E2EStandards

8/8/2019 E2EStandards

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SAP® StAndArdS forSolution oPerAtionS

SAP Ac G ba S pp



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

Managing Solutions Centered on SAP Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6The Organizational Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Collaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Out-Tasking and Outsourcing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

SAP Standards for Solution Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9End User, Key User . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Incident Management – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Business Process Champion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Exception Handling – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Data Integrity – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Program Management Office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Change-Request Management – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Upgrade – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Enterprise SOA Readiness – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Application Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Root-Cause Analysis – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Change-Control Management – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Minimum Documentation – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Remote Supportability – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Business Process Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Business Process and Interface Monitoring – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Data-Volume Management – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Job-Scheduling Management – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Transactional Consistency – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Custom Development – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

SAP Technical Operations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .System Administration – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18System Monitoring – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Recommendations for the Standards Adoption Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

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Role of SAP Solution Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20SAP Solution Manager as a Platform for Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Role-Based Work Centers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Work Centers for End Users and Key Users – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Work Centers for Business Process Champions – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Work Centers for the Program Management Office – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Work Centers for Application Management – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Work Centers for Business Process Operations – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Work Center for Custom Development – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Work Centers for SAP Technical Operations and IT Infrastructure – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Implementing Standards with SAP Solution Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Integrating Partner Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

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

Learning Curriculum in Detail – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

E2E Solution Operations Certification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

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

Appendix:E2E Solution Operations Certification: Role Certificates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Master Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Program Manager – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Associate Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Application Management Expert – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Change-Control Management – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Business Process Expert – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36SAP Technical Administrator – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Professional Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37SAP Service Engineer – . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

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MAnAGinG SolutionS Centered on SAP SoftwAreSAP customers expect that their SAP solutions can be managedefficiently. They rely on a solution’s high availability and continuityand expect fast and successful realization of new requirements aswell as control of the total cost of ownership (TCO). However,these expectations can be difficult to meet, especially in the faceof current trends in the IT environment. For example, increasedbusiness flexibility, facilitated through new technologies andservice-oriented architecture, increases the complexity of individualapplication management tasks. And the trend to out-task andoutsource requires close collaboration with service providers.That’s why efficient management of SAP solutions and efficientcollaboration of all parties involved in the solutions is gaining inimportance.

th o ga za a M

The first step toward efficient E2E solution operations is special-ization. Dedicated stakeholders – such as various customerorganization units, service providers, or SAP consultants – areresponsible for different objectives. Using an organizational model,

you can assign these stakeholders different roles and group them – usually – in two organizational areas:business unit andIT.(See Figure 1.) Although the names of the organizations maydiffer from company to company, their function is roughly thesame. They all run their activities in accordance with corporatestrategy, corporate policies (for example, corporate governance,compliance, and security), and organizational goals.

On the business side, most stakeholders areend users. They relyon the implemented functionality to run their daily business.Some end users have special knowledge regarding the businessapplications. Thesekey users provide first-level support for theircolleagues. Business process champions have the lead rolewithin the business units. They define how business processesare to be executed. Aprogram management office communi-

cates these requirements to the IT organization, decides on thefinancing of development and operations, and ensures therequirements are implemented.

On the technical side, the customer’s IT organization has toensure that services provided by the E2E solution are availablefor the business units. Theapplication management team is indirect contact with the business units. It is responsible for implmenting the business requirements and providing support forend users. To do this, the team is supported by other organiza-tions within IT. Thebusiness process operations group coversthe monitoring, support, and integration of business applicationsand the automation of jobs while thecustom developmentgroup adjusts the solution to meet customer-specific require-ments with special internal developments.SAP technical oper-ations personnel are responsible for the general administrationof software systems as well as for detailed software diagnostics.And theIT infrastructure organization provides the underly-ing IT infrastructure (such as network and databases). Furtherspecialization is possible within these organizations as well. Forexample, within SAP technical operations there may be individual

experts for different applications.

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Figure 1: Organizational Model for Solution Operations

C s m

C p a

B s ss u

it

Strategy and Corporate Policies

Business ProcessChampion

(global or regional)

ProgramManagement

Office

End User,Key User

IT Infrastructure

Application Management

Business ProcessOperations

CustomDevelopment

SAP TechnicalOperations



C ab a

Processes for operating customer solutions cross organizationalboundaries – independent of any organizational specialization.For example, if the business process operations group detects analert, the SAP technical operations or IT infrastructure teamsmay be required to resolve it. A change in a business process mayinvolve the program management office, the business processchampion, application management, custom development,business process operations, or SAP technical operations. Theprogram management office works in collaboration with thedifferent business process champions to define specifications,budget, and timelines for any change or development requests.The requests are sent to either the application managementteam owner (or unit) or to the business process operations unit.A change request is managed throughout all phases of a project

life cycle, from development, testing, and cutover to productionand ongoing support. The application management unit involvesother operations units as needed.

Because multiple organizations are involved in E2E solutionoperations processes, collaboration has to be optimized betweenand among all parties involved. This becomes even more importantwhen the involved parties belong to organizational areas thathave a different focus. For example, the key focus of the businessunits is business processes while the key focus of IT is technicalcomponents. Achieving optimal collaboration requires both acommon collaboration platform and a clear definition of theend-to-end process. The definition ensures that stakeholdersknow their tasks, know the service level they must provide, andknow what information they need to share with others. As thetrend toward out-tasking and outsourcing IT services continuesto increase, the ability to share information becomes increasinglyimportant.

The SAP service and support strategy helps customers optimizetheir internal collaboration in two ways.First, the optimizationstrategy defines a set of standards for solution operations.These standards describe how to best use available tools and servand how to collaborate among the different roles to optimize E2solution operations processes. This standard framework allowscustomers to benefit from SAP’s more than 30 years of best-in-clsupport experience.Second, the optimization strategy usesSAP Solution Manager as a collaboration platform, providingtransparency of the customer solution and the status of the pro-cesses and enabling all required information to be made availablto all stakeholders. This helps reduce costs for informationgathering and ensures that participants are always working withcurrent information.

The program management office and the assigned business proceschampions need 100% transparency and governance over allprojects and tasks. Thus project status reports as well as key isreporting are executed periodically. Each organizational unit hasto define how it works with every other unit for each step inprocess. In addition, each unit has to define the escalation pathto be used for each potential issue. Mapping business processeswith the components of the customer solution makes it easier talign business units and IT.

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o -task g a o s c g

Efficient E2E solution operations can no longer be accomplishedwith in-house resources alone. By implementing SAP applications,customers ensure that core expertise is also present in SAP andSAP partner development organizations. And standard applicationpackages make it easier to out-task or outsource process compo-nents to manage costs, increase speed, and ensure the availabilityof skilled resources. In out-tasking, a service is given away butstill owned and monitored through appropriate service-levelagreements. In outsourcing, the complete ownership of imple-mentation and operation is handed over. Out-tasking is alwaysthe collaboration model used for SAP and SAP partner applicationand technology product units.

To maximize the potential of out-tasking and outsourcing, an

organization must carefully weigh which tasks can be out-taskedand which process components can be outsourced. This requiresa detailed risk analysis. Corresponding recommendations areincluded in the SAP standards for solution operations. Thetasks that will be out-tasked or outsourced and the process inter-faces between customer and service provider have to be definedclearly in the service-level agreements. The SAP standards forsolution operations serve as a template for this. In addition, thestandards list key performance indicators (KPIs) that can be usedas measures for fulfilling the agreements.

Another challenge presented by out-tasking and outsourcing isthat the IT service provider often uses different tools than thecustomer. For example, the service provider may use a differenthelp desk. That’s why technical integration of the tools is requireto ensure efficient collaboration. SAP delivers integration packagesthat are ready for outsourcing. For example, the service desk inSAP Solution Manager provides an open, bidirectional interfaceto the help desks of third-party providers.

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The main goal of solution operations is to run and incrementallyimprove the IT solution to ensure stable operation of the solutionlandscape. This process involves managing availability, performance,process and data transparency, data consistency, IT process com-pliance, and other tasks. In most cases, business processes aresupported not by a single application but by multiple integratedbusiness applications. These can include applications from SAPas well as applications from other vendors or those developed bythe customers themselves. Thus it is important that the solutionoperations process cover all components required for runningthe business applications end to end – a process called E2E solutionoperations.

Standardized procedures are a key prerequisite for optimizingE2E solution operations. Standards help leverage the experiences

of the organization that defined the standard. When the solutionis centered on SAP software, SAP provides the standardized proce-dures. This helps customers avoid errors, mitigate risks, increasethe availability and performance of the solution, and streamlineand accelerate the process flow. In addition, standardized proceduresenable automation, thus reducing the cost of operations. Theyalso improve the ability to trace and audit processes. This is espe-cially important in out-tasking and outsourcing activities, forwhich companies require a clear definition of the services to beprovided as well as reports on whether or not the agreed servicelevels have been met.

Process standards provided by SAP help customers achieve thesebenefits. The standards are based on best practices that have evolvedfrom the experiences of SAP teams while serving more than36,000 customers. Available through the SAP Active Global Supportorganization, the standards do not compete with existing andwell-accepted standards such as the IT Infrastructure Library. Infact, they can enhance existing standards by explaining in detailhow application management processes work best for SAPsolutions.

Each standard contains best-practice procedures on how to performindividual tasks, descriptions of which tools should be used,information regarding the assignment of tasks to different roles,available training offerings, and available services that supportthe adoption of the standard. Although multiple roles may beinvolved in a standard process, one of these roles is assigned owship of the standard at the customer site. The assignment ofowners may differ from customer to customer. The followingtable is an example of how roles or owners are assigned tostandards:

Owner Key Standards and Practice

End user, key user Incident management

Business process champion Exception handling, data integrityProgram management office Change-request management,

Upgrade, enterprise SOA readiness

Application management Root-cause analysis, change-controlmanagement, 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

e us , K y us

End users and key users play a crucial role in solution operatiBoth are the main receivers of the services provided through allIT activities and the first line of troubleshooting and feedbackthe entire IT operation. Consequently, incident management isthe primary standard for this role.

SAP StAndArdS for Solution oPerAtionS

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Incident Management

Incidents that occur during the operation of mission-criticalapplications can cause severe business loss unless they are properlymanaged, their root cause identified, and the corrective actiontaken. Theincident management standard defines the processand tools needed to manage the collaboration required amonginvolved parties to resolve incidents before they escalate.

When a disruption occurs that prevents an end user fromperforming his or her tasks in the IT solution, that user hasto describe, categorize, and prioritize the incident. In SAPapplications, this can be done by creating a ticket directly in theapplication. Context data is automatically attached to the ticket,which is sent to the service desk in SAP Solution Manager. Keyusers provide first-level support. They search for an existing

solution both in the customer solution database and in the data-base of the SAP Notes tool. When this first-level support cannotresolve the incident, the ticket isforwarded to the customer’sapplication management organization.

Application management performsend-to-end root-causeanalysis to isolate the root cause of the problem. If necessary,other parts of the customer IT organization take over to resolvethe incident. If the customer IT organization is not successful, itforwards the ticket for in-depth analysis to SAP or to the providerof a third-party application that has caused the incident. At alltimes, thestatus of the incident is transparent.

The service desk in SAP Solution Manager is the SAP tool usedto manage incidents efficiently across the customer businessunits, customer IT, SAP IT, and independent software vendors(ISVs) whose applications are integrated in the customer solution.Through its open bidirectional interface, the service desk cansend and receive incidents to and from other ticket systems. Thismay be required if a part of the customer’s IT has been outsourcedor out-tasked to service providers that use their own help desk.

By following the incident management standard, customers canaccelerate incident resolution. This helps increase the availabilityof the IT solution and minimize negative business impact.

B s ss P c ss Champ

As the business units and the IT organization work together toimplement business processes, the business process champion iscalled on to play another key role in the customer’s organizationLocated in the business unit, the champion is the expert on procrequirements, implementation, and continuous improvement.With his or her profound knowledge of the business processes,the champion is often the only resource that can resolve excep-tions in business execution and resolve the potential datainconsistencies these exceptions can cause.

Exception HandlingDuring operations, exceptions may arise from within businessapplications. Effective and efficient handling of these exceptionsis crucial to maintaining an optimized TCO and smooth businesexecution. Theexception-handling standard explains how todefine a model for action and defines procedures for managingexceptions and error situations that occur during daily businessoperations.

The advent of more complex and diverse business scenarios thacross application borders plus the immense volume of businesstransactions processed today necessitate an exception-handlingmethod that is scalable, open, central, and embedded in businesoperations and support processes. The business process championand the responsible business process operations team have todefine a model for action and what procedures to take. Theprocedures they describe spell out what proactive monitoringactivities must be executed to detect business-critical exceptionsituations and what corrective actions are required in the givencontext. They also describe who is responsible for certain activitin the business process operations team or the business department

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The execution of these procedures can be supported by monitoringand alerting tools. (These monitoring procedures are describedin the “Business Process and Interface Monitoring Standard”section.)

If customers deploy the exception-handling standard, whichincludes proactive as well as reactive steps, they can achieve higheravailability for their IT solution. In addition, the streamlinedmonitoring and response processes help reduce the complexityof business operations and thus reduce TCO.

Data Integrity

The underlying root cause for data inconsistencies in anend-to-end solution landscape typically involves one of thesethree scenarios:

• End users or key users are not aware of certain manual activitiesthey have to perform to ensure data consistency. For example,they may not be aware that when they change master datain one component, they should send this update to othercomponents and applications in the network.

• An interface is not working properly for some reason. Typically,this is recorded in an error log on one side of the interface andmay or may not trigger a workflow that pushes somebody toresolve the issue.

• Jobs are not running correctly or did not start at all. If these jobs are, for example, for loading data into a data warehousingsolution, such as the SAP NetWeaver® Business Intelligencecomponent (SAP NetWeaver BI), the business reports will notbe accurate and may lead to wrong business decisions.

The goal ofthe data-integrity standard is to avoid datainconsistencies in end-to-end solution landscapes.

To achieve effective solution operations, it is vital that all thepotential root causes of inconsistency be 100% transparent. Thedata-integrity standard covers areas ranging from application

design principles to monitoring and CIO-level reporting. Whendeveloping application design principles, customers need to includehow the user is guided and whether checks exist to help avoid

inconsistent data entry. In general, monitoring should cover theinterfaces, workflow queues, and background jobs. Finally, SAPrecommends that customers set up CIO-level reporting to coverany exceptions and inconsistencies. Experience shows that incon-sistencies are bound to happen unless an appropriate form ofintegration monitoring and IT reporting is set up properly.

Within the data-integrity standard, all levels of monitoring arethe core tasks ofbusiness process operations . Incompleteprocessing of background jobs must be reported to thebusinessprocess champions , who must inform the business unit anddefine contingency plans. Following the best practices of thedata-integrity standard, customers can achieve higher availabilityand reliability of their SAP solution and reduce error-handlingcosts.

P g am Ma ag m o c

The program management office is the central group in thecustomer business unit responsible for the overall planning,implementation, and continuous improvement of the businessprocesses in the solution landscape. All requests for changes flothrough this office and need to be integrated into a schedule ochanges to the landscape. As a result, change-request managementtakes up the greater part of activities handled by the programmanagement office. This office is responsible for managing every-thing from day-to-day changes and adaptations to all releaseplanning and major shifts in infrastructure technology. Moreover,these activities must be aligned with all stakeholders.

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Change-Request Management

Changes to the solution landscape must be managed carefully toensure they are not only transparent but are also executed withoutdisrupting ongoing business activity. The goal of thechange-request management standard is to implement efficient andpunctual changes to SAP applications with minimal risk, usingstandardized methods and procedures.

The program management office is responsible for managing alltypes of application change requests initiated by business processchampions, end users, or key users. These change requests origi-nate from business process changes, implementation and upgradeprojects, periodic maintenance, and urgent corrections. Theycan affect one application or several applications within an SAPsolution landscape. Therefore, dependencies between multiple

software applications have to be considered.

The change-request management standard provides transparencyof the SAP software to which it is being applied, transparency ofthe change-customization process, the project history, and theroles and departments involved. Both the business units and theIT organization are involved in change-request management,which is the main communication channel between the programmanagement office and the application management organization.Technically, changes are transported through the whole solutionlandscape so they can be audited. Thus change-request manage-ment is closely related to the change-control managementstandard owned by the application management organization.

Here is a typical change-request scenario: An end user or keyuser turns to the service desk to create a service message. Thisservice message triggers a corresponding change request. Onechange request may affect multiple software components. Afterthe program management office approves the change request,the application management organization performs related activitiesto realize the change request and carry it through development,

testing, and rollout.

The change-request management standard helps customersminimize the impact of change-related incidents on service qual-ity. As a result, it improves their day-to-day operations.

Upgrade

From time to time, customers have to upgrade applications tonew release levels. However, upgrade projects can pose majorchallenges related to project management, efficient testing,minimization of downtime, adaptation of applications and modi-fications, and knowledge transfer to end users. SAP providesguidelines on how to perform upgrades for single-application components. However, each upgrade must be an integral part of theoverall corporate IT strategy, covering the end-to-end landscapeof a solution centered on SAP software. This integration includehardware, operating systems, and database releases as well as filesystem and storage subsystem versions. During each phase of theupgrade, those involved must pay careful attention to businesscontinuity, change-management procedures, landscape adjustment,and downtime. Theupgrade standard guides customers and

technology partners through the upgrade project so they canmanage all these challenges.

The standard upgrade project consists of five phases. During theproject preparation phase, the upgrade project is defined andthe current customer solution is analyzed. In theupgrade blue-print phase, the target solution requirements (the core “to be”situation) is defined. In theupgrade realization phase, thesolution described in the blueprint phase is implemented in atest environment. This creates a pilot software landscape in whichthe business process and all interfaces can be mapped individ-ually and tested on a functional basis. Duringpreparation forgo-live , customers make final preparations for upgrading theproduction solution. In this phase, the focus is on testing, train-ing, risk minimization, and detailed planning of the technicalupgrade. Theproduction cutover and support phase coversthe upgrade of the production solution, the startup of the appli-cation in a new release, postprocessing activities, and resolutionof the typical problems that occur during initial operation.

Following the guidelines set out in the upgrade standard, customers

can accelerate their upgrade project. The standard helps themavoid problems, increase the quality of project results, and keepmajor cost drivers under control.

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Enterprise SOA Readiness

More and more customers are moving to enterprise service-oriented architecture (enterprise SOA) to position their companyfor innovation and improved productivity. By orchestratingexisting services and combining them with additional applicationlogic and suitable user interfaces, enterprise SOA can imple-ment new business processes. Theenterprise SOA readinessstandard guides customers on a successful path to enterpriseSOA. It addresses both technical and organizational readiness.

Technical readiness involves making current methods for im-plementing business process applications transparent, customizingsoftware landscapes, and reducing the number and severity ofmodifications, thus enabling technicians to drive necessary har-monization and consolidation. During this step into the world

of enterprise SOA, centralized governance of the services is abso-lutely required. In fact, explicit centralized governance of allenterprise SOA scenarios is a key prerequisite for achieving theadvantages of enterprise SOA: flexibility, innovation, and TCOreduction via reusability of Web services.

Organizational readiness is equally important. Customersmust be able to develop and support a service-oriented architecture.That means employees in some roles, such as those who serve asbusiness process champions, must build up new skills to establishand cover new processes, ensuring that business and IT can growtogether.

The process-oriented approach and the proven methods SAPprovides for E2E solution operations cover the areas of operationsand technical risk management for running existing enterpriseSOA scenarios. The program management office owns the enter-prise SOA readiness standard, but other organizations are alsoinvolved in it. Customers benefit from the standard because thetechnical and organizational readiness it achieves helps reduceboth application management and maintenance costs.

App ca Ma ag m

The key interface between business and IT is theapplicationmanagement organization. End users, key users, and the programmanagement office rely on IT services for a wide variety of tasfrom solution landscape planning to implementation; from thehandling to execution of change requests coming from the busi-ness units; and from documentation standards, training, andcertification to management-level reporting.

Root-Cause Analysis

Support of mission-critical applications depends strongly on theability of the SAP software ecosystem to provide corrective actifor any incident. When neither the customer help desk nor theIT organization is able to identify the root cause of an incidenit helps to have all tools for performing the analysis available t

SAP consultants and ISVs. Theroot-cause analysis standarddefines how to perform root-cause analysis end to end acrossseparate components and technologies. The different supportlevels (customer, partner, ISVs, and SAP consultants) all use thesame standardized tools so that those at the next level of suppocan review the results of previous findings and continue with amore in-depth investigation.

When the help desk within the business unit cannot resolve anincident, the application management organization performsend-to-end root-cause analysis to isolate the component respon-sible for the error or performance problem. This cause could residin the client software; in the network, storage, or client databaseor in SAP software – for example, in the SAP NetWeaver Portalcomponent, the SAP Customer Relationship Management (SAPCRM) application, or the SAP ERP application. Once the causeisolated, technicians may have to take corrective action to resolvthe incident. SAP provides all the tools required to perform endto-end root-cause analysis and makes them available to customer,partners, ISVs, and SAP consultants. ISVs and SAP consultantscan access these tools remotely – and safely – through a secure

connection to the customer.

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SAP Solution Manager provides access to one standard tool foreach diagnostic task. All root-cause analysis procedures areshipped preconfigured for all SAP solutions, and the underlyingdiagnostics infrastructure is open for fast integration of any ISVproduct. Certain key information is required to perform end-to-end root-cause analysis. To gather this information, softwareagents run continuously on satellite software systems, collectingexceptions, configuration snapshots, service availability, andworkload statistics including operating system and database statistics.The information is kept uniform across all software stacks and isavailable from one central console in SAP Solution Manager.

Furthermore, the information is condensed, correlated, aggregated,and made available for comprehensive IT reporting. Exceptionsare reflected in the unified statistics of high-severity log entries

and dumps. From there, it is possible to access component-specificlog and dump viewers. Technical configuration such as systemproperties and snapshots of technical configuration are trackeddaily to detect inconsistencies among the development, qualityassurance, and production environments and to detect any recentchanges that may have been applied to the technical configurationof the production landscape. The application management orga-nization is the owner of the end-to-end root-cause analysis process.If required, the other IT units – custom development, businessprocess operations, SAP technical operations, and IT infrastruc-ture – perform detailed root-cause analysis of the componentresponsible for the incident and then perform the correctiveactions.

The major benefit of the root-cause analysis standard is accelerationof problem resolution, which leads to increased availability of theIT solution. In addition, the standard eases problem resolutionwithin the IT organization. This results in reduced cost ofownership.

Change-Control Management

It is essential that changes to the solution landscape are managcarefully to ascertain transparency. The previously describedchange-request management standard ensures that standardizedmethods and procedures are used for efficient and prompt han-dling of all changes. To complement change-request management,customers must also address the deployment and analysis ofchanges to confirm the changes are executed without disruptingbusiness. This is the focus of thechange-control managementstandard . The standard covers two major areas of change controlchange deployment and change diagnostics.

Change-deployment functionality provides a holistic view ofan application change, ensuring that all components involvedare tested and released together, even if they are based on diffe

ent technologies. This view can be achieved by using one stan-dard procedure and tool set for the technical distribution andimport of application changes along the software logistics route.The change-deployment area controls changes as part of customerprojects. It also controls the download of software patches andupdates for all software components from SAP and from partnersA test management team facilitates an integrated approach tochange that links the project structure to test plans, test packages,and the test itself. In addition, this integration with the change-request management standard aligns the exact content, test, anddeployment needed to make the change.

Change diagnostics help customers identify, control, maintain,and verify the versions of solution configurations and the valuesof the parameters of solution landscape components. Accurateinformation on configurations and their documentation is nec-essary to support both auditing requirements and other solutionoperations processes. To track changes, the configuration infor-mation is recorded regularly inside the components and collectedcentrally in the SAP Solution Manger database. The configurationcan be compared with a template or master configuration to

analyze changes. The reporting includes all current and historicalconfiguration data throughout the application life cycle.

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Finally, outside experts need a guarantee ofsafe access to ensurethat no incorrect changes are made and to reduce the risk of aproblem. This can be achieved by following the authorizationconcepts of the individual applications. But many areas, such asthe operating system, make it difficult to give particular expertsthe exact level of authorization they need. In this instance, it issimpler and more efficient for the service and support infrastruc-ture to impose only basic read-only access rights for critical areasof live applications.

By fulfilling the requirements of the remote supportability stan-dard, customers can engage SAP experts to accelerate problemresolution and increased the availability of their solution. Thestandard also helps improve the quality of delivered services andthe security of the IT solution.

B s ss P c ss op a s

The focus of business process operations isbusiness-criticalprocesses . Seamless business operations require areliable dataflow between business units. In mission-critical areas, it is importantto identify problems in the data flow as early as possible, since adisruption of a business process may result in immediate financialloss. The following standards cover the basics of business processand interface monitoring, managing an ever-increasing amountof business data, the dependencies of jobs and their correct exe-cution, and the end-to-end transactional consistency of businessprocess execution.

Business Process and Interface Monitoring

The business process and interface monitoring standardsupports monitoring of mission-critical business processes, enablingcustomers to identify problems before they become critical ordisruptive.

Business process monitoring covers monitoring activities,alert and problem detection, notification of experts, error-handling

procedures, and end-to-end root-cause analysis (a separate standard).Today’s software landscapes are often decentralized and consistof variousinterfaces to different applications, many of them

legacy environments in which customers and vendors use differ-ent technologies. All these interfaces need to be monitored forprocessing errors, backlog situations, and performance.

The IT operations group has to ensure 100% data consistency.With an increased complexity of system landscapes, there is anincreased risk of data inconsistencies. Specific data consistencyreports have to be executed on a regular basis to ensure earlydetection of inconsistencies. And detailed error-handlingand recovery procedures need to be defined to ensure efficientrecovery when a disaster does occur.

The business process and interface monitoring standard enablescustomers to safeguard the smooth and reliable flow of corebusiness processes. As a result, the standard also ensures busine

continuity. By establishing one central, proactive, and process-oriented strategy for business process monitoring, it reducesthe cost for solution operations by avoiding organizationalredundancies.

Data-Volume Management

As a result of the tendency to run highly interconnected softwaresystems (internal and external) and the need to have data instantlaccessible, data volumes are growing and growing. In general,adding additional disks to storage area networks and storage sub-systems just worsens the situation over time. Thedata-volumemanagement standard defines how to manage data growthby avoiding data creation and deleting and archiving data.

Data-volume scoping is the starting point of data-volumemanagement. A detailed look at a customer’s software systemsidentifies major problem areas and indicates the most beneficialmeasures to take (for instance, data deletion or data archiving)when implementing a data-volume management strategy. Theobjective of adata-volume management strategy is to avoid,summarize, delete, and archive data, depending on what kind of

data it is. Business and external requirements for the data playrole, for example, in legal compliance and information life-cyclemanagement. Adata-volume reporting function lists the

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archiving activities already performed and identifies additionalreduction potential resulting from, say, a change in the businessprocesses. Scheduling the reporting on a regular basis shows thegrowth of the database – down to a business-object level – andpoints out how the growth can be minimized.

Reaching asteady state – that is a balance between new data andarchived data – is another objective of the standard. It is also arequirement for customers running SAP software within givenservice-level agreements over an extended period of time.

The business process operations group owns the data-volumemanagement standard. If the process identifies data to bereorganized or archived, these tasks are performed by SAPtechnical operations or IT infrastructure teams.

The data-volume management standard increases the availabilityof the customer solution by enabling administrative tasks such assoftware upgrade, database reorganization, and data backups orrecovery to be achieved in less time. In addition, it helps customersreduce the amount of time needed to manage disk space andallows more efficient use of resources such as hard drives, memory,and CPU.

Job-Scheduling Management

Within a highly complex and distributed landscape,job-schedulingmanagement is important for managing and processing data.Even in today’s more real-time data environment, there is a highneed to have jobs running in the background. Further, jobs arelinked together in huge job chains, usually containing manysequence dependencies . If one or several jobs abort and cancel,the alert software has to inform the appropriate support levelor has to be in a position to start an automatic error-handlingprocedure and restart the job(s). Another function of job-schedulingmanagement is to make efficient use of available resources (suchas CPU and memory) when coordinating the activities of concurrent

online users with background jobs that use the same time windowand software environment. This function must be managed toavoid bottleneck situations or prevent delays in data processing.

The job-scheduling management standard explains how tomanage job planning, scheduling, and monitoring. The processstarts with a request for a new job or a request to change theschedule of an existing job or job chain. This request needs toplanned, scheduled, and integrated into the monitoring proceduresand alert mechanisms and checked to confirm it was fulfilledsuccessfully. The standard also recommends setting up a dedicatedteam for job-scheduling management as part of the businessprocess operations or support organization. This team is responsiblefor the central management of the job-scheduling function.

Job-scheduling management is owned by the business processoperations group, which executes the required tasks – generallyin cooperation with the business process champion and the SAPtechnical operations team. The main benefits of job-scheduling

management are the automation and acceleration of businessprocesses and prevention of process interruptions.

Transactional Consistency

In the early days of IT, transactional consistency and correctnesswas assured by the fact that an application architecture had onesystem, one disk subsystem, and one database. Commit cyclesensured the completeness of transactions at any time. In today’sdistributed software landscapes, transactional consistency can nolonger be assured. Different business process “leading” or front-ensystems require data synchronization across applications; severaldatabases, on disk and in memory, have consistent states withinthemselves but not across the units; and on the subsystem level,data is stored across several storage systems. To summarize todaysituation: within distributed software landscapes there is nolonger any end-to-end synchronization point that ensures dataconsistency and correctness.

The goal of thetransactional consistency standard is to keeptransactions consistent in distributed software landscapes. Tohelp customers achieve transactional consistency, SAP software

supports best practices for check routines as well as consistencyreports and procedures that set up synchronization of the trans-actional data end to end across the different business applications.

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Depending on customer-specific parameters and requirements(such as data volume, software system resources, 24x7 operations),SAP’s given standards may need additional implementation sup-port to ensure end-to-end transactional consistency and correct-ness. For example, the IT operations team has to ensure theongoing daily check procedures are in place as well as the recoverymechanisms needed to rebuild after a failure situation.

By applying the transactional consistency standard, customerslower the risk for data inconsistencies. Proactive error handlingand problem solving prevent business process disruptions, savetime for problem resolution, and thus reduce cost of ownership.

C s m d pm

The primary role of the custom development team is to adapt

SAP standard applications and interfaces to specific business needs.This involves a variety of development tasks covering applicationcustomization, interface development, and custom code devel-opment. Thus custom development is involved in many of theSAP solution operations standards including change-request man-agement, change-control management, upgrades, enterpriseSOA readiness, and root-cause analysis. However, customdevelopment does not own any of these standards.

SAP t ch ca op a s

The SAP technical operations organization groups all the activi-ties needed to administer and monitor the IT landscape in orderto maintain and operate a successful IT infrastructure for theapplication landscape. The organization acts as system adminis-trator. As such, it must apply all the standards outlined previouslywhile maintaining a strong focus on the overall software infra-structure. Its primary focus is onsystem administration and system monitoring .

System Administration

The system administration standard describes how all SAPtechnology – including SAP NetWeaver BI, the SAP NetWeaverExchange Infrastructure (SAP NetWeaver XI) component, SAPNetWeaver Portal, the SAP NetWeaver Mobile component, theSAP NetWeaver Master Data Management component, SAPCRM, the SAP Advanced Planning & Optimization component,and Duet™ software – must be administered to run a customersolution efficiently. The typicaltasks of system administrationinclude starting and stopping processes, applying changes totechnical configurations, performing imports, applying patchesand support packages based on the change-control workflow,creating or changing users based on a compliance workflow,copying or installing software, running software diagnostics,managing jobs, and performing backups and recovery. Adminis-

tration tasks are mainly executed locally but can be accessed atriggered via a central administration system to allow unifiedaccess to all SAP technologies. System administration is ownedand executed by the SAP technical operations group.

System Monitoring

The system monitoring standard covers monitoring andreporting methods that give the status of IT solutions. Thebusiness unit expects performance problems and errors to bedetected proactively and resolved before they affect businesscontinuity. To provide transparency to the business units, IT hasto report service levels, capacity trends, and solution quality ona regular basis. And to fulfill the demand of the business unitswithin a limited IT budget, the IT team must industrialize andautomate monitoring and reporting.

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While root-cause analysis (a separate standard) aims at problemresolution, monitoring software detects incidents automatically.When software agents report diagnostics data that exceed thresholdsdefined in a central alert framework, the monitoring softwaresends alerts to the responsible experts in IT so they can takecorrective action. If the required corrective action is not obvious,end-to-end root-cause analysis must be performed. The monitoringsoftware has an open bidirectional interface through which itcan send alerts to or receive alerts from third-party monitoringinfrastructures. These monitoring infrastructures can be used byorganizations in which some IT tasks have been outsourced orout-tasked.

Based on all data available in diagnostics, the monitoring standarddefines Web reports that focus on service levels, capacity trends,

or solution quality. The reports are generated automatically andbroadcast to defined recipients in the customer business or ITorganization.

r c mm a s h S a a s A p

S q c

The sequence for implementing SAP standards for solutionoperations usually depends on the specific customer situationand the major problem areas encountered by the IT team. How-ever, some guiding principles can be defined. The followingsequence recommendation is especially helpful for customerswho are planning an upgrade to SAP ERP. This upgrade is a mile-stone for many existing customers, because SAP ERP introducesnew technologies that can be focused on building up mission-critical support.

This is the recommended sequence of standards adoption:1. Remote connectivity standard

This should be implemented at the start of a project, since itenables SAP experts to be involved in resolving problems thatthe customer’s IT team cannot handle.

2. Upgrade standardThis standard is important because it provides a managementguide for customers planning an upgrade project. It offers animmediate benefit to customers who follow it.

3. Root-cause analysis standardThis should be implemented by the start of the acceptance tebecause from then on, a detailed root-cause analysis (conductedon-site or remotely) of problems that occur in the SAP ERPsoftware environment may be needed for efficient support ofmission-critical processes.

4. Change-control management standardThis standard should be implemented before the go-live. Itestablishes firm control over software logistics. Maintenanceoptimization is an important element of the standard. Withoutit, customers would not be able to download corrective softwarefrom the SAP Service Marketplace extranet.

The standards owned by business process champions and thebusiness process operations organization should be next on thecustomer’s adoption list because they contribute significantly tothe stability of the customer’s mission-critical processes. At thispoint, the adoption sequence depends on the customer’s situation.

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role of SAP Solution MAnAGerSolution stakeholders need tools to perform the different tasksrequired by the SAP standards for solution operations. With SAPSolution Manager, SAP provides these tools on a central platform,along with integrated content and a gateway to SAP that enablesefficient operation of E2E solutions centered on SAP software.Because it is such a central component, SAP Solution Managerbecomes theapplication management solution for severalteams – their central working application.

SAP S Ma ag as a P a m S a a s

SAP Solution Manager supports the SAP standards for solutionoperations by providing an overall platform that contains:• Functionality for the standard processes and steps executed

by role ownersThis functionality is embedded in role-specific work centers in

which workflows, Web-based in-boxes, launch pads, and moreare bundled.

• Common data repository containing all status andcompliance informationThis repository provides the basis for reporting and governanceactivities and can act as a data provider for compliance solutionssuch as the SAP solutions for governance, risk, and compliance.

• Functionality to define and monitor service-levelagreementsThese agreements are made between the parties who are involvedin fully executing a standardized process.

• Functionality to manage issues and escalationsIssues sometimes occur between the different parties involvedin the solution.

• Comprehensive reporting functionsThese are tailored to the needs of the different role owners aswell as to the company’s senior management (in SLA reporting,for example). Coupled with the data repository and the SLAs,reporting functions in SAP Solution Manager provide the basisfor effective management of out-tasking and outsourcingactivity.

SAP Solution Manager thus provides both functional support forindividual roles and clearly defined interfaces between theseroles. The individual roles represent the major departments andorganizations involved in the management of any E2E solutioncentered on SAP software. The interfaces give customers a basifor managing relationships. SAP Solution Manager supportscollaboration as well as escalations with service providers bytracking the key information for every process instance andactivity, revealing:• Which process steps were already executed by whom• Who is responsible for the next step and what needs to be

done next• Whether the service levels were met

Because SAP Solution Manager documents “the truth” of who

managed which aspect of a customer’s E2E solution at whichpoint in time, it is vital for governing and controlling out-taskingand outsourcing relationships across different time andgeographical zones.

With the release of SAP Solution Manager 4.0, the solution hamatured into a platform for application management that con-sists of a stable core and optional extensions. SAP recommendsthe core solution to its customers. To facilitate the integrationof SAP Solution Manager with the overall IT strategy of its cutomers, SAP is offering extensions for the solution that provideadditional value for specific customer groups. The first extensionthe SAP Solution Support Enablement package, is already availableThis package contains a variety of best-of-breed support toolspreconfigured for use in complex SAP software–centered envi-ronments. These tools range from reverse business engineeringand test optimization tools to in-depth diagnostic tools for client-and server-side support. Extension packages are available at anadditional charge; the core SAP Solution Manager remainsavailable to all customers for no additional cost.

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r -Bas w k C s

SAP Solution Manager takes awork-center approach to executingSAP standards for solution operations. It groups the informationand tasks of particular operations processes into work centers tofacilitate effective work execution and collaboration. This work-center approach enables tailored and role-based user environmentsfor individual users and their specific tasks, while top-level navi-gation provides access to the work centers. Each work centerconsists of a navigation panel and a content panel. Via the navi-gation panel of a work center, users can find the tasks they needto perform. The function corresponding to that task is thendisplayed in the content panel of the work center.

Top-level navigation (see Figure 2) occurs via a role-specificnavigation bar. The bar lists all the work centers that a user requires

for his or her job, based on the user’s roles and authorizations.Some work centers, such as the service desk, are available to almostall users. Others can only be accessed by a small number of users.This work-center approach allows users to focus on their specifictasks. Different organizational units can extend the list of functionsaccessible in the various work centers.

If a user selects a specific work center in the top-level navigatsection (see Figure 3), that work center is displayed below thenavigation bar. Thecontent panel provides all functions andinformation available in the work center. This is where usersexecute their solution operations tasks.

Most work centers contain multiple functions and provide muchinformation. A “friendly”navigation panel (see Figure 4) allowsusers to narrow the panel selection to specific objects of intereFor example, users can select which tasks they want to executeand which objects they want to handle. The corresponding list

aligns with user authorizations. In addition, each work centerprovides easy access to general overview information such as thuser in-box or work lists.

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Figure 2: Key Building Blocks of a Work Center

Figure 3: Top-Level Navigation – an Example

Figure 4: Navigation Panel

w k C 2

C Pana ga Pa

Work-centerspecific

t p-l na ga

Work-centerspecific

WC1 WC3 WC4WC2 WC5 …



The common tasks section of the navigation panel lists all thetasks a user needs to perform within the work center. For example,the tasks E2E workload analysis, E2E log and dump analysis, andE2E data consistency analysis are typical tasks related to root-causeanalysis and performed by members of the application manage-ment team. If the user selects one of these tasks, the correspondingfunctionality becomes immediately available in the content panelof the work center. The user does not need to access the functionvia a navigation path that might be much more complex.

When a user selects a task to execute, this task typically calls upa larger set of objects. However, in most cases the user wants tohandle only a small set of objects. The work center allows theuser to selectcommon objects within the navigation panel thatfocus precisely on the objects he or she finds relevant. These

objects serve as filter objects for the functions and informationdisplayed in the content panel. Common objects are maintainedand used within SAP Solution Manager. They include, for example,solutions, projects, and business processes.

Typically, customer solutions centered on SAP software consistof multiple components. Many tasks in solution operations arerelated exclusively to some of these components. Because usersneed to focus on the components relevant for their work, SAPSolution Manager lets them access asolution – a group of appli-cations that are managed collectively. For example, all applica-tions involved in a specific business process, all applications runby the same subsidiary, or all applications administered by thesame system administrator. By using the solution as a filter objectin the navigation panel, users can narrow down the informationdisplayed in the content panel.

Users may be involved in multiple ITprojects , sometimes inparallel. These can include implementation projects, upgradeprojects, change projects, or projects for resolving issues. Via thecommon-object projects in the navigation panel, users can call

out the data for the specific projects they are currently workingon.

Besides the common tasks and objects just explained, the navi-gation panel provides generaloverview information. This enablescustomers to get a quick look at information in their in-box anon task lists, work lists, or open tickets. The information is displayin the content panel of the work center as well. So there is noneed for users to leave the work center to check for informatiothey might need as additional input for executing their tasks.

Why is SAP introducing work centers in SAP Solution ManagerWork centers help ease navigation within SAP Solution Managerby providing central role-based points of access. The tailored anrole-based user environment simplifies an employee’s job. Relevantinformation is always available and even actively “pushed” out tthe user, improving the speed and quality of decisions and actionCommon in-boxes, work lists, and status reporting improve col-

laboration. And because the work centers all have the same looand feel with the same design elements and controls, trainingneeds are reduced and inexperienced users receive easy guidanceIn short, the work-center approach helps customers further reducetheir TCO.

All work centers are Web-based and fully preconfigured toallow remote access in out-tasking and outsourcing situations.First versions of some work centers are already available for SASolution Manager 4.0, based on the current user interface (UI)framework. In upcoming releases, SAP plans to base these workcenters on a new UI framework.

Work Centers for End Users and Key Users

For users who need to access SAP Solution Manager, the servicdesk work center is the main point of contact. If an incidentoccurs that cannot be resolved immediately by the end user orkey user, he or she creates an incident message in the service deThere are different options available for doing this. If the incideoccurs in an SAP application, the user can create the messagedirectly in the application. The message is then automatically

forwarded to SAP Solution Manager. It includes the descriptionof the incident, context data, categorization, prioritization, andpossible attachments. For incidents that occur in non-SAPapplications, SAP Solution Manager provides a Web interface fo

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creating a message. This is accessible via a URL. In instances wherean incident is detected by someone who does not have immediateaccess to a computer, a key user enters the message directly inthe service desk work center of SAP Solution Manager on behalfof the end user who encountered the incident.

After the message has been entered, SAP Solution Manager auto-matically triggers the application management team to providethe required support. During message processing, end users andkey users can check the service desk to see the status of theirmessage and confirm when and how the problem was resolved.

Work Centers for Business Process Champions

Business process champions are the experts on core businessprocesses. They are involved in the definition of the processes as

well as in the process chains and workflow for exception- anddata-inconsistency handling. And they are the people who needto be informed in case of alerts. All this information is set up inSAP Solution Manager.

After business process monitoring procedures have been established,SAP Solution Manager takes care of managing the correspondingworkflows and notifications. Business process champions requirethat the status of business process execution be transparent. SAPSolution Manager provides them with information regardingcurrent alerts related to business processes, notification of experts,and reporting information such as service-level reports.

If the champions detect an incident in a business process, they startthe incident management process by creating a message in theservice desk of SAP Solution Manager. They may also be involvedin solving problems that are related to their area of expertise. Inthese cases, the service desk in SAP Solution Manager triggers thebusiness process champions and provides the information theyneed to resolve the incident. For problems of higher complexity,issues can be created in SAP Solution Manager. Issue management

provides more functionality than standard incident management;for example, it includes more context information and enablesappropriate users to assign tasks to employees who can handlespecific issues.

Change-request management is another process in which cham-pions are involved. If a change has been requested for a busineprocess, the corresponding champion has to participate in theapproval process for the change request. This involvement is partof the approval workflow in SAP Solution Manager.

In an upgrade project, business process champions contributemainly to the upgrade blueprint and the upgrade realizationphase. For the blueprint, they use their knowledge to specifyproject results. This specification is documented within SAPSolution Manager and serves as input for the solution configurationAfter the configuration has been drafted, SAP Solution Managermanages the testing to determine whether the configurationmeets the requirements defined in the blueprint. Business processchampions may participate in the testing as well. SAP Solution

Manager tells the testers which cases they have to test and collethe results of the tests.

Work Centers for the Program Management Office

The program management office controls the collaborationbetween business units and IT. This requires that the office knoabout the status of all collaboration projects and the service leveprovided by the IT organization. To achieve this, SAP SolutionManager has a broad range of reporting functionality. Employeesin the program management office provide access to all the infomation relevant to their activities. This information includes thestatus of all standards that are important to the business units.Service-level reporting is especially relevant here, since the fulfilment of service-level agreements has a major impact on thefinancing of IT projects by the business units.

Another important task of the program management office is tocommunicate change requests from business to IT. SAP SolutionManager achieves this task via its change-request managementfunctionality. It collects all change requests coming from thebusiness units. These requests may be entered by end users, key

users, business process champions, or members of the programmanagement office themselves. An approval process decideswhether a request is rejected or forwarded to the IT organization

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for implementation. To drive this workflow and achieve efficientchange-request management, the process and its related activitiesmust be transparent. SAP Solution Manager provides this processtransparency and makes all required information available andeasy to evaluate.

In addition to change-request management, SAP Solution Managerprovides incident management and issue management function-ality that can be used if the program management office wantsto transfer tasks to other organizational units. For example, aservice-desk message can be forwarded to a new processor or a taskcan be assigned to another employee. Other units can assignmessages and tasks to the program management office this wayas well.

Work Centers for Application ManagementOn the IT side, the application management team is the counter-part of the program management office. It receives most of therequests from the business units and is responsible for managingtheir fulfillment.

For incident management, the service desk in SAP SolutionManager is the main tool employed by the application managementteam. It provides an overview of all messages and their status.It also allows the application management team to analyze themessages and solve the problem. To support problem resolution,SAP Solution Manager provides a customer-specific solutiondatabase. If the problem has not previously occurred and is notdocumented in the solution database, SAP Solution Managerenables the message processor to search for SAP Notes in theSAP Service Marketplace – straight from the message itself.

If there is no solution available within the solution database or inSAP Notes, the application management team starts the processof root-cause analysis. This process is supported by the diagnosticsfunctions in SAP Solution Manager 4.0. At first, the application

management team performs a root-cause analysis across thedifferent components and technologies of the customer solution.

This is required to identify the component that caused the problem, to provide directions for a more detailed root-cause analysion that component, and to gather more information on thescope of the problem. Based on this information, the problem ihanded over to the team within the IT organization that cananalyze the component.

If the various support levels in the customer or partner supportorganization cannot resolve the problem, the application man-agement team uses the service desk to send the support messagalong with an information note, to SAP Active Global Support.SAP Solution Manager 4.0 includes an open interface for exchanginmessages with help desks from other providers. The open inter-face enables the exchange of support messages between the cus-tomer and SAP partners that may already have a help desk tha

is different from SAP Solution Manager. Messages are exchangedin SAP Solution Manager using Web services for simple, flexibleand platform-independent operation. This combined solutionoffers functions that improve the quality of information, extendcommunication options, and facilitate message-processingmanagement.

Since the beginning of 2007, the proven and robust support funtions offered by the service desk in SAP Solution Manager havbeen taken to a new level. The help desk now enables customeand partners to process support messages for non-SAP componentsin their solution landscape.

Change-request management, upgrade, and enterprise SOAreadiness are other areas where the application managementteam is heavily involved. Via the change-request managementfunction provided by SAP Solution Manager, applicationmanagement receives all approved change requests from theprogram management office and has to execute them. The sizeof the project may vary, ranging from just a minor change to alarger assignment such as an upgrade or an enterprise SOA projec

However, the main project management tasks are roughly thesame. SAP Solution Manager supports these tasks throughoutthe complete project life cycle. This support includes analysis

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and documentation of the “as-is” situation, definition of thetarget-solution requirements, control of configuration and testingactivities, management of knowledge transfer, and seamlesstransition of the changes into productive operations.

Change-control management is closely related to change-requestmanagement. To deploy changes, the application managementteam has to approve the import of changes into the quality assur-ance and production software and the download of SAP supportpackages. In addition, the team checks HotNews, a collection ofhigh-priority SAP Notes available via SAP Service Marketplace, tosee whether an item posted there is relevant for the customer.Changes are tracked via change diagnostics. All these actions areintegrated in the change-request management function of SAPSolution Manager.

In addition to its core functionality, SAP Solution Managerprovides the means for conducting a detailed, as-is analysis ofthe customer’s current software system using a reverse businessengineering tool that is part of the SAP Solution SupportEnablement package.

Besides handling these processes, the application managementteam coordinates all solution-related IT tasks in which they areactively involved. To do so, it has to constantly watch the statusof all solution operations processes. This status monitoringprocess is supported by SAP Solution Manager as well, throughinformation provided via documentation and reporting. Theinformation is also related to the minimum documentationstandard owned by application management. Via SAP SolutionManager, all solution stakeholders can access the informationthey need for their jobs.

Work Centers for Business Process Operations

IT business process experts belong to the business process opera-tions team. They have to ensure that business processes run

reliably within the E2E solution. That means providing supportwhen process expertise is required for detailed root-cause analysis.In these instances, the service desk in SAP Solution Manager

triggers business process operations. The experts can see – withthe service desk – all actions performed so far and their corre-sponding results. Then they can use appropriate tools to make adetailed root-cause analysis. The tools are either included in SASolution Manager or accessible via a link in the work center.

Besides reacting to incidents and problems, the business processoperations team monitors business processes and interfacesproactively, troubleshooting upcoming problems before they arevisible to the business units. This is achieved via the businessprocess monitoring functions of SAP Solution Manager. To detecttrends, the team relies on the SAP EarlyWatch® Alert service aon the service-level reporting provided by SAP Solution Manager

The business process operations team checks for inconsistencies

on a regular basis by running reports on the most critical businobjects and monitoring the results. If this monitoring reveals aninconsistency, the team performs a root-cause analysis. The analysis determines whether there is a real technical inconsistency,not just a temporary one. Once the root cause has been identifieit can be corrected. After this, incorrect data has to be correcteas well.

Another process managed by the business process operationsteam is job scheduling. This includes multiple tasks such aschecking and approving incoming job requests, documentingbackground jobs or complete job chains, testing jobs, scheduling jobs in the productive environment, monitoring jobs, and per-forming root-cause analysis once an error situation is detected. Job scheduling and monitoring tasks can be shared with the SAtechnology operations team.

For data-volume management, the business process operationsteam has to monitor data growth; identify and recommendcorresponding reduction possibilities; and implement, operate,and continuously optimize the data-volume management strategy.

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Work Center for Custom Development

The custom development team is responsible for fulfilling thechanges requested by the program management office. Beforecustom development begins, details of the changes must bespecified in the blueprint phase by the application managementteam in cooperation with business process champions, theprogram management office, and business process operations.The specification is available within SAP Solution Manager.

To realize a change, the custom development team adjusts theconfiguration of the applications involved and, if required,modifies existing software code or develops new software code.SAP Solution Manager provides access to the configuration settingsand the development area on the applications that comprise thesolution. For example, a custom development optimization

package in SAP Solution Support Enablement helps the develop-ment team analyze the use of customer-specific developmentsas well as optimize rollouts and upgrades to them. In addition,SAP Solution Manager makes the changes and correspondingdocumentation accessible for later reference or auditing.

The custom development team is also responsible for test prep-aration. Members of the team prepare test cases that describehow to test the changes. The test cases are linked to the changedocumentation in SAP Solution Manager and are assigned totesters via a test management function, also supported by SAPSolution Manager. Automation of testing is effected usingextended computer-aided test tool (eCATT) technology or theSAP Solution Manager adapter for the SAP Quality Center appli-cation by HP, in combination with the quality center applicationitself. Custom development is involved in test execution as well.If a problem is detected during testing, a message is created in theservice desk. The message serves both for managing and tracingproblem resolution.

Work Centers for SAP Technical Operations and

IT Infrastructure

SAP technical operations and IT infrastructure teams take careof technical solution operations. SAP technical operations coversthe SAP applications, and IT infrastructure covers the non-SAPtechnologies, such as databases and network infrastructure. Bothteams have to perform some administrative and monitoringtasks regularly. SAP Solution Manager supports this activity byproviding a list of these regular tasks, links to the tools requireto execute them, and a task log book.

Besides the regular administrative tasks, there are some tasksthat only occur occasionally. These tasks may result from the job-scheduling management process or the data-volume man-agement process. The execution of these tasks is triggered by

corresponding messages in the service desk.

If root-cause analysis identifies a technical issue as the root cauof a problem, SAP technical operations or IT infrastructureteams receive a notification in the service desk in SAP SolutioManager. From there, they access the tools required for detailedanalysis and, consequently, problem resolution. Another taskrelated to the incident-management process is granting SAPActive Global Support remote access to the landscape. If the SAtechnical operations group receives a corresponding requestfrom the application management team via the service desk, itcreates a user for remote access and then communicates thelogon information to SAP in the secure area of the service desin SAP Solution Manager.

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The SAP technical operations team is also responsible for softwarelogistics. Software logistics involves importing software and con-figuration changes into the quality assurance system and finallyinto the production system. The SAP extended change and trans-port system is used to synchronize parallel software transportseven for non-SAP solutions. After the imported change has beenapproved, SAP Solution Manager uses the change-request manage-ment function to notify SAP technical operations to transportthe changes between the software systems that comprise thesolution landscape. This same process applies to support packagesprovided by SAP for software maintenance. Support packagesand support package stacks are available via the maintenanceoptimizer in SAP Solution Manager.

imp m g S a a s h SAP S Ma ag

Once a customer has decided to become compliant with SAPstandards for solution operations, SAP Solution Manager playsvarious important roles in the adoption process. First, it servesas theproject environment . Adopting a solution operationsstandard at the customer site is typically a project that involvesmembers from different teams within the customer’s organiza-tion. SAP Solution Manager supports implementation projectsin the following ways:• Knowledge management functions

The software enables the project team to store all files thatdocument the decisions taken by the team during the adoptionprocess.

• Interface to the SAP enterprise modeling applicationby IDS ScheerThe application allows customers to use a graphical environ-ment for the detailed modeling of standard support processes –an option used primarily by large organizations.

• A full test suiteAvailable in the test workbench of SAP Solution Manager, thissoftware enables technicians to test tool-related process steps.

• Collaboration Projects (cProjects) application

Embedded in SAP Solution Manager, the cProjects applicationprovides all the functions required to steer projects to asuccessful completion.

Second, SAP Solution Manager acts as the centralknowledgeprovider . Implementing standards successfully requires man-agement of the project teams (and their various roles) as well amanagement of the functions these teams must perform. SAPSolution Manager can support these management tasks byproviding:• A standards road map to govern project methodology

This road map lays out the sequences in which tasks need tobe completed during a standards implementation project andindicates which content and accelerators are used in theindividual phases of the project.

• Services that support customers during the standardsadoption processSAP provides various services that assist customers adoptingsolution operations standards. These services range from

assessments of the customer’s current processes to qualitygates hosted by SAP. Upon request, SAP can manage completprojects. This level of service is usually tied to a premiummaintenance engagement, such as the SAP MaxAttention™support option. Because SAP Solution Manager functions asthe sole service delivery platform for all on-site and remoteservices provided by SAP Active Global Support, it stores andtracks all service data, feedback, and follow-up activities.

Third, SAP Solution Manager provides astandards compliancedashboard featuring various reporting functions that enablecustomers to monitor their organization’s compliance with theSAP standards for solution operations. These reporting functionsrange from day-to-day compliance monitoring to a completeC-level dashboard based on KPIs preconfigured by SAP ActiveGlobal Support – KPIs that can be extended and adapted.

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i g a g Pa App ca s

Partners play a key role in SAP’s strategy for delivering value tocustomers. Software and ISV partners provide complete, techni-cally verified turnkey software solutions that extend and addvalue to SAP solutions. These applications may be based onSAP’s standard, release-stable interfaces or on the SAP NetWeavertechnology platform. Customers expect the partner softwareproducts integrated with SAP applications or the SAP NetWeavertechnology platform to be managed and supported with the sameefficiency and reliability they experience every day for SAP solu-tions. To enable this, it is important to integrate partners intothe SAP service backbone and standardized support processes.

SAP Solution Manager serves as the hub for managing customerelationships and collaborating with SAP. In particular, it enableskey functions for partner and ISV software. These functions includeincident management and root-cause analysis, access to the SAPsupport knowledge base, and delivery of patches and downloads(software life-cycle management). The solution even enablescustomers to order days of consulting time as on-demand servicesAll these functions are accomplished through the partner’s SAPSolution Manager software and the integration of partners intothe SAP service backbone and standardized support processes.This enables the partner products integrated into the customersolution to offer the same quality and operate in the same waycustomers expect from SAP applications.

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SAP eduCAtion And CertifiCAtionfor e2e Solution oPerAtionSThe E2E solution operations curriculum gives the teams involvedin managing SAP solutions the fundamental skills they need tofollow and execute SAP standards. And it offers direct role- andtask-oriented knowledge transfer from SAP’s experts and specialists.

Optimal operation of SAP solutions depends on the quality ofthe frontline employees in the customer’s or service provider’sorganization. A certification program is the ideal way to assessand verify individual skills. It enables the customer and themanaged service provider to prove that their solution operationsexperts are qualified, proficient, and capable of managing anE2E solution centered on SAP software. The E2E solution operationscertification from SAP targets different roles and different levelsof competency.

e2e S op a s C c m

The E2E curriculum helps customers educate specializedteams and stakeholders so they can execute their assigned tasksefficiently. Participants become familiar with the SAP standards,which describe how to best use available tools and services andhow to collaborate with other stakeholders. The E2E solutionoperations curriculum is structured along different knowledgelevels as follows:• E2E solution operations overview• E2E technical core competence• E2E technical expert competence• Management competence

The overall curriculum is shown in Figure 5.

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Figure 5: Curriculum Offered to Those Involved in E2E Solutions Centered on SAP® Software

C s m ’s it

t chnical Cor Comp nc

t chnical exp r Comp nc

C s m ’s B s ss u

Ma ag mC mp c

e2e S op a : o e-l a g C c m

E2E Root-Cause Analysis

E2EChange-Control

Management

E2EBusinessProcess

Integration & Automation

ProgramManagement

Office Application Management Business

Process Operations SAP Technical Operations

SAP NetWeaver XIDiagnostics

SAP NetWeaver®Portal Diagnostics

SAP NetWeaver BIDiagnostics

SAP NetWeaver Application Server

Diagnostics

Job Scheduling

BusinessProcess

Performance

Data VolumeManagement

IntegrationManagement

ChangeRequest

Management

ChanceDiagnostics

TestManagement

SAP Systems Administration

SAP NetWeaver XI Administration

SAP NetWeaverPortal Administration

SAP NetWeaver BI Administration

SAP NetWeaver Application Server

Administration

Security

TechnicalQuality

Management

TechnicalUpgrade

Management



Learning Curriculum in Detail

E2E solution operations overview courses provide the “bigpicture” of E2E solution operations and are aimed at all solutionteams and stakeholders. The courses cover the standards for solutionoperations and describe SAP Solution Manager as a platform forE2E operations. They also explain basic tasks, including how touse SAP Solution Manager as a collaboration platform and howto scope out and document a solution according to the standardsprovided.

E2E technical core competence courses explain the basic tasksinvolved in solution operations. The courses consist of severalsystem demos and exercises that focus on regular tasks. Targetgroups for these courses include application management teams,SAP technical operations experts, and members of business pro-

cess operations and custom development teams. Technical corecompetence is addressed via the following courses:• E2E100: E2E root-cause analysis (5 days)

This course covers the tools and approaches used for analyzingthe root cause of incidents and for isolating the componentcausing the incident in a heterogeneous IT landscape. Prerequi-sites for the course include an overview of SAP technology aswell as a basic understanding of SAP Solution Manager and E2Esolution support.

• E2E200: E2E change-control management (5 days)This course details the tools and approaches used for control-ling changes and describes how to diagnose and track changesin a heterogeneous IT landscape. Attendees learn about theconcept of One Transport Order (based on the SAP extendedchange and transport system), which enables technicians tocombine and synchronize objects from several implementationlanguages.

• E2E300: E2E business process integration and automation(5 days)This course covers the concept of E2E integration and automa-tion, detailing the tools and methodologies involved. Aimed

at the business operations team, it explains how to establishprovided procedures, how to access SAP tools, and how to usethem to overcome specific integration and automation challenges.

For SAP technical operations teams, SAP offers a portfolio ofcourses. The SAP system administration courses are structuredaccording to the roles used in various areas of SAP administratand technology. Some roles are specific to certain components,and some roles cross component boundaries. The cross-componentroles contain tasks that are required for a certain component buare also relevant for other components. For example, change andtransport system administration is required for solutions basedon SAP R/3® software as well as for those built on SAP CRMTransport landscapes need to be set up for the various compo-nents, and the procedure for doing this is the same for all appcations. Another example of cross-component roles occurs indatabase administration, which is necessary in each componentof each database used. The component-specific roles cover tasksthat belong to a particular SAP software component. They include

administration of SAP NetWeaver Portal, SAP NetWeaver XI, SANetWeaver BI, the SAP Supply Chain Management (SAP SCM)application, and SAP CRM.

E2E technical expert competence courses and workshopsprovide in-depth explanations of basic and specialized tasks forsolution operation. They consist of several system demos as welas exercises based on both regular and specialized tasks. Theworkshops are service oriented. They are performed individuallyfor a specific customer and use that customer’s software systemfor the exercises. Target groups for these offerings belong tocenter-of-expertise groups specialized in critical technicalcomponents (such as SAP NetWeaver Portal, SAP NetWeaver XI,SAP NetWeaver BI, and database).

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To promote E2E technical expert competencies , technicalexperts can also take advantage of SAP Empowering workshops,which deliver state-of the-art knowledge to experts. Theseworkshops address issues that are specific to end-to-end solutionsupport. Designed to be flexible, they can be delivered as standardclassroom training at an SAP site or at the customer’s site, forteams or individuals. Or they can be provided via e-learningsessions using a role-based approach. SAP’s goal is to provide theexpertise its customers need to optimize operations and continuallyoptimize SAP solutions.

E2E management competence courses explain how tomanage SAP standards for solution operations, including howto develop a road map for implementation that incorporatespeople, processes, and platform. The courses also describe the

critical success factors for E2E solution operations and the poten-tial tasks involved in outsourcing or out-tasking. Target groupsfor these management courses are IT leads, program managers,and business process champions. Management competence isaddressed via the following courses:• Technical implementation management (2 days)

In this course, attendees learn about SAP’s standards for successfultechnical implementation projects. They also discover themajor technical risks and challenges involved in implementingSAP standards for solution operations and study the conceptof safeguarding for solution operations readiness. And theyreview the methodology used in each of the individual serviceofferings as well as the benefits gained from using that service.

• Technical quality management (2 days)Participants in this course learn about SAP’s standards forsuccessfully managing and operating a solution, especially amission-critical solution. They discover the major risks andchallenges within outsourcing and out-tasking and study theconcept of mission-critical support. They also review themethodology used in each of the individual service offerings aswell as the benefits (such as reduced TCO) gained from using

that service.

• Technical upgrade management (2 days)In this course, participants study the standards for successfulupgrade projects. They discover the major technical risks andchallenges within an upgrade project and learn about the con-cept of safeguarding for upgrade. They also review the methodology used in each of the individual service offerings as well abenefits gained from using that service.

e2e S op a s C ca

The E2E solution operations certification from SAP enablescustomer teams, partners, or managed service providers todocument proficiency. Certified candidates have proven theircompetency by passing demanding, task- and process-orientedexaminations. This certification is the only authorized SAPaccreditation available covering E2E solution operations.

For partners and managed service providers, an SAP certificatedemonstrates the return on their investment in training. Certifiedcandidates manage their workforce more efficiently while allowingtheir people to develop more effectively. The certificate alsoenhances employee loyalty and job performance. For customersout-tasking or outsourcing parts of their operations, the certifi-cation provides standards of expertise and differentiates the part-ners or managed service providers in the market. The certificateconfirms that its holder has the up-to-date knowledge needed toeffectively manage solutions centered on SAP software and thusis able to ensure mission-critical support of E2E solutions.

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In the E2E solution operations certification, the following rolesare certified:• Business process champion• Program manager• Application management expert• Business process expert• SAP technical administrator• Custom development consultant

Each role can have specializations and different levels of certifica-tion. The certifications based on technical core competencecourses are on the associate level. Those based on technicalexpert competence courses are on the professional level. Andcertifications based on management competence courses areon the master level. Figure 6 shows the certifications for thefour roles which, at a minimum, should be defined within yourorganization for effective end-to-end solution operations.

Figure 6: Role-Based Certification for E2E Solution Operations

C s m ’sB s ss u

C s m s’s it

r

C ca s

Mas Ass c a

E2E Root-Cause Analysis

E2EChange-Control

Management

E2E BusinessProcess Integration,

AutomationSAP System Administration

P ss a

SAP service engineer for a specific methodology such asSAP NetWeaver® Portal diagnostics, change-request management,business process performance

SAP system administration

for a specific component suchas SAP NetWeaver Portal, SAPNetWeaver XI. SAP NetWeaver BI,

SAP NetWeaver AS

Application Management Expert BusinessProcess Expert SAP Technical Administrator

Technical QualityManagement

Technical UpgradeManagement

Program Manager

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find out MoreTo learn how SAP standards for solution operations canhelp your organization optimize E2E solutions based onSAP software – and get details on the certification coursesthat support this optimization process – visit us online atwww.sap.com/solutionoperations .

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APPendix:e2e Solution oPerAtionS CertifiCAtion: role CertifiCAteSMas l

Program Manager

This certificate confirms a candidate’s knowledge in the areas oftechnical quality management and technical upgrade manage-ment. It verifies that the candidate has a basic understandingwithin this profile and can implement this knowledge practicallyin real-time projects. The courses for certification preparationare technical quality management and technical upgrademanagement.

The certification test consists of questions from the followingareas:

1. Technical quality management• Basis development language

• Technical risk management with SAP® software

2. Implementation or upgrade project• Key questions• Key phases• Key focus areas• Key risks and challenges

3. Technical risk management• Evaluation and assessment• Feasibility and technical check• Optimization• Support

4. Collaboration with SAP• SAP Solution Manager application management solution• Other tools and services

Ass c a l

Application Management Expert

Application management experts can receive certifications intwo areas:• Root-cause analysis• Change-control management

Root-Cause AnalysisThis certificate proves that the candidate has a basic understanding within this profile and can implement this knowledge practically in E2E solution operations. The course for certificationpreparation is E2E100: E2E root-cause analysis. The certificationtest consists of questions from the following areas:

1. Introduction to end-to-end root-cause analysis

• Why end-to-end root-cause analysis• Cross-component diagnostics versus component diagnostics• Root-cause analysis versus solution monitoring• SAP Solution Manager as a key enabler of end-to-end

root-cause analysis• Savings through E2E diagnostics in SAP Solution Manager• Incident management and preclarification

2. End-to-end change diagnostics• How to collect end-to-end version information from the

customer’s software landscape• How to detect changes to production• Architecture of the One Transport Order concept

3. End-to-end workload analysis• How to detect a general performance bottleneck on the server si• Comparison of the ABAP™ programming language and Java

workload analysis• Overview of ABAP workload analysis

– ABAP process overview – ABAP performance statistics

– ABAP memory analysis

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• Overview of Java workload analysis – Java thread-dump analysis – Workload analysis with CA Wily Introscope – Java memory analysis

• Overview of operating system (OS) and database analysis• File system browser and OS command console• Display of CPU and I/O consumption in SAP Solution Manager• Introduction to database monitors, analysis of I/O consumption

from database monitors

4. End-to-end trace• Recording and analyzing an end-to-end trace• Architecture of end-to-end trace: client to network to server to

database to disk• Comparison of ABAP and Java traces

• Java tracing with CA Wily Introscope transaction trace• ABAP tracing with SQL trace (ST05) and application trace (ST12)• BMC Appsight as an SAP standard for client-side root-cause

analysis – Understanding the end-user experience by watching the

client movie – Comparing client configuration (for example, DLLs, registry) – Analyzing inbound and outbound traffic (HTTP, DCOM, TCP) – Analyzing performance metrics from clients – Performing root-cause analysis down to coding level using

Appsight code

5. End-to-end exception analysis• Accessing logs and dumps for ABAP and non-ABAP environ-

ments with end-to-end exception analysis• Comparing ABAP and Java log and dump analysis• Reviewing ABAP syslog and application log• Reviewing Java log viewer and Java thread-dump analysis

6. Proving solution quality with SAP EarlyWatch® Alert• Architecture of the SAP EarlyWatch Alert service for ABAP

and Java• Key performance indicators of a stable SAP solution• SAP EarlyWatch Alert reports

Change-Control ManagementThis certificate proves that the candidate has a basic understanding within this profile and can implement this knowledge practically in E2E solution operations. The course for certificationpreparation is E2E200: E2E change control management. Thecertification test consists of questions from the following areas:

1. E2E change-control management introduction• Solution quality management

• SAP Solution Manager as change-control platform• System landscape definition (schematic layout, connections,

and dependencies)

2. Change diagnostics• Configuration of change reporting via the Java 2 Platform,

Enterprise Edition, ABAP, and other methods• Availability reporting in service-level reporting• Change and transport system (CTS) statistics

3. Change deployment• SAP NetWeaver® technology platform development environ-

ments for ABAP, the SAP NetWeaver Portal component, andthe SAP NetWeaver Exchange Infrastructure (SAP NetWeaverXI) component

• Transport strategies (via ABAP, Java, and other methods)• One Transport Order (CTS+)

4. Change-request management• The big picture• End-user’s perspective of change-request management

• Introduction of change-request management as a tool inSAP Solution Manager

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5. Maintenance of SAP software• HotNews and TopNotes in SAP Solution Manager

(available via the SAP Service Marketplace extranet)• Support package stacks and side-effects• Support package content analysis• Maintenance optimizer in SAP Solution Manager

6. Test management• Concept of test strategies and organization (for example, the

test workbench in SAP Solution Manager)• Concept of building test data (via a test data migration server

or system copy)• Concept of test automation (via extended automated test

technology)

Business Process ExpertThe certification for business process experts affirms theirknowledge in the area of E2E business process integration andautomation. This certificate proves that the candidate has a basicunderstanding within this profile and can implement thisknowledge practically in E2E solution operations. The course forcertification preparation is E2E300: business process integrationand automation. The certification test consists of questions fromthe following areas:

1. Introduction to business process integration andautomation

• Overall end-to-end solution support• Skills, processes, and tools in the E2E solution support integra-

tion and automation standard aligned with SAP IT service andapplication management areas

2. Business process monitoring• Business process monitoring in SAP Solution Manager• Prerequisites for business process monitoring• Business process monitoring setup procedure

• Functional details for background job monitoring• How to handle business process monitoring

3. Interface management• Remote function call: Tools for monitoring and error analysis• Application link enabling: Tools for monitoring and error

analysis• Workflow: Tools for monitoring and error analysis• SAP NetWeaver XI: Architecture and runtime workbench• Automated monitoring with SAP Solution Manager

4. Job-scheduling management• Road map for a program-scheduling management concept• Job-schedule analysis with SM37• Job-schedule analysis with /SSA/BTC• Comparison of SM36 and the SAP Central Process Schedulin

application by Redwood• Basic functionality of SAP Central Process Scheduling

5. Business process performance optimization• Application tuning areas• Common tools for performance analysis• Road map for typical performance analysis• Case study focused on a number-range performance problem

6. Data-volume management• Data-volume management• Data-volume scoping• Data-volume strategy• Data-volume reporting

7. Data consistency• Causes for inconsistencies• Prevention of inconsistencies• Monitoring of inconsistencies• Business continuity in case of inconsistency• Correction of inconsistencies

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SAP Technical Administrator

The SAP system administration certifications are structuredaccording to the roles used in the areas of system administrationand system monitoring. Some roles are specific to certain com-ponents, and others cross component boundaries. These certifi-cates prove that the candidate has a basic understanding withinthis profile and can implement this knowledge practically in SAPtechnical operations. Details of the courses and certificationportfolio are documented inwww.service.sap.com/education →

SAP Global Certification Program→ SAP Consultant Certification→

SAP NetWeaver . (Note: This link accesses the SAP Service Marketplaceextranet, which requires customer login.)

P ss a l

SAP Service Engineer

These certifications indicate expert competence in the areas ofapplication management as well as in the business process inte-gration and automation of solutions centered on SAP software.They are structured according to specific expert roles that areused sporadically.

For application management, technical expert competencytesting covers the following specializations:• Root-cause analysis of components (for example, SAP

NetWeaver Portal, SAP NetWeaver XI, the SAP NetWeaverBusiness Intelligence component, the SAP NetWeaverApplication Server component, and database)

• Change-request management• Change diagnostics• Test management

For business process integration and automation, technicalexpert competency testing covers the following specializations:• Business process performance optimization• Business process monitoring• Volume testing

• Data-volume management• Job automation

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Disclaimer: This document is not subject to your license agree-ment or any other agreement with SAP. This document containsintended strategies, developments, and functionalities of the SAPproduct and services and is not intended to be binding upon SAPto any particular course of business, product strategy, and/ordevelopment. Please note that this document is subject to changeand may be changed by SAP at any time without notice.

SAP assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions in thisdocument.

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