Why a Steady State approach saves you time, money and maybe….your job!
You do not know what you don’t know. The goods news: you can find out!
Best practices on how to implement steady state environment
LEARNING POINTS
GPI - A Customer story Packaging
International, Inc. Quick Facts
Locations: Corporate
Headquarters
Atlanta, GA 20 +
World Wide
Locations,
Industry: Consumer
Packaged Goods
(CPG)
Products: Packaging
Products
Revenue: $4.3 Billion
Employees: ~14,000
Solution: Steady
State Support (SSS)
Business Challenges
• Reporting delays due to process failures
• User mistrust in data, due to failure of jobs in the middle of the
processes rendering incorrect data
• Constant re-runs of critical reports
• Maintenance of systems in addition to regular enhancements
• Lack of expertise from Reporting to EIM applications and Data
Quality support.
Company Overview
Leading maker of laminated, coated, and printed packaging such as
beverage carriers, cereal boxes, microwavable food packaging, and
detergent cartons.
Some of its customers are: Kraft Foods, MillerCoors, Anheuser-Busch,
General Mills, and various Coca-Cola and Pepsi bottlers.
Landscape for GPI
BW environment
Data Services for Data Integration jobs (i.e.; Salesforce)
Information Steward for Data Governance (Materials, customers, Vendors)
BOBJ and LUMIRA: Users view
Hardware Failures
Obstacles ahead
Network Issues
Inconsistent Data
Knowledge Gap
Changes
Several Systems
New requests
Politics
Talent Availability
Maintenance Windows
Perform a full systems check on every critical system:
Databases Data Integration Systems Presentation Layer
Revise problem report protocols
Establish standard procedures for response
80/20 rule applies here
Creating a Steady State Support (SSS)
framework – Where to begin?
What are your Dependencies?
How do you engage them?
Do they have the tools or access they need?
Proactive vs. Reactive approach
Have experts in BO but own the landscape as well.
SSS Framework – What to look for?
GPI Signed a year long contract with
Multiple (and interchangeable) resources availability
Team with experts from all aspects of SAP BI
platform and EIM applications.
No waiting! Team is engaged if issues occur
Production System Monitoring and support
Application Upgrades and Data Migrations
GPI Signed a year long contract with
SSS is treated separate from other projects
Domain expertise – It takes time to understand
complex systems
Every change is documented and communicated in
weekly meetings
Bigger the problem, bigger the engagement from
multiple resources
Development and post-implementation support is
easily transitioned according to established
standards
Your users will revolt if problems are pervasive
It saves your team time because they probably
should be doing something else
Effective organizations constantly fight
unreliability in order to decrease uncertainty
Planning can only be effective if you can trust
your architecture
RETURN ON INVESTMENT
Reduction of remedy tickets by 76%
Immediate response when issues do occur
If needed, Issues can be escalated sooner
Increase in the number of users trusting the BI
System and using the reports
Increase in enhancement requests
Projects completing on time
RETURN ON INVESTMENT
Understand the impact of not having reliable information or any information at all and communicate to your organization!
Change is required if what is in place is not working
Take control over possible points of failure
Establish standards that can be replicated elsewhere and everywhere
When problems occur (and they will occur) – evaluate, document, and act!
BEST PRACTICES
Bring down systems before each maintenance window and bring them up after (gracefully)
Make sure your message/reporting by exception is working
Always check for system integrity (are all services running?)
Communicate, communicate, communicate – Especially when errors are fixed.
Standardize whenever and wherever possible
BEST PRACTICES
Sometimes issues have simple explanations (insufficient memory in a BOBJ server)
Inconsistent data will cause inconsistent results – Look for ways to guarantee that ONLY vetted data goes through your checkpoints – (Before and after checksums will help here)
Have an early alert system in place (even if manual)
Check and apply recommended patches and notes monthly
Create a team that can support each other – Avoid silo knowledge.
BEST PRACTICES
Everybody is busy but there is a lot you can do!
The price for fixing something is higher than preventing it
Fix recurrent issues regardless the cost (80/20 rule!)
Document, document, document (Issue tracking system)
Understand that fault may NOT be in your system, but in its interaction with another.
KEY LEARNINGS
STAY INFORMED
Follow the ASUGNews team:
Tom Wailgum: @twailgum
Chris Kanaracus: @chriskanaracus
Craig Powers: @Powers_ASUG
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