SAP Enterprise Support

Gerhard Oswald is member of the executive board of SAP AG. Dr. Uwe Hommel leads the Active Global Support - Large Enterprise Organisation in the Board area Global Service & Support as an Executive Vice President.

... Preface ... 15 1 ... Introduction ... 17 ... 1.1 ... SAP Standards for Solution Operations ... 19 ... 1.2 ... Creating the Foundation for a Single Source of Truth ... 22 ... 1.3 ... About This Book ... 28 2 ... Establishing a Single Source of Truth in Your Enterprise ... 33 ... 2.1 ... Basic Concepts ... 33 ... ... 2.1.1 ... Application Management Lifecycle ... 33 ... ... 2.1.2 ... Projects in SAP Solution Manager ... 35 ... ... 2.1.3 ... Solutions in SAP Solution Manager ... 36 ... ... 2.1.4 ... Processes for Lifecycle Management ... 37 ... ... 2.1.5 ... Quality Gates in SAP Solution Manager ... 39 ... 2.2 ... Implementing Standards ... 41 ... ... 2.2.1 ... Planning ... 41 ... ... 2.2.2 ... Installation and Configuration of SAP Solution Manager ... 41 ... 2.3 ... Business Configuration ... 45 ... ... 2.3.1 ... Requirements Phase ... 45 ... ... 2.3.2 ... Design Phase ... 47 ... ... 2.3.3 ... Build and Test Phase ... 48 ... ... 2.3.4 ... Deploy Phase ... 53 ... 2.4 ... Business Continuity ... 55 ... ... 2.4.1 ... Operate Phase ... 56 ... ... 2.4.2 ... Optimize Phase ... 70 3 ... Customer Center of Expertise ... 79 ... 3.1 ... Challenges for the CIO ... 81 ... ... 3.1.1 ... Ensure Business Continuity ... 82 ... ... 3.1.2 ... Reduce Costs ... 82 ... ... 3.1.3 ... Improving Business Processes ... 84 ... ... 3.1.4 ... Accelerate Innovation ... 84 ... 3.2 ... Organizational Model for Company Solution Operations ... 85 ... ... 3.2.1 ... Optimizing Internal Collaboration in Two Ways ... 87 ... ... 3.2.2 ... Outtasking and Outsourcing ... 88 ... 3.3 ... From Customer Competence Center to Customer Center of Expertise ... 89 ... ... 3.3.1 ... The Customer COE Charter ... 90 ... ... 3.3.2 ... The Reactive IT Box ... 91 ... ... 3.3.3 ... Set Up, Manage, and Coordinate the Situation Room ... 92 ... ... 3.3.4 ... Quality Manager Roles in the Customer COE ... 95 ... ... 3.3.5 ... Customer COE Certification ... 105 4 ... Preserving Business Continuity ... 111 ... 4.1 ... Highest Availability of Mission-Critical Business Processes ... 112 ... 4.2 ... The Necessity of Business Continuity ... 114 ... ... 4.2.1 ... Ensuring Continuous Business Availability ... 114 ... ... 4.2.2 ... Operate More Systems with Fewer Resources ... 115 ... ... 4.2.3 ... Reduce License and Project Costs with SAP Solution Manager, Enterprise Edition ... 116 ... ... 4.2.4 ... Reduce Cost of Resources ... 116 ... ... 4.2.5 ... Reduce Infrastructure Requirements ... 116 ... ... 4.2.6 ... Increase Business Value of IT ... 116 ... 4.3 ... Managing Business Continuity from the QM?s Perspective ... 117 ... ... 4.3.1 ... Close Cooperation Between QM and Teams ... 117 ... ... 4.3.2 ... SAP Technical Operations ... 119 ... ... 4.3.3 ... Business Process Operations ... 121 ... ... 4.3.4 ... Application Management Team ... 126 ... 4.4 ... Quality Management for Business Continuity: How You Can Measure Your Success ... 128 ... ... 4.4.1 ... Technical Operations ... 128 ... ... 4.4.2 ... Business Process Operations ... 129 ... ... 4.4.3 ... Application Management ... 130 ... 4.5 ... Services Available from SAP Active Global Support, Training, and Certification ... 130 ... 4.6 ... Case Study ? Ensuring Stable Operations ... 131 ... ... 4.6.1 ... The Case Study Scenario ... 131 ... ... 4.6.2 ... Setting Up Standard-Compliant Operations ... 133 ... ... 4.6.3 ... Application Management and SAP Technical Operations Strategy ... 134 ... ... 4.6.4 ... Business Process Operations Strategy ... 137 5 ... Accelerated Innovation ... 143 ... 5.1 ... Integration Testing ... 143 ... ... 5.1.1 ... Test Strategy ... 145 ... ... 5.1.2 ... Test Project Preparation ... 146 ... ... 5.1.3 ... Test Scope Identification ... 147 ... ... 5.1.4 ... Test Planning and Test System Preparation ... 148 ... ... 5.1.5 ... Test Execution ... 149 ... ... 5.1.6 ... Final Activities and Deployment of Changes in Production Systems ... 150 ... 5.2 ... Technical Integration Validation ... 150 ... ... 5.2.1 ... Method ... 151 ... ... 5.2.2 ... Assessment ... 152 ... ... 5.2.3 ... Technical Analysis ... 153 ... ... 5.2.4 ... Optimization ... 154 ... ... 5.2.5 ... Verification ... 155 ... ... 5.2.6 ... A Case Study ? Added Value from Integration Validation ... 156 ... 5.3 ... Services Available from SAP Active Global Support ... 159 ... 5.4 ... Case Study ... 160 ... ... 5.4.1 ... Step 1: Identify the Situation Prior to Integration Testing ... 160 ... ... 5.4.2 ... Step 2: Understand the Solution Using Minimum Documentation ... 161 ... ... 5.4.3 ... Step 3: Integration Test and Detection of Issues ... 165 ... ... 5.4.4 ... Step 4: Identify Root Causes ... 165 ... ... 5.4.5 ... Step 5: Recommendations to Resolve Issues ... 166 ... ... 5.4.6 ... Step 6: Implement the Recommendations ... 170 ... ... 5.4.7 ... Step 7: Verification and Validation of Successful Integration ... 171 6 ... Improving Business Processes ... 173 ... 6.1 ... Roles and Objectives of the QM ... 174 ... 6.2 ... Methodology and Tools ... 175 ... ... 6.2.1 ... Determining the Business Process Requirements ... 177 ... ... 6.2.2 ... Appraisal of the Solution Landscape ... 178 ... ... 6.2.3 ... Checking the Technical Implementation of Business Processes ... 179 ... ... 6.2.4 ... Recording Process-Related Problems and Possible Optimization Potential ... 180 ... ... 6.2.5 ... Analyzing Interfaces ... 181 ... ... 6.2.6 ... Summarizing the Results ... 182 ... ... 6.2.7 ... Follow-Up Activities After an SAP Solution Management Assessment ... 182 ... 6.3 ... Prerequisites for Business Process Improvements ... 183 ... 6.4 ... Business Process Monitoring ... 184 ... 6.5 ... Related Services Available from SAP Active Global Support ... 185 ... 6.6 ... Success Factors ... 186 ... 6.7 ... Skills and Training ... 188 ... 6.8 ... Case Study: Improving the Order-to-Cash Business Process ... 189 7 ... Protection of the IT Investment ... 195 ... 7.1 ... Extended Maintenance in the Context of SAP Enterprise Support ... 197 ... ... 7.1.1 ... Special Rules for the Extended Maintenance of SAP R/3 4.6C and SAP R/3 Enterprise for Customers with SAP Enterprise Support ... 199 ... ... 7.1.2 ... Benefits and Advantages of Extended Maintenance ... 201 ... 7.2 ... Quality Management ... 202 ... 7.3 ... Harmonized IT Landscape ... 204 ... ... 7.3.1 ... Keep the Software Landscape Up to Date ... 205 ... ... 7.3.2 ... Minimize and Document Custom Code ... 206 ... ... 7.3.3 ... Evaluation of Custom Developments ... 208 ... ... 7.3.4 ... Keep the Master Release Plan Up to Date ... 213 ... 7.4 ... Methodology and Tools ... 214 ... ... 7.4.1 ... Maintenance Optimizer ... 214 ... ... 7.4.2 ... SAP Solution Manager Methodology and Tools Ease Upgrades ... 215 ... ... 7.4.3 ... Solution Documentation Assistant ... 216 ... ... 7.4.4 ... Custom Development Management Cockpit ... 216 ... ... 7.4.5 ... SAP Standard for Solution Documentation for Custom Development ... 218 ... ... 7.4.6 ... Modification Justification Check ... 220 ... ... 7.4.7 ... Custom Code Maintainability Check ... 221 ... ... 7.4.8 ... Upgrade Dependency Analyzer ... 221 ... ... 7.4.9 ... SAP Standard for Incident Management ... 222 ... ... 7.4.10 ... SAP Standards for Change Management ... 223 ... ... 7.4.11 ... Report Issued by SAP Enterprise Support ... 223 ... 7.5 ... Related Services Available from SAP Active Global Support ... 224 ... ... 7.5.1 ... Code Inspector ... 224 ... ... 7.5.2 ... SAP Business Process Performance Optimization ... 224 ... ... 7.5.3 ... SAP Upgrade Assessment ... 225 ... ... 7.5.4 ... Continuous Quality Checks ... 225 ... 7.6 ... Success Factors and Related Standards ... 226 ... 7.7 ... Skills and Training ... 227 ... 7.8 ... Case Study: Planning Requests for Innovation ... 227 8 ... Innovation Without Risking Disruption ... 229 ... 8.1 ... SOA: The Evolutionary Approach ... 230 ... 8.2 ... The Maintenance Strategy: Stable Core and Access to Innovations ... 231 ... 8.3 ... SAP Enhancement Packages ... 232 ... ... 8.3.1 ... Selective Use of New Functions ... 234 ... ... 8.3.2 ... Separation of Maintenance and Further Development ... 235 ... ... 8.3.3 ... Sources of Information About Available Innovations ... 236 ... ... 8.3.4 ... Accelerated Innovation Enablement for SAP Enterprise Support: A New Service Offering from SAP ... 237 ... 8.4 ... Tools for Deploying SAP Enhancement Packages ... 238 ... ... 8.4.1 ... SAP Solution Manager Maintenance Optimizer ... 238 ... ... 8.4.2 ... SAP Enhancement Package Installer ... 239 ... ... 8.4.3 ... Near Zero Downtime ... 240 ... 8.5 ... Switch Framework and Activation ... 241 ... 8.6 ... Case Study: Experiences of SAP's In-House IT Department ... 242 9 ... SAP MaxAttention and SAP Safeguarding ... 245 ... 9.1 ... The Holistic Approach of SAP MaxAttention ... 247 ... 9.2 ... The Engagement and Governance Model ... 250 ... 9.3 ... A Standardized Approach ... 251 ... 9.4 ... Safeguarding for Implementations, Upgrades, and Migrations ... 256 ... 9.5 ... Continuous Improvement Through SAP MaxAttention ... 257 ... 9.6 ... Optimizing Your System Landscape ... 258 ... 9.7 ... High Security Standards ... 261 10 ... Mission-Critical Support for Partner Applications and Technologies ... 263 ... 10.1 ... Support Processes with Partners ... 265 ... ... 10.1.1 ... The Problem-Solving Process in Detail ... 265 ... ... 10.1.2 ... Remote Connections to Customer Systems ... 267 ... ... 10.1.3 ... Note Creation for Partners ... 268 ... ... 10.1.4 ... Integration with the SAP Global Support Backbone ... 268 ... ... 10.1.5 ... Service Level Agreement ... 269 ... 10.2 ... Support for Partner Solutions ... 270 ... 10.3 ... The Value of Partner Integration for SAP Customers ... 272 ... 10.4 ... Integrating VARs into the SAP Ecosystem ... 274 ... ... 10.4.1 ... Incorporating VARs into the Support Delivery Model ... 275 ... ... 10.4.2 ... Elements of SAP Enterprise Support from the VAR Perspective ... 277 ... ... 10.4.3 ... Establishing an SAP Enterprise Support-Capable Support Organization ... 281 11 ... Run SAP Programs for SAP Partners ... 285 ... 11.1 ... The Run SAP Methodology ... 285 ... 11.2 ... The Run SAP Implementation Partner Program for SAP Services Partners ... 290 ... 11.3 ... The SAP Support Partner Program ... 292 ... 11.4 ... The SAP Training and Certification Program for Running End-to-End Solutions ... 294 12 ... Overview of Training and Certification Offerings ... 297 ... 12.1 ... Training classes ... 298 ... 12.2 ... Certification ... 299 A ... Additional Information and Offerings ... 303 ... A.1 ... Expert Guided Implementation ... 303 ... A.2 ... Continuous Quality Checks ... 304 ... ... A.2.1 ... Continuous Quality Check for SAP Solution Manager ... 305 ... ... A.2.2 ... Continuous Quality Checks for Implementation ... 305 ... ... A.2.3 ... Continuous Quality Checks for Operations ... 306 ... ... A.2.4 ... Continuous Quality Checks for Upgrade Projects ... 308 ... A.3 ... Services from SAP Active Global Support ... 309 ... ... A.3.1 ... SAP Business Process Management ... 309 ... ... A.3.2 ... Data Volume Management ... 310 ... ... A.3.3 ... SAP EarlyWatch Alert ... 310 ... ... A.3.4 ... Preparation Session for SAP Solution Manager ... 310 ... ... A.3.5 ... SAP GoingLive Check ... 311 ... ... A.3.6 ... Optimization Sessions ... 311 ... ... A.3.7 ... SAP Technical Integration Check ... 312 ... ... A.3.8 ... SAP Business Process Performance Optimization ... 313 ... ... A.3.9 ... SAP Interface Management ... 314 ... ... A.3.10 ... SAP Solution Management Assessment ... 315 ... ... A.3.11 ... Modification Justification Check ... 315 ... ... A.3.12 ... Solution Architect Services ... 316 ... ... A.3.13 ... Other Services from SAP AGS ... 316 ... A.4 ... SAP Product Standards ... 317 ... ... A.4.1 ... SAP Product Standard: Business Configuration ... 317 ... ... A.4.2 ... SAP Product Standard: IT Service and Application Management ... 321 B ... Bibliography ... 327 C ... Editors ... 329 D ... Authors and Editorial Office ... 331 ... D.1 ... Editorial Office ... 331 ... D.2 ... Authors ... 331