Lesson 2 of 5
Workstreams
8 min
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Phases say when. Workstreams say what kind of work. SAP Activate groups its deliverables and tasks into workstreams that run across the phases, so each team can see its own thread from Prepare to Run. Workstreams also suggest how to organize the team: who owns data, who owns integration, who owns testing.
The workstreams
| Workstream | What it covers | Contoso owner |
|---|---|---|
| Project Management | Governance, planning, budget, risk, phase closure and quality gates | Grace |
| Customer Team Enablement | Getting the customer project team ready to work with the solution | Grace with the partner |
| Technical Architecture and Infrastructure | Landscape and technical design | Basis lead |
| Application Design and Configuration | Solution design, configuration and security concepts | Functional leads |
| Extensibility | Building additional functionality on top of the standard | Development lead |
| Integration | Interface design and communication with other systems | Integration lead |
| Data Management | Data loading, cleansing and data lifecycle | Data migration lead |
| Testing | Validating the solution: strategy, planning, execution, defects | Priya |
| Operations and Support | IT operations and end-user support after go-live | Support manager |
| Solution Adoption | Training and organizational change management | Change lead |
| Analytics | Data modeling, report design and implementation | Analytics lead |
SAP Activate workstreams as listed in SAP Learning. The exact set varies slightly by roadmap.
Project Management is the workstream that holds the others together: it runs governance, closes phases and owns the quality gates. Solution Adoption took over what used to be called organizational change management and training.
Workstreams across phases
Each workstream has work in several phases. Testing is a good example. It starts in Prepare, when the team sets up test tools and learns the approach; it writes the test strategy and plans in Explore; it executes in Realize; it supports cutover and hypercare in Deploy; and it runs regression testing in Run.
| Workstream | Prepare | Explore | Realize | Deploy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Testing | Tool setup, initial approach | Test strategy and planning | Unit, string, integration and acceptance tests | Readiness checks, hypercare support |
| Data Management | Data approach | Data design and mapping | Load cycles and data validation | Production load |
| Integration | Integration inventory | Interface design | Build and integration test | Production connections |
| Solution Adoption | Change approach | Impact analysis | Training materials and key-user training | End-user training and go-live support |
Why testers care about other workstreams
Testing depends on almost every other workstream. Integration testing needs interfaces from the Integration workstream. Realistic tests need loaded data from Data Management. Business role tests need security concepts from Application Design and Configuration. User acceptance testing needs key users trained by Solution Adoption. When a test cycle is at risk, the cause is usually upstream.
- IntegrationInterfaces such as the dealer portal built and connected
- Data ManagementLoad cycles complete in QAS client 100
- Application Design and ConfigurationBusiness roles and security concepts ready for testers
- Solution AdoptionKey users trained to execute and accept tests
- TestingSIT and UAT can start on time, with realistic data and roles
The reverse is also true: other workstreams depend on testing. Data Management needs test results to know whether a load cycle is good enough. Solution Adoption uses test cases as a starting point for training material. Operations and Support needs the list of known defects and workarounds before go-live. A test lead who publishes results in a form other workstreams can use earns a seat in the decisions that affect the test plan.
Organizing the team around workstreams
Workstreams are not an org chart, but most programs use them as one. Each workstream gets a lead on the partner side and a counterpart on the customer side. For testing this matters: a partner test manager can coordinate execution, but the customer test lead owns the strategy, the acceptance criteria and the evidence that the business will sign. At Contoso, the partner's test coordinator reports into Priya, who reports into Grace's project management workstream.
What would you do?
SIT cycle 1 at Contoso is two weeks away. The data migration team says the second load cycle into the quality system will slip by ten days. Priya has to respond. What is the best action?
- Workstreams group Activate deliverables by type of work and run across the phases.
- They include Project Management, Application Design and Configuration, Integration, Data Management, Testing, Solution Adoption and others.
- Testing starts in Prepare, plans in Explore, executes in Realize and continues into Deploy and Run.
- Testing depends on other workstreams; manage those dependencies through project governance.
Check your understanding · not graded
Lesson check
1. What does an Activate workstream represent?
2. Which workstream owns training and organizational change management?
3. In which phase does the Testing workstream first appear?
4. Which workstream owns quality gates and phase closure?