Not every SAP / ERP implementation is as successful as it should have been. Also because every project and every company used to have its own challenges. Further, the approach that work for one scenario, may not work in other. However, we can still learn a lot from past experiences, gained in a similar scenario.
Generally, the approach, processes, tools and methodologies, which has evolved and has been quite successful over a period of time, for a given scenario, are collectively called as Industry Best Practices. Industry Best Practices for different industry types (e.g. Manufacturing, Utilities etc. ) has also evolved and made available for SAP projects.

Most of the companies follow these practices while implementing or running SAP systems and that helps in avoiding project failures. It also reduces implementation / running cost, total cost of ownership and ensures better ROI ( Return on Investment ).

Here are a few links on web which provides detail of a few real life SAP projects, its challenges, Project Management, Risk Management, methodologies, execution, results and lessons learnt etc, simply called as SAP Case Study.

Web-Links for SAP Case Studies:

SAP Netweaver Case Studies @sap.com
SAP Netweaver Case Studies at www.sap.com
http://www.sap.com/platform/netweaver/customersuccess/idc.epx

BPCL SAP Case Study and Analysis
Check out this web page of IIMA - Prof. Arabinda Tripathy regarding BPCL SAP Implementation Case Study and analysis
http://www.iimahd.ernet.in/~tripathy/

Six Degrees of Success or Failure in ERP Requirements Engineering
Six Degrees of Success or Failure in ERP Requirements Engineering: Experiences with the ASAP Process By Maya Daneva
http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~anthonyb/itp320/ASAP.ppt

Failure of HP’s SAP roll-out : A case study
When Bad Things Happen to Good Projects: BY CHRISTOPHER KOCH
http://www.cio.com/archive/120104/contingencyplan.html

ERP a savior or slayer of enterprise competitiveness
Institute of International Management - University of Lausanne
http://www.hec.unil.ch/iumi/iumi/WP/0305.doc

Speculation has once again turned to whether corporate America will seriously consider implementing ERM as a good business lifestyle or a cost to be avoided until mandated by the regulatory authorities.

According to the story “[1] Companies Urgently Search for Hidden Risks”, written in the October issue of Compliance Week, corporate America is still sitting on the sidelines and not aggressively implementing ERM programs even in the light of the collapse of the financial markets.

However, a shift in ERM thinking could be coming. The Compliance Week article further points out that Standard & Poor’s has already determined that it will take a closer look at ERM in establishing a companies rating, which may help encourage more companies to take a closer look at implementing ERM into their management strategy.

India’s Tata Power Trading Company Limited Selects SunGard’s ZaiNet to Automate and Streamline Energy Trading and Facilitate Growth
December 16, 2008 — Houston, TX

Tata Power Trading Company Limited (Tata Power Trading), part of the Tata Group of companies, has selected SunGard’s ZaiNet to help it streamline and automate its power trading operation and support its plans for continued growth in India and beyond. Tata Power Trading selected SunGard because of its global experience in power markets and ZaiNet’s ability to be configured to the unique requirements of the Indian energy market. Integrated with the new India Energy Exchange (IEX), SunGard’s ZaiNet will support Tata Power Trading’s operations on the exchange as well as its bilateral trading with counterparties in India.

India’s power industry today reflects the steady movement from deregulation to competitive markets introduce…

through the 2003 passage of the India Electricity Act. It continues to evolve and benefit from the introduction of Open Access in 2004, which set the stage for competitive trading, and the June 2008 opening of India’s first national-level power exchange. Tata Power Trading plays a lead role in bridging the supply and demand gaps of utilities by buying and selling electricity across the length and breadth of the country, and is experiencing rapid revenue growth.

ZaiNet will support Tata Power Trading’s sustained growth by helping to automate and consolidate its confirmation process, which Tata Power Trading has identified as a limiting factor to its growth due to its reliance on multiple, disparate confirmation systems. ZaiNet will also help Tata Power Trading gain better controls through audit and reporting capabilities.

“Tata Power Trading has been at the forefront of power trading in India since its inception in 2004 and our business is experiencing a compounded growth rate of over 100% from 76 Million Units in 2005 to over 1700 Million Units in 2008. This growth of our trade volume necessitates that we fully automate our trading activities,” said Mr. Amulya Charan, managing director of Tata Power Trading. “We chose to support our growth with SunGard’s ZaiNet because of its global application in power markets, and flexibility to adapt to the rapidly evolving energy market in India.”

Matt Mandalinci, president of SunGard’s energy solutions business unit, said, “With over 2,000 SunGard staff in India, 125 of which are devoted exclusively to SunGard’s energy solutions business, we are excited to enter the power trading market in India with Tata Power Trading. SunGard ZaiNet’s flexibility delivered through its configurable risk and calculation engine with an SOA, integration to the IEX, and front-middle-back office integration will help Tata Power Trading to optimize its energy business and support its growth.”

In US wholesale petrol prices slipped below the $1 a gallon level on Friday 21st, as commodity markets priced in a likely demand crunch amid forecasts for a prolonged global recession.

Nymex December RBOB unleaded gasoline touched a low of $0.9870 a gallon before rebounding to trade 0.03 cents higher at $1.0349 a gallon. In the previous session, petrol prices broke the $1 a gallon level for the first time since the current Nymex contract specification came into existence in 2006.

 URL: Detail

The V-model is an internationally recognized development standard for IT systems which uniformly and bindingly lays down what has to be done[Procedure], how the tasks are to be performed[Methods] and what is to be used to carry this out[Tools].
3 Levels of V-Model:
The standardization concept of the German Federal Authorities pursues this objective by regulations on three levels:
Software Lifecycle Process Model.
Methods to be used.
Tool Requirements.

Submodels of V-Model:
The V-Model is structured into functional parts, called submodels. These four submodels are closely integrated and mutually influence one another by exchange of products/results. These submodels are as below:
Project management (PM): plans, controls and informs the SD, QA and CM submodels.
Software/System development (SD): develops the system or the software.
Quality Assurance (QA): specifies quality requirements, test cases and criteria, and examines the products and the compliance with the standards.
Configuration Management (CM): administrates the products generated.
Software Development Submodel - [ Also known as the traditional V-Model ]

Conventional V-Model represents the development process in the form of a V shape. The right side of the V represents the testing where the systems is validated against the specifications defined on the left side. The meeting point of the V represents the actual development.
Use of V-Model in ABAP Development Lifecycle:
Generally in implementation Projects, ABAP development cycle will be somewhat :
Requirement Analysis

Application Design - High Level design - quite functional - contains functional test cases or guidelines for test cases - Review of AD - Review comments implemented till sign off by the stake holders ( client side / consultant side )

Detail Design Detail Level design - quite technical as well - Man-hours required is estimated and mentioned - contains functional & technical unit test cases - Review of DD - Review comments implemented till sign off by the stake holders ( client side / consultant side )

Development - Coding by the developers as per the detail design -

Unit Testing - is done in Development Server by the developer to ensure that program works as per the detail design - add / implement test case results - transport request details & documentation in detail design - Evidence is attached. Code Review to ensure that coding is as per the coding standards ( performance related as well ) - Also check the test cases and verify - Review comments implemented till sign-off by the stake holders. Before Application testing the realted chunk of work is transported to QA Server.

Application Testing / Integration Testing - This is to ensure that programs work along with other components, that might get affected. e.g. Even the Invoice process should be tested if a change is made in the interface related with a PO creation / change. The test cases or created separately ( more functional in nature and considers dependency of components ). Before implementation of the release, the complete product needs to be tested to ensure that it can bear the maximum load of a production environment.

Product Testing / Load Testing - is performed with huge datasets to check if system / product can handle production scenario in terms of memory and performance.

Final Implementation in Production.

Support - Any further problems will be solved as Bug-fix or and enhancments will be carried out as a part of change request.

Looking for a way to squeeze more distance from your tank of gas? Here’s a great list of gas-saving tips.

The fate of a multibillion dollar pipeline that could unlock 4.5 billion cubic feet of North Slope gas reserves daily and power North American homes and businesses for decades now rests in the hands of 20 Alaska state senators.

On Wednesday, the Alaska House of Representatives reaffirmed its Tuesday night vote to award an exclusive license to TransCanada Corp., which must move forward on federal permitting applications for the 1,715-mile pipeline estimated to cost between $26 billion and $30 billion.

This leaves the Senate to approve or reject the license by Aug. 2. Republican Senate President Lyda Green said her energy committee still has a few questions to pose, but she expects for the Senate to vote on Gov. Sarah Palin’s license recommendation by late next week.

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Wood Group Engineering (North Sea) Ltd, part of John Wood Group PLC (”Wood Group”), has been awarded a contract by BP to design and install a new gas processing plant at BP’s Sullom Voe Terminal (SVT).The multi-million-pound refurbishment will replace the existing 25-year old gas processing plant with a slimmed down 21st century model and will result in a significantly reduced gas inventory being managed on the site while at the same time maximizing efficiency.

The project will also reduce operating costs and eliminate the need for the planned 2010 major turnaround, modifications and fabric maintenance works on the existing plant.

George Brown, Managing Director of Wood Group Engineering (North Sea), said, “We are delighted that we have been chosen to design, procure and construct this major upgrade of new facilities at Sullom Voe, continuing our long-term relationship with BP.”

Work is already underway following the successful front end development study and the project is due to be completed by August 2010.

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Spain’s Gas Natural and Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom have agreed on terms allowing them to trade liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes quickly in the future, the companies said on Monday.

The agreement, signed on July 2, defines general terms for each company to sell the other spot cargoes of LNG and could be extended to include power, carbon and pipeline gas trade.

Gazprom, the biggest supplier of pipeline gas to Europe, has a 51 percent stake in the major Shtokman project in the Barents Sea, which is expected to begin producing 23.7 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2013 and begin LNG production in 2014.

The Russian company has been expanding into LNG, power and carbon markets through its GM&T subsidiary based in London.

Gas Natural, in partnership with its biggest shareholder Repsol, is one of the biggest players in the growing global LNG market.

“When opportunities come and market conditions are favorable, Gazprom Marketing & Trading and Gas Natural SDG will be in a position to execute LNG transactions quickly,” said Frederic Barnaud, GM&T’s LNG Director.

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A year after taking over the Lima Refinery, Husky Energy officials are on the verge of announcing their plans for the plant’s future.