Issue

Syensqo uses multiple applications to manage the portfolio of projects and proposals for projects. In principle, all these applications (COLMAR, Accolade (WEGO), Accolade(BIARRITZ), WAVE) provide the ability to manage the lifecycle of a project from idea/proposal stage to its closure. However, these systems do not automatically integrate with the financial systems to get the complete monitoring and tracking of all projects at Group and GBU level. The lack of single common and integrated project portfolio management solution poses the following challenges for Syensqo:

• No single source of truth
• Inconsistent reporting
• Manual and disintegrated processes
• No audit trail

Recommendation

Based on the analysis and evaluation presented in this document, SAP S/4HANA Enterprise Portfolio and Project Management (aka EPPM, Option A in this document) is recommended for effective and comprehensive management of the financial aspects of Syensqo's project portfolio. The detailed management of project execution and project tasks, schedules, and resources is not considered here and will be assessed during detailed design. 

Background & Context

Syensqo’s project portfolio is largely comprised of the Capex related projects in various domains i.e. R&I, IT and Industrial solutions. Capex management is detailed in the CAPEX01 procedure based on the project classification (i.e. Current, Medium, Major and Major > 50 M€). The CAPEX01 procedure defines the process and guidelines for prioritizing and ranking the Capital projects based on the investment reasons that are aligned with the Group and GBU strategic objectives and envelops.

The Group Investment Committee provides the ELT with recommendations for approval of major projects (> 7M€) . However, approvals and challenges are not mandatory for current and Medium projects, therefore current and medium projects are managed (for realization) by GBU/Sites without the help of the GEC (Group Engineering and Construction) and is not systematic. There are multiple local/site specific project management tools for detailed planning of schedule, deliverables, milestones and resources.

WBS elements in SAP are used for procurement of materials and services and posting other financial transactions. These are created manually as there is no integration between the portfolio and project management applications.

Syensqo have the following portfolio and project management applications:

 It is evident from above analysis that there is a lack of standardized and integrated Portfolio and Project management in Syensqo. This KDD intends to evaluate potential options to enable integrated portfolio and project management solutions which provides:

• Consistent methodology and framework for Project Prioritization and budget allocation
• Integrated & consistent reporting using single source of truth
• Aggregated view if all projects at Group and GBU level

Assumptions

• All financial and reportable non financial information resides in SAP S/4Hana for seamless integration and informed decision making process for prioritization, ranking and budget allocation of projects across all GBUs.
• This KDD does not intend to remove/replace operational project management applications ( such as Microsoft projects) which are used to manage detailed operational project schedule and resources (people). Detailed operational requirements will be analyzed in detailed design phase.

Constraints

No constraints identified in this phase. Further assessments will be done in detailed design phase.

Impacts

Implementation of SAP S/4HANA EPPM has the following impacts:

• Requires a separate license to use EPPM
• Requires consolidation, sourcing and cleansing of data from various applications for consolidated portfolio & project management
• Other Syensqo projects - There is another inflight project to upgrade the existing application (COLMAR) will be impacted by this decision. Timelines for ongoing business need to be assessed
• Requires change management to get business buy-in for adoption of core and common solution across all GBUs.

Business Rules

Existing business rules and procedure such as Phase/gates and CAPEX01 procedure and guidelines across all categories of projects and project proposals in various domains(i.e. R&I, IT and Industrial solutions) can be adopted in implementation of SAP S/4HANA EPPM. Further details will be analyzed during detailed design phase.

Options considered

Option A: SAP S/4HANA Enterprise Portfolio and Project Management (EPPM)

SAP S/4Hana Enterprise Portfolio and Project Management (EPPM) is an integrated portfolio and project management solution that helps organizations to manage their projects and portfolio of projects effectively. It provides the ability to manage enterprise wide portfolio across each lifecycle phase to align project investments and activities with strategic objectives of the organization. EPPM allows management of different kinds of projects portfolios.

• Capital portfolios - Based on managing the investments and capitalizing the costs
• Research and development (R&D) and Innovation Portfolios - Focus on optimizing the capital spend and resources in innovation cycle. Integrates with Idea management applications
• IT Portfolios - Align IT related activities and resources with business strategy
• Commercial Project Portfolios - Focus on execution of customer projects

EPPM consists of :

• Portfolio Management which is about doing the right projects, provide the central repository of all project proposals, programs and projects. Each Project/Proposal has a clearly defined phase/gates which helps in structured decision making. It allows prioritization/ranking of projects using common process framework, underpinned by consistent metadata and metrics. Approved projects proceed to the project execution post prioritization. Portfolio management also provides enterprise wide reporting of all projects based on various dimensions such a financial, operational or organizational. It allows risk and issue management and provides overall project health reporting.
• Project Management which is about doing the projects right allows tight integration with financial and logistic processes. It provides ability to detail project structuring, planning ( Costs, schedule and resources), execution and monitoring.  Project operational management and accounting rolls up into the portfolio management to provide a consolidated financial view of all projects. Budgets allocation to the projects is done based on prioritization and controlled against overruns.

The picture below shows the integrated portfolio and project management lifecycle.

Option B: Continue as-is (multiple applications) but with integrated reporting solution

Continue using the existing multiple applications for managing portfolio of projects. Since, not all existing applications are integrated with SAP, an integrated reporting solution should be implemented to bring all the projects together from various sources to provide the overall portfolio reporting, tracking and decision making of all projects.

This approach may require updating CAPEX01 procedure to be aligned with the GBU specific project management framework such as phases/gates, metrics ,deliverables and execution.

	Option A - S/4HANA EPPM	Option B - Multiple Applications with integrated reporting
Pro	Provides standardization and alignment of Portfolio with Group's vision and goals through common prioritization methods and scoring model Provides simulation and what-if analysis for making informed decisions Allows monitoring of the performance of the portfolio through detailed visibility into projects across the entire enterprise Provides integrated process and governance through stage gate reviews Provides aggregated view of Portfolio, programs and projects Allows Integrated Risk and Issue management for individual projects Provides native integration with Finance, Procurement, HR and EAM for project realization Allows multiple languages to cater to country specific needs	No or minimal change management required as continue as-is No additional training costs needed Provides Integrated reporting by sourcing data from multiple applications
Con	Requires upfront License, implementation and deployment costs Requires Change management and business buy-in from all GBUs and Finance to agree on the common methodology and framework for all projects	Does not provide standardization and alignment of portfolio across all GBUs Does not provide integration with Finance, Procurement, HR and EAM for project realization Does not provide single source of truth Ongoing cost of ownership and maintenance for multiple applications Does not provide integrated audit trail

Evaluation

Table below outlines the comparison of the proposed options for effective portfolio and project management. Despite higher change management efforts to get business buy-in, there are long term benefits of Option A - S/4HANA EPPM to provide integrated portfolio and project management.

Evaluation criteria	Option A - S/4HANA EPPM	Option B - Multiple Applications with integrated reporting
Standardized and consistent methodology and Framework	Standardized and consistent process for portfolio planning, prioritization, budget allocation, tracking and monitoring	GBU specific and not consistent due to multiple applications
Source of truth	Single source of truth provides aggregated view of portfolio of projects across all GBUs	Multiple source of truth due to multiple applications
Integrated Portfolio management with Project management	Well integrated portfolio and project management (financial & logistics) information	Integrated report sourcing data from multiple applications
Audit Trail	Audit trail of the changes made at Portfolio and Project level	Limited audit trail due to multiple applications
Automation and Efficiency	Automated via real time integration	Manual and limited integration with ERP cause inefficiencies
Cost of implementation & Maintenance	High cost upfront for a single integrated application	High cost upgrading and maintenance of multiple applications
Change Management	High Change impact and management	Low change impact and management

See also

Change log

Workflow history