Presenting Transition Recommendations

The first slide shows SAP's recommended transition path from SAP Solution Manager 7.2 to SAP Cloud ALM, and when to complement with SAP Focused Run:

When reading this slide, consider three lanes: "Switch now" (move immediately), "Adopt at your own pace" (phase in), and "Add for advanced operation use cases" (use when you have extensive, high-volume operations).

• Left Lane: Move operational monitoring and service consumption from Solution Manager to Cloud ALM as a first step.
• Middle Lane: Phase in Cloud ALM for project delivery when the features you need are available; you don't have to switch all implementation processes immediately
• Right Lane: Use Focused Run alongside Cloud ALM when your operational scale exceeds the capabilities of standard Cloud ALM monitoring.

Watch the video to learn about the essential steps in the discovery phase of transitioning to SAP Cloud ALM:

What you should have learned from the video:

Discovery Phase

• Discover the value of SAP Cloud ALM.
• Get the SAP Cloud ALM tenant.

• Get familiar with SAP Cloud ALM:

  • Setup and administration
  • Users and authorization
  • API strategy
  • Feature delivery strategy
  • Data center strategy

Transition Planning

Execute the readiness check for SAP Cloud ALM:

• Transparency on SAP Solution Manager usage.
• Equivalent SAP Cloud ALM capabilities mapping (available and planned).
• On top SAP Cloud ALM capabilities.

Customer-specific transition planning is based on:

• Results of SAP Readiness Check
• Planned projects and solution landscape

Outcome: The transition plan

• Including one or multiple projects.
• With up to 3 different SAP Cloud ALM project types:
  • SAP Cloud ALM for operations
    • Setup of operations capabilities.
    • Integration of SAP Cloud ALM for operations into existing IT service management processes and tools.
    • Productive usage of SAP Cloud ALM for operations.
    • Decommissioning of respective SAP Solution Manager capabilities.
  • SAP Cloud ALM for fast-paced cloud implementations
    • SAP Cloud ALM for new (cloud) implementations.
    • Good for implementations without a deep integration into core ERP solution.
    • Opportunity to get experience with SAP Cloud ALM for implementation.
  • Transition of existing ALM processes from SAP Solution Manager to SAP Cloud ALM
    • Transition of running SAP Cloud ALM (for implementation) processes.
    • Transitioning SAP Cloud ALM processes of an active implementation project is not recommended.
    • In scope are mainly SAP Cloud ALM processes used for changing and enhancing productive solutions.
    • Selective data transfer.

The next light shows the main steps for the transition:

Think of it as a four-phase journey from SAP Solution Manager to SAP Cloud ALM, with clear inputs, actions, and outcomes in each step.

Readiness Check

"What do we use today, and what's possible in Cloud ALM?"

Build an objective inventory of your current SAP Solution Manager usage and compare it to what SAP Cloud ALM offers.

Project Setup

Plan the move correctly.

Turn the readiness insights into a structured plan using SAP Activate.

Project Execution

Configure, migrate, and validate.

Stand up Cloud ALM capabilities, move prioritized data, and prove it works.

Extension

Grow value after go-live.

Expand to additional scenarios and systems once the core is stable.

Key tips and good practices

• Migrate only what you really need; keep SAP Solution Manager read-only for history until comfortable.
• Start with a pilot/wave to prove value quickly (e.g., one solution line or a few key processes).
• Establish governance early: naming conventions, roles, and approval flows in Cloud ALM.
• Define measurable success criteria: e.g., % requirements managed in Cloud ALM, test execution coverage, mean time to detect/resolve operational alerts, deployment lead time.
• Document the "outside Cloud ALM" decisions and owners, so the ALM process remains end-to-end even if split across tools.

Common pitfalls to avoid

• Assuming 1:1 feature parity with SAP Solution Manager; design your process to Cloud ALM's strengths.
• Underestimating data cleansing effort; poor data quality hurts adoption.
• Delaying user enablement; provide short, role-based training and quick reference guides.
• Skipping validation; always perform stakeholder sign-off on migrated data and configured flows.

Selective Data Transfer is the approach for moving only the relevant Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) data from SAP Solution Manager (on-premises) into SAP Cloud ALM (cloud). The intent is not a 1:1 lift-and-shift of everything. It's a targeted migration plus process modernization:

Key messages, simplified

Migrate only what matters

• You define a tailored scope: pick the ALM artifacts that still have business value (for example, current requirements, backlog items, test cases, defects, and documentation).
• You have the flexibility to modify data during the move (cleanse, reclassify, rename, enrich metadata) so your new environment starts clean.
• This lets you redesign ALM processes for Cloud ALM while retaining important historical or in-flight items-protecting past investments without carrying over clutter.

Use the SAP Cloud ALM Readiness Check

• The Readiness Check is a structured assessment that helps you identify functional needs and gaps for your target Cloud ALM setup.
• Output: a prioritized list of what to implement/migrate first, aligned with your project constraints (scope, timeline, and budget).
• Practically, it guides decisions such as which Solution Manager components you'll retire, which data sets to migrate, and what new capabilities to adopt in Cloud ALM.

Follow a transition roadmap based on SAP Activate

SAP provides a Cloud ALM transition roadmap aligned to the SAP Activate phases. Typical flow:

• Discover: Understand current SAP Solution Manager usage, business drivers, and benefits of Cloud ALM.
• Prepare: Set up the Cloud ALM tenant, roles, connectivity; run the Readiness Check; decide migration scope and cutover approach.
• Explore: Design target ALM processes (requirements, test management, defect handling, deployment), define data mapping and transformation rules.
• Realize: Cleanse and transform data; execute selective migration; configure Cloud ALM processes; validate with key users.
• Deploy: Cutover, go-live, and hypercare; finalize archiving of non-migrated data in SAP Solution Manager.
• Run: Continuous adoption, monitoring, and optimization in Cloud ALM.

This roadmap provides governance, milestones, and deliverables to ensure a controlled and predictable transition.

• Reduces risk and effort by avoiding bulk migration of obsolete or low-value data.
• Accelerates adoption of Cloud ALM best practices while keeping essential context from Solution Manager.
• Helps maintain compliance and auditability (retain important records; archive what you don't move).

Tipps:

• Start with housekeeping: remove duplicates, close old items, and define a cut-off date.
• Agree on data mapping early (statuses, priorities, types) so migrated items align with Cloud ALM taxonomy.
• Pilot the migration with a limited scope, validate with end users, then scale.
• Document what will not be migrated and how it will be archived or referenced.

The aim is to migrate only the valuable ALM data from SAP Solution Manager to SAP Cloud ALM, modernize our processes as we proceed, utilize the Readiness Check to establish priorities, and execute the transition using an SAP Activate-based roadmap for a clean and controlled migration.

If data is to be migrated from SAP Solution Manager to SAP Cloud ALM, Selective Data Transfer facilitates the required activities.

Combine SAP Active Roadmap with Worksteam Data Management

The next slide combines the SAP Activate roadmap with a specific workstream focused on Data Management for moving from SAP Solution Manager 7.2 to SAP Cloud ALM:

The top arrow (Discover > Prepare > Explore > Realize > Deploy > Run) is the standard SAP Activate phase model.

Below, you will find that the data workstream has five practical steps: Analyze Data > Select Data > Adjust (optional) > Simulate & Correct > Import. The data then lands in SAP Cloud ALM.

The single steps are as follows:

(1) The "SAP Cloud ALM Readiness Check" and your SAP Solution Manager 7.2 system are the starting points for the analysis.

(2) Step-by-step, tied to SAP Activate:

Discover - Analyze Data

• Use the SAP Cloud ALM Readiness Check and SAP Solution Manager reporting to inventory what you have: requirements/backlog items, test plans/cases, defects, change records, attachments, users, and links.
• Assess data quality, age, ownership, and legal retention needs.

Prepare - Select Data

• Decide exactly what to move (object types and time windows). Typical criteria: active items, last 12-24 months, open defects, reusable test cases.
• Define selection rules and who signs off on each area.

Explore - Adjust (Optional)

• Cleanse and transform: remove duplicates, fix names, map fields (statuses, priorities, categories), align users/roles.
• Design object mappings from SAP Solution Manager entities to Cloud ALM entities (e.g., requirements/tasks, test suites to test plans/cases, defects to issues).

Realize - Simulate & Correct

• Do dry runs in a sandbox tenant. Import samples, check counts, and links (requirements ↔ tests ↔ defects).
• Correct errors and refine transformation rules. Iterate until stakeholders approve.

Deploy - Import

• Execute the approved import to the productive Cloud ALM tenant (CSV/API/tools as available).
• Monitor logs, reconcile totals, and perform user acceptance checks. Freeze changes in SAP Solution Manager during cutover if needed.

Run - Operate in Cloud ALM

• Users work in Cloud ALM with clean, usable data.
• Set up and expand Operations monitoring, dashboards, and processes; keep SAP Solution Manager read-only for history until you no longer need it.

Which object types and relationships are currently available, not available, or not applicable for Selective Data Transfer (SDT) uploads into SAP Cloud ALM Process Management? You could check on the following internet page Selective Data Transfer (SDT) - Supported Objects.

You will see, among others, a matrix graphic like this: