Since a long time ago, I have been thinking about the application of quality gates during projects and this may be because I have noticed that it is not commonly used today or because I have not seen many metrics related to project results based on this type of review.
In general, Quality gates in SAP Cloud or On premise projects serve as critical checkpoints to ensure that project deliverables meet predefined standards before progressing to the next phase. They aid in reducing risks, improving governance, and enhancing decision-making.
From Activate methodology, the quality gates review will take place during prepare, explore, realize and deploy phases.
Figure 1 from PM_210 document based on Sap Activate best practice.
SAP’s quality gates during the E2E project lifecycle.
Quality gates in the SAP Activate methodology help projects move forward in a controlled manner. Key deliverables and milestones must be reviewed and approved before advancing to the next phase. They act as checkpoints for project teams and stakeholders to assess project readiness, confirm criteria, and ensure requirements are fulfilled.
Without mandatory quality gates, there is a significant risk to the learning program’s outcome. The relevance of the learning content and the quality of the experience cannot be guaranteed.
As a summary, in each phase you could have different key controls to move forward with the next phase.
Discover Phase: Ensures project scope and objectives are clearly defined.Prepare Phase: Confirms readiness for implementation, including resource allocation and planning.Explore Phase: Validates fit-to-standard analysis and solution design.Realize Phase: Assesses system configuration, testing, and integration readiness.Deploy Phase: Confirms go-live readiness, including user training and final testing.Run Phase: Monitors post-go-live performance and optimization.
key Purposes of Quality Gates in SAP Activate Methodology (from plan enablement).
Plan enablement is one of the most important component of the project lifecycle based on how the project plan is structured
Figure 2 from Defining quality gates in an enablement project – Sap learning –
1. Milestone Evaluation
– Evaluates project deliverables, documentation or outcomes.
– Ensures the project meets predefined objectives
– Allows review of completeness, accuracy, and quality of artifacts
– Identify potential problems in project deliverables before they escalate, reducing costly rework.
2. Risk Mitigation
– Identifies potential risks and issues during project stages
– Enables early detection and resolution of problems
– Offers an opportunity to assess risks and take corrective actions
3. Alignment with Business Requirements
– Ensures project aligns with business needs and strategic objectives
– Validates project outcomes deliver expected value
– Confirms project is on track to achieve desired outcomes
4. Stakeholder Engagement and Decision-Making
– Encourages involvement of stakeholders in project reviews
– Provides a forum for input and decision-making
– Ensures stakeholder visibility and consideration of perspectives
5. Project Control and Governance
– Establishes a structured framework for project management
– Provides criteria and evaluation points for assessment
– Enhances transparency, accountability, and effective management
-Ensures the project is on track and meets predefined objectives.
Quality gate process
The quality gates process will occur during 4 project phases with managers, consultants, SMEs optionally stakeholders and end users.
Figure 3 from PM_210 document based on Sap Activate best practice.
Talking about a project implementation based on SAP Cloud ALM
SAP Cloud ALM offers tools for managing quality gates, which are checkpoints in the project cycle that ensure deliverables meet quality standards before moving forward. It allows for easy creation of quality gates, defining questions and answers, and documenting status. You can also import quality gates from SAP Activate roadmaps.
Main activities are described below.
Task Management: Quality gates are created as tasks within the project timeline.
Checklist Creation: Defines measurable criteria for each phase, ensuring completeness of deliverables.Milestone Linking: Associates quality gates with project milestones for better tracking.Gantt View Visualization: Displays quality gates in a timeline format for improved coordination.Follow-Up Actions: Allows creation of tasks to address issues identified during quality gate reviews.
Figure 4 from community. sap.com (Quality Gate Reporting with SAP Cloud ALM)-
Implementing quality gates in your SAP project ensures that each phase meets predefined quality standards before progressing. Here’s how you can effectively establish quality gates within SAP Application Lifecycle Management (ALM):
1. Define Quality Gate Criteria
Identify checkpoints for key project phases (Scope, Build, Test, and Deploy).Set quality requirements such as test completion rates, documentation standards, and stakeholder approvals.
2. Integrate SAP ALM Tools
Use SAP Cloud ALM to manage project governance and track progress.Leverage Quality Gate Reporting to monitor compliance at each milestone.Utilize SAP Solution Manager’s Quality Gate Management (QGM) for structured change control.
3. Establish an Approval Workflow
Define responsible roles (Quality Manager, Project Lead, Advisory Board).Implement an automated checklist for validation and approval before moving forward.
4. Monitor & Evaluate Progress
Utilize dashboards to visualize quality gates on timelines (e.g., Gantt Chart in SAP Cloud ALM).Conduct periodic reviews to ensure quality criteria are met.Apply test automation and risk-based testing for efficiency.
5. Adapt and Improve
Continuously refine quality gate criteria based on project insights.Provide training for teams to improve adherence to quality standards.
You can set clear and measurable quality standards for the phase being reviewed. The ‘Checklist’ in the Quality Gate enables you to make items to examine all relevant documents and materials like project plans, requirements specifications, design documents, and test plans for completeness before proceeding to the next phase. There are two ways to create the checklist in a Quality Gate.
Since a long time ago, I have been thinking about the application of quality gates during projects and this may be because I have noticed that it is not commonly used today or because I have not seen many metrics related to project results based on this type of review.In general, Quality gates in SAP Cloud or On premise projects serve as critical checkpoints to ensure that project deliverables meet predefined standards before progressing to the next phase. They aid in reducing risks, improving governance, and enhancing decision-making.From Activate methodology, the quality gates review will take place during prepare, explore, realize and deploy phases. Figure 1 from PM_210 document based on Sap Activate best practice. SAP’s quality gates during the E2E project lifecycle.Quality gates in the SAP Activate methodology help projects move forward in a controlled manner. Key deliverables and milestones must be reviewed and approved before advancing to the next phase. They act as checkpoints for project teams and stakeholders to assess project readiness, confirm criteria, and ensure requirements are fulfilled.Without mandatory quality gates, there is a significant risk to the learning program’s outcome. The relevance of the learning content and the quality of the experience cannot be guaranteed.As a summary, in each phase you could have different key controls to move forward with the next phase.Discover Phase: Ensures project scope and objectives are clearly defined.Prepare Phase: Confirms readiness for implementation, including resource allocation and planning.Explore Phase: Validates fit-to-standard analysis and solution design.Realize Phase: Assesses system configuration, testing, and integration readiness.Deploy Phase: Confirms go-live readiness, including user training and final testing.Run Phase: Monitors post-go-live performance and optimization.key Purposes of Quality Gates in SAP Activate Methodology (from plan enablement).Plan enablement is one of the most important component of the project lifecycle based on how the project plan is structured Figure 2 from Defining quality gates in an enablement project – Sap learning -1. Milestone Evaluation- Evaluates project deliverables, documentation or outcomes.- Ensures the project meets predefined objectives- Allows review of completeness, accuracy, and quality of artifacts- Identify potential problems in project deliverables before they escalate, reducing costly rework.2. Risk Mitigation- Identifies potential risks and issues during project stages- Enables early detection and resolution of problems- Offers an opportunity to assess risks and take corrective actions3. Alignment with Business Requirements- Ensures project aligns with business needs and strategic objectives- Validates project outcomes deliver expected value- Confirms project is on track to achieve desired outcomes4. Stakeholder Engagement and Decision-Making- Encourages involvement of stakeholders in project reviews- Provides a forum for input and decision-making- Ensures stakeholder visibility and consideration of perspectives5. Project Control and Governance- Establishes a structured framework for project management- Provides criteria and evaluation points for assessment- Enhances transparency, accountability, and effective management-Ensures the project is on track and meets predefined objectives. Quality gate process The quality gates process will occur during 4 project phases with managers, consultants, SMEs optionally stakeholders and end users. Figure 3 from PM_210 document based on Sap Activate best practice. Talking about a project implementation based on SAP Cloud ALMSAP Cloud ALM offers tools for managing quality gates, which are checkpoints in the project cycle that ensure deliverables meet quality standards before moving forward. It allows for easy creation of quality gates, defining questions and answers, and documenting status. You can also import quality gates from SAP Activate roadmaps.Main activities are described below.Task Management: Quality gates are created as tasks within the project timeline.Checklist Creation: Defines measurable criteria for each phase, ensuring completeness of deliverables.Milestone Linking: Associates quality gates with project milestones for better tracking.Gantt View Visualization: Displays quality gates in a timeline format for improved coordination.Follow-Up Actions: Allows creation of tasks to address issues identified during quality gate reviews. Figure 4 from community. sap.com (Quality Gate Reporting with SAP Cloud ALM)-Implementing quality gates in your SAP project ensures that each phase meets predefined quality standards before progressing. Here’s how you can effectively establish quality gates within SAP Application Lifecycle Management (ALM):1. Define Quality Gate CriteriaIdentify checkpoints for key project phases (Scope, Build, Test, and Deploy).Set quality requirements such as test completion rates, documentation standards, and stakeholder approvals.2. Integrate SAP ALM ToolsUse SAP Cloud ALM to manage project governance and track progress.Leverage Quality Gate Reporting to monitor compliance at each milestone.Utilize SAP Solution Manager’s Quality Gate Management (QGM) for structured change control.3. Establish an Approval WorkflowDefine responsible roles (Quality Manager, Project Lead, Advisory Board).Implement an automated checklist for validation and approval before moving forward.4. Monitor & Evaluate ProgressUtilize dashboards to visualize quality gates on timelines (e.g., Gantt Chart in SAP Cloud ALM).Conduct periodic reviews to ensure quality criteria are met.Apply test automation and risk-based testing for efficiency.5. Adapt and ImproveContinuously refine quality gate criteria based on project insights.Provide training for teams to improve adherence to quality standards.You can set clear and measurable quality standards for the phase being reviewed. The ‘Checklist’ in the Quality Gate enables you to make items to examine all relevant documents and materials like project plans, requirements specifications, design documents, and test plans for completeness before proceeding to the next phase. There are two ways to create the checklist in a Quality Gate. Read More Technology Blogs by Members articles
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