Leveraging the Integrated Toolchain in RISE with SAP

The integrated toolchain is a key part of the RISE with SAP Methodology, designed to support a process-driven ERP transformation. It is a set of solutions to support the transformation to the SAP Business Suite. It brings together SAP-native and partner solutions to manage business processes, enterprise architecture, system landscape orchestration, change management, and quality assurance. To learn more, see RISE with SAP Methodology.

It aligns with SAP’s standardized framework and the transformation approaches used by SAP experts and qualified partners. It offers end-to-end visibility and control across the digital transformation lifecycle. The integrated toolchain enables a seamless collaboration of all stakeholders across various phases of the SAP Activate road map.

It aligns with key strategic concepts:

• Standardized framework guidance: agile, phase-based approach with clear tasks, deliverables, and milestones.
• SAP clean core approach: minimizes customization and enables upgrade-ready extensions, using SAP Build and SAP BTP.
• Success plans and quality checks: ensures that transformation progress and readiness are validated at every phase.

Depending on the starting point, transformation setup, existing tools, and licensed SAP solutions, you may use different tools from the integrated toolchain in the following areas:

• Business process optimization: SAP Signavio is used to analyze, model, simulate, and optimize business processes to ensure that processes are transformation ready.
• Enterprise architecture management: With SAP LeanIX, you can map your current and future-state architectures, assess transformation impacts, and ensure architectural alignment with business goals.
• Project and quality management: SAP Cloud ALM (application lifecycle management) offers lifecycle orchestration, including implementation tracking, quality gates, and a success plan, aligned with the SAP Activate framework.
• Agile development and integration: SAP BTP and SAP Build are used for low-code development and application integration.
• Automated testing and data migration: Partner solutions Tricentis and Syniti are used for test automation and data migration, ensuring data integrity.
• User adoption and learning: WalkMe and SAP Enable Now are used for in-app guidance and learning to boost user adoption.

This guide focuses on the setup and collaboration between SAP LeanIX, SAP Signavio, and SAP Cloud ALM - three key solutions with well-established integrations available to RISE with SAP customers. The following graphics show the interplay between these products:

To support efficient onboarding and seamless integration of the three tools, on a high level, these are the steps you follow to get started with the transformation:

1. Define transformation setup and governance: Establish the target operating model, including roles, responsibilities, and collaboration practices within the tools. Align with stakeholders and set a regular meeting cadence. For a detailed guide, see Organizational Setup for Transformation
2. Align on an overarching meta model: Each tool has its own meta or data model that can be adapted to organizational needs. Align and adjust these models to ensure smooth data flow and interoperability. Document your adapted model as an architecture decision in SAP LeanIX, including the rationale and links to relevant fact sheets for transparency and collaboration. To learn more, see Best Practices for Setting Up the Overarching Meta Model.
3. Set up all three tools in parallel: Set up all three tools (SAP Cloud ALM, SAP LeanIX, and SAP Signavio) in parallel, with each owned by its respective lead. Use the agreed meta model as the basis for configuration. While you don’t need to start using every tool immediately, you establish the technical setup needed for effective data mapping and workflows going forward.
4. Use SAP landscape discovery from the start: Set up SAP landscape discovery in SAP LeanIX to automatically detect SAP applications, IT components, and providers via SAP Cloud ALM. It builds an accurate and up-to-date representation of your organization’s architecture and ensures consistency with SAP reference content and modeling best practices. It also supports the addition of non-SAP data into SAP LeanIX. To learn more, see SAP Discovery.
5. Prepare for the integration of SAP LeanIX and SAP Signavio: Understand the meta models of SAP LeanIX and the dictionary items in SAP Signavio Process Manager. Use the best practices provided in the following guides to map your data for meaningful insights. Once both repositories are populated and aligned with the meta model, proceed with the integration. It ensures data is consistent and complete before connecting. For a detailed guide, see SAP LeanIX and SAP Signavio Integration.
6. Integrate SAP Signavio and SAP Cloud ALM: Integrate SAP Signavio with SAP Cloud ALM and synchronize process diagrams as early as possible. This allows you to synchronize a draft version of the process to SAP Cloud ALM for testing and documenting the requirements. You can attach documents to the right process from the beginning. If changes are made to the process diagram, they can be published to the existing synchronized diagram in SAP Cloud ALM.

• The integrated toolchain is a key component of RISE with SAP, supporting process-driven ERP transformations.
• The toolchain aligns with SAP's standardized framework, promoting a clean core approach and continuous validation.
• SAP LeanIX, SAP Signavio, and SAP Cloud ALM are key solutions within the toolchain, offering integrations for enterprise architecture management, process optimization, and project management.

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to outline the purpose of the integrated toolchain within the RISE with SAP methodology, describe how SAP LeanIX, SAP Signavio, and SAP Cloud ALM collaborate to support a process-driven ERP transformation, and explain the recommended initial steps for setting up and integrating these tools in a typical greenfield scenario.

To support efficient onboarding and seamless integration of the three tools, on a high level, these are the steps you follow to get started with the transformation:

1. Define transformation setup and governance: Establish the target operating model, including roles, responsibilities, and collaboration practices within the tools. Align with stakeholders and set a regular meeting cadence. For a detailed guide, see Organizational Setup for Transformation
2. Align on an overarching meta model: Each tool has its own meta or data model that can be adapted to organizational needs. Align and adjust these models to ensure smooth data flow and interoperability. Document your adapted model as an architecture decision in SAP LeanIX, including the rationale and links to relevant fact sheets for transparency and collaboration. To learn more, see Best Practices for Setting Up the Overarching Meta Model.
3. Set up all three tools in parallel: Set up all three tools (SAP Cloud ALM, SAP LeanIX, and SAP Signavio) in parallel, with each owned by its respective lead. Use the agreed meta model as the basis for configuration. While you don’t need to start using every tool immediately, you establish the technical setup needed for effective data mapping and workflows going forward.
4. Use SAP landscape discovery from the start: Set up SAP landscape discovery in SAP LeanIX to automatically detect SAP applications, IT components, and providers via SAP Cloud ALM. It builds an accurate and up-to-date representation of your organization’s architecture and ensures consistency with SAP reference content and modeling best practices. It also supports the addition of non-SAP data into SAP LeanIX. To learn more, see SAP Discovery.
5. Prepare for the integration of SAP LeanIX and SAP Signavio: Understand the meta models of SAP LeanIX and the dictionary items in SAP Signavio Process Manager. Use the best practices provided in the following guides to map your data for meaningful insights. Once both repositories are populated and aligned with the meta model, proceed with the integration. It ensures data is consistent and complete before connecting. For a detailed guide, see SAP LeanIX and SAP Signavio Integration.
6. Integrate SAP Signavio and SAP Cloud ALM: Integrate SAP Signavio with SAP Cloud ALM and synchronize process diagrams as early as possible. This allows you to synchronize a draft version of the process to SAP Cloud ALM for testing and documenting the requirements. You can attach documents to the right process from the beginning. If changes are made to the process diagram, they can be published to the existing synchronized diagram in SAP Cloud ALM.

• Define governance and roles: Establish a clear operating model with defined roles and responsibilities for each tool.
• Align meta models: Harmonize the data models of SAP Cloud ALM, SAP LeanIX, and SAP Signavio for seamless data flow.
• Implement landscape discovery: Use SAP Landscape Discovery in SAP LeanIX to automatically detect and map your SAP landscape.
• Prepare data for integration: Understand and map the data models of SAP LeanIX and SAP Signavio before integration.
• Integrate SAP Signavio and SAP Cloud ALM: Synchronize process diagrams between SAP Signavio and SAP Cloud ALM early in the process.