Section 6.7. What is the organizational structure of a Definition Group?

6.7. What is the organizational structure of a Definition Group?

Figure 6-2 shows the structure of both Request Definition Groups and Review Definition Groups. Note that each member of the group has a particular skill set (i.e., business lead, IT lead, product manager).

Figure 6-2. ES-Community Definition Group participants

6.7.1. How do Request Definition Groups operate?

Figure 6-3 illustrates the process that Request Definition Groups follow. There are three phases to the life cycle of a Request Definition Group. In the first phase, SAP works with customers and partners to propose enterprise services. These proposals are prioritized and approved. SAP then selects community members to form a Definition Group around the proposal. The next phase is a series of workshops and meetings in which the Definition Group builds a detailed enterprise service request. In the third phase, the final proposal is entered into a request pool for reconciliation and prioritization. Once the service request is completed, an evaluation license is made available to all community members.

6.7.2. How do Review Definition Groups operate?

The Review Definition Groups have four phases, as illustrated in Figure 6-4. Once a set of services is approved to be included in the SAP platform, SAP chooses which of those services will most benefit from a community review. The Review Definition Group is then formed around the set of services. The group reviews and provides feedback on a draft that is specific to the deliverables at each stage of the process. In phase 3, the final draft of the service definition is delivered to community members under an evaluation license, and all members of the community can begin implementing their products and solutions that utilize those services. SAP also hosts an implementation of the service against which members can test their solutions. Phase 4 is the final delivery of the updated or new service, and members can begin certifying their products at this phase.

Figure 6-3. Request Definition Group overview

Figure 6-4. Review Definition Group overview