SAP® StAndArdS for Solution oPerAtionS

SAP Active Global Support

©Copyright2007SAPAG.Allrightsreserved.

NopartofthispublicationmaybereproducedortransmittedinanyformorforanypurposewithouttheexpresspermissionofSAPAG.Theinformationcontainedhereinmaybechangedwithoutpriornotice.

SomesoftwareproductsmarketedbySAPAGanditsdistributorscontainproprietarysoftwarecomponentsofothersoftwarevendors.

Microsoft,Windows,Excel,Outlook,andPowerPointareregisteredtrademarksofMicrosoftCorporation.

IBM,DB2,DB2UniversalDatabase,OS/2,ParallelSysplex,MVS/ESA,AIX,S/390,AS/400,OS/390,OS/400,iSeries,pSeries,xSeries,zSeries,Systemi,Systemi5,Systemp,Systemp5,Systemx,Systemz,Systemz9,z/OS,AFP,IntelligentMiner,WebSphere,Netfinity,Tivoli,Informix,i5/OS,POWER,POWER5,POWER5+,OpenPowerandPowerPCaretrademarksorregisteredtrademarksofIBMCorporation.

Adobe,theAdobelogo,Acrobat,PostScript,andReaderareeithertrademarksorregisteredtrademarksofAdobeSystemsIncorporatedintheUnitedStatesand/orothercountries.

OracleisaregisteredtrademarkofOracleCorporation.

UNIX,X/Open,OSF/1,andMotifareregisteredtrademarksoftheOpenGroup.

Citrix,ICA,ProgramNeighborhood,MetaFrame,WinFrame,VideoFrame,andMultiWinaretrademarksorregisteredtrademarksofCitrixSystems,Inc.

HTML,XML,XHTMLandW3CaretrademarksorregisteredtrademarksofW3C®,WorldWideWebConsortium,MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology.

JavaisaregisteredtrademarkofSunMicrosystems,Inc.

JavaScriptisaregisteredtrademarkofSunMicrosystems,Inc.,usedunderlicensefortechnologyinventedandimplementedbyNetscape.

MaxDBisatrademarkofMySQLAB,Sweden.

SAP,R/3,mySAP,mySAP.com,xApps,xApp,SAPNetWeaver,Duet,PartnerEdge,andotherSAPproductsandservicesmentionedhereinaswellastheirrespectivelogosaretrademarksorregisteredtrademarksofSAPAGinGermanyandinseveralothercountriesallovertheworld.Allotherproductandservicenamesmentionedarethetrademarksoftheirrespectivecompanies.Datacontainedinthisdocumentservesinformationalpurposesonly.Nationalproductspecificationsmayvary.

Thesematerialsaresubjecttochangewithoutnotice.ThesematerialsareprovidedbySAPAGanditsaffiliatedcompanies(“SAPGroup”)forinformationalpurposesonly,withoutrepresentationorwarrantyofanykind,andSAPGroupshallnotbeliableforerrorsoromissionswithrespecttothematerials.TheonlywarrantiesforSAPGroupproductsandservicesarethosethataresetforthintheexpresswarrantystatementsaccompanyingsuchproductsandservices,ifany.Nothinghereinshouldbeconstruedasconstitutinganadditionalwarranty.

2

ContentSExecutive Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Managing Solutions Centered on SAP Software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6TheOrganizationalModel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Collaboration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Out-TaskingandOutsourcing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

SAP Standards for Solution Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9EndUser,KeyUser. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

IncidentManagement – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

BusinessProcessChampion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10ExceptionHandling – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10DataIntegrity – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

ProgramManagementOffice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Change-RequestManagement – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Upgrade – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12EnterpriseSOAReadiness – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

ApplicationManagement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Root-CauseAnalysis – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Change-ControlManagement – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14MinimumDocumentation – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15RemoteSupportability – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

BusinessProcessOperations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16BusinessProcessandInterfaceMonitoring – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Data-VolumeManagement – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Job-SchedulingManagement – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17TransactionalConsistency – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17CustomDevelopment – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

SAPTechnicalOperations............................................................... 18SystemAdministration – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18SystemMonitoring – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

RecommendationsfortheStandardsAdoptionSequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

3

Role of SAP Solution Manager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20SAPSolutionManagerasaPlatformforStandards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Role-BasedWorkCenters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

WorkCentersforEndUsersandKeyUsers – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22WorkCentersforBusinessProcessChampions – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23WorkCentersfortheProgramManagementOffice – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23WorkCentersforApplicationManagement – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24WorkCentersforBusinessProcessOperations – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25WorkCenterforCustomDevelopment – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26WorkCentersforSAPTechnicalOperationsandITInfrastructure – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

ImplementingStandardswithSAPSolutionManager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27IntegratingPartnerApplications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

SAP Education and Certification for E2E Solution Operations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29E2ESolutionOperationsCurriculum. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

LearningCurriculuminDetail – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

E2ESolutionOperationsCertification. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Find Out More. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Appendix:E2E Solution Operations Certification: Role Certificates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34MasterLevel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

ProgramManager – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

AssociateLevel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34ApplicationManagementExpert – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Change-ControlManagement – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35BusinessProcessExpert – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36SAPTechnicalAdministrator – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

ProfessionalLevel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37SAPServiceEngineer – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

4

exeCutive overviewHowdoesSAPprovidethemission-criticalsupportitscustomersneedtomanagecomplexsolutionscenteredonSAP®software–especiallyatatimewhenmoreandmoreofthesesolutionsinvolvecomponentout-tasking*andoutsourcing?Itoffersacomprehensivesetofbestpracticesthatallowcustomerstomanagecomplexityaswellasmanagetherisk,costs,skills,andresourcesassociatedwithcomplexprocesses.Thesebestpracticesincludeanorganizationalmodel,asetofSAPstandardsforsolutionoperations,theSAPSolutionManagerapplicationmanagementsolution,andimplementationmethodologies.ThebestpracticesarebasedonSAP’smorethan30yearsofexperienceinsupportingcustomersolutions.

Thefirststeptowardefficientoperationofend-to-end(E2E)solutionsistodefinetherolesofallwhohaveastakeinthesolution’ssuccess.Viacollaborationandservice-levelagreements(SLAs),SAPdefinestheprocessesnecessarytomanagemission-criticalsupportacrossallservice,product,andtechnologyproviders.ThisstepsetsupanorganizationalmodelthatservesasafoundationforefficientmanagementofsolutionscenteredonSAPsoftware.Themodelrequirescollaborationbetweencorporateorganiza-tionalunitsandlistsspecialconsiderationsforprocessesthatmaybeout-taskedoroutsourced.

StandardizedproceduresarethekeyprerequisiteforoptimizingE2Eoperations.It’simportanttounderstandthecoreproceduresdefinedbySAPaswellasthegoals,scope,andbenefitsofthestandardsthatsupporttheseprocedures.

Customersneedtoolstoexecutestandardizedprocedures,andSAPSolutionManagerprovidesthem.ItsupportsthevariousSAPstandardsforsolutionoperationsviaindividualworkcentersthatenableallteamsinvolvedinthesolutiontoaccessthefunctionstheyneedtoexecutethetasksrelatedtotheirroles.

Finally,solutionstakeholdersmustbeeducatedintheoptimaluseoftheproceduresrelatedtotheE2Esolution.SAPprovidesarole-basededucationandcertificationprogram,availableviaseveralvenues.

TheobjectiveofthispaperistoprovideallthosewithastakeinanSAPE2Esolutionaclearunderstandingoftheoptionsavailableforoptimizingandmanagingthatsolution.Italsooffersstake-holdersageneralunderstandingofhowtheycanleveragethepotentialofSAPstandardsforsolutionoperationsandthusleveragetheexperienceofSAPanditscustomers.Withthisunderstanding,stakeholderscaneasilydrilldowntofurtherdetailsontheindividualstandards,whichwillbepublishedinseparatepapers.

* Out-tasking:Handingoveraprojecttasktoanoutsideserviceproviderwhilemaintainingownershipofthetaskandmonitoringitthroughappropriateservice-levelagreements.

5

MAnAGinG SolutionS Centered on SAP SoftwAreSAPcustomersexpectthattheirSAPsolutionscanbemanagedefficiently.Theyrelyonasolution’shighavailabilityandcontinuityandexpectfastandsuccessfulrealizationofnewrequirementsaswellascontrolofthetotalcostofownership(TCO).However,theseexpectationscanbedifficulttomeet,especiallyinthefaceofcurrenttrendsintheITenvironment.Forexample,increasedbusinessflexibility,facilitatedthroughnewtechnologiesandservice-orientedarchitecture,increasesthecomplexityofindividualapplicationmanagementtasks.Andthetrendtoout-taskandoutsourcerequiresclosecollaborationwithserviceproviders.That’swhyefficientmanagementofSAPsolutionsandefficientcollaborationofallpartiesinvolvedinthesolutionsisgaininginimportance.

the organizational Model

ThefirststeptowardefficientE2Esolutionoperationsisspecial-ization.Dedicatedstakeholders–suchasvariouscustomerorganizationunits,serviceproviders,orSAPconsultants–areresponsiblefordifferentobjectives.Usinganorganizationalmodel,

youcanassignthesestakeholdersdifferentrolesandgroupthem–usually–intwoorganizationalareas:business unitandIT.(SeeFigure1.)Althoughthenamesoftheorganizationsmaydifferfromcompanytocompany,theirfunctionisroughlythesame.Theyallruntheiractivitiesinaccordancewithcorporatestrategy,corporatepolicies(forexample,corporategovernance,compliance,andsecurity),andorganizationalgoals.

Onthebusinessside,moststakeholdersareend users.Theyrelyontheimplementedfunctionalitytoruntheirdailybusiness.Someendusershavespecialknowledgeregardingthebusinessapplications.Thesekey usersprovidefirst-levelsupportfortheircolleagues.Business process championshavetheleadrolewithinthebusinessunits.Theydefinehowbusinessprocessesaretobeexecuted.Aprogram management officecommuni-catestheserequirementstotheITorganization,decidesonthefinancingofdevelopmentandoperations,andensurestherequirementsareimplemented.

Onthetechnicalside,thecustomer’sITorganizationhastoensurethatservicesprovidedbytheE2Esolutionareavailableforthebusinessunits.Theapplication managementteamisindirectcontactwiththebusinessunits.Itisresponsibleforimple-mentingthebusinessrequirementsandprovidingsupportforendusers.Todothis,theteamissupportedbyotherorganiza-tionswithinIT.Thebusiness process operationsgroupcoversthemonitoring,support,andintegrationofbusinessapplicationsandtheautomationofjobswhilethecustom developmentgroupadjuststhesolutiontomeetcustomer-specificrequire-mentswithspecialinternaldevelopments.SAP technical oper-ationspersonnelareresponsibleforthegeneraladministrationofsoftwaresystemsaswellasfordetailedsoftwarediagnostics.AndtheIT infrastructureorganizationprovidestheunderly-ingITinfrastructure(suchasnetworkanddatabases).Furtherspecializationispossiblewithintheseorganizationsaswell.Forexample,withinSAPtechnicaloperationstheremaybeindividualexpertsfordifferentapplications.

6

Figure1:OrganizationalModelforSolutionOperations

Customer

Corporate

Business unit

it

Strategy and Corporate Policies

Business Process Champion

(global or regional)

Program Management

Office

End User,Key User

IT Infrastructure

Application Management

Business Process Operations

Custom Development

SAP Technical Operations

Collaboration

Processesforoperatingcustomersolutionscrossorganizationalboundaries–independentofanyorganizationalspecialization.Forexample,ifthebusinessprocessoperationsgroupdetectsanalert,theSAPtechnicaloperationsorITinfrastructureteamsmayberequiredtoresolveit.Achangeinabusinessprocessmayinvolvetheprogrammanagementoffice,thebusinessprocesschampion,applicationmanagement,customdevelopment,businessprocessoperations,orSAPtechnicaloperations.Theprogrammanagementofficeworksincollaborationwiththedifferentbusinessprocesschampionstodefinespecifications,budget,andtimelinesforanychangeordevelopmentrequests.Therequestsaresenttoeithertheapplicationmanagementteamowner(orunit)ortothebusinessprocessoperationsunit.Achangerequestismanagedthroughoutallphasesofaprojectlifecycle,fromdevelopment,testing,andcutovertoproductionandongoingsupport.Theapplicationmanagementunitinvolvesotheroperationsunitsasneeded.

BecausemultipleorganizationsareinvolvedinE2Esolutionoperationsprocesses,collaborationhastobeoptimizedbetweenandamongallpartiesinvolved.Thisbecomesevenmoreimportantwhentheinvolvedpartiesbelongtoorganizationalareasthathaveadifferentfocus.Forexample,thekeyfocusofthebusinessunitsisbusinessprocesseswhilethekeyfocusofITistechnicalcomponents.Achievingoptimalcollaborationrequiresbothacommoncollaborationplatformandacleardefinitionoftheend-to-endprocess.Thedefinitionensuresthatstakeholdersknowtheirtasks,knowtheserviceleveltheymustprovide,andknowwhatinformationtheyneedtosharewithothers.Asthetrendtowardout-taskingandoutsourcingITservicescontinuestoincrease,theabilitytoshareinformationbecomesincreasinglyimportant.

TheSAPserviceandsupportstrategyhelpscustomersoptimizetheirinternalcollaborationintwoways.First, the optimization strategy defines a set of standards for solution operations.ThesestandardsdescribehowtobestuseavailabletoolsandservicesandhowtocollaborateamongthedifferentrolestooptimizeE2Esolutionoperationsprocesses.ThisstandardframeworkallowscustomerstobenefitfromSAP’smorethan30yearsofbest-in-classsupportexperience. Second, the optimization strategy uses SAP Solution Manager as a collaboration platform,providingtransparencyofthecustomersolutionandthestatusofthepro-cessesandenablingallrequiredinformationtobemadeavailabletoallstakeholders.Thishelpsreducecostsforinformationgatheringandensuresthatparticipantsarealwaysworkingwithcurrentinformation.

Theprogrammanagementofficeandtheassignedbusinessprocesschampionsneed100%transparencyandgovernanceoverallprojectsandtasks.Thusprojectstatusreportsaswellaskeyissuereportingareexecutedperiodically.Eachorganizationalunithastodefinehowitworkswitheveryotherunitforeachstepinaprocess.Inaddition,eachunithastodefinetheescalationpathtobeusedforeachpotentialissue.MappingbusinessprocesseswiththecomponentsofthecustomersolutionmakesiteasiertoalignbusinessunitsandIT.

7

out-tasking and outsourcing

EfficientE2Esolutionoperationscannolongerbeaccomplishedwithin-houseresourcesalone.ByimplementingSAPapplications,customersensurethatcoreexpertiseisalsopresentinSAPandSAPpartnerdevelopmentorganizations.Andstandardapplicationpackagesmakeiteasiertoout-taskoroutsourceprocesscompo-nentstomanagecosts,increasespeed,andensuretheavailabilityofskilledresources.Inout-tasking,aserviceisgivenawaybutstillownedandmonitoredthroughappropriateservice-levelagreements.Inoutsourcing,thecompleteownershipofimple-mentationandoperationishandedover.Out-taskingisalwaysthecollaborationmodelusedforSAPandSAPpartnerapplicationandtechnologyproductunits.

Tomaximizethepotentialofout-taskingandoutsourcing,anorganizationmustcarefullyweighwhichtaskscanbeout-taskedandwhichprocesscomponentscanbeoutsourced.Thisrequiresadetailedriskanalysis.CorrespondingrecommendationsareincludedintheSAPstandardsforsolutionoperations.Thetasksthatwillbeout-taskedoroutsourcedandtheprocessinter-facesbetweencustomerandserviceproviderhavetobedefinedclearlyintheservice-levelagreements.TheSAPstandardsforsolutionoperationsserveasatemplateforthis.Inaddition,thestandardslistkeyperformanceindicators(KPIs)thatcanbeusedasmeasuresforfulfillingtheagreements.

Anotherchallengepresentedbyout-taskingandoutsourcingisthattheITserviceprovideroftenusesdifferenttoolsthanthecustomer.Forexample,theserviceprovidermayuseadifferenthelpdesk.That’swhytechnicalintegrationofthetoolsisrequiredtoensureefficientcollaboration.SAPdeliversintegrationpackagesthatarereadyforoutsourcing.Forexample,theservicedeskinSAPSolutionManagerprovidesanopen,bidirectionalinterfacetothehelpdesksofthird-partyproviders.

8

ThemaingoalofsolutionoperationsistorunandincrementallyimprovetheITsolutiontoensurestableoperationofthesolutionlandscape.Thisprocessinvolvesmanagingavailability,performance,processanddatatransparency,dataconsistency,ITprocesscom-pliance,andothertasks.Inmostcases,businessprocessesaresupportednotbyasingleapplicationbutbymultipleintegratedbusinessapplications.ThesecanincludeapplicationsfromSAPaswellasapplicationsfromothervendorsorthosedevelopedbythecustomersthemselves.Thusitisimportantthatthesolutionoperationsprocesscoverallcomponentsrequiredforrunningthebusinessapplicationsendtoend–aprocesscalledE2Esolutionoperations.

StandardizedproceduresareakeyprerequisiteforoptimizingE2Esolutionoperations.Standardshelpleveragetheexperiencesoftheorganizationthatdefinedthestandard.WhenthesolutioniscenteredonSAPsoftware,SAPprovidesthestandardizedproce-dures.Thishelpscustomersavoiderrors,mitigaterisks,increasetheavailabilityandperformanceofthesolution,andstreamlineandacceleratetheprocessflow.Inaddition,standardizedproceduresenableautomation,thusreducingthecostofoperations.Theyalsoimprovetheabilitytotraceandauditprocesses.Thisisespe-ciallyimportantinout-taskingandoutsourcingactivities,forwhichcompaniesrequireacleardefinitionoftheservicestobeprovidedaswellasreportsonwhetherornottheagreedservicelevelshavebeenmet.

ProcessstandardsprovidedbySAPhelpcustomersachievethesebenefits.ThestandardsarebasedonbestpracticesthathaveevolvedfromtheexperiencesofSAPteamswhileservingmorethan36,000customers.AvailablethroughtheSAPActiveGlobalSupportorganization,thestandardsdonotcompetewithexistingandwell-acceptedstandardssuchastheITInfrastructureLibrary.Infact,theycanenhanceexistingstandardsbyexplainingindetailhowapplicationmanagementprocessesworkbestforSAPsolutions.

Eachstandardcontainsbest-practiceproceduresonhowtoperformindividualtasks,descriptionsofwhichtoolsshouldbeused,informationregardingtheassignmentoftaskstodifferentroles,availabletrainingofferings,andavailableservicesthatsupporttheadoptionofthestandard.Althoughmultiplerolesmaybeinvolvedinastandardprocess,oneoftheserolesisassignedowner-shipofthestandardatthecustomersite.Theassignmentofownersmaydifferfromcustomertocustomer.Thefollowingtableisanexampleofhowrolesorownersareassignedtostandards:

Owner Key Standards and Practice

End user, key user Incident management

Business process champion Exception handling, data integrity

Program management office Change-request management, Upgrade, enterprise SOA readiness

Application management Root-cause analysis, change-control management, minimum documentation, remote supportability

Business process operations Business process and interfacemonitoring, data-volume management, job-scheduling management,transactional consistency

SAP technical operations System administration, system monitoring

end user, Key user

Endusersandkeyusersplayacrucialroleinsolutionoperations.BotharethemainreceiversoftheservicesprovidedthroughallITactivitiesandthefirstlineoftroubleshootingandfeedbacktotheentireIToperation.Consequently,incidentmanagementistheprimarystandardforthisrole.

SAP StAndArdS for Solution oPerAtionS

9

Incident Management

Incidentsthatoccurduringtheoperationofmission-criticalapplicationscancauseseverebusinesslossunlesstheyareproperlymanaged,theirrootcauseidentified,andthecorrectiveactiontaken.Theincident management standarddefinestheprocessandtoolsneededtomanagethecollaborationrequiredamonginvolvedpartiestoresolveincidentsbeforetheyescalate.

WhenadisruptionoccursthatpreventsanenduserfromperforminghisorhertasksintheITsolution,thatuserhastodescribe, categorize, and prioritizetheincident.InSAPapplications,thiscanbedonebycreatingaticketdirectlyintheapplication.Contextdataisautomaticallyattachedtotheticket,whichissenttotheservicedeskinSAPSolutionManager.Keyusersprovidefirst-levelsupport.Theysearchforanexistingsolutionbothinthecustomersolutiondatabaseandinthedata-baseoftheSAPNotestool.Whenthisfirst-levelsupportcannotresolvetheincident,theticketisforwardedtothecustomer’sapplicationmanagementorganization.

Applicationmanagementperformsend-to-end root-cause analysistoisolatetherootcauseoftheproblem.Ifnecessary,otherpartsofthecustomerITorganizationtakeovertoresolvetheincident.IfthecustomerITorganizationisnotsuccessful,itforwardstheticketforin-depthanalysistoSAPortotheproviderofathird-partyapplicationthathascausedtheincident.Atalltimes,thestatusoftheincidentistransparent.

Theservice deskinSAPSolutionManageristheSAPtoolusedtomanageincidentsefficientlyacrossthecustomerbusinessunits,customerIT,SAPIT,andindependentsoftwarevendors(ISVs)whoseapplicationsareintegratedinthecustomersolution.Throughitsopenbidirectionalinterface,theservicedeskcansendandreceiveincidentstoandfromotherticketsystems.Thismayberequiredifapartofthecustomer’sIThasbeenoutsourcedorout-taskedtoserviceprovidersthatusetheirownhelpdesk.

Byfollowingtheincidentmanagementstandard,customerscanaccelerateincidentresolution.ThishelpsincreasetheavailabilityoftheITsolutionandminimizenegativebusinessimpact.

Business Process Champion

AsthebusinessunitsandtheITorganizationworktogethertoimplementbusinessprocesses,thebusinessprocesschampioniscalledontoplayanotherkeyroleinthecustomer’sorganization.Locatedinthebusinessunit,thechampionistheexpertonprocessrequirements,implementation,andcontinuousimprovement.Withhisorherprofoundknowledgeofthebusinessprocesses,thechampionisoftentheonlyresourcethatcanresolveexcep-tionsinbusinessexecutionandresolvethepotentialdatainconsistenciestheseexceptionscancause.

Exception Handling

Duringoperations,exceptionsmayarisefromwithinbusinessapplications.EffectiveandefficienthandlingoftheseexceptionsiscrucialtomaintaininganoptimizedTCOandsmoothbusinessexecution.Theexception-handling standardexplainshowtodefineamodelforactionanddefinesproceduresformanagingexceptionsanderrorsituationsthatoccurduringdailybusinessoperations.

Theadventofmorecomplexanddiversebusinessscenariosthatcrossapplicationbordersplustheimmensevolumeofbusinesstransactionsprocessedtodaynecessitateanexception-handlingmethodthatisscalable,open,central,andembeddedinbusinessoperationsandsupportprocesses.Thebusinessprocesschampionandtheresponsiblebusinessprocessoperationsteamhavetodefineamodelforactionandwhatprocedurestotake.Theprocedurestheydescribespelloutwhatproactivemonitoringactivitiesmustbeexecutedtodetectbusiness-criticalexceptionsituationsandwhatcorrectiveactionsarerequiredinthegivencontext.Theyalsodescribewhoisresponsibleforcertainactivitiesinthebusinessprocessoperationsteamorthebusinessdepartment.

10

Theexecutionoftheseprocedurescanbesupportedbymonitoringandalertingtools.(Thesemonitoringproceduresaredescribedinthe“BusinessProcessandInterfaceMonitoringStandard”section.)

Ifcustomersdeploytheexception-handlingstandard,whichincludesproactiveaswellasreactivesteps,theycanachievehigheravailabilityfortheirITsolution.Inaddition,thestreamlinedmonitoringandresponseprocesseshelpreducethecomplexityofbusinessoperationsandthusreduceTCO.

Data Integrity

Theunderlyingrootcausefordatainconsistenciesinanend-to-endsolutionlandscapetypicallyinvolvesoneofthesethreescenarios:•Endusersorkeyusersarenotawareofcertainmanualactivities

theyhavetoperformtoensuredataconsistency.Forexample,theymaynotbeawarethatwhentheychangemasterdatainonecomponent,theyshouldsendthisupdatetoothercomponentsandapplicationsinthenetwork.

•Aninterfaceisnotworkingproperlyforsomereason.Typically,thisisrecordedinanerrorlogononesideoftheinterfaceandmayormaynottriggeraworkflowthatpushessomebodytoresolvetheissue.

•Jobsarenotrunningcorrectlyordidnotstartatall.Ifthesejobsare,forexample,forloadingdataintoadatawarehousingsolution,suchastheSAPNetWeaver®BusinessIntelligencecomponent(SAPNetWeaverBI),thebusinessreportswillnotbeaccurateandmayleadtowrongbusinessdecisions.

Thegoalofthe data-integrity standardistoavoiddatainconsistenciesinend-to-endsolutionlandscapes.

Toachieveeffectivesolutionoperations,itisvitalthatallthepotentialrootcausesofinconsistencybe100%transparent.Thedata-integritystandardcoversareasrangingfromapplicationdesignprinciplestomonitoringandCIO-levelreporting.Whendevelopingapplicationdesignprinciples,customersneedtoincludehowtheuserisguidedandwhetherchecksexisttohelpavoid

inconsistentdataentry.Ingeneral,monitoringshouldcovertheinterfaces,workflowqueues,andbackgroundjobs.Finally,SAPrecommendsthatcustomerssetupCIO-levelreportingtocoveranyexceptionsandinconsistencies.Experienceshowsthatincon-sistenciesareboundtohappenunlessanappropriateformofintegrationmonitoringandITreportingissetupproperly.

Withinthedata-integritystandard,alllevelsofmonitoringarethecoretasksofbusiness process operations.Incompleteprocessingofbackgroundjobsmustbereportedtothe business process champions,whomustinformthebusinessunitanddefinecontingencyplans.Followingthebestpracticesofthedata-integritystandard,customerscanachievehigheravailabilityandreliabilityoftheirSAPsolutionandreduceerror-handlingcosts.

Program Management office

Theprogram management officeisthecentralgroupinthecustomerbusinessunitresponsiblefortheoverallplanning,implementation,andcontinuousimprovementofthebusinessprocessesinthesolutionlandscape.Allrequestsforchangesflowthroughthisofficeandneedtobeintegratedintoascheduleofchangestothelandscape.Asaresult,change-requestmanagementtakesupthegreaterpartofactivitieshandledbytheprogrammanagementoffice.Thisofficeisresponsibleformanagingevery-thingfromday-to-daychangesandadaptationstoallreleaseplanningandmajorshiftsininfrastructuretechnology.Moreover,theseactivitiesmustbealignedwithallstakeholders.

11

Change-Request Management

Changestothesolutionlandscapemustbemanagedcarefullytoensuretheyarenotonlytransparentbutarealsoexecutedwithoutdisruptingongoingbusinessactivity.Thegoalofthechange- request management standardistoimplementefficientandpunctualchangestoSAPapplicationswithminimalrisk,usingstandardizedmethodsandprocedures.

Theprogrammanagementofficeisresponsibleformanagingalltypesofapplicationchangerequestsinitiatedbybusinessprocesschampions,endusers,orkeyusers.Thesechangerequestsorigi-natefrombusinessprocesschanges,implementationandupgradeprojects,periodicmaintenance,andurgentcorrections.TheycanaffectoneapplicationorseveralapplicationswithinanSAPsolutionlandscape.Therefore,dependenciesbetweenmultiplesoftwareapplicationshavetobeconsidered.

Thechange-requestmanagementstandardprovidestransparencyoftheSAPsoftwaretowhichitisbeingapplied,transparencyofthechange-customizationprocess,theprojecthistory,andtherolesanddepartmentsinvolved.BoththebusinessunitsandtheITorganizationareinvolvedinchange-requestmanagement,whichisthemaincommunicationchannelbetweentheprogrammanagementofficeandtheapplicationmanagementorganization.Technically,changesaretransportedthroughthewholesolutionlandscapesotheycanbeaudited.Thuschange-requestmanage-mentiscloselyrelatedtothechange-controlmanagementstandardownedbytheapplicationmanagementorganization.

Hereisatypicalchange-requestscenario:Anenduserorkeyuserturnstotheservicedesktocreateaservicemessage.Thisservicemessagetriggersacorrespondingchangerequest.Onechangerequestmayaffectmultiplesoftwarecomponents.Aftertheprogrammanagementofficeapprovesthechangerequest,theapplicationmanagementorganizationperformsrelatedactivitiestorealizethechangerequestandcarryitthroughdevelopment,testing,androllout.

Thechange-requestmanagementstandardhelpscustomersminimizetheimpactofchange-relatedincidentsonservicequal-ity.Asaresult,itimprovestheirday-to-dayoperations.

Upgrade

Fromtimetotime,customershavetoupgradeapplicationstonewreleaselevels.However,upgradeprojectscanposemajorchallengesrelatedtoprojectmanagement,efficienttesting,minimizationofdowntime,adaptationofapplicationsandmodi-fications,andknowledgetransfertoendusers.SAPprovidesguidelinesonhowtoperformupgradesforsingle-applicationcom-ponents.However,eachupgrademustbeanintegralpartoftheoverallcorporateITstrategy,coveringtheend-to-endlandscapeofasolutioncenteredonSAPsoftware.Thisintegrationincludeshardware,operatingsystems,anddatabasereleasesaswellasfilesystemandstoragesubsystemversions.Duringeachphaseoftheupgrade,thoseinvolvedmustpaycarefulattentiontobusinesscontinuity,change-managementprocedures,landscapeadjustment,anddowntime.Theupgrade standardguidescustomersandtechnologypartnersthroughtheupgradeprojectsotheycanmanageallthesechallenges.

Thestandardupgradeprojectconsistsoffivephases.Duringtheproject preparationphase,theupgradeprojectisdefinedandthecurrentcustomersolutionisanalyzed.Intheupgrade blue-printphase,thetargetsolutionrequirements(thecore“tobe”situation)isdefined.Intheupgrade realizationphase,thesolutiondescribedintheblueprintphaseisimplementedinatestenvironment.Thiscreatesapilotsoftwarelandscapeinwhichthebusinessprocessandallinterfacescanbemappedindivid-uallyandtestedonafunctionalbasis.Duringpreparation for go-live,customersmakefinalpreparationsforupgradingtheproductionsolution.Inthisphase,thefocusisontesting,train-ing,riskminimization,anddetailedplanningofthetechnicalupgrade.Theproduction cutover and supportphasecoverstheupgradeoftheproductionsolution,thestartupoftheappli-cationinanewrelease,postprocessingactivities,andresolutionofthetypicalproblemsthatoccurduringinitialoperation.

Followingtheguidelinessetoutintheupgradestandard,customerscanacceleratetheirupgradeproject.Thestandardhelpsthemavoidproblems,increasethequalityofprojectresults,andkeepmajorcostdriversundercontrol.

12

Enterprise SOA Readiness

Moreandmorecustomersaremovingtoenterpriseservice-orientedarchitecture(enterpriseSOA)topositiontheircompanyforinnovationandimprovedproductivity.Byorchestratingexistingservicesandcombiningthemwithadditionalapplicationlogicandsuitableuserinterfaces,enterpriseSOAcanimple-mentnewbusinessprocesses.Theenterprise SOA readiness standardguidescustomersonasuccessfulpathtoenterpriseSOA.Itaddressesbothtechnicalandorganizationalreadiness.

Technical readinessinvolvesmakingcurrentmethodsforim-plementingbusinessprocessapplicationstransparent,customizingsoftwarelandscapes,andreducingthenumberandseverityofmodifications,thusenablingtechnicianstodrivenecessaryhar-monizationandconsolidation.DuringthisstepintotheworldofenterpriseSOA,centralizedgovernanceoftheservicesisabso-lutelyrequired.Infact,explicitcentralizedgovernanceofallenterpriseSOAscenariosisakeyprerequisiteforachievingtheadvantagesofenterpriseSOA:flexibility,innovation,andTCOreductionviareusabilityofWebservices.

Organizational readinessisequallyimportant.Customersmustbeabletodevelopandsupportaservice-orientedarchitecture.Thatmeansemployeesinsomeroles,suchasthosewhoserveasbusinessprocesschampions,mustbuildupnewskillstoestablishandcovernewprocesses,ensuringthatbusinessandITcangrowtogether.

Theprocess-orientedapproachandtheprovenmethodsSAPprovidesforE2EsolutionoperationscovertheareasofoperationsandtechnicalriskmanagementforrunningexistingenterpriseSOAscenarios.Theprogrammanagementofficeownstheenter-priseSOAreadinessstandard,butotherorganizationsarealsoinvolvedinit.Customersbenefitfromthestandardbecausethetechnicalandorganizationalreadinessitachieveshelpsreducebothapplicationmanagementandmaintenancecosts.

Application Management

ThekeyinterfacebetweenbusinessandITistheapplication managementorganization.Endusers,keyusers,andtheprogrammanagementofficerelyonITservicesforawidevarietyoftasks–fromsolutionlandscapeplanningtoimplementation;fromthehandlingtoexecutionofchangerequestscomingfromthebusi-nessunits;andfromdocumentationstandards,training,andcertificationtomanagement-levelreporting.

Root-Cause Analysis

Supportofmission-criticalapplicationsdependsstronglyontheabilityoftheSAPsoftwareecosystemtoprovidecorrectiveactionforanyincident.WhenneitherthecustomerhelpdesknortheITorganizationisabletoidentifytherootcauseofanincident,ithelpstohavealltoolsforperformingtheanalysisavailabletoSAPconsultantsandISVs.Theroot-cause analysis standarddefineshowtoperformroot-causeanalysisendtoendacrossseparatecomponentsandtechnologies.Thedifferentsupportlevels(customer,partner,ISVs,andSAPconsultants)allusethesamestandardizedtoolssothatthoseatthenextlevelofsupportcanreviewtheresultsofpreviousfindingsandcontinuewithamorein-depthinvestigation.

Whenthehelpdeskwithinthebusinessunitcannotresolveanincident,theapplicationmanagementorganizationperformsend-to-endroot-cause analysistoisolatethecomponentrespon-siblefortheerrororperformanceproblem.Thiscausecouldresideintheclientsoftware;inthenetwork,storage,orclientdatabase;orinSAPsoftware–forexample,intheSAPNetWeaverPortalcomponent,theSAPCustomerRelationshipManagement(SAPCRM)application,ortheSAPERPapplication.Oncethecauseisisolated,techniciansmayhavetotakecorrectiveactiontoresolvetheincident.SAPprovidesallthetoolsrequiredtoperformend-to-endroot-causeanalysisandmakesthemavailabletocustomer,partners,ISVs,andSAPconsultants.ISVsandSAPconsultantscanaccessthesetoolsremotely–andsafely–throughasecureconnectiontothecustomer.

13

SAPSolutionManagerprovidesaccesstoonestandardtoolforeachdiagnostictask.Allroot-causeanalysisproceduresareshippedpreconfiguredforallSAPsolutions,andtheunderlyingdiagnosticsinfrastructureisopenforfastintegrationofanyISVproduct.Certainkeyinformationisrequiredtoperformend-to-endroot-causeanalysis.Togatherthisinformation,softwareagentsruncontinuouslyonsatellitesoftwaresystems,collectingexceptions,configurationsnapshots,serviceavailability,andworkloadstatisticsincludingoperatingsystemanddatabasestatistics.TheinformationiskeptuniformacrossallsoftwarestacksandisavailablefromonecentralconsoleinSAPSolutionManager.

Furthermore,theinformationiscondensed,correlated,aggregated,andmadeavailableforcomprehensiveITreporting.Exceptionsarereflectedintheunifiedstatisticsofhigh-severitylogentriesanddumps.Fromthere,itispossibletoaccesscomponent-specificloganddumpviewers.Technicalconfigurationsuchassystempropertiesandsnapshotsoftechnicalconfigurationaretrackeddailytodetectinconsistenciesamongthedevelopment,qualityassurance,andproductionenvironmentsandtodetectanyrecentchangesthatmayhavebeenappliedtothetechnicalconfigurationoftheproductionlandscape.Theapplicationmanagementorga-nizationistheowneroftheend-to-endroot-causeanalysisprocess.Ifrequired,theotherITunits–customdevelopment,businessprocessoperations,SAPtechnicaloperations,andITinfrastruc-ture–performdetailedroot-causeanalysisofthecomponentresponsiblefortheincidentandthenperformthecorrectiveactions.

Themajorbenefitoftheroot-causeanalysisstandardisaccelerationofproblemresolution,whichleadstoincreasedavailabilityoftheITsolution.Inaddition,thestandardeasesproblemresolutionwithintheITorganization.Thisresultsinreducedcostofownership.

Change-Control Management

Itisessentialthatchangestothesolutionlandscapearemanagedcarefullytoascertaintransparency.Thepreviouslydescribedchange-requestmanagementstandardensuresthatstandardizedmethodsandproceduresareusedforefficientandprompthan-dlingofallchanges.Tocomplementchange-requestmanagement,customersmustalsoaddressthedeploymentandanalysisofchangestoconfirmthechangesareexecutedwithoutdisruptingbusiness.Thisisthefocusofthechange-control management standard.Thestandardcoverstwomajorareasofchangecontrol:changedeploymentandchangediagnostics.

Change-deploymentfunctionalityprovidesaholisticviewofanapplicationchange,ensuringthatallcomponentsinvolvedaretestedandreleasedtogether,eveniftheyarebasedondiffer-enttechnologies.Thisviewcanbeachievedbyusingonestan-dardprocedureandtoolsetforthetechnicaldistributionandimportofapplicationchangesalongthesoftwarelogisticsroute.Thechange-deploymentareacontrolschangesaspartofcustomerprojects.ItalsocontrolsthedownloadofsoftwarepatchesandupdatesforallsoftwarecomponentsfromSAPandfrompartners.Atestmanagementteamfacilitatesanintegratedapproachtochangethatlinkstheprojectstructuretotestplans,testpackages,andthetestitself.Inaddition,thisintegrationwiththechange-requestmanagementstandardalignstheexactcontent,test,anddeploymentneededtomakethechange.

Change diagnosticshelpcustomersidentify,control,maintain,andverifytheversionsofsolutionconfigurationsandthevaluesoftheparametersofsolutionlandscapecomponents.Accurateinformationonconfigurationsandtheirdocumentationisnec-essarytosupportbothauditingrequirementsandothersolutionoperationsprocesses.Totrackchanges,theconfigurationinfor-mationisrecordedregularlyinsidethecomponentsandcollectedcentrallyintheSAPSolutionMangerdatabase.Theconfigurationcanbecomparedwithatemplateormasterconfigurationtoanalyzechanges.Thereportingincludesallcurrentandhistoricalconfigurationdatathroughouttheapplicationlifecycle.

14

Integratedwithchange-requestmanagementandchangedeploy-ment,changediagnosticssupportthetransitionfromprojecttooperationsandmanagecodeandconfigurationfreezephases.

Thechange-controlmanagementstandardisownedbytheapplication managementorganization,butitinvolvesseveralothersolutionrolesaswell.Endusers,processchampions,andtheprogrammanagementofficeusechange-requestmanagementastheirprimarymeanstoinitiate,approve,andmonitorachangewithinthesolutionlandscape.Astheprimaryreceiverofchangerequests,theapplicationmanagementteamusesdefinedprocessesandtoolstomanagetheimplementationofchanges.

Change-controlmanagementbenefitscustomersbyincreasingthequalityandavailabilityoftheirITsolution.Italsohelpsthemavoidcostsforerrorhandling.

Minimum Documentation

Assolutionlandscapesaremaintainedandadaptedtomeetbusinessdemands,planningandreportingoftherespectiveinitiativesandprojectsbecomethebasisforsuccessfulsolutionoperations.Monitoringandreportingarethefocusoftheminimum documentation standard.

Thekeytosuccessfullandscapeplanningandoperationisanaccurateandcompletedescriptionofthesolutionlandscape,includingallbusinessprocesses.Allreportingisbasedonthisfundamentalinformation.Thissetsthestageforissuereporting.Issuescanbeclassifiedastechnical issuesthatcaptureproblemswiththetechnicalinfrastructureofthesolutionlandscapeandtop issuesthataddressproblemsattheoverallsolutionmanagementlevel.

ThisinformationisvaluabletothevariouscustomerdepartmentsandcanbeusedbySAPexpertsasaninformationbaseonwhichtoestablishaservice plan –themasterplanfordeliveringservicestoaddresschallenges.Allplans,services,issues,andlandscapeinformationareconsolidatedintheservice and support report,thekeyinstrumentformaintainingacomprehensiveviewofthestateofthesolutionlandscape.

Theminimum documentation standardisownedbytheapplicationmanagementorganization.Aswithmostoftheotherstandards,itinvolvestheparticipationofseveralotherstakeholderroles.Endusers,businessprocesschampions,andtheprogrammanagementofficecontributetoandrelyonthelandscapeandbusinessprocessinformation.Theminimumdocumentationstandardprovidesallinvolvedpartieswithacommonunder-standing.Thusthestandardisaprerequisiteforoptimizingallsolutionoperationsprocesses.Inaddition,thestandardisanimportantfactorinbusinessandITalignmentandprovidesthetransparencythatcanaccelerateITactivitiesandimprovetheirresults.

Remote Supportability

Typically,acustomer’sITorganizationcannotresolveallprob-lemsandexecuteallsolutionoperationstasksbyitself.Becauseofmissingresourcesorinsufficientknowledge,theITteamocca-sionallyneedstoengageoutsideexperts.Toensuretheseexpertscanprovideefficientsupport,theymusthaveaccesstothecus-tomerITsolutionlandscape.Theremote supportability standard definesfivebasicrequirementsneededtooptimizethesupportabilityofcustomersolutions.

Thecustomersupportinfrastructuremustgiveexternalexpertsremote accesstotherequiredtoolsandinformationatthecus-tomersite.Thishelpsacceleratethedeliveryofsupportservicesandreducescosts.Varioustoolsareneededtocompletethedifferenttasks,andindistributedsolutions,thesetoolsmaybelocatedindifferentapplications.Sothesoftwarelandscapemusthaveacentral access pointwhereexpertscanacquirespecificinformationonthesolutionandquicklyaccessthetoolstheyneed.

Theapplicationortechnologyusedtoprovideaserviceisirrele-vant;whatmattersisthattheserviceisstandardized.Onlyinthiswaycanservicesbeofferedefficiently.Tosecurethesmoothoperationofbusinessprocessesacrossdifferentapplicationsandquicklydiscoverthecauseofinterruptions,anefficientsupportinfrastructuremustcovernotonlysingleapplicationsbutthecompletecustomersolution.

15

Finally,outsideexpertsneedaguaranteeofsafe access toensurethatnoincorrectchangesaremadeandtoreducetheriskofaproblem.Thiscanbeachievedbyfollowingtheauthorizationconceptsoftheindividualapplications.Butmanyareas,suchastheoperatingsystem,makeitdifficulttogiveparticularexpertstheexactlevelofauthorizationtheyneed.Inthisinstance,itissimplerandmoreefficientfortheserviceandsupportinfrastruc-turetoimposeonlybasicread-onlyaccessrightsforcriticalareasofliveapplications.

Byfulfillingtherequirementsoftheremotesupportabilitystan-dard,customerscanengageSAPexpertstoaccelerateproblemresolutionandincreasedtheavailabilityoftheirsolution.ThestandardalsohelpsimprovethequalityofdeliveredservicesandthesecurityoftheITsolution.

Business Process operations

Thefocusofbusinessprocessoperationsisbusiness-critical processes.Seamlessbusinessoperationsrequireareliable data flowbetweenbusinessunits.Inmission-criticalareas,itisimportanttoidentifyproblemsinthedataflowasearlyaspossible,sinceadisruptionofabusinessprocessmayresultinimmediatefinancialloss.Thefollowingstandardscoverthebasicsofbusinessprocessandinterfacemonitoring,managinganever-increasingamountofbusinessdata,thedependenciesofjobsandtheircorrectexe-cution,andtheend-to-endtransactionalconsistencyofbusinessprocessexecution.

Business Process and Interface Monitoring

Thebusiness process and interface monitoring standardsupportsmonitoringofmission-criticalbusinessprocesses,enablingcustomerstoidentifyproblemsbeforetheybecomecriticalordisruptive.

Business process monitoringcoversmonitoringactivities,alertandproblemdetection,notificationofexperts,error-handlingprocedures,andend-to-endroot-causeanalysis(aseparatestandard).Today’ssoftwarelandscapesareoftendecentralizedandconsistofvariousinterfacestodifferentapplications,manyofthem

legacyenvironmentsinwhichcustomersandvendorsusediffer-enttechnologies.Alltheseinterfacesneedtobemonitoredforprocessingerrors,backlogsituations,andperformance.TheIToperationsgrouphastoensure100%dataconsistency.Withanincreasedcomplexityofsystemlandscapes,thereisanincreasedriskofdatainconsistencies.Specificdataconsistencyreportshavetobeexecutedonaregularbasistoensureearlydetectionofinconsistencies.Anddetailederror-handlingandrecoveryproceduresneedtobedefinedtoensureefficientrecoverywhenadisasterdoesoccur.

Thebusinessprocessandinterfacemonitoringstandardenablescustomerstosafeguardthesmoothandreliableflowofcorebusinessprocesses.Asaresult,thestandardalsoensuresbusinesscontinuity.Byestablishingonecentral,proactive,andprocess-orientedstrategyforbusinessprocessmonitoring,itreducesthecostforsolutionoperationsbyavoidingorganizationalredundancies.

Data-Volume Management

Asaresultofthetendencytorunhighlyinterconnectedsoftwaresystems(internalandexternal)andtheneedtohavedatainstantlyaccessible,datavolumesaregrowingandgrowing.Ingeneral,addingadditionaldiskstostorageareanetworksandstoragesub-systemsjustworsensthesituationovertime.Thedata-volume management standarddefineshowtomanagedatagrowthbyavoidingdatacreationanddeletingandarchivingdata.

Data-volume scopingisthestartingpointofdata-volumemanagement.Adetailedlookatacustomer’ssoftwaresystemsidentifiesmajorproblemareasandindicatesthemostbeneficialmeasurestotake(forinstance,datadeletionordataarchiving)whenimplementingadata-volumemanagementstrategy.Theobjectiveofadata-volume management strategyistoavoid,summarize,delete,andarchivedata,dependingonwhatkindofdataitis.Businessandexternalrequirementsforthedataplayarole,forexample,inlegalcomplianceandinformationlife-cyclemanagement.Adata-volume reportingfunctionliststhe

16

archivingactivitiesalreadyperformedandidentifiesadditionalreductionpotentialresultingfrom,say,achangeinthebusinessprocesses.Schedulingthereportingonaregularbasisshowsthegrowthofthedatabase–downtoabusiness-objectlevel–andpointsouthowthegrowthcanbeminimized.

Reachingasteady state–thatisabalancebetweennewdataandarchiveddata–isanotherobjectiveofthestandard.ItisalsoarequirementforcustomersrunningSAPsoftwarewithingivenservice-levelagreementsoveranextendedperiodoftime.

Thebusinessprocessoperationsgroupownsthedata-volumemanagementstandard.Iftheprocessidentifiesdatatobereorganizedorarchived,thesetasksareperformedbySAPtechnicaloperationsorITinfrastructureteams.

Thedata-volumemanagementstandardincreasestheavailabilityofthecustomersolutionbyenablingadministrativetaskssuchassoftwareupgrade,databasereorganization,anddatabackupsorrecoverytobeachievedinlesstime.Inaddition,ithelpscustomersreducetheamountoftimeneededtomanagediskspaceandallowsmoreefficientuseofresourcessuchasharddrives,memory,andCPU.

Job-Scheduling Management

Withinahighlycomplexanddistributedlandscape,job-scheduling managementisimportantformanagingandprocessingdata.Evenintoday’smorereal-timedataenvironment,thereisahighneedtohavejobsrunninginthebackground.Further,jobsarelinkedtogetherinhugejobchains,usuallycontainingmanysequencedependencies.Ifoneorseveraljobsabortandcancel,thealertsoftwarehastoinformtheappropriatesupportlevelorhastobeinapositiontostartanautomaticerror-handlingprocedureandrestartthejob(s).Anotherfunctionofjob-schedulingmanagementistomakeefficientuseofavailableresources(suchasCPUandmemory)whencoordinatingtheactivitiesofconcurrentonlineuserswithbackgroundjobsthatusethesametimewindowandsoftwareenvironment.Thisfunctionmustbemanagedtoavoidbottlenecksituationsorpreventdelaysindataprocessing.

Thejob-scheduling management standardexplainshowtomanagejobplanning,scheduling,andmonitoring.Theprocessstartswitharequestforanewjoborarequesttochangethescheduleofanexistingjoborjobchain.Thisrequestneedstobeplanned,scheduled,andintegratedintothemonitoringproceduresandalertmechanismsandcheckedtoconfirmitwasfulfilledsuccessfully.Thestandardalsorecommendssettingupadedicatedteamforjob-schedulingmanagementaspartofthebusinessprocessoperationsorsupportorganization.Thisteamisresponsibleforthecentralmanagementofthejob-schedulingfunction.

Job-schedulingmanagementisownedbythebusinessprocessoperationsgroup,whichexecutestherequiredtasks–generallyincooperationwiththebusinessprocesschampionandtheSAPtechnicaloperationsteam.Themainbenefitsofjob-schedulingmanagementaretheautomationandaccelerationofbusinessprocessesandpreventionofprocessinterruptions.

Transactional Consistency

IntheearlydaysofIT,transactionalconsistencyandcorrectnesswasassuredbythefactthatanapplicationarchitecturehadonesystem,onedisksubsystem,andonedatabase.Commitcyclesensuredthecompletenessoftransactionsatanytime.Intoday’sdistributedsoftwarelandscapes,transactionalconsistencycannolongerbeassured.Differentbusinessprocess“leading”orfront-endsystemsrequiredatasynchronizationacrossapplications;severaldatabases,ondiskandinmemory,haveconsistentstateswithinthemselvesbutnotacrosstheunits;andonthesubsystemlevel,dataisstoredacrossseveralstoragesystems.Tosummarizetoday’ssituation:withindistributedsoftwarelandscapesthereisnolongeranyend-to-endsynchronizationpointthatensuresdataconsistencyandcorrectness.

Thegoalofthetransactional consistency standardistokeeptransactionsconsistentindistributedsoftwarelandscapes.Tohelpcustomersachievetransactionalconsistency,SAPsoftwaresupportsbestpracticesforcheckroutinesaswellasconsistencyreportsandproceduresthatsetupsynchronizationofthetrans-actionaldataendtoendacrossthedifferentbusinessapplications.

17

Dependingoncustomer-specificparametersandrequirements(suchasdatavolume,softwaresystemresources,24x7operations),SAP’sgivenstandardsmayneedadditionalimplementationsup-porttoensureend-to-endtransactionalconsistencyandcorrect-ness.Forexample,theIToperationsteamhastoensuretheongoingdailycheckproceduresareinplaceaswellastherecoverymechanismsneededtorebuildafterafailuresituation.

Byapplyingthetransactionalconsistencystandard,customerslowertheriskfordatainconsistencies.Proactiveerrorhandlingandproblemsolvingpreventbusinessprocessdisruptions,savetimeforproblemresolution,andthusreducecostofownership.

Custom development

TheprimaryroleofthecustomdevelopmentteamistoadaptSAPstandardapplicationsandinterfacestospecificbusinessneeds.Thisinvolvesavarietyofdevelopmenttaskscoveringapplicationcustomization,interfacedevelopment,andcustomcodedevel-opment.ThuscustomdevelopmentisinvolvedinmanyoftheSAPsolutionoperationsstandardsincludingchange-requestman-agement,change-controlmanagement,upgrades,enterpriseSOAreadiness,androot-causeanalysis.However,customdevelopmentdoesnotownanyofthesestandards.

SAP technical operations

TheSAPtechnicaloperationsorganizationgroupsalltheactivi-tiesneededtoadministerandmonitortheITlandscapeinordertomaintainandoperateasuccessfulITinfrastructurefortheapplicationlandscape.Theorganizationactsassystemadminis-trator.Assuch,itmustapplyallthestandardsoutlinedpreviouslywhilemaintainingastrongfocusontheoverallsoftwareinfra-structure.Itsprimaryfocusisonsystem administration and system monitoring.

System Administration

Thesystem administration standarddescribeshowallSAPtechnology–includingSAPNetWeaverBI,theSAPNetWeaverExchangeInfrastructure(SAPNetWeaverXI)component,SAPNetWeaverPortal,theSAPNetWeaverMobilecomponent,theSAPNetWeaverMasterDataManagementcomponent,SAPCRM,theSAPAdvancedPlanning&Optimizationcomponent,andDuet™software–mustbeadministeredtorunacustomersolutionefficiently.Thetypicaltasksofsystemadministrationincludestartingandstoppingprocesses,applyingchangestotechnicalconfigurations,performingimports,applyingpatchesandsupportpackagesbasedonthechange-controlworkflow,creatingorchangingusersbasedonacomplianceworkflow,copyingorinstallingsoftware,runningsoftwarediagnostics,managingjobs,andperformingbackupsandrecovery.Adminis-trationtasksaremainlyexecutedlocallybutcanbeaccessedandtriggeredviaacentraladministrationsystemtoallowunifiedaccesstoallSAPtechnologies.SystemadministrationisownedandexecutedbytheSAPtechnicaloperationsgroup.

System Monitoring

Thesystem monitoring standardcoversmonitoringandreportingmethodsthatgivethestatusofITsolutions.Thebusinessunitexpectsperformanceproblemsanderrorstobedetectedproactivelyandresolvedbeforetheyaffectbusinesscontinuity.Toprovidetransparencytothebusinessunits,IThastoreportservicelevels,capacitytrends,andsolutionqualityonaregularbasis.AndtofulfillthedemandofthebusinessunitswithinalimitedITbudget,theITteammustindustrializeandautomatemonitoringandreporting.

18

Whileroot-causeanalysis(aseparatestandard)aimsatproblemresolution,monitoringsoftwaredetectsincidentsautomatically.Whensoftwareagentsreportdiagnosticsdatathatexceedthresholdsdefinedinacentralalertframework,themonitoringsoftwaresendsalertstotheresponsibleexpertsinITsotheycantakecorrectiveaction.Iftherequiredcorrectiveactionisnotobvious,end-to-endroot-causeanalysismustbeperformed.Themonitoringsoftwarehasanopenbidirectionalinterfacethroughwhichitcansendalertstoorreceivealertsfromthird-partymonitoringinfrastructures.ThesemonitoringinfrastructurescanbeusedbyorganizationsinwhichsomeITtaskshavebeenoutsourcedorout-tasked.

Basedonalldataavailableindiagnostics,themonitoringstandarddefinesWebreportsthatfocusonservicelevels,capacitytrends,orsolutionquality.ThereportsaregeneratedautomaticallyandbroadcasttodefinedrecipientsinthecustomerbusinessorITorganization.

recommendations for the Standards Adoption

Sequence

ThesequenceforimplementingSAPstandardsforsolutionoperationsusuallydependsonthespecificcustomersituationandthemajorproblemareasencounteredbytheITteam.How-ever,someguidingprinciplescanbedefined.ThefollowingsequencerecommendationisespeciallyhelpfulforcustomerswhoareplanninganupgradetoSAPERP.Thisupgradeisamile-stoneformanyexistingcustomers,becauseSAPERPintroducesnewtechnologiesthatcanbefocusedonbuildingupmission-criticalsupport.

Thisistherecommendedsequenceofstandardsadoption:1.Remote connectivity standard

Thisshouldbeimplementedatthestartofaproject,sinceitenablesSAPexpertstobeinvolvedinresolvingproblemsthatthecustomer’sITteamcannothandle.

2. Upgrade standardThisstandardisimportantbecauseitprovidesamanagementguideforcustomersplanninganupgradeproject.Itoffersanimmediatebenefittocustomerswhofollowit.

3. Root-cause analysis standard Thisshouldbeimplementedbythestartoftheacceptancetestbecausefromthenon,adetailedroot-causeanalysis(conductedon-siteorremotely)ofproblemsthatoccurintheSAPERPsoftwareenvironmentmaybeneededforefficientsupportofmission-criticalprocesses.

4. Change-control management standard Thisstandardshouldbeimplementedbeforethego-live.Itestablishesfirmcontroloversoftwarelogistics.Maintenanceoptimizationisanimportantelementofthestandard.Withoutit,customerswouldnotbeabletodownloadcorrectivesoftwarefromtheSAPServiceMarketplaceextranet.

Thestandardsownedbybusinessprocesschampionsandthebusinessprocessoperationsorganizationshouldbenextonthecustomer’sadoptionlistbecausetheycontributesignificantlytothestabilityofthecustomer’smission-criticalprocesses.Atthispoint,theadoptionsequencedependsonthecustomer’ssituation.

19

role of SAP Solution MAnAGerSolutionstakeholdersneedtoolstoperformthedifferenttasksrequiredbytheSAPstandardsforsolutionoperations.WithSAPSolutionManager,SAPprovidesthesetoolsonacentralplatform,alongwithintegratedcontentandagatewaytoSAPthatenablesefficientoperationofE2EsolutionscenteredonSAPsoftware.Becauseitissuchacentralcomponent,SAPSolutionManagerbecomestheapplication management solutionforseveralteams–theircentralworkingapplication.

SAP Solution Manager as a Platform for Standards

SAPSolutionManagersupportstheSAPstandardsforsolutionoperationsbyprovidinganoverallplatformthatcontains:•Functionality for the standard processes and steps executed

by role ownersThisfunctionalityisembeddedinrole-specificworkcentersinwhichworkflows,Web-basedin-boxes,launchpads,andmorearebundled.

•Common data repository containing all status and compliance informationThisrepositoryprovidesthebasisforreportingandgovernanceactivitiesandcanactasadataproviderforcompliancesolutionssuchastheSAPsolutionsforgovernance,risk,andcompliance.

•Functionality to define and monitor service-level agreements Theseagreementsaremadebetweenthepartieswhoareinvolvedinfullyexecutingastandardizedprocess.

•Functionality to manage issues and escalations Issuessometimesoccurbetweenthedifferentpartiesinvolvedinthesolution.

•Comprehensive reporting functions Thesearetailoredtotheneedsofthedifferentroleownersaswellastothecompany’sseniormanagement(inSLAreporting,forexample).CoupledwiththedatarepositoryandtheSLAs,reportingfunctionsinSAPSolutionManagerprovidethebasisforeffectivemanagementofout-taskingandoutsourcingactivity.

SAPSolutionManagerthusprovidesbothfunctionalsupportforindividualrolesandclearlydefinedinterfacesbetweentheseroles.TheindividualrolesrepresentthemajordepartmentsandorganizationsinvolvedinthemanagementofanyE2EsolutioncenteredonSAPsoftware.Theinterfacesgivecustomersabasisformanagingrelationships.SAPSolutionManagersupportscollaborationaswellasescalationswithserviceprovidersbytrackingthekeyinformationforeveryprocessinstanceandactivity,revealing:•Whichprocessstepswerealreadyexecutedbywhom•Whoisresponsibleforthenextstepandwhatneedstobe

donenext•Whethertheservicelevelsweremet

BecauseSAPSolutionManagerdocuments“thetruth”ofwhomanagedwhichaspectofacustomer’sE2Esolutionatwhichpointintime,itisvitalforgoverningandcontrollingout-taskingandoutsourcingrelationshipsacrossdifferenttimeandgeographicalzones.

WiththereleaseofSAPSolutionManager4.0,thesolutionhasmaturedintoaplatformforapplicationmanagementthatcon-sistsofastablecoreandoptionalextensions.SAPrecommendsthecoresolutiontoitscustomers.TofacilitatetheintegrationofSAPSolutionManagerwiththeoverallITstrategyofitscus-tomers,SAPisofferingextensionsforthesolutionthatprovideadditionalvalueforspecificcustomergroups.Thefirstextension,theSAPSolutionSupportEnablementpackage,isalreadyavailable.Thispackagecontainsavarietyofbest-of-breedsupporttoolspreconfiguredforuseincomplexSAPsoftware–centeredenvi-ronments.Thesetoolsrangefromreversebusinessengineeringandtestoptimizationtoolstoin-depthdiagnostictoolsforclient-andserver-sidesupport.Extensionpackagesareavailableatanadditionalcharge;thecoreSAPSolutionManagerremainsavailabletoallcustomersfornoadditionalcost.

20

role-Based work Centers

SAPSolutionManagertakesawork-center approachtoexecutingSAPstandardsforsolutionoperations.Itgroupstheinformationandtasksofparticularoperationsprocessesintoworkcenterstofacilitateeffectiveworkexecutionandcollaboration.Thiswork-centerapproachenablestailoredandrole-baseduserenvironmentsforindividualusersandtheirspecifictasks,whiletop-levelnavi-gationprovidesaccesstotheworkcenters.Eachworkcenterconsistsofanavigationpanelandacontentpanel.Viathenavi-gationpanelofaworkcenter,userscanfindthetaskstheyneedtoperform.Thefunctioncorrespondingtothattaskisthendisplayedinthecontentpaneloftheworkcenter.

Top-level navigation(seeFigure2)occursviaarole-specificnavigationbar.Thebarlistsalltheworkcentersthatauserrequiresforhisorherjob,basedontheuser’srolesandauthorizations.Someworkcenters,suchastheservicedesk,areavailabletoalmostallusers.Otherscanonlybeaccessedbyasmallnumberofusers.Thiswork-centerapproachallowsuserstofocusontheirspecifictasks.Differentorganizationalunitscanextendthelistoffunctionsaccessibleinthevariousworkcenters.

Ifauserselectsaspecificworkcenterinthetop-levelnavigationsection(seeFigure3),thatworkcenterisdisplayedbelowthenavigationbar.Thecontent panelprovidesallfunctionsandinformationavailableintheworkcenter.Thisiswhereusersexecutetheirsolutionoperationstasks.

Mostworkcenterscontainmultiplefunctionsandprovidemuchinformation.A“friendly”navigation panel(seeFigure4)allowsuserstonarrowthepanelselectiontospecificobjectsofinterest.Forexample,userscanselectwhichtaskstheywanttoexecuteandwhichobjectstheywanttohandle.Thecorrespondinglistalignswithuserauthorizations.Inaddition,eachworkcenterprovideseasyaccesstogeneraloverviewinformationsuchastheuserin-boxorworklists.

21

Figure2:KeyBuildingBlocksofaWorkCenter

Figure3:Top-LevelNavigation–anExample

Figure4:NavigationPanel

work Center 2

Content Panelnavigation Panel

Work-center specific

top-level navigation

Work-center specific

WC1 WC3 WC4WC2 WC5 …

Thecommon taskssectionofthenavigationpanellistsallthetasksauserneedstoperformwithintheworkcenter.Forexample,thetasksE2Eworkloadanalysis,E2Eloganddumpanalysis,andE2Edataconsistencyanalysisaretypicaltasksrelatedtoroot-causeanalysisandperformedbymembersoftheapplicationmanage-mentteam.Iftheuserselectsoneofthesetasks,thecorrespondingfunctionalitybecomesimmediatelyavailableinthecontentpaneloftheworkcenter.Theuserdoesnotneedtoaccessthefunctionviaanavigationpaththatmightbemuchmorecomplex.

Whenauserselectsatasktoexecute,thistasktypicallycallsupalargersetofobjects.However,inmostcasestheuserwantstohandleonlyasmallsetofobjects.Theworkcenterallowstheusertoselectcommon objectswithinthenavigationpanelthatfocuspreciselyontheobjectsheorshefindsrelevant.Theseobjectsserveasfilterobjectsforthefunctionsandinformationdisplayedinthecontentpanel.CommonobjectsaremaintainedandusedwithinSAPSolutionManager.Theyinclude,forexample,solutions,projects,andbusinessprocesses.

Typically,customersolutionscenteredonSAPsoftwareconsistofmultiplecomponents.Manytasksinsolutionoperationsarerelatedexclusivelytosomeofthesecomponents.Becauseusersneedtofocusonthecomponentsrelevantfortheirwork,SAPSolutionManagerletsthemaccessasolution–agroupofappli-cationsthataremanagedcollectively.Forexample,allapplica-tionsinvolvedinaspecificbusinessprocess,allapplicationsrunbythesamesubsidiary,orallapplicationsadministeredbythesamesystemadministrator.Byusingthesolutionasafilterobjectinthenavigationpanel,userscannarrowdowntheinformationdisplayedinthecontentpanel.

UsersmaybeinvolvedinmultipleITprojects,sometimesinparallel.Thesecanincludeimplementationprojects,upgradeprojects,changeprojects,orprojectsforresolvingissues.Viathecommon-objectprojectsinthenavigationpanel,userscancalloutthedataforthespecificprojectstheyarecurrentlyworkingon.

Besidesthecommontasksandobjectsjustexplained,thenavi-gationpanelprovidesgeneraloverviewinformation.Thisenablescustomerstogetaquicklookatinformationintheirin-boxandontasklists,worklists,oropentickets.Theinformationisdisplayedinthecontentpaneloftheworkcenteraswell.Sothereisnoneedforuserstoleavetheworkcentertocheckforinformationtheymightneedasadditionalinputforexecutingtheirtasks.

WhyisSAPintroducingworkcentersinSAPSolutionManager?WorkcentershelpeasenavigationwithinSAPSolutionManagerbyprovidingcentralrole-basedpointsofaccess.Thetailoredandrole-baseduserenvironmentsimplifiesanemployee’sjob.Relevantinformationisalwaysavailableandevenactively“pushed”outtotheuser,improvingthespeedandqualityofdecisionsandactions.Commonin-boxes,worklists,andstatusreportingimprovecol-laboration.Andbecausetheworkcentersallhavethesamelookandfeelwiththesamedesignelementsandcontrols,trainingneedsarereducedandinexperiencedusersreceiveeasyguidance.Inshort,thework-centerapproachhelpscustomersfurtherreducetheirTCO.

AllworkcentersareWeb-basedandfullypreconfiguredtoallowremoteaccessinout-taskingandoutsourcingsituations.FirstversionsofsomeworkcentersarealreadyavailableforSAPSolutionManager4.0,basedonthecurrentuserinterface(UI)framework.Inupcomingreleases,SAPplanstobasetheseworkcentersonanewUIframework.

Work Centers for End Users and Key Users

ForuserswhoneedtoaccessSAPSolutionManager,theservicedeskworkcenteristhemainpointofcontact.Ifanincidentoccursthatcannotberesolvedimmediatelybytheenduserorkeyuser,heorshecreatesanincidentmessageintheservicedesk.Therearedifferentoptionsavailablefordoingthis.IftheincidentoccursinanSAPapplication,theusercancreatethemessagedirectlyintheapplication.ThemessageisthenautomaticallyforwardedtoSAPSolutionManager.Itincludesthedescriptionoftheincident,contextdata,categorization,prioritization,andpossibleattachments.Forincidentsthatoccurinnon-SAPapplications,SAPSolutionManagerprovidesaWebinterfacefor

22

creatingamessage.ThisisaccessibleviaaURL.Ininstanceswhereanincidentisdetectedbysomeonewhodoesnothaveimmediateaccesstoacomputer,akeyuserentersthemessagedirectlyintheservicedeskworkcenterofSAPSolutionManageronbehalfoftheenduserwhoencounteredtheincident.

Afterthemessagehasbeenentered,SAPSolutionManagerauto-maticallytriggerstheapplicationmanagementteamtoprovidetherequiredsupport.Duringmessageprocessing,endusersandkeyuserscanchecktheservicedesktoseethestatusoftheirmessageandconfirmwhenandhowtheproblemwasresolved.

Work Centers for Business Process Champions

Businessprocesschampionsaretheexpertsoncorebusinessprocesses.Theyareinvolvedinthedefinitionoftheprocessesaswellasintheprocesschainsandworkflowforexception-anddata-inconsistencyhandling.Andtheyarethepeoplewhoneedtobeinformedincaseofalerts.AllthisinformationissetupinSAPSolutionManager.

Afterbusinessprocessmonitoringprocedureshavebeenestablished,SAPSolutionManagertakescareofmanagingthecorrespondingworkflowsandnotifications.Businessprocesschampionsrequirethatthestatusofbusinessprocessexecutionbetransparent.SAPSolutionManagerprovidesthemwithinformationregardingcurrentalertsrelatedtobusinessprocesses,notificationofexperts,andreportinginformationsuchasservice-levelreports.

Ifthechampionsdetectanincidentinabusinessprocess,theystarttheincidentmanagementprocessbycreatingamessageintheservicedeskofSAPSolutionManager.Theymayalsobeinvolvedinsolvingproblemsthatarerelatedtotheirareaofexpertise.Inthesecases,theservicedeskinSAPSolutionManagertriggersthebusinessprocesschampionsandprovidestheinformationtheyneedtoresolvetheincident.Forproblemsofhighercomplexity,issuescanbecreatedinSAPSolutionManager.Issuemanagementprovidesmorefunctionalitythanstandardincidentmanagement;forexample,itincludesmorecontextinformationandenablesappropriateuserstoassigntaskstoemployeeswhocanhandlespecificissues.

Change-requestmanagementisanotherprocessinwhichcham-pionsareinvolved.Ifachangehasbeenrequestedforabusinessprocess,thecorrespondingchampionhastoparticipateintheapprovalprocessforthechangerequest.ThisinvolvementispartoftheapprovalworkflowinSAPSolutionManager.

Inanupgradeproject,businessprocesschampionscontributemainlytotheupgradeblueprintandtheupgraderealizationphase.Fortheblueprint,theyusetheirknowledgetospecifyprojectresults.ThisspecificationisdocumentedwithinSAPSolutionManagerandservesasinputforthesolutionconfiguration.Aftertheconfigurationhasbeendrafted,SAPSolutionManagermanagesthetestingtodeterminewhethertheconfigurationmeetstherequirementsdefinedintheblueprint.Businessprocesschampionsmayparticipateinthetestingaswell.SAPSolutionManagertellsthetesterswhichcasestheyhavetotestandcollectstheresultsofthetests.

Work Centers for the Program Management Office

TheprogrammanagementofficecontrolsthecollaborationbetweenbusinessunitsandIT.ThisrequiresthattheofficeknowaboutthestatusofallcollaborationprojectsandtheservicelevelsprovidedbytheITorganization.Toachievethis,SAPSolutionManagerhasabroadrangeofreportingfunctionality.Employeesintheprogrammanagementofficeprovideaccesstoalltheinfor-mationrelevanttotheiractivities.Thisinformationincludesthestatusofallstandardsthatareimportanttothebusinessunits.Service-levelreportingisespeciallyrelevanthere,sincethefulfill-mentofservice-levelagreementshasamajorimpactonthefinancingofITprojectsbythebusinessunits.

AnotherimportanttaskoftheprogrammanagementofficeistocommunicatechangerequestsfrombusinesstoIT.SAPSolutionManagerachievesthistaskviaitschange-requestmanagementfunctionality.Itcollectsallchangerequestscomingfromthebusinessunits.Theserequestsmaybeenteredbyendusers,keyusers,businessprocesschampions,ormembersoftheprogrammanagementofficethemselves.AnapprovalprocessdecideswhetherarequestisrejectedorforwardedtotheITorganization

23

forimplementation.Todrivethisworkflowandachieveefficientchange-requestmanagement,theprocessanditsrelatedactivitiesmustbetransparent.SAPSolutionManagerprovidesthisprocesstransparencyandmakesallrequiredinformationavailableandeasytoevaluate.

Inadditiontochange-requestmanagement,SAPSolutionManagerprovidesincidentmanagementandissuemanagementfunction-alitythatcanbeusediftheprogrammanagementofficewantstotransfertaskstootherorganizationalunits.Forexample,aservice-deskmessagecanbeforwardedtoanewprocessororataskcanbeassignedtoanotheremployee.Otherunitscanassignmessagesandtaskstotheprogrammanagementofficethiswayaswell.

Work Centers for Application Management

OntheITside,theapplicationmanagementteamisthecounter-partoftheprogrammanagementoffice.Itreceivesmostoftherequestsfromthebusinessunitsandisresponsibleformanagingtheirfulfillment.

Forincidentmanagement,theservicedeskinSAPSolutionManageristhemaintoolemployedbytheapplicationmanagementteam.Itprovidesanoverviewofallmessagesandtheirstatus.Italsoallowstheapplicationmanagementteamtoanalyzethemessagesandsolvetheproblem.Tosupportproblemresolution,SAPSolutionManagerprovidesacustomer-specificsolutiondatabase.Iftheproblemhasnotpreviouslyoccurredandisnotdocumentedinthesolutiondatabase,SAPSolutionManagerenablesthemessageprocessortosearchforSAPNotesintheSAPServiceMarketplace–straightfromthemessageitself.

IfthereisnosolutionavailablewithinthesolutiondatabaseorinSAPNotes,theapplicationmanagementteamstartstheprocessofroot-causeanalysis.ThisprocessissupportedbythediagnosticsfunctionsinSAPSolutionManager4.0.Atfirst,theapplicationmanagementteamperformsaroot-causeanalysisacrossthedifferentcomponentsandtechnologiesofthecustomersolution.

Thisisrequiredtoidentifythecomponentthatcausedtheprob-lem,toprovidedirectionsforamoredetailedroot-causeanalysisonthatcomponent,andtogathermoreinformationonthescopeoftheproblem.Basedonthisinformation,theproblemishandedovertotheteamwithintheITorganizationthatcananalyzethecomponent.

Ifthevarioussupportlevelsinthecustomerorpartnersupportorganizationcannotresolvetheproblem,theapplicationman-agementteamusestheservicedesktosendthesupportmessage,alongwithaninformationnote,toSAPActiveGlobalSupport.SAPSolutionManager4.0includesanopeninterfaceforexchangingmessageswithhelpdesksfromotherproviders.Theopeninter-faceenablestheexchangeofsupportmessagesbetweenthecus-tomerandSAPpartnersthatmayalreadyhaveahelpdeskthatisdifferentfromSAPSolutionManager.MessagesareexchangedinSAPSolutionManagerusingWebservicesforsimple,flexible,andplatform-independentoperation.Thiscombinedsolutionoffersfunctionsthatimprovethequalityofinformation,extendcommunicationoptions,andfacilitatemessage-processingmanagement.

Sincethebeginningof2007,theprovenandrobustsupportfunc-tionsofferedbytheservicedeskinSAPSolutionManagerhavebeentakentoanewlevel.Thehelpdesknowenablescustomersandpartnerstoprocesssupportmessagesfornon-SAPcomponentsintheirsolutionlandscape.

Change-requestmanagement,upgrade,andenterpriseSOAreadinessareotherareaswheretheapplicationmanagementteamisheavilyinvolved.Viathechange-requestmanagementfunctionprovidedbySAPSolutionManager,applicationmanagementreceivesallapprovedchangerequestsfromtheprogrammanagementofficeandhastoexecutethem.Thesizeoftheprojectmayvary,rangingfromjustaminorchangetoalargerassignmentsuchasanupgradeoranenterpriseSOAproject.However,themainprojectmanagementtasksareroughlythesame.SAPSolutionManagersupportsthesetasksthroughoutthecompleteprojectlifecycle.Thissupportincludesanalysis

24

anddocumentationofthe“as-is”situation,definitionofthetarget-solutionrequirements,controlofconfigurationandtestingactivities,managementofknowledgetransfer,andseamlesstransitionofthechangesintoproductiveoperations.

Change-controlmanagementiscloselyrelatedtochange-requestmanagement.Todeploychanges,theapplicationmanagementteamhastoapprovetheimportofchangesintothequalityassur-anceandproductionsoftwareandthedownloadofSAPsupportpackages.Inaddition,theteamchecksHotNews,acollectionofhigh-prioritySAPNotesavailableviaSAPServiceMarketplace,toseewhetheranitempostedthereisrelevantforthecustomer.Changesaretrackedviachangediagnostics.Alltheseactionsareintegratedinthechange-requestmanagementfunctionofSAPSolutionManager.

Inadditiontoitscorefunctionality,SAPSolutionManagerprovidesthemeansforconductingadetailed,as-isanalysisofthecustomer’scurrentsoftwaresystemusingareversebusinessengineeringtoolthatispartoftheSAPSolutionSupportEnablementpackage.

Besideshandlingtheseprocesses,theapplicationmanagementteamcoordinatesallsolution-relatedITtasksinwhichtheyareactivelyinvolved.Todoso,ithastoconstantlywatchthestatusofallsolutionoperationsprocesses.ThisstatusmonitoringprocessissupportedbySAPSolutionManageraswell,throughinformationprovidedviadocumentationandreporting.Theinformationisalsorelatedtotheminimumdocumentationstandardownedbyapplicationmanagement.ViaSAPSolutionManager,allsolutionstakeholderscanaccesstheinformationtheyneedfortheirjobs.

Work Centers for Business Process Operations

ITbusinessprocessexpertsbelongtothebusinessprocessopera-tionsteam.TheyhavetoensurethatbusinessprocessesrunreliablywithintheE2Esolution.Thatmeansprovidingsupportwhenprocessexpertiseisrequiredfordetailedroot-causeanalysis.Intheseinstances,theservicedeskinSAPSolutionManager

triggersbusinessprocessoperations.Theexpertscansee–withintheservicedesk–allactionsperformedsofarandtheircorre-spondingresults.Thentheycanuseappropriatetoolstomakeadetailedroot-causeanalysis.ThetoolsareeitherincludedinSAPSolutionManageroraccessibleviaalinkintheworkcenter.

Besidesreactingtoincidentsandproblems,thebusinessprocessoperationsteammonitorsbusinessprocessesandinterfacesproactively,troubleshootingupcomingproblemsbeforetheyarevisibletothebusinessunits.ThisisachievedviathebusinessprocessmonitoringfunctionsofSAPSolutionManager.Todetecttrends,theteamreliesontheSAPEarlyWatch®Alertserviceandontheservice-levelreportingprovidedbySAPSolutionManager.

Thebusinessprocessoperationsteamchecksforinconsistenciesonaregularbasisbyrunningreportsonthemostcriticalbusinessobjectsandmonitoringtheresults.Ifthismonitoringrevealsaninconsistency,theteamperformsaroot-causeanalysis.Theanal-ysisdetermineswhetherthereisarealtechnicalinconsistency,notjustatemporaryone.Oncetherootcausehasbeenidentified,itcanbecorrected.Afterthis,incorrectdatahastobecorrectedaswell.

Anotherprocessmanagedbythebusinessprocessoperationsteamisjobscheduling.Thisincludesmultipletaskssuchascheckingandapprovingincomingjobrequests,documentingbackgroundjobsorcompletejobchains,testingjobs,schedulingjobsintheproductiveenvironment,monitoringjobs,andper-formingroot-causeanalysisonceanerrorsituationisdetected.JobschedulingandmonitoringtaskscanbesharedwiththeSAPtechnologyoperationsteam.

Fordata-volumemanagement,thebusinessprocessoperationsteamhastomonitordatagrowth;identifyandrecommendcorrespondingreductionpossibilities;andimplement,operate,andcontinuouslyoptimizethedata-volumemanagementstrategy.

25

Work Center for Custom Development

Thecustomdevelopmentteamisresponsibleforfulfillingthechangesrequestedbytheprogrammanagementoffice.Beforecustomdevelopmentbegins,detailsofthechangesmustbespecifiedintheblueprintphasebytheapplicationmanagementteamincooperationwithbusinessprocesschampions,theprogrammanagementoffice,andbusinessprocessoperations.ThespecificationisavailablewithinSAPSolutionManager.

Torealizeachange,thecustomdevelopmentteamadjuststheconfigurationoftheapplicationsinvolvedand,ifrequired,modifiesexistingsoftwarecodeordevelopsnewsoftwarecode.SAPSolutionManagerprovidesaccesstotheconfigurationsettingsandthedevelopmentareaontheapplicationsthatcomprisethesolution.Forexample,acustomdevelopmentoptimizationpackageinSAPSolutionSupportEnablementhelpsthedevelop-mentteamanalyzetheuseofcustomer-specificdevelopmentsaswellasoptimizerolloutsandupgradestothem.Inaddition,SAPSolutionManagermakesthechangesandcorrespondingdocumentationaccessibleforlaterreferenceorauditing.

Thecustomdevelopmentteamisalsoresponsiblefortestprep-aration.Membersoftheteampreparetestcasesthatdescribehowtotestthechanges.ThetestcasesarelinkedtothechangedocumentationinSAPSolutionManagerandareassignedtotestersviaatestmanagementfunction,alsosupportedbySAPSolutionManager.Automationoftestingiseffectedusingextendedcomputer-aidedtesttool(eCATT)technologyortheSAPSolutionManageradapterfortheSAPQualityCenterappli-cationbyHP,incombinationwiththequalitycenterapplicationitself.Customdevelopmentisinvolvedintestexecutionaswell.Ifaproblemisdetectedduringtesting,amessageiscreatedintheservicedesk.Themessageservesbothformanagingandtracingproblemresolution.

Work Centers for SAP Technical Operations and

IT Infrastructure

SAPtechnicaloperationsandITinfrastructureteamstakecareoftechnicalsolutionoperations.SAPtechnicaloperationscoverstheSAPapplications,andITinfrastructurecoversthenon-SAPtechnologies,suchasdatabasesandnetworkinfrastructure.Bothteamshavetoperformsomeadministrativeandmonitoringtasksregularly.SAPSolutionManagersupportsthisactivitybyprovidingalistoftheseregulartasks,linkstothetoolsrequiredtoexecutethem,andatasklogbook.

Besidestheregularadministrativetasks,therearesometasksthatonlyoccuroccasionally.Thesetasksmayresultfromthejob-schedulingmanagementprocessorthedata-volumeman-agementprocess.Theexecutionofthesetasksistriggeredbycorrespondingmessagesintheservicedesk.

Ifroot-causeanalysisidentifiesatechnicalissueastherootcauseofaproblem,SAPtechnicaloperationsorITinfrastructureteamsreceiveanotificationintheservicedeskinSAPSolutionManager.Fromthere,theyaccessthetoolsrequiredfordetailedanalysisand,consequently,problemresolution.Anothertaskrelatedtotheincident-managementprocessisgrantingSAPActiveGlobalSupportremoteaccesstothelandscape.IftheSAPtechnicaloperationsgroupreceivesacorrespondingrequestfromtheapplicationmanagementteamviatheservicedesk,itcreatesauserforremoteaccessandthencommunicatesthelogoninformationtoSAPinthesecureareaoftheservicedeskinSAPSolutionManager.

26

TheSAPtechnicaloperationsteamisalsoresponsibleforsoftwarelogistics.Softwarelogisticsinvolvesimportingsoftwareandcon-figurationchangesintothequalityassurancesystemandfinallyintotheproductionsystem.TheSAPextendedchangeandtrans-portsystemisusedtosynchronizeparallelsoftwaretransportsevenfornon-SAPsolutions.Aftertheimportedchangehasbeenapproved,SAPSolutionManagerusesthechange-requestmanage-mentfunctiontonotifySAPtechnicaloperationstotransportthechangesbetweenthesoftwaresystemsthatcomprisethesolutionlandscape.ThissameprocessappliestosupportpackagesprovidedbySAPforsoftwaremaintenance.SupportpackagesandsupportpackagestacksareavailableviathemaintenanceoptimizerinSAPSolutionManager.

implementing Standards with SAP Solution Manager

OnceacustomerhasdecidedtobecomecompliantwithSAPstandardsforsolutionoperations,SAPSolutionManagerplaysvariousimportantrolesintheadoptionprocess.First,itservesastheproject environment.Adoptingasolutionoperationsstandardatthecustomersiteistypicallyaprojectthatinvolvesmembersfromdifferentteamswithinthecustomer’sorganiza-tion.SAPSolutionManagersupportsimplementationprojectsinthefollowingways:•Knowledge management functions

Thesoftwareenablestheprojectteamtostoreallfilesthatdocumentthedecisionstakenbytheteamduringtheadoptionprocess.

•Interface to the SAP enterprise modeling application by IDS ScheerTheapplicationallowscustomerstouseagraphicalenviron-mentforthedetailedmodelingofstandardsupportprocesses–anoptionusedprimarilybylargeorganizations.

•A full test suite AvailableinthetestworkbenchofSAPSolutionManager,thissoftwareenablestechnicianstotesttool-relatedprocesssteps.

•Collaboration Projects (cProjects) applicationEmbeddedinSAPSolutionManager,thecProjectsapplicationprovidesallthefunctionsrequiredtosteerprojectstoasuccessfulcompletion.

Second,SAPSolutionManageractsasthecentralknowledge provider.Implementingstandardssuccessfullyrequiresman-agementoftheprojectteams(andtheirvariousroles)aswellasmanagementofthefunctionstheseteamsmustperform.SAPSolutionManagercansupportthesemanagementtasksbyproviding:•A standards road map to govern project methodology

Thisroadmaplaysoutthesequencesinwhichtasksneedtobecompletedduringastandardsimplementationprojectandindicateswhichcontentandacceleratorsareusedintheindividualphasesoftheproject.

•Services that support customers during the standards adoption processSAPprovidesvariousservicesthatassistcustomersadoptingsolutionoperationsstandards.Theseservicesrangefromassessmentsofthecustomer’scurrentprocessestoqualitygateshostedbySAP.Uponrequest,SAPcanmanagecompleteprojects.Thislevelofserviceisusuallytiedtoapremiummaintenanceengagement,suchastheSAPMaxAttention™supportoption.BecauseSAPSolutionManagerfunctionsasthesoleservicedeliveryplatformforallon-siteandremoteservicesprovidedbySAPActiveGlobalSupport,itstoresandtracksallservicedata,feedback,andfollow-upactivities.

Third,SAPSolutionManagerprovidesastandards compliance dashboardfeaturingvariousreportingfunctionsthatenablecustomerstomonitortheirorganization’scompliancewiththeSAPstandardsforsolutionoperations.Thesereportingfunctionsrangefromday-to-daycompliancemonitoringtoacompleteC-leveldashboardbasedonKPIspreconfiguredbySAPActiveGlobalSupport–KPIsthatcanbeextendedandadapted.

27

integrating Partner Applications

PartnersplayakeyroleinSAP’sstrategyfordeliveringvaluetocustomers.SoftwareandISVpartnersprovidecomplete,techni-callyverifiedturnkeysoftwaresolutionsthatextendandaddvaluetoSAPsolutions.TheseapplicationsmaybebasedonSAP’sstandard,release-stableinterfacesorontheSAPNetWeavertechnologyplatform.CustomersexpectthepartnersoftwareproductsintegratedwithSAPapplicationsortheSAPNetWeavertechnologyplatformtobemanagedandsupportedwiththesameefficiencyandreliabilitytheyexperienceeverydayforSAPsolu-tions.Toenablethis,itisimportanttointegratepartnersintotheSAPservicebackboneandstandardizedsupportprocesses.

SAPSolutionManagerservesasthehubformanagingcustomerrelationshipsandcollaboratingwithSAP.Inparticular,itenableskeyfunctionsforpartnerandISVsoftware.Thesefunctionsincludeincidentmanagementandroot-causeanalysis,accesstotheSAPsupportknowledgebase,anddeliveryofpatchesanddownloads(softwarelife-cyclemanagement).Thesolutionevenenablescustomerstoorderdaysofconsultingtimeason-demandservices.Allthesefunctionsareaccomplishedthroughthepartner’sSAPSolutionManagersoftwareandtheintegrationofpartnersintotheSAPservicebackboneandstandardizedsupportprocesses.ThisenablesthepartnerproductsintegratedintothecustomersolutiontoofferthesamequalityandoperateinthesamewaycustomersexpectfromSAPapplications.

28

SAP eduCAtion And CertifiCAtion for e2e Solution oPerAtionSTheE2EsolutionoperationscurriculumgivestheteamsinvolvedinmanagingSAPsolutionsthefundamentalskillstheyneedtofollowandexecuteSAPstandards.Anditoffersdirectrole-andtask-orientedknowledgetransferfromSAP’sexpertsandspecialists.

OptimaloperationofSAPsolutionsdependsonthequalityofthefrontlineemployeesinthecustomer’sorserviceprovider’sorganization.Acertificationprogramistheidealwaytoassessandverifyindividualskills.Itenablesthecustomerandthemanagedserviceprovidertoprovethattheirsolutionoperationsexpertsarequalified,proficient,andcapableofmanaginganE2EsolutioncenteredonSAPsoftware.TheE2EsolutionoperationscertificationfromSAPtargetsdifferentrolesanddifferentlevelsofcompetency.

e2e Solution operations Curriculum

TheE2Ecurriculumhelpscustomerseducatespecializedteamsandstakeholderssotheycanexecutetheirassignedtasksefficiently.ParticipantsbecomefamiliarwiththeSAPstandards,whichdescribehowtobestuseavailabletoolsandservicesandhowtocollaboratewithotherstakeholders.TheE2Esolutionoperationscurriculumisstructuredalongdifferentknowledgelevelsasfollows:•E2Esolutionoperationsoverview•E2Etechnicalcorecompetence•E2Etechnicalexpertcompetence•Managementcompetence

TheoverallcurriculumisshowninFigure5.

29

Figure5:CurriculumOfferedtoThoseInvolvedinE2ESolutionsCenteredonSAP®Software

Customer’s it

technical Core Competence

technical expert Competence

Customer’s Business unit

ManagementCompetence

e2e Solution operation: overview of e-learning Curriculum

E2E Root- Cause Analysis

E2E Change- Control

Management

E2E Business Process

Integration & Automation

Program Management

OfficeApplication Management Business

Process Operations SAP Technical Operations

SAP NetWeaver XI Diagnostics

SAP NetWeaver® Portal Diagnostics

SAP NetWeaver BI Diagnostics

SAP NetWeaver Application Server

Diagnostics

Job Scheduling

Business Process

Performance

Data Volume Management

IntegrationManagement

Change Request

Management

ChanceDiagnostics

TestManagement

SAP Systems Administration

SAP NetWeaver XI Administration

SAP NetWeaver Portal Administration

SAP NetWeaver BI Administration

SAP NetWeaver Application Server

Administration

Security

TechnicalQuality

Management

TechnicalUpgrade

Management

Learning Curriculum in Detail

E2E solution operations overviewcoursesprovidethe“bigpicture”ofE2Esolutionoperationsandareaimedatallsolutionteamsandstakeholders.ThecoursescoverthestandardsforsolutionoperationsanddescribeSAPSolutionManagerasaplatformforE2Eoperations.Theyalsoexplainbasictasks,includinghowtouseSAPSolutionManagerasacollaborationplatformandhowtoscopeoutanddocumentasolutionaccordingtothestandardsprovided.

E2E technical core competencecoursesexplainthebasictasksinvolvedinsolutionoperations.Thecoursesconsistofseveralsystemdemosandexercisesthatfocusonregulartasks.Targetgroupsforthesecoursesincludeapplicationmanagementteams,SAPtechnicaloperationsexperts,andmembersofbusinesspro-cessoperationsandcustomdevelopmentteams.Technicalcorecompetenceisaddressedviathefollowingcourses:•E2E100: E2E root-cause analysis (5 days)

ThiscoursecoversthetoolsandapproachesusedforanalyzingtherootcauseofincidentsandforisolatingthecomponentcausingtheincidentinaheterogeneousITlandscape.Prerequi-sitesforthecourseincludeanoverviewofSAPtechnologyaswellasabasicunderstandingofSAPSolutionManagerandE2Esolutionsupport.

•E2E200: E2E change-control management (5 days) Thiscoursedetailsthetoolsandapproachesusedforcontrol-lingchangesanddescribeshowtodiagnoseandtrackchangesinaheterogeneousITlandscape.AttendeeslearnabouttheconceptofOneTransportOrder(basedontheSAPextendedchangeandtransportsystem),whichenablestechnicianstocombineandsynchronizeobjectsfromseveralimplementationlanguages.

•E2E300: E2E business process integration and automation (5 days) ThiscoursecoverstheconceptofE2Eintegrationandautoma-tion,detailingthetoolsandmethodologiesinvolved.Aimedatthebusinessoperationsteam,itexplainshowtoestablishprovidedprocedures,howtoaccessSAPtools,andhowtousethemtoovercomespecificintegrationandautomationchallenges.

ForSAP technical operationsteams,SAPoffersaportfolioofcourses.TheSAPsystemadministrationcoursesarestructuredaccordingtotherolesusedinvariousareasofSAPadministrationandtechnology.Somerolesarespecifictocertaincomponents,andsomerolescrosscomponentboundaries.Thecross-componentrolescontaintasksthatarerequiredforacertaincomponentbutarealsorelevantforothercomponents.Forexample,changeandtransportsystemadministrationisrequiredforsolutionsbasedonSAPR/3®softwareaswellasforthosebuiltonSAPCRM.Transportlandscapesneedtobesetupforthevariouscompo-nents,andtheprocedurefordoingthisisthesameforallappli-cations.Anotherexampleofcross-componentrolesoccursindatabaseadministration,whichisnecessaryineachcomponentofeachdatabaseused.Thecomponent-specificrolescovertasksthatbelongtoaparticularSAPsoftwarecomponent.TheyincludeadministrationofSAPNetWeaverPortal,SAPNetWeaverXI,SAPNetWeaverBI,theSAPSupplyChainManagement(SAPSCM)application,andSAPCRM.

E2E technical expert competence coursesandworkshopsprovidein-depthexplanationsofbasicandspecializedtasksforsolutionoperation.Theyconsistofseveralsystemdemosaswellasexercisesbasedonbothregularandspecializedtasks.Theworkshopsareserviceoriented.Theyareperformedindividuallyforaspecificcustomerandusethatcustomer’ssoftwaresystemfortheexercises.Targetgroupsfortheseofferingsbelongtocenter-of-expertisegroupsspecializedincriticaltechnicalcomponents(suchasSAPNetWeaverPortal,SAPNetWeaverXI,SAPNetWeaverBI,anddatabase).

30

TopromoteE2E technical expert competencies,technicalexpertscanalsotakeadvantageofSAPEmpoweringworkshops,whichdeliverstate-ofthe-artknowledgetoexperts.Theseworkshopsaddressissuesthatarespecifictoend-to-endsolutionsupport.Designedtobeflexible,theycanbedeliveredasstandardclassroomtrainingatanSAPsiteoratthecustomer’ssite,forteamsorindividuals.Ortheycanbeprovidedviae-learningsessionsusingarole-basedapproach.SAP’sgoalistoprovidetheexpertiseitscustomersneedtooptimizeoperationsandcontinuallyoptimizeSAPsolutions.

E2E management competence coursesexplainhowtomanageSAPstandardsforsolutionoperations,includinghowtodeveloparoadmapforimplementationthatincorporatespeople,processes,andplatform.ThecoursesalsodescribethecriticalsuccessfactorsforE2Esolutionoperationsandthepoten-tialtasksinvolvedinoutsourcingorout-tasking.TargetgroupsforthesemanagementcoursesareITleads,programmanagers,andbusinessprocesschampions.Managementcompetenceisaddressedviathefollowingcourses:•Technical implementation management (2 days)

Inthiscourse,attendeeslearnaboutSAP’sstandardsforsuccessfultechnicalimplementationprojects.TheyalsodiscoverthemajortechnicalrisksandchallengesinvolvedinimplementingSAPstandardsforsolutionoperationsandstudytheconceptofsafeguardingforsolutionoperationsreadiness.Andtheyreviewthemethodologyusedineachoftheindividualserviceofferingsaswellasthebenefitsgainedfromusingthatservice.

•Technical quality management (2 days) ParticipantsinthiscourselearnaboutSAP’sstandardsforsuccessfullymanagingandoperatingasolution,especiallyamission-criticalsolution.Theydiscoverthemajorrisksandchallengeswithinoutsourcingandout-taskingandstudytheconceptofmission-criticalsupport.Theyalsoreviewthemethodologyusedineachoftheindividualserviceofferingsaswellasthebenefits(suchasreducedTCO)gainedfromusingthatservice.

•Technical upgrade management (2 days) Inthiscourse,participantsstudythestandardsforsuccessfulupgradeprojects.Theydiscoverthemajortechnicalrisksandchallengeswithinanupgradeprojectandlearnaboutthecon-ceptofsafeguardingforupgrade.Theyalsoreviewthemethod-ologyusedineachoftheindividualserviceofferingsaswellasthebenefitsgainedfromusingthatservice.

e2e Solution operations Certification

TheE2EsolutionoperationscertificationfromSAPenablescustomerteams,partners,ormanagedserviceproviderstodocumentproficiency.Certifiedcandidateshaveproventheircompetencybypassingdemanding,task-andprocess-orientedexaminations.ThiscertificationistheonlyauthorizedSAPaccreditationavailablecoveringE2Esolutionoperations.

Forpartnersandmanagedserviceproviders,anSAPcertificatedemonstratesthereturnontheirinvestmentintraining.Certifiedcandidatesmanagetheirworkforcemoreefficientlywhileallowingtheirpeopletodevelopmoreeffectively.Thecertificatealsoenhancesemployeeloyaltyandjobperformance.Forcustomersout-taskingoroutsourcingpartsoftheiroperations,thecertifi-cationprovidesstandardsofexpertiseanddifferentiatesthepart-nersormanagedserviceprovidersinthemarket.Thecertificateconfirmsthatitsholderhastheup-to-dateknowledgeneededtoeffectivelymanagesolutionscenteredonSAPsoftwareandthusisabletoensuremission-criticalsupportofE2Esolutions.

31

IntheE2Esolutionoperationscertification,thefollowingrolesarecertified:•Businessprocesschampion•Programmanager•Applicationmanagementexpert•Businessprocessexpert•SAPtechnicaladministrator•Customdevelopmentconsultant

Eachrolecanhavespecializationsanddifferentlevelsofcertifica-tion.Thecertificationsbasedontechnicalcorecompetencecoursesareontheassociatelevel.Thosebasedontechnicalexpertcompetencecoursesareontheprofessionallevel.Andcertificationsbasedonmanagementcompetencecoursesareonthemasterlevel.Figure6showsthecertificationsforthefourroleswhich,ataminimum,shouldbedefinedwithinyourorganizationforeffectiveend-to-endsolutionoperations.

Figure6:Role-BasedCertificationforE2ESolutionOperations

Custumer’s Business unit

Custumers’s it

role

Certificates

Master Associate

E2E Root- Cause Analysis

E2E Change-Control

Management

E2E Business Process Integration,

AutomationSAP System Administration

Professional

SAP service engineer for a specific methodology such as SAP NetWeaver® Portal diagnostics, change-request management,

business process performance

SAP system administration for a specific component such as SAP NetWeaver Portal, SAP

NetWeaver XI. SAP NetWeaver BI, SAP NetWeaver AS

Application Management Expert Business Process Expert SAP Technical Administrator

Technical Quality Management

Technical Upgrade Management

Program Manager

32

find out MoreTolearnhowSAPstandardsforsolutionoperationscanhelpyourorganizationoptimizeE2EsolutionsbasedonSAPsoftware–andgetdetailsonthecertificationcoursesthatsupportthisoptimizationprocess–visitusonlineatwww.sap.com/solutionoperations.

33

APPendix: e2e Solution oPerAtionS CertifiCAtion: role CertifiCAteSMaster level

Program Manager

Thiscertificateconfirmsacandidate’sknowledgeintheareasoftechnicalqualitymanagementandtechnicalupgrademanage-ment.Itverifiesthatthecandidatehasabasicunderstandingwithinthisprofileandcanimplementthisknowledgepracticallyinreal-timeprojects.Thecoursesforcertificationpreparationaretechnicalqualitymanagementandtechnicalupgrademanagement.

Thecertificationtestconsistsofquestionsfromthefollowingareas:

1. Technical quality management•Basisdevelopmentlanguage•TechnicalriskmanagementwithSAP®software

2. Implementation or upgrade project•Keyquestions•Keyphases•Keyfocusareas•Keyrisksandchallenges

3. Technical risk management•Evaluationandassessment•Feasibilityandtechnicalcheck•Optimization•Support

4. Collaboration with SAP•SAPSolutionManagerapplicationmanagementsolution•Othertoolsandservices

Associate level

Application Management Expert

Applicationmanagementexpertscanreceivecertificationsintwoareas:•Root-causeanalysis•Change-controlmanagement

Root-Cause AnalysisThiscertificateprovesthatthecandidatehasabasicunderstand-ingwithinthisprofileandcanimplementthisknowledgepracti-callyinE2Esolutionoperations.ThecourseforcertificationpreparationisE2E100:E2Eroot-causeanalysis.Thecertificationtestconsistsofquestionsfromthefollowingareas:

1. Introduction to end-to-end root-cause analysis•Whyend-to-endroot-causeanalysis•Cross-componentdiagnosticsversuscomponentdiagnostics•Root-causeanalysisversussolutionmonitoring•SAPSolutionManagerasakeyenablerofend-to-end

root-causeanalysis•SavingsthroughE2EdiagnosticsinSAPSolutionManager•Incidentmanagementandpreclarification

2. End-to-end change diagnostics•Howtocollectend-to-endversioninformationfromthe

customer’ssoftwarelandscape•Howtodetectchangestoproduction•ArchitectureoftheOneTransportOrderconcept

3. End-to-end workload analysis•Howtodetectageneralperformancebottleneckontheserverside•ComparisonoftheABAP™programminglanguageandJava

workloadanalysis•OverviewofABAPworkloadanalysis

–ABAPprocessoverview–ABAPperformancestatistics–ABAPmemoryanalysis

34

•OverviewofJavaworkloadanalysis–Javathread-dumpanalysis–WorkloadanalysiswithCAWilyIntroscope–Javamemoryanalysis

•Overviewofoperatingsystem(OS)anddatabaseanalysis•FilesystembrowserandOScommandconsole•DisplayofCPUandI/OconsumptioninSAPSolutionManager•Introductiontodatabasemonitors,analysisofI/Oconsumption

fromdatabasemonitors

4. End-to-end trace•Recordingandanalyzinganend-to-endtrace•Architectureofend-to-endtrace:clienttonetworktoserverto

databasetodisk•ComparisonofABAPandJavatraces•JavatracingwithCAWilyIntroscopetransactiontrace•ABAPtracingwithSQLtrace(ST05)andapplicationtrace(ST12)•BMCAppsightasanSAPstandardforclient-sideroot-cause

analysis–Understandingtheend-userexperiencebywatchingthe

clientmovie–Comparingclientconfiguration(forexample,DLLs,registry)–Analyzinginboundandoutboundtraffic(HTTP,DCOM,TCP)–Analyzingperformancemetricsfromclients–Performingroot-causeanalysisdowntocodinglevelusing

Appsightcode

5. End-to-end exception analysis•AccessinglogsanddumpsforABAPandnon-ABAPenviron-

mentswithend-to-endexceptionanalysis•ComparingABAPandJavaloganddumpanalysis•ReviewingABAPsyslogandapplicationlog•ReviewingJavalogviewerandJavathread-dumpanalysis

6. Proving solution quality with SAP EarlyWatch® Alert•ArchitectureoftheSAPEarlyWatchAlertserviceforABAP

andJava•KeyperformanceindicatorsofastableSAPsolution•SAPEarlyWatchAlertreports

Change-Control ManagementThiscertificateprovesthatthecandidatehasabasicunderstand-ingwithinthisprofileandcanimplementthisknowledgepracti-callyinE2Esolutionoperations.ThecourseforcertificationpreparationisE2E200:E2Echangecontrolmanagement.Thecertificationtestconsistsofquestionsfromthefollowingareas:

1. E2E change-control management introduction•Solutionqualitymanagement•SAPSolutionManageraschange-controlplatform•Systemlandscapedefinition(schematiclayout,connections,

anddependencies)

2. Change diagnostics •ConfigurationofchangereportingviatheJava2Platform,

EnterpriseEdition,ABAP,andothermethods•Availabilityreportinginservice-levelreporting•Changeandtransportsystem(CTS)statistics

3. Change deployment•SAPNetWeaver®technologyplatformdevelopmentenviron-

mentsforABAP,theSAPNetWeaverPortalcomponent,andtheSAPNetWeaverExchangeInfrastructure(SAPNetWeaverXI)component

•Transportstrategies(viaABAP,Java,andothermethods)•OneTransportOrder(CTS+)

4. Change-request management •Thebigpicture•End-user’sperspectiveofchange-requestmanagement•Introductionofchange-requestmanagementasatoolin

SAPSolutionManager

35

5. Maintenance of SAP software •HotNewsandTopNotesinSAPSolutionManager

(availableviatheSAPServiceMarketplaceextranet)•Supportpackagestacksandside-effects•Supportpackagecontentanalysis•MaintenanceoptimizerinSAPSolutionManager

6. Test management •Conceptofteststrategiesandorganization(forexample,the

testworkbenchinSAPSolutionManager)•Conceptofbuildingtestdata(viaatestdatamigrationserver

orsystemcopy)•Conceptoftestautomation(viaextendedautomatedtest

technology)

Business Process Expert

ThecertificationforbusinessprocessexpertsaffirmstheirknowledgeintheareaofE2Ebusinessprocessintegrationandautomation.ThiscertificateprovesthatthecandidatehasabasicunderstandingwithinthisprofileandcanimplementthisknowledgepracticallyinE2Esolutionoperations.ThecourseforcertificationpreparationisE2E300:businessprocessintegrationandautomation.Thecertificationtestconsistsofquestionsfromthefollowingareas:

1. Introduction to business process integration and automation •Overallend-to-endsolutionsupport•Skills,processes,andtoolsintheE2Esolutionsupportintegra-

tionandautomationstandardalignedwithSAPITserviceandapplicationmanagementareas

2. Business process monitoring •BusinessprocessmonitoringinSAPSolutionManager•Prerequisitesforbusinessprocessmonitoring•Businessprocessmonitoringsetupprocedure•Functionaldetailsforbackgroundjobmonitoring•Howtohandlebusinessprocessmonitoring

3. Interface management •Remotefunctioncall:Toolsformonitoringanderroranalysis•Applicationlinkenabling:Toolsformonitoringanderror

analysis•Workflow:Toolsformonitoringanderroranalysis•SAPNetWeaverXI:Architectureandruntimeworkbench•AutomatedmonitoringwithSAPSolutionManager

4. Job-scheduling management •Roadmapforaprogram-schedulingmanagementconcept•Job-scheduleanalysiswithSM37•Job-scheduleanalysiswith/SSA/BTC•ComparisonofSM36andtheSAPCentralProcessScheduling

applicationbyRedwood•BasicfunctionalityofSAPCentralProcessScheduling

5. Business process performance optimization •Applicationtuningareas•Commontoolsforperformanceanalysis•Roadmapfortypicalperformanceanalysis•Casestudyfocusedonanumber-rangeperformanceproblem

6. Data-volume management •Data-volumemanagement•Data-volumescoping•Data-volumestrategy•Data-volumereporting

7. Data consistency •Causesforinconsistencies•Preventionofinconsistencies•Monitoringofinconsistencies•Businesscontinuityincaseofinconsistency•Correctionofinconsistencies

36

SAP Technical Administrator

TheSAPsystemadministrationcertificationsarestructuredaccordingtotherolesusedintheareasofsystemadministrationandsystemmonitoring.Somerolesarespecifictocertaincom-ponents,andotherscrosscomponentboundaries.Thesecertifi-catesprovethatthecandidatehasabasicunderstandingwithinthisprofileandcanimplementthisknowledgepracticallyinSAPtechnicaloperations.Detailsofthecoursesandcertificationportfolioaredocumentedinwww.service.sap.com/education→SAP Global Certification Program→SAP Consultant Certification→SAP NetWeaver.(Note:ThislinkaccessestheSAPServiceMarketplaceextranet,whichrequirescustomerlogin.)

Professional level

SAP Service Engineer

Thesecertificationsindicateexpertcompetenceintheareasofapplicationmanagementaswellasinthebusinessprocessinte-grationandautomationofsolutionscenteredonSAPsoftware.Theyarestructuredaccordingtospecificexpertrolesthatareusedsporadically.

Forapplicationmanagement,technicalexpertcompetencytestingcoversthefollowingspecializations:•Root-causeanalysisofcomponents(forexample,SAP

NetWeaverPortal,SAPNetWeaverXI,theSAPNetWeaverBusinessIntelligencecomponent,theSAPNetWeaverApplicationServercomponent,anddatabase)

•Change-requestmanagement•Changediagnostics•Testmanagement

Forbusinessprocessintegrationandautomation,technicalexpertcompetencytestingcoversthefollowingspecializations:•Businessprocessperformanceoptimization•Businessprocessmonitoring•Volumetesting•Data-volumemanagement•Jobautomation

37

Disclaimer: Thisdocumentisnotsubjecttoyourlicenseagree-mentoranyotheragreementwithSAP.Thisdocumentcontainsintendedstrategies,developments,andfunctionalitiesoftheSAPproductandservicesandisnotintendedtobebindinguponSAPtoanyparticularcourseofbusiness,productstrategy,and/ordevelopment.PleasenotethatthisdocumentissubjecttochangeandmaybechangedbySAPatanytimewithoutnotice.

SAPassumesnoresponsibilityforerrorsoromissionsinthisdocument.

38

39

www.sap.com/contactsap

50 086 928 (07/11)