Landscape Management & Architecture

Landscape Management is one of the core components of SAP Cloud ALM. All managed services and systems, as well as their grouping in the form of business services, are stored in Landscape Management.

The following image illustrates the Data Sources and Data Receivers for Landscape Management and its associated use cases:

To be able to use any SAP Cloud ALM capability, the managed services and systems that you plan to support need to be available in the Landscape Management application of SAP Cloud ALM. The data for services is obtained from various sources:

• SAP Public cloud services are imported from the Cloud Landscape Directory at SAP. Subscribed services under the same customer number are automatically imported into SAP Cloud ALM.
• Systems are added to SAP Cloud ALM through push registration, where setup is performed in the ABAP system in transaction /SDF/ALM_SETUP and the information is pushed into Landscape Management.
• Manual creation is used for other systems like, for example Cloud Connector, SAP NetWeaver Process Integration, and SAP Focused Run. Also the Managed Gateway for Spend & Network has to be added manually as it is the only service that cannot be automatically recognized.

The Landscape Management objects are later used in all areas of SAP Cloud ALM, namely operations, implementation, and services. There is also the option of synchronization services from the Cloud Landscape Directory to SAP Focused Run via the so called Landscape Sync. This eliminates the need for manual maintenance of services for SAP Focused Run customers. There is also a public API that allows users to extract landscape data from SAP Cloud ALM and import it into third-party applications, such as a Change Management Database (CMDB), reporting tools, or other monitoring applications.

Landscape Management also provides an overview on Business Services, which are systems or services that work together to achieve a common goal. The business services displayed on this page are created in other SAP Cloud ALM apps, such as the Integration & Exception Monitoring app. They are automatically displayed here; the use case is the name of the source application.

You can edit or delete these services only in the source application.

In general, Landscape Management imports SAP public cloud services, which are supported by a monitoring use case in SAP Cloud ALM or create downtime or maintenance notifications. For a full list of all supported service and system types, see the Supported Services and System Types page in SAP Support Portal. Landscape Management automatically imports supported services that are subscribed under the same customer number as SAP Cloud ALM itself. Customers can use the SAP Corporate Group function to import services that belong to customer numbers in the same Corporate Group hierarchy (see also SAP Note 2632518 – Information about the SAP Corporate Group (CCC) function).

This graphic illustrate the SAP Corporate Group function:

The SAP Corporate Group Function (CCC) is intended to link customer numbers for a company's own customer numbers or subsidiaries who are owned by the same parent company. It is used to link customer numbers of companies within the same hierarchy. The parent company, known as the global ultimate, can have subsidiaries that are linked together using the CCC (in this case subsidiary A, subsidiary B, and subsidiary C). However, it is important to note that SAP partners or value-added resellers (VAR) should not link their end customers in their CCC group. Only the partner's own subsidiaries (VAR subsidiary) can be linked. If this rule is violated, it is necessary to verify and correct the customer group to comply with the guidelines.

This image illustrates the support provided for Global Ultimate Customers within Landscape Management:

Global Ultimate customers can use the same SAP Cloud ALM tenant for all their subsidiaries. However, each subsidiary is entitled to have their own SAP Cloud ALM tenant. The figure illustrates the different possibilities for handling subsidiaries. In SAP Cloud ALM owned by the Global Ultimate, you can include the Global Ultimate itself and the subsidiaries belonging to this Global Ultimate, namely subsidiary A and B. Optionally, for example subsidiary B can also have their own SAP Cloud ALM tenant. Subsidiary D, which is not part of the corporate group, should stay only in it's own SAP Cloud ALM. The configuration of Landscape Management determines in the end which services are available in each of the tenants.

The images below display the Scope Selector, Favorites, and Live Search features found in Landscape Management:

There are three main features to make the search in Landscape Management easier for the users:

• Scope Selector: The scope selector allows users to narrow down their services in the cloud by selecting specific service types. For example, users can choose to only display service types that are supported by Health Monitoring or service types related to Cloud Connector. When applying a filter and triggering the selection, all service types for which at least one service exists will be shown. If there are no services for a particular service type, they will not appear in the selection. The scope selection is customizable and will remember the user's preferences even when the Landscape Management is closed and reopened.
• Favorites: In addition to the scope selector, users can create a list of favorites in the overview screen. By marking certain service types or systems as favorites, users can ensure that they are always visible in the Landscape Management, regardless of the scope selection. This can be done by selecting the star icon on the card representing the service type or system. The favorites list provides quick access to the preferred service types and systems, making it easier for users to navigate through the Landscape Management.
• Live Search: The live search feature offers a global search functionality within the Landscape Management. Users can simply start typing in the search bar, and the list will be filtered accordingly. If the desired item is not found in the filtered list, users can press the Search All or enter button to perform a search throughout the entire Landscape Management. A pop-up will display the search results, allowing users to find the specific services they are looking for, regardless of their scope or synchronization status. Live search provides a convenient way to quickly locate services without having to modify the scope selection.

This figure summarizes three additional features to find systems and services in Landscape Management:

• Where-Used List: Find out in which Business Services a service or system is used.
• Tags: Are introduced as a way to categorize and organize services. They can be used to group services based on regions or to assign specific attributes or priorities to specific services. These tags act as custom attributes or properties that can be used for searching and filtering purposes.
  Note

  SAP plans to incorporate tags into live search and scope selection, making it easier to locate systems quickly.
• Service Groups: Service groups allow services to be grouped together based on their solution group or area within the SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP). This is particularly useful when searching for services related to a specific product group, such as SAP SuccessFactors. Not all services within a product group necessarily have the same name, so the service group filter helps to identify services that belong to a particular product group.

The following screenshots show supported use cases for managed services and systems:

A list of all supported use cases and the supported KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) can be found for each service in Landscape Management. Additional setup steps are necessary depending on the supported use cases and the data collection strategy. Additionally, the supported use cases section provides information on configured use cases and the success of data collection. Some use cases, such as Integration & Monitoring, support multiple capabilities. In this case, it is useful to drill down into details with the glasses icon in the Actions column of these use cases to understand the capabilities better. More information on the setup of all different services can be found under Setup Managed Components (Services & Systems) in the SAP Cloud ALM for Operations Expert Portal.

In SAP Cloud ALM for Operations, there are different types of connectivity:

• SAP-managed connectivity: The connectivity between SAP Cloud ALM and the managed service is set up automatically after the provisioning of the tenants. Customers only activate and configure the monitoring data collection.
• Customer-managed connectivity: The customer has to set up the connectivity between SAP Cloud ALM and the managed service before activating and configuring the monitoring data collection.

This diagram shows the communication paths for SAP Cloud ALM:

SAP-managed connectivity refers to the application-to-application connectivity provided by SAP for their software as a service (SaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS) solutions. With SAP-managed connectivity, users do not have to worry about setting up the connectivity themselves as SAP takes care of it. This type of connectivity is supported by OpenTelemetry@SAP, which enables the collection of information through push and pull capabilities.

For SAP SaaS Services, which integrate to SAP Cloud ALM using the OpenTelemetry@SAP:

• The setup of the connectivity between the managed service and SAP Cloud ALM is handled by SAP and works out-of-the-box.
• The only needed configuration step is the activation of the monitoring in the monitoring use case.
• Standard monitoring configuration is available, but can be adjusted to customer needs

On the other hand, Customer-managed connectivity, also known as tenant-to-tenant connectivity, requires users to do some work to establish the connection. Users need to instrument their own customer-built applications to send information to SAP Cloud ALM.

Additionally, for push-enabled SAP SaaS services, users need to set up the service to enable the pushing of monitoring data, while for pull-enabled services, SAP Cloud ALM needs to connect to the service and collect the monitoring information.

For systems, both capabilities are available. For ABAP systems, push-based connectivity is used, eliminating the need for a cloud connector. As long as the network connectivity allows the ABAP system to reach the outside world, data can be pushed without requiring a Cloud Connector.

However, for non-ABAP systems like SAP PI, a cloud connector is necessary to establish the connectivity between SAP Cloud ALM and the managed system. An endpoint needs to be set up in SAP Cloud ALM to reach the system, and the cloud connector facilitates this connection.

The following table gives an overview of the different data collection strategies and their properties.

There are four major data collection strategies discussed in the text: OpenTelemetry@SAP, Customer-Built Applications on SAP BTP, PUSH Data Collection, and PULL Data Collection. For details, please also consult the table.

• The first strategy, OpenTelemetry@SAP, is the easiest to set up. It involves importing subscribed services from the Cloud Landscape Directory. The connectivity is managed by SAP, and turning on the monitoring application allows the data collection infrastructure to send monitoring data to SAP Cloud ALM. Self-monitoring is available to monitor the connectivity status, and turning off monitoring in SAP Cloud ALM stops the monitoring for the service.

• The second strategy for Customer-Built Applications on SAP BTP is also utilizing OpenTelemetry@SAP. The main difference is that custom-built applications need to be instrumented. Once the instrumentation is done and the connectivity between the respective subaccount and SAP Cloud ALM is established, monitoring can also be turned on directly in the monitoring application.

• The third strategy is Push-enabled Data Collection. It requires performing a registration towards Landscape Management using the SAP Cloud ALM service key. The setup process varies depending on the service being used. After the registration, an automatic initial configuration is activated, and monitoring is turned on for a default set of metrics. The monitoring configuration can be adjusted in SAP Cloud ALM, and data collection is controlled by the managed service or system.

• The fourth strategy is Pull-enabled Data Collection. It involves creating an endpoint in Landscape Management to establish connectivity between SAP Cloud ALM and the managed service. The endpoint creation requires providing API credentials, and the configuration is stored in cloud ALM. Data collection occurs every five minutes, and self-monitoring is inherent in the process. Monitoring can be centrally switched off in SAP Cloud ALM.

The following table shows Data Collection Strategies depending on the Product:

SAP suggests using OpenTelemetry@SAP whenever possible and is working on automating the setup for push and pull data collections. They are also using a rules engine to fill out endpoint fields and automatically creating service keys for push monitoring setup.

In general, several efforts are planned and already being made to make the setup process easier for users.

Some automation features have already been implemented, such as automatically creating a service key for push monitoring setup and uploading it to SAP Cloud ALM. These efforts include improvements to make the setup faster and easier:

• Automatically create a service key during the provisioning and upload it to Landscape Management for push monitoring setup. (You need the role of Landscape Management Security Admin to access the service key)
• Automatic import for cloud services from SAP.
• Pre-fill endpoint fields using a rules engine, to avoid human error and reduce the need to read documentation.
• Centralize the Push registration for some push-enabled SAP SaaS Services in Landscape Management.

Watch this video to get an overview of the lifecycle of a Landscape Object: