Issue

Since time and budget management are the key performance indicators of any project. Syensqo's project management procedure requires the project managers to deliver the projects on time and under budget. Whilst the budget management and cost tracking is performed in the ERP (WP1 and PF1) SAP applications and Colmar, dates/schedule management is managed offline. There is no single standardized application or tool to perform the project dates/schedule management. Project dates are managed differently as per GBU or the project managers in various applications such as Google sheets, MSP, Primavera etc. 

This KDD intends to evaluate potential solution options to recommend the standardized and consistent approach to project schedule/dates management.

Recommendation

Based on the analysis and evaluation presented in this document, Integrate with Project Schedule Management application (Automatic) (Option A in this document) is recommended for effective and comprehensive management of the dates/schedule aspects of Syensqo's project management. 

Background & Context

Schedule management in project management is the process of planning, developing, controlling, and monitoring a project timeline to make sure that tasks and activities are completed on time. Currently in Syensqo, the management of dates and tasks are managed in various applications and it is up to the GBU and/or project managers discretion. Project dates/schedule are managed in various 3rd party applications such a Google sheets, Microsoft projects or Primavera depending on the complexity and the nature of the project.  It is required to have flexibility that allows simple projects to have simplified plan and complex projects with several tasks and interdependencies.  However, these dates doesn't integrate with the Project financial management application (ERP WP1 or PF1) or process. 

There is a lack of integrated project schedule management with project financial management. If there is a variation of timelines or delays due to change in scope or other issues, there is no visibility of the impacts on project budget/costs in a timely manner. Accurate project forecasts cannot be done and therefore this leads to delay in decision making and delivery of the project.

Opportunities

Integrating the project schedule management application with the project financial management process/application across Syensqo presents multiple benefits, including informed decision making, project tracking and timely delivery of benefits aimed by the project.

Assumptions

• SAP S/4HANA EPPM will be the primary project portfolio management application used for financial management of all types of projects (simple, medium or complex) in various domains such as Industrial solutions, R&I, IT
• The detailed management of project execution and project tasks, schedules, and resources will continue to be performed in the 3rd party application to provide the flexibility and ease of management
• Analysis & assessment of the various existing applications (MSP, Primavera etc.) for detailed schedule/dates management will be done in detailed design

Constraints

Analysis & assessment of the various applications (MSP, Primavera etc.) for detailed schedule/dates management will determine the complexity of the integration required with project financial management application and process.

Impacts

Standardization - Requires standardization of process and application for Project schedule management

Data quality and migration - Requires consolidation, sourcing and cleansing of data from various applications for seamless integration

Business Rules

Detailed business rules will be determined during detailed design phase to standardize and integrate with Project financial management application

Options considered

Option A: Integrate with Project Schedule Management application (Automatic)

Project schedule/dates are critical to the delivery of project objectives and benefits on time. Delay in the project can lead to delayed realization of the benefits and impacts the return on investments. Typically the project schedule/dates management are done at (granular) Task level whereas the project financial management is performed at the (summarized) key deliverables level using work breakdown structures based (WBS) on assets being delivered.  It is critical to get the right balance of information from project schedule management to integrate with the project financial management. Dates/duration of the detailed tasks are summarized and integrated with the Work Breakdown Structures (WBS) to determine the delivery of each phase or deliverable of project. SAP S/4HANA EPPM (Enterprise portfolio and project management) offers integration capability with different third-party schedule management systems such as Primavera or MSP.

Benefits of Integration

• Allows optimized Work Breakdown structure as the details of Tasks and schedules are managed in project schedule management application
• Allows determination of accurate phase dates derived from the tasks dates and duration via interface
• Improves accuracy of forecasts based on derived delivery dates
• Enables efficient decision for budget allocation and updates
• Timely alerts informs timely actions to mitigate issues and risks

Therefore, an interface with the project schedule management application is required with SAP S/4HANA EPPM for seamless integration of Project financial management.  

Option B: Continue as-is (Manual Update)

Continue using the existing applications for managing schedule and dates for tasks of the project. Manually input and update the project financial management (i.e. SAP S/4HANA EPPM) for project start and end dates. Business rule and discipline to be established to update the dates of the project deliverables and phases in timely manner. Due diligence and monitoring reports will be required to be developed to monitor the dates update.

Evaluation

Table below outlines the comparison of the proposed options for effective integration of project schedule management application with SAP S/4HANA EPPM. - Project Financial management) application. 

Evaluation Criteria	Option A - Integrate with Project Schedule Management application (Automatic)	Option B -  Continue as-is (Manual Update)
Automation & Efficiency	Automatic interface increases efficiency as there is no manual handling	Manual and Error prone data
Audit trail	Clear audit trail of information updated by interface	limited & less reliable audit trail as there can be updates made at different times by different people
Cost	Initial cost of implementation	No additional costs as the updates are manual
Ease of decision making	Timely update of the dates enables timely actions for informed decision making	Decision making completely relies on manual updates
Accuracy & data integrity	Automatic interface improves data integrity and ensures accuracy of information due to seamless integration	Manual process compromises data quality and integrity

See also

KDD003 - Integrated Project Portfolio Management Solution

Change log

Workflow history