Solution Manager November Update “ERP” for IT – What is it and why now?

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For the last 20 years enterprises have been replacing point solutions with ERP systems to remain competitive by improving business performance, reducing costs and meeting compliance requirements. With competition from “Cloud” based “Software as a Service” solutions we are seeing internal IT organizations struggle to remain competitive. As a response to this threat IT needs to become business aligned and customer focused (improve performance, reduce costs and ensure compliance). This requires an evolution from a traditional Cost Center (silo) approach to a provider of IT Services that are aligned to business strategy.

So how does IT achieve this evolution? As in any transformation IT requires a change to its business model. ITIL provides the framework to help establish the concept of IT Service Management (a business model for IT).

It is not just a set of best practices but a means by which to deliver value to the business via defined services. As with any business model it is essential that the perceived value of the service is greater than the cost. In order to achieve this the first step is to define IT Services according to business outcomes (value/benefit). The costs of providing the service can then be allocated and charged.

Solution Manager provides the functionality and processes based on ITIL to help define and manage the IT Services (IT Service Management – ITSM). As this is based on CRM the integration with ECC provides the necessary processes to allocate costs by the defined services. These can then be charged or billed according to fair usage thus creating an “ERP” for IT solution.

Establish Service Catalog as a basis for costing:

• Which services are provided by IT?
• What is the scope of each service?
• Define service requests for each service with fulfillment targets
• Define Service Level Agreements with customers
• Define prerequesites for each service (hardware, software, licenses)

By adopting IT Service Management and moving to an “ERP” approach IT organization’s will be well placed to continue being a key partner for the business by seamlessly integrating people, process and technology in alignment with business strategy.

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Solution Manager Maintenance:

A Reminder that Solman 7.0 or below maintenance expires at the end of 2013. There is no extended maintenance available so it is a good idea to start planning for an upgrade to 7.1 now to ensure continued maintenance support.

• Solman 7.0 Mainstream Maintenance ends Q4 2013 (7.1 will be supported for 6 years)
• Support Pack 9/10 has just been released (see Solution Manager Roadmap).

Free EGI’s - Schedule for November:

• Online schedule for Expert Guided Implementation sessions
• Online schedule for Meet the Expert sessions

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Tool & Process Setup on SAP Solution Manager 7.1

• Solution Manager Basic Configuration 7.1 – 11th to 15th Nov
• Configuration Validation – 12th to 14th Nov
• Business Process Monitoring & Stabilization - 11th to 15th Nov
• Change Control Management 1: CTS+ - 5th to 8th Nov
• Change Control Management II: Quality Gate Management – 19th to 22nd Nov
• Data Volume Management: Methodology and Infrastructure – 11th to 15th Nov
• SAP HANA Advanced Database Monitoring - 11th to 15th Nov
• SAP HANA Data Modeling – 25th to 29th Nov
• SAP Mobile Implementation - 25th to 29th Nov
• SAP Mobile Project Planning - 11th to 14th Nov
• System Consolidation & Rollout of Country Versions – 13th to 15th Nov
• System Monitoring & Reporting – 18th to 21st Nov

Guided Self Service Execution (Also run as an EGI on below dates):

• Performance Optimization (PERF) – 25^th to 29^th Nov
• Security Optimization Service (SOS) – 11^th to 15^th Nov

Meet the Experts (1 hour presentations with Q&A)

• The SAP Support Portal Demo – 12^th Nov

Schedule for December:

Tool & Process Setup on SAP Solution Manager 7.1

• Solution Manager Basic Configuration 7.1 – 9^th to 13^th Dec
• Technical Upgrade of SAP Solution Manager to 7.1 – 2^nd to 6^th Dec
• Change Control Management III: Change Request Mgmt – 2^nd to 6^th Dec
• Job Scheduling Management – 2^nd to 6^th Dec
• Roles and Authorization Concept - 2^nd to 6^th Dec
• SAP HANA Profitability Analysis – 16^th to 20^th Dec
• SAP Mobile Enterprise Mobility Management – 2^nd to 5^th Dec

Guided Self Service Execution (Also run as an EGI on below dates):

• Business Process Analytics and Improvement (BPAI) – 2^nd to 6^th Dec
• Data Volume Management (DVM) – 9^th to 13^th Dec
• SQL Statement Tuning (SQL) – 16^th to 20^th Dec

Meet the Experts (1 hour presentations with Q&A)

• The SAP Support Portal Demo – 10^th Dec
• Custom Code Management Campaign - Software Quality – 5^th Dec
• Custom Code Management Campaign - Retirement of Custom Code – 11^th Dec

SAP Solution Manager 7.1 configuration SAP BusinessObjects BI 4 – 2^nd to 6^th Dec