From the CEO

Welcome to our fourth SAP Change Control eNewsletter for 2009.

At the time of writing we are in final preparation for our exhibit at SAPPHIRE 09, to be held in Orlando next month.

This is always an exciting time as we get to hear from SAP users directly about their change management issues, which then provides great information for future product development.

Be sure to read our SAP Administration and Infrastructure conference reflections. It will be interesting to see if a similar set of themes will emerge from SAPPHIRE.

SAP Solution Manager is gaining momentum as one way of bringing together a range of SAP solution management tools, but there are many third party options available. Below is a lead in to an article about selecting solutions from among these options. I'm sure you will find it of interest and value.

As always, we continue to lead innovation in SAP change control, developing software technology to help you reduce the risks and lower the costs of introducing changes into your SAP systems.

David Drake, CEO and Founder

SAP Administration and Infrastructure 2009

Rick Porter, VP Business Development, was at the SAP Administration and Infrastructure conference in Orlando, Florida last month and had the following comments.

Unsurprisingly, managing change across multiple SAP Solutions and across both ABAP and non-ABAP technology stacks was the major topic of conversation at the RSC booth and also a major theme in many of the sessions.

Over the course of the three days, several key points emerged around SAP change management and these included:

• CTS+ technology is becoming well understood and its uptake is accelerating;
• Formalized change management technology is now being understood by many as a necessary requirement to 'sit on top of' CTS+ to ensure successful SAP solutions change management; and
• SAP Solution Manager change management support tools are, for most part and as yet, an inadequate answer to the majority of SAP user's change management needs.

Additionally, it was noticed that third-party SAP change management tools are gaining acceptance and recognition among the SAP community.

This was particularly evident in a session centered on CTS+ technology, when the presenting SAP Solution Manager product expert mentioned a couple of third-party options for SAP change management, including RSC's Rev-Trac.

Clearly, the need for SAP change management tools and solutions is increasing and, after ten years of consistent focus on SAP change management by RSC, it is pleasing indeed to see that the requirement for SAP change control solutions is becoming well understood and somewhat mainstream.

Assessing Third-Party Solutions in the SAP Ecosystem

As companies grow and adopt multiple SAP Solution modules, implement complex system landscapes, and begin utilizing multiple technologies, the importance of third-party products to the SAP ecosystem has steadily increased.

Selecting and implementing the correct add-ons to supplement the power of native SAP-based solutions, like SAP Solution Manager, is one key to successful management of the more complex SAP environments.

Once the need has been determined and selection of a best-fit solution is required, it will help to start by answering specific questions about how different SAP certified candidate solutions address your specific requirements.

This may be a difficult exercise, but when comparing change management options, the following set of questions provide a good starting place.

• How effectively does a candidate solution integrate with current practices and the issues they solve?
• Are approvals and process rules both flexible and easy to follow?
• Can the solution prevent accidental disruption of your production system?
• Does the solution provide effective visualization tools?
• To what extent does a solution depend on voluntary compliance?
• Does the solution address the needs of all interested parties?
• Does the solution simplify and assure access to issue-related paperwork and documentation?
• Does the solution offer significant time and cost savings?
• How mature is the solution?

Finally, implementing any software solution, whether third-party or native to SAP, entails costs in terms of acquisition, resources to implement, and resources to maintain. When comparing the apparent costs of candidate solutions, ask what aspects of the real cost may be hidden from view.

If you would like to drill down a little further into the details of the article, please ask us for a copy.

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Rev-Trac Tips and Tricks

Delegating Approvals

It is possible for a Rev-Trac user to delegate his/her approval authority to another Rev-Trac user. This is in many cases useful when a key approval user is unexpectedly absent or on scheduled leave.

The delegates can be assigned via Rev-Trac menu path:
Request Management > Delegate Approvers

The delegated approver can be assigned for a period of time defined by the 'From Date' and 'To Date'.

The authorisation associated with delegates can be controlled at various levels including:

This authorisation may be used to control the scope within which a user may delegate others to approve Rev-Trac requests on behalf of third-parties. It can be assigned to the user's SAP authorisation profile.

For further information on delegate approvers, please consult the Rev-Trac Administrator Guide. The latest copy of the guide can be downloaded from the support area of the RSC website.

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Rev-Trac Q & A

I've heard about Rev-Trac's key level locking - How can I activate key level locking in my Rev-Trac installation?

The risks associated with overtaking and overwriting are significantly reduced if all transports that affect a particular object or set of configuration are attached to the same Rev-Trac request.

Consistently following this work practice helps ensure that transports affecting a particular object or set of configuration are migrated in the correct sequence, and reduces the incidence of OOPS warnings or errors. The primary purpose of the Rev-Trac locking system is to help enforce this work practice.

By default, the Rev-Trac locking system checks and enforces locks only at a table level not at a table key level.

From support package stack 18 onward, Rev-Trac includes a facility to have the Rev-Trac locking process enabled for table objects at the key level. This feature is available for SAP systems running SAP Basis 4.6C or greater.

Revelation Software Concepts has developed a simple procedure to implement and activate the use of key level locking. The procedure requires the import of a single transport along with a few activation steps to any Rev-Trac installation of SPS18+.

The latest support package stack can be downloaded from the support area of the RSC website.

Please contact the Rev-Trac support desk in order to obtain the transport and documentation required to implement key level locking, also from the support area of the RSC website.