Are you looking for Senior Citizens Life Insurance? You can safeguard the future of your loved ones by investing in a good life insurance plan. A fitting life insurance policy can assist your family in a time of hardship. When you are not capable of, the insurance policy can ensure the financial well-being of your loved ones. It’s important to research the most appropriate policies available. Your family’s needs should be met by these policies.
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It is critical to find an insurance policy that gives you the most coverage for an amount that is within your financial grasp. By doing an internet search you can find insurance policies. You can find the right policy faster by researching in this manner. The benefit is that you acquire various policies from different providers.
There are numerous free website services that will allow you to review the different insurance quotes out there. These web services can help you to save time and effort. This makes finding the appropriate insurance companies that will give you the best bang for your buck more simple. After acquiring your policies, you will then be able to choose what companies meet your needs for a price that you find comfortable.
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It’s preferable to get second opinions about the insurance provider that you are looking at. To obtain Senior Citizens Life Insurance, it’s vital to do a good amount of looking around. You should ask individuals who have bought life insurance to see how their experiences were like. Their record with the policy can prove whether the insurance scheme is fitting for you.
When getting a quote online, you simply have to provide basic information such as your age and gender into a form. When you fill out the form, you will obtain inexpensive policies from numerous agencies. You will lastly be able to pick out what prodivers are the fitting ones for your needs and that of your loved ones.
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It is not without reason that the old age is called the second childhood. Second childhood implies that the elderly members of the family need constant care as they have done that when we were children. It becomes our prime duty to provide them with all the care, company and compassion that they need so that old age appears to be the most wonderful phases of their lives. We owe it to them. But unfortunately our fast paced life has robbed us of the opportunity of spending time with the senior members of the family. If you are among one of those people who suffer from the pangs of guilt for not being able to provide them with proper care then you must know that there are people who are dedicatedly work towards providing you with all the assistance for senior home care. As we all know care is the best expression of love to all.
Senior care, Phoenix ranges from a variety of services and some of the most vital ones as offered are listed below.
* Medication – many of the elderly people needed medication on regular interval of time, and the service providers make it a point to provide them with the required medicine at correct time.
* Therapy – On offer are different kinds of therapy that senior people need in order to stay fit. They arrange for the different therapies prescribed by doctors and make it a point to engage the best professionals fro the purpose.
* Hygiene- it is one of the most important criteria for staying fit and all professionals are trained to maintain the best possible hygiene.
* Dressing – They say dress well to say well, so we make it sure that elderly ones are comfortably dressed.
* Assistance with walking and movement- they assist at every step and it is a pleasure to provide them with required support. The trained professionals assist them at every step and provide the elderly with all the assistance they need for performing the different daily activities.
* Occasional outings- Monotony of staying indoors is something that many elderly people face and services also include the pleasure of arranging occasional outings for them. During the outings the professionals take care of elders in every possible method.
* Games and Reading- They also arrange for different kinds of games that are enjoyable for the elderly people. Volunteers also read their favorite books to them.
Senior care, Phoenix treasures the satisfaction that is gathered from providing services with the care and trusted companionship. And there is no need for you to feel guilty because when you approach senior care, Phoenix, the burden is lightened and guilt free.
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Zumba, the acclaimed fitness party DVD workout routine that features contagious Latin rhythms and boasts a global following of millions, is now offering for sale in the U.S. a four-disc fitness DVD collection for at-home use. The workout routine features more than four hours of fun and fitness from the creator of the Zumba program and Colombian dance icon Beto Perez along with fan favorite instructors Gina Grant and Tanya Beardsley.
According to Alberto Perlman, CEO of Zumba Fitness, each week five million Zumba enthusiasts globally enjoy the Zumba workout routine at home or in classes taught by trained instructors at local fitness facilities. “Anyone seeking a fun, effective and affordable way to exercise and gain a summer beach body can do so with the Zumba Fitness DVD Collection, which provides an easy, at-home platform for new participants as well as returning friends,” he added.
Each fitness DVD in the collection features signature soundtracks filled with Zumba Fitness’ characteristic Latin rhythms and beats. Six different workout routines are included:
? Zumba Basics
? 20-minute Express Workout
? Total-body Cardio Party
? Sculpt and Tone utilizing Zumba’s redesigned Toning Sticks
? Zumba Fitness Flat Abs
? Zumba Fitness Live — filmed in front of a live audience
“We know, along with Zumba enthusiasts around the world, that the Zumba workout routine is simple and people at all fitness levels can enjoy it and achieve great results,” said Perlman. “We designed our fitness DVD collection to be the perfect introduction for those trying Zumba workout routines for the first time, or as a complement for someone who already enjoys Zumba classes.”
Zumba Fitness’ DVD Collection is now available in brand new packaging and includes four discs offering six different workouts and re-designed Zumba toning sticks that double as maracas. The Fitness DVD Collection is available for $23.07 at Buydvdmart.com.
About Zumba:
The Zumba program is a fitness dance party with a contagious blend of Latin rhythms that provides a fun and effective workout to a global community, either at home or in the gym. Through exhilarating, high calorie-burning fitness classes, the Zumba Fitness workout routine has helped melt the pounds and inches off more than five million Zumba-enthusiasts in more than 75 countries. Using simple Latin and urban dance moves, Zumba routines successfully tone and sculpt the body while burning fat. The Zumba program is available in a four-disk fitness DVD collection featuring creator Beto Perez, and offered in 40,000 class locations worldwide. Other offerings include Zumbawear? clothing, Zumba Gold? classes for active seniors and de-conditioned participants, and Zumba Toning? as well as additional music soundtracks. For more information, to find a class, or to purchase the DVD Collection, visit www.buydvdmart.com.
I am going to recommend a Eshop to you.Yesterday I found a web of a large trading company from China,which is an agent of all the well-known dvd boxset factories,and facing to both wholesalers,retailsalers,and personal customer all over the world. They export all kinds of dvd boxset and offer really competitive and reasonable price and high quality goods for their clients,so i think you will make a big profit if you did business with them.And they promise they will provide the best after-sales-service.If you are interested to do business with them,in my opinion, you can make a trial order to test that.
Their Web address: www.buydvdmart.com
Regards!
Technorati Tags: best, boxset, BuyDvdMart, Fitness, Zumba
We all have heard this adage so many times that the meaning is lost on us now. However, this is indeed wisdom that you should give due importance. Anxiety is in one way the opposite of happiness or laughter. By this definition, it would make sense that if you laughed often enough anxiety would not be able to establish a hold on you. However, what if the anxiety already got hold on you? Could you reverse the condition with laughter? Yes, you can.
Laughter therapy is today accepted and promoted by traditional doctors because it is indeed able to do miracles. Just by laughing aloud about 10-20 minutes every day, you would reduce your blood pressure, heart problems, and respiratory problems and boost your immune system. How does this work? Laughter promotes the production of endorphins or the feel-good hormones, which in turn relax the body and mind.
Laughter also regulated the function of the endocrine glands, whereby the hormones production in the body is regularized. Hormones, as you all know, are what keep our systems functioning properly; once the hormone production is optimal, all the systems in the body perform optimally. The result is that you look, are and feel healthy.
You should seriously consider taking up the laughter therapy and laugh aloud for about 10-20 minutes every day. Initially, it would be difficult to laugh without any reason. This is why laughter therapy works best when practiced in groups. For best results you need at least five-six people who would get together and laugh loudly; there would be a leader who stands in front of the group and laughs loudly asking the group to follow him or her, just as a lead would do in aerobics or any such exercises. Just because everyone would look so silly, people who would initially laugh forcefully would gradually enjoy themselves enough to have a good laugh.
In case the laughter therapy does not appeal to you or you are unable to practice this, there are other ways to ensure that laughter becomes an integral part of your daily life. Here are ten easy and effective suggestions:
1. Read jokes on or off the Net
2. See a comedy once in a while
3. Learn to laugh at yourself; you will never run out of reasons to laugh
4. Learn to look for the lighter side of any situation; it would take a while initially, but after a while, you would be able to instantly see the funny part even in the worst of situations
5. Nurture relationships with people who laugh easily and are projecting happiness around them
6. Avoid morose, pessimist type of people, unless you feel you could help them cross over to the humorous side
7. Make it a point to do something that you love and gives you happiness, at least once a week. Every three months treat yourself with a small gift and once in a year have an outing with your friends (exclude your spouse, if he or she does not match this circle) and have a blast.
8. Introduce a pet into your home and life. Anything would do – a fish, cat, parakeet, dog, badger, rabbit, lizard, frog, snake and what-you-may-have. As you learn to appreciate this being, you would feel relaxed and happy just by watching the animal(s). The pet therapy has been proved as being one of the best boosters of ‘the will to live’. When senior people were introduced to pets, their memory, health and overall disposition improved considerably. People ailing with terminal diseases started responding to medication; depressed patients made a faster transition, and stressed out people felt more relaxed in the company of animals.
9. Look around you and start a ‘I want to help’ chain. Help someone you know who needs help; instead of accepting their thanks, ask them to help someone they felt needed help and so on. It is amazing what a little kindness can do to your life and that of others.
10. Do a good deed every week just as a regular feature. Helping others gives you a sense of achievement and fulfillment that no professional or personal accomplishment can equal. When you know you can make a difference, however humble this would be, in somebody’s life you would feel a sweet, quiet inner happiness that cannot be compared with any other.
Humor has been accepted as a great catalyst in medicine, a fact endorsed by umpteen research studies on a huge repertoire of diseases, especially serious disorders. Train your mind to see the lighter side of life and you will find that when you open the door to laughter, the one leading to worry and anxiety is shut tight.
Click Here to grab your FREE Stress Relief Manifesto Report. It’d show you how you can achieve inner calm and eliminate stress from your life forever. For more information on dealing with anxiety, panic attacks and stress. Visit the anxiety help blog today.
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We have all heard the statement “Health is better than wealth” a thousand times before. I believe that this statement will never be out. Playing golf is one of the best ways to stay healthy.
Golf is a sport where the individual players or teams compete against each other by hitting a ball and trying to place it inside a hole on the ground. Through the use of various clubs, this ball game that differs from other ball games because it does not use a fixed standard playing area, originated from Scotland-although recent studies revealed that a version was played since ancient times in the land of China-and has been played for at least five centuries in the British Isles. In particular, golf is played on a track of land designated as the course that consists a series of holes on its ground in which the ball has to be placed with different strokes. To hit the ball, the club is swung at the motionless ball placed on the ground from a side stance. Many golf shots make the ball travel through the air before rolling out covering the distance between the hitter and the hole.
In the United States, golf is the unofficial sport of the business world. Being such an important meeting point for men who decide to test their sticking abilities, golf has gained its popularity slowly and while once was considered the sport of the elderly, it is now played by million of golf funs all around the world. Famous athletes, like Tiger Woods, who is currently the leading professional golfer in the world, have transformed the sport to a spectacle that illustrates the individual abilities of the person who strikes the ball and makes people’s eyes gaze in excitement the outcomes of the professional or amateur athletes’ efforts.
It is generally supported that exercising can help older men feel better for themselves and boost their self-esteem. When British researchers compared 10 men, 55 to 65 years old who ran at least 40 miles a week, with 10 inactive men of the same age, they found that the runners had higher levels of certain hormones. Testosterone, for instance, which fuels sex drive and erectile function, was 25 percent higher. Growth hormone, which helps maintain muscle and bone, was four times higher. But if you wish to experience these types of results but you do not wish to have to run 40 miles a day, keep in mind that any exercise will help, such as golf.
Golf is an extremely good exercise for the body. In fact, research revealed that when middle-aged men play golf two to three times a week, over a five-month period, they burned an average of 1,750 calories per game, walked five miles on average in every game, decreased abdominal fat by 8 percent, lost 5 lb, increased the “good” HDL cholesterol by 5 percent, shrank their waistlines by an inch, lowered “bad” LDL cholesterol and triglycerides by 4 percent each, cut total cholesterol by 2 percent, decreased blood pressure, became more aerobically fit and improved endurance in their trunk muscles. For all these reasons, seniors should seriously consider taking some golf lessons and begin investing some time to play a game and bond with friends, while becoming again fit.
Extreme exercise plans are impossible to stick to and offer little hope of providing long lasting healthy lifestyles. Do all things in moderation, including eating and exercising, and you will live a fit and healthy life.
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What is Pilates?
You might have encounter the term but you don’t know exactly what Pilates is. Joseph Pilates developed this form of exercise that emphasizes on the balanced development of the body through flexibility, awareness and core strength in order to support graceful and efficient movement. It is considered as one of the most popular exercise systems.
It looks like everyone is either interested in starting the Pilates exercise program or is engaged on it already. Pilates for beginners are now available in DVDs. The amazing thing about Pilates is that it works so well for a bigger range of people. Dancers and athletes love it, as well as pregnant women and seniors and those with various stages of physical rehabilitation. Because of its popularity the best Pilates DVDs are now out in the market.
The key to Pilates exercise success is modification with a variety of populations. In order to make the workout challenging and safe for a person at any level it is developed with modifications.
The foundation of Pilates exercise is core strength. The internal, deep muscle of the back and abdomen is the core muscles. If the core muscles are doing their job and are strong enough as trained to do in Pilates, they function in tandem with the more superficial muscles of the trunk to support the movement and spine. You will be able to developed stability throughout the whole torso if you develop your core strength. This is one way how Pilates help many people overcome back pain.
The best Pilates DVDs that you may find in the market include details on the six principles involved in Pilates. The application of these principles to the Pilates method makes it different from others. Six Principles in Pilates
Whether you are working using the Pilates equipment or a mat, these six basic principles infuse each exercise with fullness and intention of expression:
• Centering. It brings the focal point to the center of the body. It is the powerhouse part between lower ribs and the pelvic bone. Actively, Pilate’s workouts are sourced from center.
• Concentration. Maximum value will be obtain if you bring full attention to the exercise and do it with full commitment.
• Control. The Pilates workout is done with overall muscular control. No body area is left from its own device.
• Precision. Sustained in each movement is awareness. There is a right placement, alignment comparative to other body areas, and trajectory for every area of the body.
• Breath. Using breath in the right way is an essential part of the Pilates exercise. Most of the Pilates exercise coordinates with the breath.
• Flow. Usually Pilates workout is done in flowing way. Grace, ease and fluidity are the main objective applied to all workouts. It attach all body flows and parts through body in an equal way. Using Pilate’s equipment can be the best mirrors of one’s flow.
The six principles of Pilates may look a bit abstract. However, the combination of these principles is the one responsible for grace, ease and balance that one can experience as a result of following the best Pilate DVDs. These are very useful for Pilates for beginners.
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Club Solutions Magazine interviews equipment manufacturer Fit Express and developer of the FIT (Fluid Interval Training) system about how clubs can best use Personal Training to increase their profits. Key topics discussed include the future of gym membership, missing components of a successful personal training system, and an easy-to-implement system that can be used to dramatically increase ROI and member retention.
Club Solutions: What are some new trends that are being implemented in personal training and what type of changes do you see coming in the future?
Fit Express: Trainers are going to have to find ways to handle multiple clients in an efficient yet personalized manner. I see it as more of a cross between conventional personal training methods and group exercise. With the changing demographics (the huge influx of 76M baby boomers) personal trainers are going to have to be able to accommodate both the needs and wants of these individuals while facing a different challenge due to their physical limitations. Safety will increase in importance as well as finding more user friendly ways to accommodate the needs of this market. Finding a way to make it more fun and social is also important to these folks.
Club Solutions: How do clubs use your product or service for personal training and how can it be used to ensure that members stay in the club longer?
Fit Express: Our equipment isn’t designed to keep members in longer, but to give them the benefits they seek in less time. This will keep them happy, coming back frequently, and telling their friends and family about it. Our equipment is designed to get the best results with Fluid Interval Training (FIT), which is a hybrid version of cardio (aerobic) exercise and resistance (anaerobic) set training using continuous movement during and in-between set intervals. The Fit Express hydraulic equipment allows users to quickly and easily control their cardio-to-strength ratio during the set to customize their workout for optimal results. The workout/equipment surpasses the original circuit training model by being much more efficient. FIT along with the Fit Express circuit will allow your trainer to easily monitor multiple members getting a quick cardio and strength combination workout, regardless of each members current conditioning or exercise knowledge level.
Club Solutions: What are the benefits of your products and services?
Fit Express: The biggest benefit of adding FIT is to provide a better exercise experience for your members. The FIT circuit provides exactly what your members are looking for-a quick, easy, safe, and fun workout that will provide them the best results possible using easy-to-understand and non-intimidating equipment. Gyms typically have a 20-30% drop out rate, but we feel adding the FIT circuit could dramatically improve this figure. In addition to the serendipitous benefits resulting from providing an experience your members will love, as well as one your competition isn’t, there are direct immediate benefits for the club owner as well. This includes more efficient use of floor space, reduced member injuries, and reduced costs in equipment maintenance. However, the most significant benefit to the owner would be the revenue potential that adding FIT (Fluid Interval Training) Group Personal Training could provide to their gym.
Club Solutions: Why should clubs consider your type of products and services in their personal training departments how easy is it to implement within the club?
Fit Express: Implementing our workout is very simple and the ROI is relatively fast. Having a new and exciting way to workout definitely helps with attracting new members and retention of current members by improving results and providing more variety. The FIT workout/equipment is fun and safe for everyone, from pre-teens to seniors, from the weak to the strong, from the healthy to those with special conditions, the beginner or the advanced fitness enthusiast. Members find our workout easy yet challenging, not intimidating, and fun to do. Combining all of the best elements of circuit training and personal training, FIT is a safer, quicker (in both workout and in results), and more efficient and cost-effective use of floor space and trainer time.
Club Solutions: What type of business opportunity does personal training offer a health club and why?
Fit Express: Personal training gives members that can afford it the opportunity to reach new fitness levels and accomplish results much quicker. People push themselves harder and stay focused longer when they have a knowledgeable professional to help guide them along their path to accomplish their fitness goals. The main two problems would be with todays’ gym’s inefficient approach towards personal training. First off, personal training is expensive and the mass majority of people in our economy can’t afford it. Secondly, it is commonplace today for gyms to offer a complimentary session to showcase the benefits of PT to new members, but optimal results can’t be delivered this way. Muscle imbalances need to be pinpointed and addressed. Nutrition and lifestyle need to be in line in order for members to even notice short-term gains. The most efficient way for the gym, the personal trainer, and the member to all receive what they seek is to offer group personal training. This can best be accomplished with an exercise system such as Fluid Interval Training which will allow one trainer to be able to effectively manage multiple people all with different capabilities and goals.
Club Solutions: How does your product or service improve the member personal training experience for the club? And why is this important?
Fit Express: Members will get instant benefits from using the FIT (Fluid Interval Training) system. In order for members to get the best and fastest results from working out is for them to do both cardio and strength training. Many people neglect strength training for two main reasons. One, because they are unaware of the various ways resistance training can benefit them (that cardio alone can’t do), and two, many others are just intimidated by the equipment’s large weight stacks and confusing seating, levers, and control arms. While Circuit Training gets people to do resistance training, it doesn’t provide an answer to number two, in fact it compounds the problem because your already rushing which is more likely to cause injuries or a less-than-optimal rushed workout at best. The answer is Fluid Interval Training. The FIT circuit will allow your members to reap the full benefits of both cardio and strength training simultaneously while cutting their necessary time in the gym in half. Members will experience a reduction in muscle and joint soreness (compared to traditional weight training), less frustration dealing with or altogether avoiding the other resistance machines, and get to come to a more friendly and social workout atmosphere. Members state that they like the fact the equipment is not intimidating and so easy you just get on and go. Personal trainers are allowed to monitor the progress of multiple people while still giving them the space and control to customize their workout.
Club Solutions: Why should clubs consider personal training?
Fit Express: Personal training provides an opportunity for clubs to increase their revenue by offering a more personalized service to their members. At select times, this is exactly what some people need-personalized, one-on-one assistance to help motivate them and give them professional advice and guidance. I think a more profitable, and equally more accommodating solution for the average person is to offer Group Personal Training using the FIT Fluid Interval Training workout system along with the Fit Express Signature Series hydraulic fitness equipment. This will allow clubs to provide most of the same personalized experience for their members at a very reduced rate (that most members will be able to afford). Since it will only take one personal trainer to easily train multiple people the club, the trainer, and the members will all reap the benefits they seek.
Fit Express is a commercial exercise equipment manufacturer located in North, MS, USA. Since 1998 over 4,000 facilities and 30 countries worldwide have chosen Fit Express’ gym equipment. Fit Express is dedicated to developing the most innovative and effective hydraulic fitness equipment possible, and their equipment and adjustable fluid cylinders meet the strictest bio-mechanics and ergonomic specifications. Fit Express remains committed to their mission to motivate the de-conditioned masses.
Technorati Tags: best, Club, Developer, Express, Fluid, From, Interval, interviews, Owners, personal, Profit, Solutions, training
SAP is one of the most popular technology in the world today allowing companies to run and manage their end-to-end business processes on one integrated technology platform. SAP NetWeaver allows companies to integrate third party systems and external web applications together with SAP core ECC system(s) there by providing a robust technology infrastructure. This helps enterprises which have already invested in other third party systems to preserve their investment to support their business growth. Now having said all about SAP, you all know that any SAP transformation project is a huge undertaking and every customer wants to put maximum effort and dedicated workforce to make the implementation successful.
Today I would like to emphasize on some best practices SAP customers may want to consider to minimize any risks and ensure success of your IT transformation project. I have been blessed to have the experience building SAP core applications and leading over 13 SAP implementations for over 10 years. In the recent years, I have been working on mid-size & large SAP implementations as a SAP Program Advisor (also referred to as a Trusted Project Advisor) advising the customer executive leadership on best practices on SAP technology, implementation, methodology and all other aspects of the program with an unbiased independent third party opinions. Every company has different business needs to meet their corporate growth strategy which makes each SAP project unique in its own way and I will share some best practices on a very high level that your SAP project leadership can use to their advantage to ensure that their SAP project is setup for success.
So how does a IT Transformation project begin ? Typically, An IT strategy to support a company’s short term and long term business growth is established by the C-level executive leadership (mostly by CEO, CIO, CFO, Vice Presidents of business and IT / Systems). Once the IT strategy is defined and approved, an executive steering committee is formed with some of the above executives and key leadership people representing the business. The project is then officially kicked off into planning, preparation, blueprint, functional design, technical design & build, test, deploy, go-live and maintenance phases. As a project advisor, there are different best practices or actions I recommend depending on the client and project circumstances. It may not be practically possible to cover best practices for all scenarios in this article. But, I will make an attempt to cover the best practices and proactive measures at a macro level that should be followed during each of the implementation phases to minimize risks and avoid any unforeseen challenges to budget and go-live dates.
In part 1, I will discuss best practices for SAP project planning phase which includes business readiness, technology (and SAP modules/packages) selection, selection of SAP implementation partner (also known as SAP Systems Integrator) and finally the project preparation phase. Part 2 and 3 will cover the remainder phases of your SAP project.
Planning Phase
Early on in this phase, the steering committee should meet and establish the initial composition of project leadership that should include a program sponsor, business lead and IT lead who are part of your business today and shall continue to lead the IT strategy of the company going forward. In addition, based on my past SAP experiences, I will always recommend having a SAP Program Advisor to advice the project leadership on key decisions including selection of technology, vendors, methodology and guide your project all the way through the project go-live.
Business Readiness (Define Goals, Scope & Engagement Model)
In the planning phase, initially the project leadership should meet with key stakeholders and define their department objectives that should be met by the SAP project. For example, if the new transformation project includes a new business initiative or significant enhancements to existing business processes, then time to go-live will be a major factor. Is the go-live timeframe aligning with the time when you are planning to launch the new business initiative? Next thing I will recommend is to prioritize the important project factors such as schedule, budget, and quality so that these constraints can be clearly articulated during the vendor selection process. Also, define the high level scope of the project into 3 distinct categories for each business work stream such as “High”, “Medium” and “Low” priority. Also, business stakeholders and leadership needs to identify scope items that can be eliminated if the project budget and schedule is challenged. To the minimum it would be good to have a PMO process in place to de-scope any of the items when time or budget is challenged.
During this phase the project leadership team should review the scope of the project and decide on the engagement model with the software implementation vendor. Typically you can choose between a “Fixed Fee” or “Time & Materials” engagement model. Fixed Fee model means the vendor has to implement the whole project or each phase of the project for a fixed price. With Fixed Fee model, you as a customer need to define your scope clearly so that you can include it in the statement of work. Fixed fee will also mean that you will be typically charged in most cases about 20% surcharge by systems integrator to cover the risk to deliver the project on a scope that was mutually agreed upon at a fixed price. The drawback with this approach is sometimes there is a potential for quality of deliverables to be impacted in the process of delivering solution as quickly as possible within the predefined budget. A change control board should be established and protocol for handling change requests should be defined. It is advisable to do quality reviews on deliverables and overall implementation with the help of independent Project Advisor to ensure that solution delivered is of high quality. The other engagement model is “Time & Materials” wherein the customer is paying for resources on time and material basis. Project management office (PMO) has to monitor the project budget with respect to progress on deliverables very closely to ensure that project is delivered within the budget. It is easy to add scope and resources to meet deadlines thereby overshooting the planned budget. With this model I will recommend an additional third party or in-house SAP project manager (apart from SI project and/or delivery manager) to ensure project delivery in time and budget. Estimates and re-estimates should be done in a timely manner at appropriate milestones within each phase when using this model. If the SAP implementation project is complex and scope is not clearly known then this may be a better option. Now, in this phase you should analyze all the pros and cons of both of these models and pick one that suits the best for your business.
Usually planning phase can last between few weeks to a few months and if you have business team members already identified for the implementation, you can engage them in defining the future state business requirements. This would help accelerate the business requirements gathering phase and creation of BPRDs during the blueprint.
Technology Selection
In this article an assumption is made that you have already made a decision to go with SAP, but nevertheless not all projects go with a presumed technology of choice. In very brief, if your company needs to select a technology to support your IT growth strategy there are several factors that need to be taken into account such as the following:
Scalability of the technology platform
Ability to support the long term business growth in terms of functionality, data volume, performance, etc.
Robust integration capabilities with internal and external systems
SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) capabilities
Ability to enhance the system in-house after go-live with minimal or no support from the product development team from the technology vendor
Business functionality fit with SAP standard modules such as FI-CO, FSCD, SD, MM, IS Solutions, BI, PI, etc.
Choosing a Systems Integrator (or SAP Implementation Partner)
Once you have selected SAP as your technology platform, the next step in the process is to identify potential SAP implementation partners with the help of a program advisor or SAP America. Invite potential vendor sales executives and supporting teams for a pre-planning workshops to orient vendors with objectives and high level business requirements of the project. Invite proposals from each of these vendor companies followed by formal onsite review of each proposal. Onsite review should include formal presentation on how the vendor plans to deliver the solution using an implementation methodology of their choice and also demonstration of vendor’s resource expertise in the SAP modules that need to be implemented. I would recommend selecting minimum of at least two vendors through this process to move onto bid invitations and further negotiations. Let’s refer to these vendors that are selected to bid as “Prospective Systems Integrator or Prospective SI”. In order to get the most competitive project bids, you need to negotiate project bids between at least two companies to arrive at a competitive bid. But bear in mind that vendor prior implementation experience and in-house SAP modules expertise should be competitive before deciding to negotiate the bids.
A formal vendor evaluation sheet should be prepared to select a prospective systems integrator. The project leadership should divide and conquer to do each vendor research and fill the evaluation sheet to cover the following aspects. First, we need to evaluate whether the prospective systems integrator (referred to as “SI”) has successfully delivered a similar project (same industry, solution and size) in the past and check for client references. Also check if the prospective SI has delivered the project within the estimated budget. If the budget was exceeded it would be nice to know by what percentage the budget was exceeded and reasons for the same. Check if there are enough SAP skilled resources with the SI in each SAP module that need to be implemented by conducting a few SAP architect and senior consultant interviews. In most projects, offshore delivery capabilities play a major role. If this applies to your project then analyze the offshore presence and check for effectiveness & productivity of the offshore team on a past project. Are you planning to have a SAP “Center of Excellence” within your company to support the SAP system post go-live? If there is no COE or the staffing within the COE is limited, you might want to check if the systems integrator has a production support and maintenance capabilities onsite / offshore to support the production environment 24 X 7.
Preparation Phase
Depending on the implementation methodology, this phase may resemble to the one prior to blueprint phase. If the systems integrator is running the PMO and overall project, ensure that all project and team (or work stream) charters are defined during this phase. Each charter should clearly define the scope of the project or the relevant work stream, identify key stakeholders and define the key roles of participants. To the minimum I would recommend a charter for each of the following that should be prepared and signed off by the SAP project leadership and the SAP program advisor if you have one.
Overall project charter
Overall business team (and individual business work stream in case of large projects)
Organizational Change Management charter
Integration team charter (includes legacy / external apps, PI & ECC integration)
Technical Architecture Charter (SAP Systems Architecture)
Application Development Charter (covering RICEF + W )
Legacy Systems Charter (Only if legacy or 3rd party external applications are significantly enhanced to support a new business model or integrate with SAP ECC system )
SOA Charter (Although this may be integrated in parts within business and integration charters, I strongly recommend a separate charter with an architecture team to lead SOA if your business has a heavy emphasis on Service Oriented Architecture. Having a separate charter for SOA has heavily benefited my past projects to have robust, non-redundant and efficient enterprise services.)
The next point I would like to emphasize is very critical especially if you are using a SAP implementation partner (or Systems Integrator – SI) to prime your project. You should interview and select the SI leadership including the client partner and executive leadership from the systems integrator. Having a proven and knowledgeable leader with the SAP technology and business both together is the very critical to the success of the project. In general, I would not recommend two or more people in the senior leadership of the SI with some representing SAP technology and others representing business expertise. It is merely because these individuals may come from separate departments or groups within the SI organization and there may be a potential conflict of interest between these groups. Even if you do hire two or more senior executives from the SI, then I would recommend having an independent project advisor for your project to ensure that your project goals and solution delivery milestones are not compromised.
Sometime the initial bid from the systems integrator may include project end-to-end initial estimates. If not, then make sure that estimates are done for the entire project supported by a staffing model. Again, as pointed above there will be a few milestones in your project when re-estimations will be done followed by adjustments to the staffing model. Based on this staffing model, I would suggest interviewing and selecting all other SI key personnel like the project manager, OCM lead, RICEF lead, PI lead, BI lead, SAP Basis or technical architecture lead and SAP functional leads for each work stream. Architects and other SAP consultants for both functional and technical work streams can be selected during blueprint as per planned start dates as determined by the staffing model. If you have a systems integrator other than SAP, then I would say it is nice to have at least an architect (senior SAP consultant) from SAP America on the project to seek SAP functional expertise and also to leverage any SAP solution assistance from SAP experts and core development.
In part 2, I will cover blueprint phase which will include business requirements gathering, fit-gap analysis (creation of RICEF inventory), solution design phase (for gaps), project re-estimation to completion and functional specification sub-phases.
In part 3, I will focus on best practices to be considered during the realization phase that will include technical design for RICEF or custom solution, build, testing, final preparation and go-live and production support & maintenance.
SAP®, SAP® R/3®, ABAP and SAP NetWeaver® are registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries.
Deepak Mandrekar is a trusted SAP Project Advisor (SAP Program Manager) and serves on SAP leadership team on major SAP implementation projects advising the customer leadership and executives on SAP best practices in systems implementation, execution methodology, technical implementation and project management. He also heads the SAP Program Advisory and SAP Project Management Consulting Services department at iii Technologies which has some SAP implementation leaders, SAP Project Managers and experts who are best known in the industry. Deepak is a former SAP America leader and expert who has 13 SAP project implementations to his credit with deep project management, technical and end-to-end implementation expertise.
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Zumba fitness is an aerobic exercise program that takes into consideration dance as well as aerobic exercise. The program was inspired by fitness trainer to the stars, Beto Perez when he forgot his exercise music and had an aerobics class waiting for him to teach. He grabbed some tapes he had in his back pack, all of which were Latin dance music and proceeded to teach his class with the Latin inspired music. He claimed it was difficult to plan-as-you-go but it caught on and his class became the most popular one in his fitness gym. It is now one of the most popular programs across the world. It is taught in seventy five countries at about 50,000 locations. There are approximately six thousand Zumba enthusiasts taking classes weekly. Perez has also sold millions of zumba DVDs and you too can get a zumba workout DVD.
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