Project governance is established during the Prepare phase of the SAP Activate methodology. This phase focuses on project initiation and planning, where foundational elements are put in place for successful project execution. Key activities include finalizing the project charter, defining the project organization structure, assigning roles and responsibilities, and establishing the decision-making processes and communication plans. These activities constitute the core of setting up project governance, ensuring the project is properly structured and controlled from the outset.

A. Explore: In the Explore phase, the project team conducts fit-to-standard analysis and designs the solution. The governance structure established in the Prepare phase is already active and used to manage these activities.

C. Realize: The Realize phase is for building, configuring, and testing the solution. Project governance is actively executed during this phase to monitor progress and manage issues, but it is not set up here.

D. Discover: The Discover phase is a pre-project phase where the customer evaluates the value of SAP solutions. Formal project governance is not established until the project is officially initiated in the Prepare phase.

1. SAP Activate Roadmap Viewer: In the official SAP Activate methodology for SAP S/4HANA Cloud

the Prepare Phase contains the specific task "Define Project Governance" within the "Project Management" workstream. The purpose of this task is explicitly stated as: "Define the project governance procedures and bodies to control the project and ensure a successful implementation. This includes defining the project organization

roles and responsibilities

and the decision making process."

Source: SAP Roadmap Viewer -> SAP Activate Methodology for SAP S/4HANA Cloud

public edition -> Prepare Phase -> Project Management -> Task: Define Project Governance.

2. SAP Learning Hub: The SAP Activate Project Management learning journey (and associated courseware like ACT100) details the activities of the Prepare phase.

Source: SAP Learning

Course ACT100 - SAP Activate Methodology

Unit 3: Prepare Phase. This unit describes the setup of the project framework

including governance

as a primary objective of the phase.

3. Official SAP Documentation (SAP Help Portal): The description of the SAP Activate phases confirms the purpose of the Prepare phase.

Source: SAP Help Portal

"SAP Activate Methodology". The documentation for the Prepare phase states: "During the Prepare phase

we perform the initial planning and preparation for the project. In this phase

we define project goals

scope

and a project plan." The project plan and its associated management plans are the embodiment of project governance.