project; against the business-centric process requirements.
• See how the business processes are modeled and look at the project management plan including an implementation timeline, and new user training tactics.
• Gauge if your organization can benefit from the additional functionality SAP EWM offers to improve process visibility and automation of your warehouse activities.

Beyond the basics of SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse Accelerator: New features and techniques to boost query performance

While SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator can significantly improve query performance, it does not eliminate the need for good query design practices and tight control over the number of records in a result set.

• Obtain best practices in these areas, as well as tips for modifying the configuration of SAP NetWeaver BW and SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator to realize even greater performance benefits.
• Learn how to pinpoint the bottlenecks that are slowing your system down.
• Find out which SAP NetWeaver BW parameters can be adjusted to improve query response time.
• Acquire tips to reduce the time it takes to create an SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator index by determining the number of work processes that should be utilized, when a delta index should be used, and how many index partitions should be created.
• Get a detailed understanding of the new features that were introduced in revision 50 of SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator 7.0.

Guidelines to meet the challenges of IFRS requirements

• Develop a working knowledge of how your organization can leverage SAP to meet IFRS requirements
• Step through the SAP solutions available for IFRS reporting activities, including SAP General Ledger
• Find out how to adjust your current reporting requirements, such as US GAAP, to align with IFRS reporting and walk through a proven approach to transition your organization
• Identify where your organization will most likely feel the impact of IFRS
• Understand what the common challenges are surrounding IFRS and learn how to address them
• Gain insight into the future of leveraging your SAP system to meet IFRS reporting requirements

An introduction to the new SAP ERP enhancement package strategy, architecture and implementation procedures

• Get an overview of what enhancement packages are, what functionality they offer, and options and strategies for installing them.
• Examine approaches for planning, preparing, and executing an enhancement package installation, including tips to activate business-related functions.
• Get detailed instruction on how to selectively implement and activate the functionality based on your specific business requirements.
• Obtain tips for how to use key SAP tools for the enhancement package implementation process, such as the Maintenance Optimizer in SAP Solution Manager, SAINT, Java Support Package Manager (JSPM), and the new enhancement package switch installer.
• Get information on how to use enhancement packages to isolate the impact of software updates to your system.