ALM automation and integration has gained momentum over the past five years as a path to solving IT problems and pain points, according to many analysts. So out of the gate, tight integration with other ALM tools should be high on the list when making a change control selection. Shifts in ALM tools and strategy – including change control – must be balanced against cost and potential risk. In this series, I will hope to help you move through three crucial phases that will help you balance the costs and risks with potential longer term benefits.
As I mentioned in my recent blog post, deciding on change control tools for today’s large, complex SAP infrastructures takes more than a checklist. Established processes and user interfaces may not be easily changed. Well-accepted and stable system interactions often cannot be “swapped out” without adding many consulting hours to implementation costs, increasing the cost of maintenance or delaying key business-side changes. These need to be taken into consideration too.
Infrastructure technologies bear heavily on competitive advantage. To “do more with less” you must evaluate more than up-front costs. Factors like cost and time to implement, difficulty to maintain or reconfigure, and limitations in use, all affect a tool’s bottom-line ROI.
Gaining a clear view of what needs to be solved
So first, step back to take an inclusive look at the “bigger picture,” then zoom in to various pain points and identify the larger systemic issues causing them. That will clarify your real-world requirements.
The “bigger picture” refers to business challenges, market trends, competitive pressures, outside influences like regulatory and technical environments, geographical operating regions and mandates, challenges surfacing in your spheres of business, and the like. The right change control strategy will deliver clean audits, higher productivity, faster response to business requests, and other achievable – and measurable – benefits.
Some typical “bigger picture” concerns:
All these factors set the “bigger picture”. Without it, you simply remain reactive to the pains of the moment, limiting your ability to grow and compete.
In my next post, I’ll consider the change control requirements you’ll set. Stay tuned.
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