E-Book

Unlocking the value in SAP Solution Manager

If theres one thing every SAP customer has in common its that theyre busy. But theres something that comes with every SAP license agreement that could make their jobs easier while providing cost savings to the company except few are using it to its full potential. SAP Solution Manager can help with upgrades, change request management, application performance, and, overall, help a business continue to grow without increasing support staff. In this e-book, readers will learn how to uncover the value in Solution Manager, and use the tool not only to benefit IT operations, but help advance business goals as well.

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SearchSAP.com E-Book Unlocking the value in SAP Solution Manager

E-Book

Unlocking the value in SAP Solution Manager

Table of Contents
Solution Manager is much more than the ASAP methodology Getting to know SAP Solution Manager Few SAP shops are fully using Solution Manager, but why? Building a case to leverage the SAP Solution Manager for application lifecycle management Resources from Cisco Systems, Inc.

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SearchSAP.com E-Book Unlocking the value in SAP Solution Manager

Solution Manager is much more than the ASAP methodology

By Bill Wood, contributor Solution Manager has become the de facto wrapper around SAP systems for system monitoring and support. Companies usually install Solution Manager to centrally manage their SAP landscape for handling patches, updates, service packages, monitoring back-end system hardware, maintaining licenses, handling add-ons, performing client copies, and other technical functions. SAP uses it to tie into the system landscapes for Go-Live system checks and EarlyWatch services. Todays Solution Manager also contains a significant amount of valuable functionality that most customers rarely use -- mainly because they dont want to make the up-front investment required to realize its benefits. Beyond its technical utility, for example, few companies make use of Solution Manager for project and application lifecycle management. Solution Manager offers a great deal over typical flavors of ASAP. It contains a fully integrated ASAP methodology toolset, content and templates (the ASAP Roadmap), and it can be segmented to handle implementations, upgrades or enhancement projects. But there is much more, including: a built-in project document repository blueprint generation and capture utilities project scoping integration with configuration tasks configuration tracking and versioning (through Business Configuration Sets) test management, including integration with the SAP test workbench integrated help desk functionality accessible from the SAP graphical user interface menu integrated issue and help ticket management business process change analysis quality gate management custom development management

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It is important to note that there are two levels of Solution Manager licensing. Those with Enterprise Support contracts get everything detailed above, with the exception of the thirdparty add-ons (such as SAP Quality Center by HP and the RWD Productivity Pak for training and configuration documentation). The Standard Support contracts do not include business process change analysis, quality gate management or custom development management.

Whats holding back greater Solution Manager adoption?

Taking advantage of the project and lifecycle management tools offered in Solution Manager requires an initial project trade-off in terms of up-front costs. As a result, many customers, especially those without a clear understanding of Solution Managers project and application lifecycle benefits, tend to avoid the necessary investments to leverage its functionality. A general lack of understanding about how to leverage Solution Manager for implementation projects is probably the biggest reason the product is underused. If you do not have the integrated ASAP methodology and toolset installed, or had not previously planned to use some of the other SAP Solution Manager functionality, it might be time to have a discussion with your system integrator. Be sure to ask her about the Solution Manager ASAP Roadmap, scope and configuration tracking, centralized change control, integrated help ticket processing, and how Solution Manager might affect overall application lifecycle costs. About the author: Bill Wood is a business and technology consultant working in various roles on SAP projects since 1994 and operates the website at http://www.r3now.com.

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Getting to know SAP Solution Manager

By Courtney Bjorlin, Site Editor, SearchSAP.com SAP Solution Manager comes with every SAP license agreement and can help companies better manage their application lifecycles, but few companies use it to its full potential, according to an AMR Research, a Gartner Company, report. SAP's lifecycle management tool can help customers with upgrades, new implementations or to better track application performance, AMR's Derek Prior said. "The one word which sums up all SAP customers is 'busy,'" said Prior, research director at Boston-based AMR Research. "And if the customers are so busy, I think they need help freeing up their teams. SAP Solution Manager can really help you and reduce pain and take away cost for you." Most SAP customers know SAP Solution Manager as the central support satellite system that monitors their SAP landscape and interacts with SAP Global support. Some, however, don't know it very well at all because it didn't exist when they did their initial SAP implementations five to 10 years ago, Prior said. SAP never gave it a high profile in the sales, consulting or support field organizations. Companies performing upgrades to SAP ERP 6.0 can use the SAP Solution Manager Upgrade Roadmap to help. It includes best practices and templates for project, functional and technical management. It also includes ASAP methodology work packages, activities, deliverables and tasks and a predefined upgrade project template and accelerators. Those who have already upgraded to ERP 6.0 can use SAP Solution Manager to help with change management involved in fixing problems or implementing new functionality, according to the report.

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For example, implement the SAP Solution Manager Change Request Management module to handle the change administration, project management and change logistics tasks within the change management process, Prior suggests. It generates documentation and central transport requests for specific projects after they have been approved in accordance with an ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) set of best practices for IT management. Companies that choose this strategy can look forward to "a gem, Prior said. The Business Process Change Analyzer module provides proper impact analysis of SAP changes and has the potential to help customers focus on where to test and where not to test. In addition to adopting the change management modules, companies that have lifecycle business value delivery challenges should evaluate the new projects center enablement modules, Prior said. For example, some companies have implemented the Blueprint and the Configuration modules to keep track of all complex application settings in order to better manage projects. This can be challenging for SAP customers who don't have a holistic approach to project portfolio management (PPM) because it's difficult to retrofit existing SAP application configuration settings into SAP Solution Manager, Prior said. But there are some products from pure play vendors that will help -- including IBIS's RBE Plus and Intellicorp's LiveModel products, which automatically analyze existing live SAP production systems and populate the relevant application configuration into SAP Solution Manager, according to the report. Companies looking for help better monitoring complex SAP landscapes can opt for modules that help with performance management optimization, as well as support center enablement. Customers must deploy a production instance of SAP Solution Manager to track all installed business suite applications, and a development instance for product maintenance, according to the report. In turn, the System Landscape Directory makes it easier to track the version and patch levels of every single SAP software component, plus the underlying infrastructure.

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Once the system landscape has been configured into SAP Solution Manager through the support enablement strategy, the Central System Administration module can generate component- specific administration tasks across the landscape. Customers can also centralize ABAP systems' performance monitoring through the Central Monitoring System function, according to the report. One challenge surrounding SAP Solution Manager is that like any other SAP product, it must be configured. And while it's getting better, there's a shortage of people who know how to configure and deploy it, Prior said. Look to your hardware vendor or to system integrators like Alpha Sirius Inc. for experts, and put pressure on SAP to provide more of them, Prior suggested. Better exploiting SAP Solution Manager can really help in times when the recession demands that IT refocus from delivering successful projects, to proving the business value from those projects, Prior said. Plus, SAP will use the tool to deliver enhancement packages, incremental updates and enhancements that SAP promises will end traditional upgrades. "In the current economic times, we all need to be better at business value management and tracking the business value which comes from SAP activities," he said. "It's vital to know how much business value is flowing from all these costs we're writing our checks for."

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Few SAP shops are fully using Solution Manager, but why?
By Courtney Bjorlin, Site Editor, SearchSAP.com SAP has long been plagued with a reputation that its software is costly, cumbersome and difficult to implement and run. Solution Manager, an application lifecycle management tool that helps customers optimize their SAP implementation through systems monitoring, administration and connecting with SAP support, is supposed to change all that. The tool kit, which comes free with every SAP on-premise license agreement with the exception of Business One, is the centerpiece of SAPs strategy to help customers lower their total cost of ownership (TCO). And many say it holds that promise -- if only customers would use it. If customers fully implement Solution Manager, they have a very powerful set of tools for lifecycle management, and maintenance and support," said Joshua Greenbaum, principal, Enterprise Applications Consulting. "But [SAP] has not made a strong business case for fully implementing Solution Manager. For most SAP customers, Solution Manager is simply a tool that SAP mandates they use in order to download support patches and manage service-related tasks. While around 70% of customers have installed Solution Manager for this purpose, only 5% are using it for more than the most basic tasks, according to Ajay Vonkarey, SAP Solution Manager Lead for Alpha Sirius, a consultancy that specializes in Solution Manager implementations. Solution Manager is much more than support patches and services tickets, but challenges remain in convincing SAP shops that large Solution Manager projects are worth the effort.

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SearchSAP.com E-Book Unlocking the value in SAP Solution Manager

Whats holding up Solution Manager application lifecycle management?

SAPs goal is to get all of its customers to use Solution Manager as a central repository -- a central source of the truth -- for full application lifecycle management. All of the information required for implementing or managing an SAP application is accessible to the customer and SAP. Customers like Colgate and Valero are two companies that have made the full investment -- having basically adopted all of Solution Managers functionality for requirements, design, build and test, deploy, and operating and optimizing the installation, according to Matthias Melich, vice president of SAP application lifecycle management. The most current release is Solution Manager 7.0. Its the same product as Solution Manager 4.0, but it was renamed to draw a closer link with NetWeaver 7.0, Melich said. All customers get Solution Manager 7.0 as part of their SAP licenses, but Enterprise Support and MaxAttention customers are entitled to more functionality than those on Standard Support. In order for Solution Manager to work the way SAP envisions, it has to be fully implemented, Greenbaum said. Yet to cash- and staff-strapped organizations, Solution Manager starts to look like a big IT implementation, requiring hardware, skills and a senior management buy-in, Vonkarey said. And turning on each piece of Solution Managers functionality is a project in and of itself. Perhaps the biggest challenge in this regard is populating and setting up the system, according to Phil Avelar, SAP practice lead at Advanced Solutions, an SAP consulting firm. Customers need to document the entire installation in order to leverage Solution Managers full functionality. Its a lot of work, it takes reserves to undertake such a project, and SAP has not justified its benefits. User resistance is also emotional. Because Solution Manager is so closely tied to Enterprise Support, customers started out with a negative attitude toward it, Melich said. Enterprise Support contracts grant full access to Solution Manager functionality, but they also mandate that customers use Solution Manager for downloading support patches and other maintenance-related functions.

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SearchSAP.com E-Book Unlocking the value in SAP Solution Manager

Finally, Solution Manager was introduced in a market where best-of-breed application lifecycle management tools already exist and are well established in SAP shops, Avelar said. For instance, if a company is going to choose a change management tool, it often questions whether it should go with Solution Manager or an established tool that supports more than just SAP products. SAP is aware of this, and Solution Manager plugs into dozens of best-of-breed tools -- either by adapters, open interfaces or original equipment manufacturer (OEM) agreements. The goal is not to replace the best-of-breed tools but to pull the data into one central location -so customers dont have to log into 10 different systems to get the information they need.

How do I overcome these challenges?

The perception that Solution Manager is hard to consume in any way but a big bang approach isnt necessarily true. Its important to remember that Solution Manager is like a toolbox, said Dave Dobrin, founder of B2B Analyst Inc. If you buy a toolbox from Sears, and it has 92 parts, the percentage of use of the toolbox in the first year is going to be small. Understand that its a grab bag, set up at different times, for different purposes. For instance, at the Walt Disney Company, David Hull, SAP platform architect and longtime Basis administrator, maintains a list of functionality in Solution Manager hed like to turn on. He reaches out to folks on the application side and the director of SAP at the company and lets them know what hes planning next, aligning his request with the two times a year when they roll out new functionality, or support packs. So far, Disney has turned on functionality for, among other things, IT service reporting and separate monitoring of the Java-based and ABAP applications. In turn, SAP has launched several initiatives to make it easier to implement Solution Manager, Melich said.

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For one, most of Solution Managers basic Service Desk functions now come preconfigured - functions such as patch management, download of enhancement packages and EarlyWatch Alert. The latest release includes wizard-based configuration. Customers can also use SAPs Expert Guided Implementation services. SAP offers a oneweek service accessed remotely through a dial in. Experts tell customers how to configure a certain piece of the Service Desk. To help customers with the business case problem, SAP is getting ready to roll out its Roadmap Services. These services aim to guide the customers on what pieces to tackle first, providing them with an individual roadmap that helps them tackle the low-hanging fruit, Melich said. Theres no single sequence in which all customers should implement Solution Manager functionality. Right now, these are free but available only on site. The plan is that by next year these roadmap services will be available remotely. They are already in MaxAttention contracts and will be provided to Enterprise Support customers in the coming year. Finally, so-called learning maps are accessible through the Service Marketplace in the Ramp-Up Knowledge Transfer section. Theyre updated with every functional release of Solution Manager and give customers a chance to drill down into specifics and filter to get the most relevant information by their job roles. While the onus is on SAP to educate customers about Solution Manager, its important to remember that the responsibility for the lack of uptake also rests with the user community, Greenbaum said. Application lifecycle management (ALM) takes long-term planning and vision, and a good ALM strategy outlasts the average tenure of the CIO, rendering it not the most attractive project. There has not been a systematic, comprehensive appreciation for the value of strong application lifecycle management techniques, Greenbaum said.

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Building a case to leverage the SAP Solution Manager for application lifecycle management
By Bill Wood, contributor As so many IT project managers can attest, on any large IT project one usually ends up with scattered sources, resources and monitoring tools. Network directory structures end up all over the place, and there is usually a lot of forgotten documentation and other information. Occasionally, the system integrators take key information, proclaiming that it is part of their proprietary methodology. In that light, one of the most useful features of more comprehensive use of Solution Manager is as a single repository for the entire application lifecycle. The Solution Manager central repository also becomes a great source for proprietary company information, making it less likely this knowledge will walk out the door with the system integrator when he leaves. The Solution Manager repository includes many features beyond its system monitoring functions: standards and assessment documents integrated scope setting and status monitoring project configuration status and configuration documentation integrated blueprint documentation technical and design documents testing scripts, test results and reusable test tools project documentation training and change management, tools, resources and documentation issues and resolutions quality checking

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SearchSAP.com E-Book Unlocking the value in SAP Solution Manager

The resources generated from the use of the integrated ASAP Roadmap help to ensure that you end up with a common location for command and control of the project. Status monitoring is made easier, and as new consultants or new employees come on board, you have a comprehensive project cockpit. This, of course, is all an oversimplification of the SAP Solution Manager mini-project itself, and it will require additional time in the front-end planning and scoping efforts. If you use the integrated testing functionality, there is additional setup time as well. And even though that will add costs to your implementation project, there are key benefits. They include more thorough quality reviews (with or without the Enterprise Q-Gate management option), better scope management, project knowledge capital retention, careful assessment of issues and decisions, and more comprehensive and automated testing. The application landscape test management capabilities alone are worth the extra time and effort to implement Solution Manager. You can set up Solution Manager to test any and all SAP systems, and integrate test strings across SAP systems. For example, you can test the ERP application, then the CRM application, and then the SRM or APO solutions. These can then be run in sequence, or in parallel, depending on your needs. The integrated test management through eCATT testing and the SAP integrated test workbench will be a huge cost and time saver for highly regulated companies like pharmaceutical industries or financial institutions. While the full test workbench functionality takes a significant amount of initial setup effort, the speed, repeatability, positive-negative testing and capture of results for both automated and manual test steps is a huge benefit. And although you will have to invest additional time and resources to set up the testing functionality, the ability to do regression testing can be reduced from days to hours, or weeks to days (for highly regulated environments). For regulatory compliance, the SAP testing functionality can also capture and retain both system and manual test results for audit and documentation purposes. Highly regulated companies that put off making any changes because of the cost- and timeintensive nature of the structured approval process will pay much more in the mid to long term. The SAP testing functionality will help ensure testing, validation, approval, and regulatory compliance are completed orders of magnitude faster and better.

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About the Author: Bill Wood is a business and technology consultant working in various roles on SAP projects since 1994 and operates the website at http://www.r3now.com.

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Resources from Cisco Systems, Inc.

Automating SAP System Copy and Refresh IT Automation: Evaluate Job Scheduling and Run Book Automation Solutions How to Choose an Enterprise-Class Job Scheduling Solution Evaluation Guide

About Cisco Systems, Inc.

Cisco provides end-to-end networking solutions that customers use to build a unified information infrastructure of their own, or to connect to someone else's network. An end-toend networking solution is one that provides a common architecture that delivers consistent network services to all users. The broader the range of network services, the more capabilities a network can provide to users connected to it. Cisco offers the industry's broadest range of hardware products used to form information networks or give people access to those networks; Cisco IOS software, which provides network services and enables networked applications; expertise in network design and implementation; and technical support and professional services to maintain and optimize network operations. Cisco is unique in its ability to provide all these elements, either by itself or together with partners.

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