Discovering Service Delivery

In the next meeting, Paula and Peter want to know how the collaboration between the customer and SAP takes place in more detail from the process point of view.

After this explanation, Paula and Peter are looking forward to the first service delivery.

Note

For additional information, see the blog Service Delivery with SAP Cloud ALM.

Some days later, Paula sits together with Alexander and asks him about the service capabilities of SAP Cloud ALM.

Alexander states that SAP Cloud ALM for service offers a harmonized user experience to easily access all information and assets that are relevant before, during, and after a service delivery. Based on the cloud architecture, which is operated by SAP and is always up to date, a real-time collaboration is possible during the end-to-end service delivery process.

SAP Cloud ALM for service as a central entry point for service delivery overcomes the usual customer pain points, such as too many output formats, too many places to consume results, or no visibility on follow-up activities.

Paula gets more excited. She understands that SAP Cloud ALM for service provides one joint view for all people being involved in the Service Delivery process​. And it gives full transparency about the status of each service delivery and the history of delivered services. This increases the efficiency in collaboration during the Service Delivery end-to-end process. In addition, it standardizes the format of service results in a digitized format for easier consumption.

She now asks Alexander about the building blocks of SAP Cloud ALM for service.

Alexander points out that with the help of the Service Delivery Center, all roles (that is: the customer team at Dreams without Limits, the partner Implement HXM! involved by the customer, and SAP teams) will have the same access point: a shared view on the history and current services and one interactive user experience. In the Service Results area of the Service Delivery Center, a digital version of the service reports (replacing PDFs, which are typically shared in the context of service deliveries) is stored. This provides more flexibility to the user to consume the service outcomes.

He continues that the Issue and Action Management app allows for a simplified tracking of all action items along the end-to-end service delivery process.

Answering Paula’s next question on how this works from a technical point of view, Alexander explains that at the beginning, the customer and SAP are planning the service delivery. For this, SAP maintains the planning in their SAP internal systems. The relevant information is transferred to an SAP internal tenant from which an SAP delivery consultant (for example, Delia Delivery) will start their work. The information is replicated to the customer tenant so that the customer can see the planned delivery. If necessary, SAP creates tasks to share preparation work.

He continues that, at the time of the service delivery, the delivery consultant accesses the customer system, loads data to conduct the analysis, and adds the outcome and recommendations of the service. This outcome is replicated on the customer tenant. As it is a digitized format, it is possible to easily navigate to the multiple levels of details, such as management summary or further details. Finally, the recommendations are managed through tasks in the Issue & Action Management app where assignments and tracking are easily possible.

Note

For more information on the data transfer, see the blog Data Transfer for Cloud ALM for Service.

After this first introduction, Paula decides to schedule another meeting with Alexander to which she also invites Peter Process as he is the Business Process Expert from Dreams without Limits.

When Dreams without Limits signed their cloud subscription contract with SAP, this subscription automatically included SAP Enterprise Support, cloud edition. This foundational success plan includes Real-Time Support functionality (such as the Expert Chat) and access to the SAP knowledge base.

Some time before the planned go-live date, HR IT project manager Paula Project wants to make sure that the go-live of their Hire to Retire process works without issues. She asks Susan Success from SAP how SAP can guide customers such as Dreams without Limits to a smart start of their production and to technically robust operations. In addition, she wants Susan to explain whether there are tools that may support.

Susan points out that, in addition to the support contract, SAP offers service contracts that include proactive services to help customers with implementation, to give them insights into best practices and new products, and to help them with their overall business needs. The available services depend on the customer’s SAP solution and the service contract type.

For example, in the context of the SAP GoingLive Check, SAP checks the solution in a standardized procedure and gives recommendations ensuring optimal performance and system availability for the core business processes.

Hint

For an overview of the available engagement types and offerings, see the SAP Services and Support page. For a list of available services, Susan recommends that Paula reads the list of available services on the SAP Support Portal.

Paula then wants to know whether there is a tool that provides an overview of, for example, what kinds of services are delivered, as well as what has been delivered in the past and what the outcome of those services were. She points out that exchanging e-mails to answer these questions is not optimal. It would be better to have all information in one place.

Susan answers that with SAP Cloud ALM for service, SAP provides a solution that helps customers to stay on top of their service delivery.

Paula is excited. She wants to learn more about this tool and she makes a note to schedule a meeting with Alexander Architect from their implementation partner Implement HXM!.

Finally, Susan states that for public cloud customers such as Dreams without Limits, SAP Preferred Success is the recommended success plan. She highlights that SAP Cloud ALM for service is embedded in SAP Enterprise Support, SAP Product Support for Large Enterprises (SAP PSLE), and Premium Engagement (such as SAP MaxAttention or SAP ActiveAttention) service contracts at no additional fee.

Paula makes another note to discuss this with her IT manager during their next meeting.