Implementing ITIL Standards recommended by SAP

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Solution Documentation Assistance (SoDocA) in SAP Solution Manager

To support complex SAP Solutions and critical processes, it is absolute necessary to identify, map and document up-to-date information on System Landscape, Business Processes, Components, Interfaces, Custom Code and Partner Solutions. SAP is truly aware about this challenging task and therefore, delivered a tool within SAP Solution Manager called 'Solution Documentation Assistance' or in short 'SoDocA'. It enables SAP Customers to gather usage data of Business Processes, Objects, Components, Interfaces, Custom Code from SAP Solution landscape. It assists them in analyzing usage data for comprehensive documentation and defining blueprint for Implementation, Upgrade projects and setting up critical Business and Interface Monitoring.

SoDocA Advantages and Key Features:
1. You can access the SoDocA through User friendly interface called workcenters. It can be displayed in SAP GUI, Web browser or Business Client.
2.If all the SAP systems of Customer are connected to SAP Solution Manager, SoDocA will be your trusted Single Source to gather and analyze the usage data
3. It will speed up the process of gathering requirements and developing Business blueprint
4. If your business processes are in your existing Solution Directory or the implementation projects are from SAP Solution Manager's Business Process Repository, it automatically map to those object provided remote systems are connected successfully.
5. Based on filtered rules, Analysis Project produces a report on standard and customer objects usage history and enable us to even identify and eliminate the obsolete objects
6. SAP Solution Manager EhP1, you can also analyse the SQL statements and BADIs.
7. Based on usage analysis you create can Business Blueprint which is fully mapped to your Solution Landscape. And you can use to define new Implementation or Upgrade Projects or setup critical Business Process and Interface Monitoring.
8. In SAP Solution Manager EhP1, you can also upload and download SoDocA content between different SAP Solution Managers.

Important Prerequisite Information:
1. In SAP Solution Manager all systems landscape information need to be up-to-date with successful RFC connections and running Early Watch Alerts for SoDocA analysis.
2.To gather usage history of your critical Business processes and other objects, SoDocA has to be setup well in advance. SoDocA requires minimum of one month data
3. You have latest SAP Solution Manager version and managed systems with latest version of SAP component ST-PI (For more information check the Service Marketplace)

Roles and Authorization:
1. zSAP_SDA_All for all Authorization related to SoDocA
2. zSAP_SDA_DIS for Display Authorization
Workcenter Authorization:
3. zSAP_SMWork_Basic for basic workcenter Authorization
4.zSAP_SMWork_SDA for SoDocA Workcenter related Authorization

My Blogs on SAP Solution Manager:

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Workcenters of SAP Solution Manager

Thursday, December 17, 2009

SAP Solution Manager Demo
I may be able to setup demo or prototype in your system for

Service Desk
Change Request Management
Business Process Monitoring (BPM)
Implementation Tool
Solution Documentation Assistance (SoDocA)

Many thanks for your interest in Demo. Please email us with details on what scenarios of SAP Solution Manager you are interested in at sap.solman@gmail.com

My Blogs on SAP Solution Manager:

Thanks!
- Asuthkar
SAP Solution Manager Consultant
Run SAP Certified in SAP Solution Manager
sap.solman@gmail.com

Business Process Monitoring (BPM) in SAP Solution Manager

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Business Process & Interface Monitoring in SAP Solution Manager? And how SAP customers can get maximum benefits from it?

SAP Solution Manager is a Software Life Cycle management tool and is based on the ITIL standards. Most of the SAP’s recommended best practices can be implemented using SAP Solution Manager. ‘Business Process and Interface Monitoring’ is one of the SAP’s recommended standards. SAP Solution Manager is free or I can say it is part of your annual licensing fee

-->Customers are very concerned as there is an increase in TCO for Implementation, Upgrade and IT Operations. Therefore, it is necessary to automate repetitive duties of IT Operation like daily monitoring of critical business processes.

Once the product goes live into the production, using SAP Solution Manager’s Business Process Monitoring tool, we can proactively monitor crucial business processes and associated monitoring objects like : Background Jobs, Dialogue Performance, Update Errors, Application Logs, Document Volume and Interfaces, and escalate the problem and resolve performance issues quickly based on agreed KPI’s with least impact on business.

How to implement Business Process Monitoring or how to use Run SAP Methodologies for the implementation of Business Process and Interface Monitoring?

As you know “ASAP methodology” for new/upgrade Implementation project, similarly “Run SAP methodology” for implementation of Operation standards. Business Process & Interface Monitoring is one of the SAP’s best standards. You can implement Business Process & Interface Monitoring using SAP’s Run SAP methodology. SAP Solution Manager has the built in Run SAP Roadmaps. It provides all the clear Steps with Accelerators, Milestones and Quality Gates involved during the ‘Assessment & Scoping’, ‘Design’, ‘Build &Test’, ‘Handover into Production‘’ and continuous ‘Optimization’ Phases.

How to identify the critical business Processes of a business?

Business Team may be aware of critical business process and the threshold values they are interested in. Most of the time Business Team may not know business processes and associated technical objects that need to be monitored.

Following ways you can gather your critical business Processes, Components and Interfaces information.

If the Business champions know critical Business Processes of Production system, they can provide the requirement document with the threshold values.

Or Business and Technical team has to investigate (in their Customer Solution Landscape) which business process and associates objects need to be monitored with threshold values

Or if the business processes are part of solution defined in the SAP Solution directory then it is easy to utilize the Business Processes and objects

Or Using ‘Solution documentation Assistance’.

What is ‘Solution Documentation Assistance’?
SAP aware about the complex and challenging process of assessing and documenting crucial business Processes, components, custom codes and interfaces. If you setup Solution Document Assistance in SAP Solution Manager, it will capture, analyze and document objects usage like business processes, custom Codes, interfaces that are frequently in use and obsolete. The analyzer provide detail information on how often specific Business Processes and associated objects are in use. Based on that, it is easy to document and define crucial Process structure for Business Process and Interface Monitoring

Configuration of Business Process Monitoring:

When the crucial business Process and associated monitoring objects are identified like: Business Processes, Process Steps, Components, Background Jobs, Dialogue Performance, Update Errors, Application Logs, Document Volume and Interfaces with respective threshold values, setup of Business Process and interface monitoring will begin. It mainly involves:

Documenting Systems with logical component in SAP Solution ManagerCreating Solution in SAP Solution Manager
Creating Business Processes
Set up the Monitoring Customizing like defining Organization, Processes, Process steps, Monitoring object per step with technical details and threshold values, Assigning Monitoring transaction, Monitoring Tasks and Auto Email setup
Setup Interface monitoring in remote system and in Solution Manager
Generate customizing and Activate monitoring
Drill down and check Alerts with detail messages in graphical view of defined crucial Business Processes
From Solution manager connect to remote systems and confirm the resolved alert.

--> Security Roles of Business Process Monitoring:

SAP_SETUP_DSWP_BPM - Full authorization for session Business Process Monitoring in area operations setup
SAP_OP_DSWP_BPM - Full authorization for session Business Process Monitoring in area operations
Work Center role for BPM:
Add following workcenter role SAP_SMWORK_BPM in addition to basic role SAP_SMWORK_BASIC
SAP_SUPPDESK_* / SAP_SUPPCF_* (in case of Service Provider)

My Blogs on SAP Solution Manager:

Change Request Management (ChaRM) - SAP Solution Manager

Change Request Management (ChaRM):Bringing software and configuration changes or implementing new functionality to meet business demands has been a very big challenge to Management, Business, Technical, QA and Support Teams. There are many companies out there who still use phones, spreadsheets and emails to communicate, document change requests, implementation and approve. This is very laborious, time consuming, costly and scary affair. SAP Solution Manager provides SAP’s recommended best standard called Change Request Management (ChaRM) in SAP Solution Manager which is built based on ITIL standards.

ChaRM contains 3 tiers -Management and Implementation, Change logistic. It involves bringing SAP (ABAP) and non-SAP (Java) changes in the production system with transparency, documentation, Workflow approval and security.
Change Request Management (ChaRM) can be used for Business Process changes, Implementation, Upgrade and Maintenance Projects.ChaRM includes Regular or Normal Corrections, Urgent Corrections and Administrative changes.

Change Request Management Work Flow:SAP Solution Manager provides workflow to create change request, classify/escalate, approve, authorize, build, test, deploy changes and review post-implementation. It has integration with TMS functionality. Thus, any changes that brings into the production system will have complete transparency through document tracking, security and accountability.

Security Roles and Authorization:
Requester: Creates Service Tickets and Change RequetsService Desk Employee: Receives Service Tickets and Change RequestsChange Manager: Reviewes all Change Requests and catagoried and approve the Change RequestsChange Advisory Board: Steering Committe in the Change Management ProcessDeveloper: Implements the changes and forward to TesterTester: Tests the changes and confirms the statusIT Operator: Imports changes in productions when satisfied with QA, training and well documentation.

Every company has specific requirements. Therefore, SAP delivered roles need to be copied and modified. Additional workcenter roles are also provided with SAP Solution Manager 7.0 SP 15, these roles need to be added if workcenter is setup. SAP recommends to use workcenter for every scenario in SAP Solution Manager including ChaRM.
SAP_CM_CHANGE_MANAGER_COMP - Approving or rejecting change requests.SAP_CM_DEVELOPER_COMP - Corrections in the development system; Corrections in the maintenance and development systemsSAP_CM_TESTER_COMP - Testing corrections in the test system¸ Testing and validating correctionsSAP_CM_OPERATOR_COMP - Import corrections into the production system; Task listsSAP_CM_PRODUCTION MANAGER_COMP - Import corrections into the production system; Approve imports into the production systemsSAP_SOCM_REQUESTER - Create change requests
SAP_CM_ADMINISTRATOR_COMP - Customize and check Change Request Management functions; Administrative and technical maintenance; The task list administrator in Change Request Management deals with the administrative and technical side of maintenance cycles and urgent corrections; in particular, the Schedule Manager task lists.Work Center role for Change Request Management:
Add followoing workcenter role SAP_SMWORK_CHANGE_MAN in addition to basic role SAP_SMWORK_BASIC

My Blogs on SAP Solution Manager:

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Implementing ITIL Standards recommended by SAP

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Solution Documentation Assistance -