SAP: How to Write a Report Functional Specification
A Consultant's Guide to the secrets of effective functional spec writing including examples and a downloadable template
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Chapter Four - Where is the information that I need? The content of a functional spec must be tuned to the flavour of the RIEF object that it is describing. Since they perform very different tasks, a report specification document should be very different from an interface, enhancement, or form functional spec. Using functional specification templates helps to ensure the appropriate content for each type of RIEF object. Larger project teams will provide you with their own functional spec formats to be used, often following the specific methodology in place. Other projects will not have any formal documentation procedures at all and it may be up to you to determine what will go in your spec and what won't. The trouble with using any template is that it scares people away from writing the spec because it looks like such a daunting task. But I am a fan of using templates. Why? · I don't want to have to remember all the various types of information that I know should be in a spec for a well-designed report. My memory just isn't that good any more! · I can have hints and tips included as `hidden text' in my templates to remind me what a section or title in the spec means. Particularly useful if I only write report functional specs every now and then. · My specs are formatted clearly and consistently which makes them a lot easier to read and follow. · My work is more professional. Because I am familiar with my own templates, when I am taking a business user through my design, showing a trainer or explaining what I want to an ABAP developer, I know where the relevant pieces of information are in the document and can flick to it with ease. · At a glance of the functional spec table of contents, I can remind myself of the types of information that I need to gather and the questions I need to ask before I can begin writing. If your project team has its own methodology and template for documentation, then you will need to use that. Some sections may be common to those in my templates. The template that I use (REPORT_FS.doc) and that you can download from our website (www.SAPGUIDE.CO.UK) is large and `thorough'! If you are on a small project where documentation is not policed with vigour, you could get away with a simpler version (BASIC_FS.doc), or come up with your own. Regardless which format you use, make sure you document clearly and concisely the user requirements and how your design meets them, using the principles, tips and tricks I document in this book! Having determined what format your functional spec is going to take, you now need to figure out what information you have already got, and what information you are going to need to complete the spec. Like every good consultant, try to think about it from an Inputs - Processes - Outputs point of view.
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About the Book
Author Linda Timms goes beyond the standard consulting guide to bring you constructive reliable advice for delivering effective, complete, professional functional specs on time. Filled with plain English, real-world examples, hints and tips, SAP: How to Write a Report Functional Specification provides the secrets you need to make a daunting task achievable. Whether you are • a SAP project team member seconded from the business, unsure where to start with documenting business requirements • a support analyst dealing with change requests and new requirements • an offshore analyst/consultant wanting to up your game, get recognition for top quality work, and stand out from the crowd • anyone fresh out of a SAP academy or training course, wanting to transition smoothly into a valuable project team member • a graduate with one of the big management consulting firms wanting focussed reliable advice to help build your consulting career • a junior consultant wanting to make a name for yourself as a professional productive “good” SAP resource • an experienced consultant wanting to refresh your knowledge and maybe kick some bad habits • a business analyst looking to move into the SAP arena • a manager or team lead tasked with reviewing and signing off functional specs • a project manager wanting to bring in best practices • a technical analyst wanting to understand the functional side of SAP requirements SAP: How to Write a Report Functional Specification is a comprehensive guide, including a free downloadable functional specification template that will have you producing polished, high-caliber, valuable report specifications in no time!
About the Author
After university, Linda Timms began her career learning the importance of customer service and professionalism in the banking industry, before moving into the IT field as a business analyst for a large telecommunications company in New Zealand. Following many years of gathering user requirements and documenting the “inputs - processes - outputs” in various IT departments, she trained in SAP R/3 and became a functional consultant for Ernst and Young New Zealand. Over her successful sixteen-year SAP career, she has worked on implementations in Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand, before taking the plunge and contracting independently in Europe and Asia. She has had the great privilege of working on SAP with a number of the main consulting firms—Price Waterhouse Consulting, IBM, Cap Gemini, Anderson Consulting, Accenture, HCL Axon, and Deloitte Consulting. Linda Timms has become passionate about keeping up high standards in SAP implementations and encourages many junior consultants into striving to achieve them through her coaching services. Feeling it is now time to reach a wider audience, she has temporarily left the hustle and bustle of London life and moved to a sunny island in the North Atlantic Ocean to concentrate on her writing. This is the first in a series of four consultant’s guide books that she believes will help you produce effective functional specifications, test efficiently, make a name for yourself as a top SAP consultant, and be proud of what you are doing.