Structuring Transformation Programs with SAP LeanIX and SAP Cloud ALM

Both SAP LeanIX and SAP Cloud ALM use the concept of projects (in SAP LeanIX, the initiative fact sheet and the project fact sheet subtype) and milestones. This guide outlines a best-practice approach for structuring your transformation program across both tools, focusing on the most efficient setup and clear task distribution between systems to maximize the value of their integration.

Once initial transformation decisions are made, such as redesigning the Source-to-Pay process or replacing a legacy application with a cloud-first solution like SAP S/4HANA, the next step is to plan how and when to implement these changes. This involves incorporating them into a structured transformation program.

While projects and initiatives exist in SAP LeanIX and SAP Cloud ALM, the recommended approach is to use SAP Cloud ALM as the primary source of truth. Follow these high-level steps for a best-practice setup:

1. Understand governance: Identify personas, stakeholders, and responsibilities for the transformation.
2. Set up the project in SAP Cloud ALM: Define the transformation project.
   1. General information: Provide essential project details.
   2. Roles: Define only a minimum of roles in SAP Cloud ALM. When you import the SAP Activate road map, it comes with a set of predefined roles. Creating new roles is usually not necessary.
   3. Scope: Define the project scope clearly.
   4. Deliverables: are automatically populated based on the Activate road map you assign to the project.

Use the initiative fact sheet in SAP LeanIX for strategic, high-level planning of your transformation. When integrated with SAP Cloud ALM, it provides a direct link to implementation teams and ensures effective coordination between planning and implementation.

• For a detailed guide on integration, see SAP Cloud ALM Integration For Managing Projects.
• For high-level guidance, along with best practices in the context of the RISE with SAP transformation, see SAP LeanIX and SAP Cloud ALM Integration.

The key benefits are:

• Single source for timelines and milestones: Define dates and milestones in one system and synchronize them in real time between SAP LeanIX and SAP Cloud ALM.
• Transparency for enterprise architects: Enterprise architects can monitor project progress and changes without duplicating effort.
• Seamless handover to implementation teams: Detailed planning of tasks, requirements, and checklists can be done in SAP Cloud ALM, while SAP LeanIX retains the high-level view.

Follow these high-level steps for a best-practice setup:

1. Use SAP LeanIX’s out-of-the-box integration to synchronize initiatives with projects in SAP Cloud ALM.
2. Once the integration is set up, ensure that high-level initiatives from SAP LeanIX are synchronized with the corresponding projects in SAP Cloud ALM.
   
3. Once the handover has happened and the project is secured to go into implementation, you can define key parameters in the project setup of SAP Cloud ALM to accelerate the project launch. You can plan detailed tasks, requirements, and quality gates in SAP Cloud ALM for implementation.
4. You can assign a relevant Activate road map to the project. This automatically creates the associated tasks, deliverables, and Clean Core Quality Gates. Each task comes pre-assigned to one of the default project roles included in the road map. You typically only need to assign people to these roles, and creating new roles is usually not necessary. Each Clean Core Quality Gate comes with a preloaded checklist. The project team must complete and review this checklist at the end of each phase. You can also define an implementing partner as part of the setup.

This section outlines best practices for managing initiatives and projects across SAP Cloud ALM, SAP LeanIX, and SAP Signavio.

• Use SAP Cloud ALM as the source of truth for the overall transformation project on level 1 of the hierarchy, for the project timeline and phases, key milestones, status tracking, and implementation.
• While SAP Cloud ALM manages level-1 project data, you can use SAP LeanIX to structure the transformation at levels 2 and 3:
  • Add level-2 projects for the different work streams in SAP LeanIX to give modeled transformations more structure.Add level 3,where applicable, to model and compare different scenarios or solution options. For example, use it to compare alternatives when an application can be replaced by one of two solutions, making the impacts visible and comparable in reports.
    Note

    Customers using SAP LeanIX Architecture and Roadmap Planning can preview and contextualize the outcomes of IT initiatives from defined transformations without implementing the changes in the active (as-is) architecture. To learn more, see SAP LeanIX Architecture and Roadmap Planning.

  • Level-3 project fact sheets can also be used to manage the implementation of automatically suggested SAP solutions for business capabilities from the reference business architecture. For more details, see Planning Transformations for SAP Solutions.
• Maintain level-1 program and project milestones in SAP Cloud ALM. These milestones can be inherited by lower levels when synchronized to SAP LeanIX. Add work-stream-specific milestones, such as a release date for a technology change, to the level-2 initiative in SAP LeanIX. This keeps program-level milestones in SAP Cloud ALM lean and focused. To learn more, see Milestones.
• Define the scope of the elements to be synchronized. If you follow the best practices described above, the synchronization and interaction between tools work as follows:
  • Level-1 projects created in SAP Cloud ALM are synchronized to SAP LeanIX.
  • Transformation-project-related milestones are maintained in SAP Cloud ALM and synchronized to SAP LeanIX.
  • Level-2 and level-3 initiatives created in SAP LeanIX are not synchronized back to SAP Cloud ALM.
  • Level-2 initiatives for work streams can be synchronized from SAP LeanIX to SAP Signavio to link processes to the initiative. For more, see Mapping Fact Sheets and Dictionary Items.

• Establish a Structured Transformation Program: Use SAP LeanIX to document transformation initiatives by creating parent and child initiative fact sheets, representing overarching programs and specific workstreams.
• Enrich Initiative Fact Sheets: Enhance fact sheets with timelines, scope, ownership, and key stakeholders to provide a comprehensive view of the transformation efforts.
• Centralize Project Management in SAP Cloud ALM: Utilize SAP Cloud ALM as the primary source of truth for managing transformation projects, including governance, project setup, and detailed project information.
• Synchronize and Integrate Systems: Integrate SAP LeanIX and SAP Cloud ALM to synchronize initiatives and milestones, ensuring transparency and seamless handover between planning and implementation teams.
• Follow Best Practices for Managing Projects: Adhere to best practices by using SAP Cloud ALM for level-1 project data and SAP LeanIX for structuring transformations at levels 2 and 3, maintaining milestones, and defining synchronization scopes.