Exploring SAP Cloud ALM for Implementation

SAP Cloud ALM is a cloud-based tool for application lifecycle management (ALM). It is cloud-native and open.

SAP Cloud ALM is for the Intelligent Enterprise and is cloud-native and open:

• Specifically for cloud-centric customers
• Manages cloud and hybrid solutions
• Supports all components of the Intelligent Enterprise

SAP Cloud ALM is in the public cloud:

• Rethought, newly designed, and built on modern cloud technology
• Starts with trial and is available for life
• Ready for immediate consumption
• Cost-efficient for customers

When purchasing SAP Cloud ALM, customers choose from an implementation option, an operations option, or a service option.

SAP Cloud ALM for implementation provides harmonized implementation for the Intelligent Enterprise, covering all relevant SAP solutions for cloud-centric customers.

• Build Project Management
• Financial Project Management
• Effort Planning and Time recording
• Resource Management
• Work Break Down Structure
• Project reporting

• Graphical modeling
• Process management
• As-is, reference, and to-be landscapes
• Connection to run-time and design-time
• Requirements management
• Solution Readiness Dashboard

• Manual Tests
• Automated Tests for SAP
• Test automation framework
• Test Data
• Change Impact Analysis
• Test Planning
• Test Analytics

• Transport control
• Change traceability
• Deployment management
• Release planning
• Retrofit
• Quality gate management
• Change Analytics and Diagnostics

SAP Cloud ALM for implementation offers the following benefits:

• Support is provided to customers implementing cloud solution landscapes with a preconfigured, out-of-the-box native solution.
• Features, functions, and processes are provided for the running of fit-to-standard workshops and management of all implementation, testing, and deployment activities. They adhere to SAP Activate methodology, content, and tools.
• The ease of initial onboarding is followed by the availability of a preconfigured process with open interfaces, that are extendable and adoptable to a customer's individual needs.

Backed by these powerful capabilities, SAP Cloud ALM for implementation is a key companion in your transition to the cloud.

This figure provides an overview of the SAP Cloud ALM process for implementation.

SAP Cloud ALM for implementation provides the following benefits:

• Self-guided and content-driven implementation based on SAP Activate methodology and Best Practices content
• Fast onboarding of project Teams and Progress Monitoring of implementation activities
• Project planning synchronized with SAP Cloud solutions release timelines
• Manage Implementation Tasks, automatically generated and adapted to customer scope
• Supports fit-to-standard workshops with convenient visualization of Business Models and Process Descriptions
• Prepare and manage manual and automated tests
• Integrated reporting capabilities

SAP Cloud ALM for implementation is your best companion for the transition to the cloud:

• Process: Consume Intelligent Enterprise scenarios, SAP best practice content, and manage fit-to-standard workshops
• Task: Perform implementation activities based on SAP Activate, integrated in SAP Toolchain
• Test: Prepare and execute tests based on SAP content for manual testing and integration of automated testing tools
• Change and Deploy: Manage your requirements lifecycle by utilizing the change management workflow and deployment orchestration

This figure provides an overview of the future vision, with capabilities for future releases indicated with an asterisk (*). This may be changed by SAP at any time.

SAP Cloud ALM for implementation offers the following information related to analytics:

• Project overview highlights
  • Next milestones
  • System Landscape
  • Completeness of tasks
• Access your next tasks
• Access scoping and task information

To ensure successful implementation of cloud solutions at SAP, the consumption of SAP Activate-based roadmaps has the following benefits:

• Implementations are always based on the SAP Activate methodology
• Tasks are automatically assigned to roles
• Can set detailed due dates or derive them from phases
• Apply mass change of task attributes
• Create manual tasks

Process Management includes two key functions, process authoring and process management itself. Watch the following video to learn more about SAP Cloud ALM process management and how SAP Cloud ALM interacts with SAP Cloud solutions.

The Process Content Viewer provides customers with the following advantages:

• Implementation based on SAP Best Practice Process Content and Intelligent Enterprise Scenarios
• Process-based scoping for Fit-to-Standard workshops
• Creation of requirements on process models
• Access to detailed BPMN process models, Test scripts, and executables

SAP Cloud ALM for Implementation offers Task Management consisting of such entities as Task types, Task sources and various other features and functions. Watch the following video to experience a walk-through of task management in SAP Cloud ALM.

The Test Readiness Overview section provides customers with tools to perform the following:

• Prepare tests on process based requirements
• Identify implementation progress
• Define test readiness
• Includes manual and automatic test cases

In the Test Management feature, the customer can define and create the following test scenarios:

• Create manual test cases based on pre-delivered test scripts.
• Test step based approach with rich text editing capabilities.
• Maintain instructions and expected results in a single view.
• Link directly to executables.

In the Test Execution area, the customer can perform the following tasks:

• Execute test step based manual test cases.
• Get an overview of progress, status, and next activities.
• Maintain test results.
• Report defects and test case errors.

This is the current state of planning and may be changed by SAP at any time.

Deployment orchestration can be performed in the Setup section in SAP Cloud ALM. Release and upgrade information provides customers with the following advantages:

• Plan Project Milestones based on SAP Release Data.
• Get recommendation for Deployment windows.
• Get access to tenant upgrade dates.
• Get access to release information, such as What's New or Release Impact Assessment.
• Get an overview of all upgrade-related tasks.

This is the current state of planning and may be changed by SAP at any time.

SAP Cloud ALM comes with the Requirements and Notes feature with relation to processes and rollout plans. It allows customers to perform the following tasks:

• Create, edit, and delete requirements and notes.
• Categorize your requirements easily.
• Approve requirements and generate follow-up tasks.
• Mass generate tasks.

The Landscape feature in SAP Cloud ALM is a powerful tool that allows the customer to perform the following:

• Gain access to a quick overview of the project landscape per SAP product.
• Assign and unassign corresponding tenants.
• Gain direct navigation to tenant via Open URL.
• Get automatic provisioning of deep links based on the project landscape tenant details.

An integrated help function is available:

1. Enable the integrated help.
2. Select the hotspot you want to know more about.
3. Get detailed information on the selected topic.

As the illustration shows, SAP Activate and SAP Cloud ALM are in alignment with each others' phases so that a customer can implement their cloud solution following SAP Activate and SAP Cloud ALM concurrently.

This figure provides an overview of the future vision for ready-to-use integration in SAP tools, services, external APIs, and SAP Business Technology Platform services. Integration that is planned for future releases is indicated with an asterisk (*). This may be changed by SAP at any time.

SAP provides all products on premise or in the cloud. In addition, SAP provides SAP Cloud ALM to implement and operate hybrid landscapes. As a result, SAP Cloud ALM is owned by the customer.

This is the big difference to SAP for Me, which is owned by SAP:

• Via SAP for Me, SAP shares with each individual customer what SAP knows and wants to share with each customer. The focus is on the commercial relationship: the contracts the customer has with SAP and the cloud products the customer uses. This information is stored in SAP internal business systems.
• SAP for Me will evolve over the next years to the single portal for the customer. Support relevant aspects shown today in separate portals (SAP ONE Support Launchpad, SAP Support Portal) will be integrated into SAP for Me, so that customers have one portal to SAP.

SAP Central Business Configuration is a new solution that makes it possible to configure business processes that span across different SAP products from one central place. SAP Central Business Configuration first allows the configuration of RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud, but aims at a seamless implementation of end-to-end business processes across the SAP Intelligent Enterprise.

SAP Central Business Configuration succeeds the Manage Your Solution app for all customer starting in 2021, and brings reduced time-to-value along with a reduced total cost of ownership (TCO) thanks to many capabilities accessible from one central place.

Below are some of the key benefits that SAP Central Business Configuration provides:

• Central, business-driven scoping
• Fine tuning and configuration
• Configuration deployment

This is based on Business Adaption Catalog.

SAP Cloud ALM is responsible specifically for the implementation and operations of the Intelligent Enterprise, focusing on the following attributes:

• Processes and Requirements
• Implementation Tasks
• Manual and Automated Tests
• Deployment orchestration

SAP Cloud ALM tasks and activities are based on Intelligent Enterprise Scenarios, Best Practice Process Content, and the SAP Activate Methodology.

Cloud Integration Automation service provides a guided workflow that makes use of customer specific system information (such as target URLs), reusable configuration settings between tasks, and automated execution capabilities. Within the context of SAP Cloud ALM, the key benefits and activities of Cloud Integration Automation service are as follows:

• Trigger Cloud Integration Automation service scenarios linked to tasks in SAP Cloud ALM.
• Review Cloud Integration Automation service scenarios in business processes and scope them.
• Get deep links to maintenance planner for execution of Cloud Integration Automation service scenarios.
• Get automated, standardized, and role-based guided integration workflow.

This figure provides an overview of the SAP API strategy, from collaboration to Analytics.

The Test Automation API is ready for implementation.

• Retrieve automated test case list from test automation tool
• Link automated test case to process in SAP Cloud ALM
• Trigger execution in test automation tool from SAP Cloud ALM
• Retrieve results from test automation tool

• Leverage SAP best practice methodologies and content in SAP Cloud ALM to build and run SAP Intelligent Enterprise solutions effectively based on one application lifecycle management platform
• Enhance SAP Cloud ALM with your own content and methodologies
• Provide services, including integration services for SAP Cloud ALM, for the customer base
• Create extensions of solutions and integration of partner tools

The following are examples of partner use cases:

• Analytics: Build customer specific dashboards, integration in customer analytics solution.
• Content: Bring your own methodology, processes and accelerators for SAP or partner solutions.
• Integration and Extensions: Build extensions or standalone add-ons for SAP Cloud ALM or integrate SAP Cloud ALM to customer specific tools.
• Test automation tools: Integrate partners standard test automation tools in SAP Cloud ALM.
• Deployment providers: Integrate partners standard deployment providers into SAP Cloud ALM, or integrate SAP Cloud ALM in customer specific deployment pipelines.

SAP Cloud ALM is one of the key levers for partner success:

• Maximize usage of SAP Cloud ALM to provide consistent and world class implementation and operations experience to customers.
• A transparent mechanism to showcase delivery and operational expertise with timeline adherence, quality deliveries, solution acceptance, and operational excellence.

• Find out more about SAP Cloud ALM on theSAP Cloud ALM homepage of SAP Support Portal.
• Learn what's new in SAP Cloud ALM in the SAP Help Portal.
• Search for SAP Cloud ALM in the SAP Road Map Explorer.
• See what is planned in SAP Road Map Explorer.
• Experience SAP Cloud ALM with the demos available in the Media Center and Demo Systems.
• Request access to SAP Cloud ALM in SAP Cloud ALM Access Management.
• Get help with SAP Cloud ALM in SAP Help Portal.
• Follow the SAP Cloud ALM tag on SAP Community. This will allow you to engage with the best and the brightest of the software industry about SAP Cloud ALM as well as learn from blog posts and questions and answers.
• Give feedback in Qualtrics.
• Contact us by email.