IMPLEMENTATION UPDATES

1. Manage Process Hierarchy Nodes in Solution Activities

A significant enhancement has been introduced to simplify the management of process hierarchies for solution activities. Users can now visually navigate and manage process hierarchy nodes directly from both the list view and the Object Page view.

In the Object Page view, you have the ability to edit the details of the selected solution activity’s process hierarchy node. Additionally, you can add new process hierarchy nodes by selecting Assign or remove existing ones by selecting one or more entries and choosing Unassign.

This feature provides a more intuitive way to manage and visualize the hierarchy of processes, making it easier to understand and modify the relationships between different solution activities.

2. Mass Editing of Quality Gate Checklist Items

You can now update multiple checklist items within a quality gate simultaneously. In Edit mode, you can modify the following values for multiple items at once:

• Status
  
• Planned Completion
  
• Team
  
• User Type
  
• Responsible

This feature allows for more efficient management and customization of your quality gate checklists.

3. Assign Relations in Documents App

You can now assign or unassign relations to the configuration library elements directly from within the Documents app. The assigned relations are listed in the table configurations on the object page of a document, providing a seamless and integrated experience for managing your documents and their associated configurations.

4. Streamline Processes with the New “Scope State” Filter

You can now use this new filter to display only those solution processes that are not yet in scope. This functionality enhances other tasks, such as using the mass editing feature to set multiple processes into scope.

Note

• The Scope State filter is hidden by default but is available under “Adapt Filters”
  
• Please note that if you select the “Out of Scope” value while viewing the list of Open Solution Processes in display mode, the list will appear empty as the list view was already prefiltered to show scoped processes only.

5. Add Template to Project

When you access the “Setup Project” task in a new project that hasn’t had a template assigned yet, you now can modify the project title and choose an SAP Activate Roadmap within the Guided Implementation application.

6. New Defects Overview Card Available

Gain a clear perspective on the statuses and priorities of your defects with the new Defects Overview Card. It not only makes your management process more efficient but also allows you to focus on resolving issues, ensuring quality and simplifies your workflow.

7. Simplified Test Plan Duplication

You’re now able to duplicate your test plans, making it easier to use them for future testing cycles. The duplicate test plan will be created within the same project and will retain the same attributes as the original. However, any test results linked to the original test plan will not be duplicated.

Note: The default title for a copied test plan is Copy of [Original Title] and its status is set to In Preparation.

OPERATIONS UPDATES

8. SAP Analytics Cloud Data in Real User Monitoring

The Real User Monitoring app in SAP Cloud ALM now monitors SAP Analytics Cloud, allowing you to view real-time user interaction data – for example, you can monitor response times of individual stories (interactive reports). This feature currently focuses on the client-side components of SAP Analytics Cloud, providing instant insights into real-time front-end user experiences and enabling quick identification of any performance problems.

9. New KPIs available for SAP Systems

The following KPIs are now available for SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition, SAP S/4HANA, and SAP Business Suite 7:

• Overdue Purchase Requisition Items Blocking PP/PM Orders
  
• Production Orders Not Settled
  
• Outbound Delivery Order Items Overdue for Picking.

These KPIs will be activated automatically if the steps outlined in the Setup for SAP ABAP Systems have been completed and you are utilizing ST-PI version 7.40 SP29.

10. Solving Tips for Exception Solutions

In Integration & Exception Monitoring, the exception details screen now features a “Solving Tips” tab, which displays potential solutions for this exception. These solutions appear as cards, showing summaries and resource links that can be clicked for more detailed information. To refine the suggested solutions, enter more information such as program name or reporting components in the “Fine-tune results with additional keywords” field. The suggestions will then be updated based on the keywords provided.

Empower Your Business with SAP Cloud ALM This March and bloom into a season of action with SAP Cloud ALM’s latest innovations! These new features are designed to fuel your success and make your digital transformation journey even more exciting.

The post Top 10 SAP Cloud ALM News March 2025 first appeared on ERP Q&A.

We frequently have our customers and partners bringing their own content into Cloud ALM either via APIs or through excel upload to manage them as project items. Once the external content is imported to Cloud ALM, the key challenge has been tracking and reporting of these items.

The latest enhancement offers a dedicated source and external reference fields in the tasks API and create/update excel, making it simpler to manage and report on the external content. A combination of these attributes, can be used to:

1. identify the external content in a Cloud ALM Project
   
2. maintain link to the external source

What is offered?

1. A new Source type called ‘External’
   
2. New External reference attributes: External Reference Name, External Reference Id, External Reference URL

How to use it?

When importing the content to Cloud ALM, either via the API or excel, you can use both Source and the External Reference attributes together.

1. The Source attribute offers a fixed value ‘External’ which can be used to identify where the content originated from. We recommend setting the Source value as ‘External’ because you can easily filter the content that you have created via the API/excel upload even using this attribute in the Tasks application.

The Tasks application now offers the source ‘External’ as a filter option whenever there are items existing with this assigned source type. Using this, you can quickly filter the content that is imported into your project.

2. Combine the Source with the External Reference attributes (ID, Name, URL) to specify the content origin and enable navigation to the specific item in the originating application.

The example below shows the link to the JIRA item embedded within the External Name in the Additional Information of the task created from the excel upload.

In the Project Overview you have the possibility to view the progress and status of the content created from the external applications.

Note: There is an ‘External ID’ field which is available for a long time and was offered for the same purpose of linking the external objects with the project items created in Cloud ALM. You can continue using this for simple integration to find and update Cloud ALM items created from the external application. However, for future use cases, our recommendation is to use these new External Reference fields because you can provide additional context to these external items and easily track them once they are imported to Cloud ALM.

The post Managing External Content imported via APIs/Excel made easy within Cloud ALM first appeared on ERP Q&A.

Usage Rights is included SAP Cloud Service subscriptions containing Enterprise Support, cloud editions, in SAP Enterprise Support and in Product Support for Large Enterprises. This includes a baseline of 8 GB SAP HANA Memory and 8 GB monthly outbound API data transfer

SAP Cloud ALM, tenant extension is now available on the SAP price list. This material comprises:

• An extra productive SAP Cloud ALM tenant
  
• 8 GB of SAP HANA memory usage
  
• 8 GB of outbound API data transfer per calendar month

Framework on Cloud ALM

SAP Cloud ALM helps customers to implement and operate their cloud or hybrid solutions in Integration with tools.

• SAP Signavio: SAP Signavio Process tools are primarily used for process analysis and process mining activities.
  
• SAP Leanix: SAP LeanIX is a SaaS application that allows to manage and optimize enterprise architecture.
  
• SAP Enable Now: SAP Enable Now is a digital adoption platform (DAP) from SAP that provides in-application help and e-learning content to improve the adoption, productivity, and efficiency of SAP software
  
• Tricentis: Accelerates testing of all your applications, data, and business processes and integrates with tools across your delivery pipeline.
  
• CPI: Design the interfaces on CPI and monitor them in Integration Monitoring

Available features on Project Setup

• SAP Activate Template for Clean Core Success Plan is available

• Charts Available for Project Tracking
  
• Table View

• Gannt Chart

• Cards View

• Adding Project Tile for quick access

The tile gets added to my Home as per the selection

• Mass Editing of User Stories and Tasks

Select the Project Tasks and User stories to be modified:

Mass edits the Project Tasks and User stories to define the required values

• Predecessor-Successor Relationship Setup

Download the excel from Cloud ALM and define the Predecessor-Successor Relationship in the excel by adding the Rows in the Predecessor column of excel and upload on Cloud ALM.

The relation gets defined as below:

Limitations on Project Setup

• Holiday calendar function is not supported currently in project setup
  
• Custom card is not supported currently.
  
• Resource Planning is not supported currently.
  
• There is currently no workflow or approval process in place to enforce certain business logic based on document status.

RISE with SAP Methodology Dashboard on SAP Cloud ALM

The dashboard delivers set of capabilities to monitor and track the status of systems, offering insights and recommendations and ensuring alignment with SAP’s best practices.

• Access a detailed overview of system adherence and optimization opportunities for production or non-production S/4HANA, directly aligned with SAP’s clean core approach.
  
• Analyze detailed insights and data on the clean core status of systems, hosted on the SAP Cloud ALM.
  
• To identify deviations from SAP’s recommendations and prepare for future upgrades. It supports maintaining a streamlined system with minimal customizations.

Transport Checks on Feature

The Transport Checks are available for Features application in Cloud ALM.

The checks include Downgrade Protection and a Cross-Reference Check. It’s possible to choose to perform an individual check or both.

Documents support for uploading external files

Documents support now uploading external files in different formats (PDF, PPT, etc.) from the SAP Document Management service directly in SAP Cloud ALM.

It’s possible to upload, replace, download, and delete external files from SAP Cloud ALM. This new feature is available on the object page of a document under the tab External File.

To use this feature, there must be established a connection between the SAP Document Management service and SAP Cloud ALM.

The SAP Document Management Service supports the following plans:

Use the standard plan for productive development.

• Default plan with all the standard features.
  
• Excellent for productive usage.
  
• 100-GB data storage.
  
• API access is available with API calls in blocks of 50000.

Use the free plan for evaluation purposes only.

• Plan with basic functionality and relaxed security, excellent for development and try-out purposes.
  
• 1-GB data storage.
  
• 1000 API calls.

Use the build-code plan if you’re using this service as part of SAP Build Code.

• This is a dedicated plan for the SAP Build Code.
  
• For build-code plan, API calls shall be calculated in blocks of 1000.

DevOps tools chain on Cloud ALM

DevOps is Continuous Integration (CI) & Continuous Deployment (CD) within an agile lead approach, utilizing automation and tools to ease deployment and release management.

SAP Continuous Influence for SAP Cloud ALM

Enables customers to continuously suggest improvements directly to the product development teams.

This program is specifically aimed towards customers with productive licenses for SAP products and who would like to be able to suggest improvements in a continuously open channel.

The post Keeping Up-to date with SAP Cloud ALM first appeared on ERP Q&A.

The question of why certain features are still missing from SAP Cloud ALM is particularly interesting. Many customers ask precisely this question: why is this or that feature still not available? I am not trying to defend SAP here, because it could certainly be argued that with more or faster developer resources, some things could be implemented more quickly. But for me, it is more about creating an understanding of the challenges: How do you balance the pressure of customer expectations with long-term vision and quality assurance? This is precisely where the difficulty of combining both stability and flexibility in a plan-driven approach to deliver sustainable value becomes apparent.

From SAP SolMan to SAP Cloud ALM

SAP Solution Manager (also affectionately known as SolMan by the community) will no longer be covered by mainstream maintenance from the end of 2027. Although SAP Cloud ALM is not a direct successor to SAP Solution Manager, as there will be no feature parity, it is at least the logical successor.

And it is precisely here that the connection between a doughnut and SAP Cloud ALM arises. We have already established that almost everyone knows that a doughnut is ring-shaped. Many of you also know what a good doughnut should taste like. And SAP customers know what the SAP Solution Manager looks like and what ALM functions it offers. It is therefore obvious that these are the functions that are expected of the “successor product”.

The Solution Manager can therefore be compared to a well-known doughnut recipe. It is a recipe and a preparation in which we know exactly which ingredients belong and what the end result should be. It is a proven recipe that is loved by many.

The development of SAP Cloud ALM, on the other hand, represents a completely new recipe and approach. It is no longer developed in a plan-driven manner, where the end product and its features are fixed from the outset. Rather, it is a value-driven approach that prioritizes customer value and benefit.

Value-Driven vs. Plan-Driven Development: A Recipe Duel

Understanding the differences between value-driven and plan-driven development is important to recognize the benefits and challenges. Here is a comparison:

Plan-Driven Development (PDD)

PDD is based on a systematic and sequential approach in which each phase (requirements, design, implementation, validation) of software development is strictly planned before it actually begins. The scope of services is fixed, while the costs and deadlines are “variable” or the levers that can be adjusted.

• Planning: The main focus is on advance planning. It is expected that all requirements will be determined at the beginning of the project and that little or no change will occur during the course of the project.
  
• Documentation: PDD emphasizes the importance of comprehensive documentation. Each step is documented in detail to ensure that all parties involved understand the process and requirements exactly.
  
• Flexibility: PDD is usually less flexible with regard to changes, since changes are often costly and time-consuming, especially if they are made late in the process.
  
• Risk management: PDD tries to minimize risks early on by planning everything in advance.
  
• Examples of methods: Waterfall model, V-model.

Value-Driven Development (VDD)

VDD focuses on creating continuous value for the customer or end user by relying on feedback and iterative development. With this approach, the costs and deadlines are “fixed” and the scope of services is variable. Good, agile requirements engineering is a must for VDD.

• Planning: Instead of strictly adhering to a predetermined plan, VDD flexibly adapts to new information or changing customer needs.
  
• Documentation: While documentation is still important, it can be less extensive in VDD than in PDD. The focus is on functional software and customer feedback.
  
• Flexibility: VDD is very flexible with regard to changes, since the approach expects that requirements may change over time.
  
• Risk management: VDD accepts that risks exist, but relies on minimizing them through regular feedback loops and adjustments.
  
• Examples of methods: Agile development methods such as Scrum and Kanban

Plan-driven Development: As familiar as a glazed doughnut or an SAP Solution Manager

A few years ago, SAP Solution Manager was developed. A platform for implementing and operating SAP solutions (mainly for on-premise products). The recipe is fixed, the ingredients are known, and the result is predictable, i.e. the principle for the development of SolMan was largely the systematic approach of “plan-driven development». Similar to an architect who plans every detail before construction begins.

The challenge of change: SAP Cloud ALM

Imagine you are standing in a modern doughnut bakery. Instead of just baking a set doughnut, the baker experiments with different ingredients. He first brings you the naked dough ring, the basic structure – a minimum viable product (MVP), so to speak. For some, this is already enough, others wait for the icing, still others for the sprinkles, and based on the feedback, the baker can gradually (in several iterations) refine the doughnut. Still others give feedback and demand a certain filling. Which way is the right one?

The development of SAP Cloud ALM is reminiscent of the trend towards experimental doughnut flavors. SAP Cloud ALM was also developed for the implementation and operation of SAP solutions, but with a clearer focus: for SAP cloud products.

Agile development at SAP Cloud ALM is now like the baker stopping by every two weeks and saying, “Try this!” But instead of a full doughnut, there might only be one bite. Some customers are excited about the quick delivery and the opportunity to provide feedback. Others might be disappointed that the doughnut isn’t “done” yet.

A world of flavors that is constantly changing

Just as the world of donuts is constantly evolving – just think of trends like cronuts or donut burgers – so is our world of information systems and general conditions. The most important thing is that we are prepared to adapt, provide feedback and be open to the countless possibilities that lie ahead.

Value-driven development requires flexibility and openness to change. And while some customers appreciate the opportunity to design their own “donuts,” others find it challenging to constantly adapt to new flavors.

A shift in mindset is needed in at least three ways:

1. Development teams must adapt so that they are able to actually develop a product in an agile way.
   
2. Customers must develop the willingness and acceptance that not every function already adds 100% value, but that sub-functions can be used more quickly and at least add partial value.
   
3. Customers must embark on a journey and not just demand functions because they “have always done it that way”, but question whether alternative approaches could bring even greater benefits.

In a constantly changing (digital) world, we should perhaps all adopt the values of doughnut lovers a little more: curiosity, flexibility, patience and an open mind for the next potentially best and sweetest bite of doughnut innovation – even if one or two attempts don’t taste so good.

The post Donuts and SAP ALM: The sweet analogy of agile product development for SAP Cloud ALM first appeared on ERP Q&A.

This blog is structured to understand the following:

• Cloud ALM Vs Solution Manager
  
• Overview of Cloud ALM
  
• SAP Integrated Tools Overview
  
• SAP Readiness Check to move to SAP S/4HANA
  
• Project Management Approach using SAP Activate Phase
  
• Change Management in Cloud ALM
  
• Manual Testing Use Case Sample

Read More: SAP Solution Transformation Consultant with SAP Cloud ALM Certification Preparation Guide

Cloud ALM Vs Solution Manager

• SAP Cloud ALM is a good choice for organizations that needs an Agile, cloud-based solution that integrates easily with other SAP solutions.
  
• SAP Solution Manager is a better fit for organizations that need a highly customizable tool with a proven track record.

Ultimately, the decision between these two tools will depend on the organization specific needs.

• Solution Manager: Mainstream support for the Solution Manager will end in 2027, and Extended Support will end in 2030.
  
• CALM: Usage rights are included in SAP Cloud Service subscriptions containing Enterprise Support, cloud editions, in SAP Enterprise Support and in Product Support for Large Enterprises
  
• SAP Cloud ALM includes a baseline of 8 GB SAP HANA Memory.

Overview of Cloud ALM

• SAP Cloud ALM enables you to build, run, and optimize your intelligent enterprise.
  
• SAP Activate methodologies with CALM makes it easier to adapt in phases as we along in the CALM usage journey.

SAP Integrated Tools Overview

• SAP has partnered with tools which helps in Business Process Mining, Project Management and Test Automation to make the transition journey easier.
  
• These tools can be used at different phases of the transition journey.

SAP Readiness Check to move to SAP S/4HANA

• SAP Cloud ALM enables to set up references between SAP Readiness Check findings and SAP Cloud ALM project.
  
• With this functionality, we can create new and assign existing follow-ups to the findings within SAP Readiness Check analysis and manage them in SAP Cloud ALM project.
  
• This allows to administrate SAP Cloud ALM project and prepare for a Brownfield conversion or Greenfield Implementation

The integration is available for the following check scenarios:

• SAP highly recommend running SAP Readiness Check tools in the production system to get an accurate picture of actual system usage.

Check analysis information such as the following is available:

How to utilize Cloud ALM Readiness Check Feature:

• Role required to access the readiness check feature:

You might see the below screen when you login initially on CALM Instance.

• SAP Readiness Check analyzes existing system using built-in APIs, which may need to be updated to ensure data is pushed to Cloud ALM to the readiness check analysis.
  
• Each supported scenario provides its own central SAP Note, which guides through the preparation steps required for the specific scenario.
  
• To start a new analysis, input the readiness report as below:

• We can then start reviewing the results of the Readiness Check

Dashboard Analysis as per the sample readiness check report:

We can use the readiness check report to create all the tasks i.e., user stories and subtask and do the follow-ups.

We are now ready to implement a project using SAP Activate Methodology (Phases) and roadmaps.

Project Management Approach using SAP Activate Phases

Project Management contains:

• Definition of teams and roles.
  
• Timeboxes and releases.
  
• Agile methodology using sprints.

Project Creation

Managing Scope

Managing Requirements

Managing User story

Managing Feature and Q-Gates

Change Management in Cloud ALM

• Change Management comes with straight forward flow for changes in SAP Cloud ALM.
  
• SAP is planning to integrate APIs as well with change management process to bring in more automation. With this we can easily embed sub-workflows created via SAP Workflow Management.

Change Management Workflow

Creating and deploying a transport on Cloud ALM

Manual Testing Use Case Sample

Overall steps for Manual testing

Cloud ALM screen for test management

Test Preparation

• Create to create a new test case

• Add the test steps as required and change the status to Prepared. SAVE.

Test Plan

• Create to create a new test plan.
  
• Assign Test Cases to add one or more test cases to the plan
  
• Assign the person responsible for completing the tests and the start/end dates
  
• Change the Status to In Testing when finished, then save.

Test Execution

• Execute the test cases that have been prepared in the Test Preparation
  
• Select the test results as applicable

Defect Management

• Raise a defect if test results are not as expected

Overall Cloud ALM dashboard overview for the Project deliverables summary:

The post All the buzz about SAP CLOUD ALM first appeared on ERP Q&A.

Through Job and Automation monitoring within SAP Cloud ALM, it is possible to monitor SAP S/4 HANA Application jobs, SAP ABAP jobs, SAP BW Process Chains, SAP Build Process Automation Jobs(or SAP Intelligent RPA jobs) and SAP Business workflow and Job scheduler service jobs in customer BTP application.

Job & Automation Monitoring guarantees uninterrupted business operations while enhancing the quality and performance of business process execution. This is achieved through:

• Monitoring the health of job executions and detecting anomalies during execution.
  
• Promptly alerting both business and IT users about disruptions and exceptions.
  
• Providing detailed insights at the job execution level to facilitate fact-based root cause analysis.
  
• Minimizing configuration efforts by leveraging historical execution information.

Having recently implemented Job and Automation Monitoring, I’m excited to outline its standout features that make it exceptionally useful.

1. Overview – Overview provides a summary status regarding job execution for the Managed Components. It shows the status of the latest execution of every job with regards to the Technical exceptions, Application exceptions and run time. It also displays the number of unconfirmed alerts and status events.

Clicking on a card takes us to the Monitoring view which shows the list of jobs and automations with their latest Execution status, Application Status, Start delay and runtime.

Rating rules are visible in Configuration section under Monitoring Rating Rules. Execution Status and Application Status are non-modifiable, but Start Delay and Run Time can be modified as per requirement.

Clicking on the job name allows to further drill down to the list of executions of the selected job. Additionally, clicking on the information icon provides further details and enables direct navigation to the job within the managed component by selecting the Run ID.

2. Data collection – Data collection offers a convenient feature to toggle the Collection of data for managed Objects. Within the configuration section, under Managed components, there is an option to Switch On or Off the data collection for managed components.

3. Heart Beat Status – This feature visualizes the heartbeat status of managed services. Within the configuration section, under Managed Components, users can view the heartbeat status. If there is no data collection, a red-light indicator will be displayed.

4. Alerting – Alerting in cloud ALM allows to configure alerts and notifications based on the status of job executions within the managed components. Alerts can be set up for various events, such as execution status, application status, runtime, or start delay, ensuring timely awareness and proactive management of the system.

Event Name in the alert can be adjusted to indicate the type of the alert for which event has been created.

Execution status rating for the event can also be chosen while setting up the event.

There is another recently introduced feature “At Every Occurrence”. Normally, consecutive job failures prompt just one notification until the alert is acknowledged. However, this new option allows users to receive alerts for each individual instance of job failure.

Recipients for email notifications can be maintained in Event Actions under “Send email to” section. Email IDs need to be maintained in the “Notification Management” application.

Job and automation monitoring deliver an enriched notification email:

• Subject Line: The event name is augmented with the corresponding job name.
  
• Content: Detailed information regarding the failed job execution is provided. Additionally, the email body contains a direct hyperlink to the alert, facilitating immediate access to the alert within Cloud ALM.

5. Integration with Business Service Management(BSM) – Within the Business Service Management application in SAP Cloud ALM for operations, we can see business services, manage assigned cloud services and technical systems, and handle associated events. To view status events such as maintenance, disruption, upgrade etc. In the homepage Overview tab, there is an option to view the status of event for the managed components. Events are maintained in Business Service Management application.

6. Analytics – The Analysis view allows users to pinpoint jobs with extended response times and highest number of exceptions. For any job it shows aggregated information on total and average run time, number of executions and number of failed executions and the resulting failure rate. By clicking on the arrow at the end of every line, we can drill down into various trend charts for the metrics.

The post Job and Automation Monitoring features – SAP Cloud ALM first appeared on ERP Q&A.

SAP Cloud ALM provides a cloud solution to manage cloud and hybrid system and solution landscapes. It is a newly designed solution built on modern cloud technology with scope:

• SAP Cloud ALM for service, which is the main scope of this article,
• SAP Cloud ALM for implementation, which helps to implement and apply Build Operations (Transport Management, Test Management, etc.) (Dev),
• SAP Cloud ALM for operations, which helps to implement and apply Run Operations (Event Management, Continuous Improvement, etc.) (Ops).

Please note: SAP Cloud ALM for implementation and operations is not in scope of this article. However, some more information can be found in the appendix.

SAP Cloud ALM for service offers the following general benefits:

• operations and maintenance of this managing system centrally by SAP (not by each customer individually), as it is an on-demand solution (in contrast to your on-premise or private-cloud SAP Solution Manager system for example),
• collaboration platform to share deliverables, action items, and results with all stakeholders involved in end-to-end SAP service delivery,
• standardization and digitization of end-to-end SAP service delivery.

SAP Cloud ALM for service offers all roles (customer, partner, SAP) the same, shared view on current SAP services and SAP service history – in one interactive user experience. A central point to navigate to all information, assets, and applications which are needed to conduct SAP Service delivery end-to-end. Especially issue and action management improves collaboration with customers, partners, and SAP around issues identified and actions recommended. Simplified tracking of issues and actions with integrated notifications supports governance and further facilitates continuous improvement.

SAP customers are invited to be onboarded onto their own SAP Cloud ALM tenant if they have not done so already. If the customer gives consent for data replication between SAP and Customer tenants, any service results can be automatically published. Moreover, if the customer does not give consent for data replication, SAP service delivery personnel can export the report from the internal SAP Cloud ALM for service tenant and share it with the customer using traditional methods.

Kindly be aware that, starting from December 20th, 2023, the consent for data transfer from SAP to customers’ Cloud ALM tenants is automatically granted for all SAP Cloud ALM tenants requested by our customers. However, customers have the option to revoke this consent if desired. Please note that the synchronization between SAP and the customer’s Cloud ALM tenant relies on the active data transfer between the two tenants. When the data transfer is active, service-related, non-personal information is exchanged between SAP and the customer’s Cloud ALM tenant.

Once the data replication is active the following information is sent from SAP to customer’s Cloud ALM tenant:

• Scheduled SAP services,
• Service scope along with the other service details like delivery team etc.
• SAP created service preparation tasks for the customer,
• Notes created by SAP, which includes meeting minutes,
• Service relevant documents provided as attachments,
• Service results published by SAP, after the service,
• Issues and actions published by SAP, during and after the service.

The following information is sent back to SAP, if any changes were made to the information provided by SAP:

• Service preparation tasks,
• Notes created by SAP,
• Documents provided as “attachments”,
• Issues and Actions.

Personal information is not sent back to SAP. For example, assigning an issue or an action to a user will not result in the replication of assignment information back to SAP. Similarly, assigning a preparation task to a user will also not lead to the replication of assignment information back to SAP.

SAP Cloud ALM for Service – An Exemplary Delivery

In the following an anonymized SAP Service delivery example based on SAP Cloud ALM for service is outlined. We choose a Run Operations service in the Operations Control Center context. This service is integrated into either an onsite or remote workshop, known as the Operations Control Center Configuration workstream. Typically, this workstream is part of a larger project focused on implementing or improving Run Operations. As such, this delivery covers the implementation of a certain Operations functionality in a managing system, e.g., SAP Solution Manager, SAP Focused Solutions, SAP Cloud ALM for operations or implementation, SAP Build Process Automation for IT Operations, SAP Signavio Business Transformation Suite, etc. Its outcome is mainly activities and tasks performed during the duration of the delivery but can also include Premium Access Requests or equivalent requests and information for SAP product management and development to follow up on.

One advantage of using SAP Cloud ALM for service is the central outline of service details and preparation tasks. Service details covers the scope of the service, systems information, delivery team and the preparation tasks include the pre-requisites steps customer need to fulfil before the service delivery.

Service Details

Preparation Tasks

Information and tasks are outlined and can be executed by assigned experts. A simple status management indicates the completion of the preparatory tasks and readiness for service delivery.

After the service delivery, once the service is published by SAP service delivery team, the service report is made available in the service results tab.

Service Results

Issues & Actions

SAP Cloud ALM for service provides a comprehensive set of features and capabilities to manage issues and actions effectively. More conveniently, issues and actions are listed for follow-up, such that nothing is forgotten. These issues and tasks can be further distributed via any enterprise task management solution.

Details of an Issue

Overall, using the Issues & Actions feature in SAP Cloud ALM for service helps organizations streamline their issue management processes, improve collaboration and communication, and ensure timely resolution of issues, leading to increased efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Service Closure

For documentation and governance, the last tab outlines the service status, in this case SAP Services has successfully delivered the service and the corresponding service instance is closed.

At any point in time during service delivery, collaboration between the service consultants and the customer representatives is facilitated by creating and updating actions and statuses – leading to the often demanded but rarely achieved single source of truth.

Service Results – A Sample Customer Report

In SAP Cloud ALM for service, Service Results refer to the outcomes or findings of the service activities performed by SAP service engineers. It is a feature that allows service engineers to document the results of their service activities in a structured manner. Service Results provide a standardized way to capture and record information related to the service performed. This includes the management summary, details about the tasks completed, issues & actions, and any additional recommendations or follow-up actions required.

After the Management Summary, the details of the service are listed in subsequent chapters. These chapters follow a well-maintained service content template.

In our example, the outcome of the configuration in SAP Cloud ALM for operations are documented.

A section of the report is covering the various use cases activated for the managed systems, in this case the SAP Cloud services in scope.

Example Use Case: Real User Monitoring

Specifically, it has been proven that documenting issues and recommendations in the service report, but also directly in the Service Results, saves time and facilitates follow-up.

The proficiency in using this delivery platform useability is a short learning curve. Overall, Service Results in SAP Cloud ALM for service help streamline service processes, improve service quality, and enhance customer satisfaction.

Finally, the recommended next services are listed (if applicable) as well as the delivery team.

SAP Cloud ALM for Service – Some Further Recommendations

There are ongoing improvements published by SAP Services. If not already done, 2024 would be a good time to start the transition from SAP Solution Manager to SAP Cloud ALM for service delivery as well as using SAP Cloud ALM side-by-side with SAP Solution Manager for Build Operations and Run Operations. SAP will provide support. SAP Cloud ALM’s initial setup effort is minimal, and its functional configuration and utilization can be extended gradually as required.

The post Cloud ALM for service – Motivation and Example first appeared on ERP Q&A.

Prerequisites

• Have configured a runner on you Synthetic User Monitoring.
  
• Have a web browser configured with the Selenium IDE plugin.
  
• Have an SAP Cloud ALM user with the role Synthetic User Monitoring Scenario Expert or Synthetic User Monitoring Scenario Administrator.

To create your simple SUM scenario with SAP Cloud ALM, you need to follow these 3 main steps:

• Create the script with Selenium,
  
• Upload the obtained script in SAP Cloud ALM,
  
• Create and configure the SUM monitoring scenario in SAP Cloud ALM.

1. Create the script

1.1. Record the sequence

In a web browser configured for Selenium IDE:

1. (Recommended to appropriately record the logon) Clean-up the environment to ensure no open session exists.

2. Open the Selenium IDE.

This opens the Selenium IDE application and the welcome popup.

3. Choose Record a new test in a new project.
4. Give a name to the project. (E.g. Fiori Launchpad) and click OK.

5. Indicate the URL for your Fiori Launchpad and click START RECORDING.
E.g. https://<host:port>/sap/bc/ui2/flp?#Shell-home

This opens a new browser page, normally on the logon page of the Launchpad you want to monitor.

If you are directly logged on, likely your script-creation environment is not properly prepared.
For instance: your SSO was automatically applied because your browser session was already connected.

6. Fill-in the credentials and type <Enter>.

You are logged on the Launchpad.
And in the Selenium IDE UI, you can see that your actions were recorded.

7. Add a wait for element visible to ensure, at runtime, that the logon is successful.
For instance, in the Launchpad:

i. Put the mouse cursor over a tile and open the context menu (right click).
ii. Select Selenium IDE → Wait For → Visible.

This adds a wait for element visible in the Selenium IDE.

ii. Hint: the added command is not fully valid. It misses to indicate the maximum amount of time to wait (in milliseconds).

In the Selenium IDE, in the wait for element visible command, set 30000 in the Value field.

8. (Optionally) record some navigations.
9. In the Launchpad, click the profile icon and click Sign out.

10. Click OK in the confirmation popup.

You are now signed out.

11. Like in step 7, add a wait for element visible on the goodbye screen.
(Do not forget to manually add the maximum amount of wait time)
12. In the Selenium IDE, stop the recording.

13. Choose a name for the sequence (test) you created.

14. (Optional) You may want to save your temporary script.
This will create a SIDE file.

Warning
At this moment, the SIDE file you save still contains the logon credentials in clear.

1.2. Check and adjust the recorded sequence

During the recording, Selenium IDE recorded all the actions you performed on the UI.

It’s now time to replay the sequence and, if required, adjust it by:

• Adjusting the commands target,
• Adding missing actions,
• Deleting useless actions.

After modifying the script, it’s advised to attempt to replay again the sequence to verify that everything is correct.

1.2.1. Replay the sequence

In Selenium IDE, click the Run current test button.

A browser session is opened and the script is executed.

It could be that Selenium IDE replay fails on an error like:
“A listener indicated an asynchronous response by returning true, but the message channel closed before a response was received.”

Generally, SUM can handle that properly. In Selenium IDE, you can avoid the error by:

1. Setting a breakpoint of the faulty action by clicking on the row number of the corresponding command.
   
2. Executing the script normally by clicking the Run current test button.
   
3. When the execution pauses on the faulty command, wait for the application to display the screen.
   Then either:
   i. Continue the execution automatically by clicking the Resume test execution button.
   ii. Or continue the execution command-by-command by using the Step over current command button.

1.2.2. Adjust the commands targets

During the recording, Selenium IDE tried to figure out the best way to identify the target element for the actions.
It supports may ways to identify elements: id, css selector, xpath, …

This corresponds to the Target field of the commands.

Generally, Selenium IDE tries to propose several options. The main one is the one you see in the UI. But you can see the others via the Target filed dropdown.

If during the replay, an element cannot be found despite the fact it is visible in the browser, you may want to adjust the command target.

• Option 1 – Have Selenium IDE try to propose another target automatically,
• Option 2 – Define yourself a new target using one of the identification methods supported by Selenium IDE.

1.2.3. Add missing actions

During the recording, you may have missed some actions. E.g. some Wait for …
You can edit the sequence to add them.

For instance, you may want to wait for the login screen to be displayed before trying to preform the logon.

You can add the missing commands:

Either manually …

In Selenium IDE:

1. Select the command that should follow the missing action
   
2. In the context menu, choose Insert new command
   This adds a new empty command.

3. Select the new command row and fill-in the Command field.
Choose wait for element visible.

4. Then fill-in the Target field.

You can either enter it manually or use the Select target in page button.
In our case, “wait for the login screen to be displayed”, we already know a possible target: we can use the same than the one of the type command used to type-in the username.

5. (Optionally) You can try the entered target by clicking the Find target in page button.
This will highlight the targeted element.

… or by recording the missing actions.

In Selenium IDE:

1. Put a breakpoint on the command that should follow the missing action.
   
2. Execute the sequence by clicking the Run current test button.
   The execution will halt just before the execution of the command.

3. Stop the execution by clicking the Stop test execution button.

4. Click the Start recording button.

5. Record the missing actions.

6. Stop the recording by click the Stop recording button.

The commands have been inserted in the sequence.
(For the wait for … commands, do not forget to indicate the maximum wait time in the command Value field)

1.2.4 Delete useless actions

During the recording, you may have performed some useless actions that Selenium IDE recorded.
You may not want to keep them in the sequence. For that:

1. Identify the useless commands.
   For instance, by replaying sequence step-by-step.
   E.g. During the logon phase, the click on the username field is generally useless (like the click on the password field).
   
2. Select the command to remove.
   
3. In the context menu, select Delete.

Warning

Selenium IDE does not have “undo” on the command delete. Be careful when deleting commands

1.3. Prepare the script for SUM

1.3.1. Adjust the Test suite name

When the SIDE file is imported in SUM, the scenario name is the one of the Test suite.
By default, Selenium IDE names the Test suites “Default Suite”.

To have another name for your script, in Selenium IDE:

1. Go to the Test suites section.
   You can see the Default Suite Selenium IDE created.
   
2. Click the 3 vertical dots to open the context menu (put the mouse cursor above the Default Suite to see them).
   
3. Choose Rename.

4. Enter a new name and click RENAME.

1.3.2. Define the SUM steps

During the Scenario execution, SUM captures metrics for all the SUM steps.

By default, the script defines only one step.

Here I would like to have several steps for each functional actions in the recorded sequence:

• Entrance → the opening of the application URL,
  
• Login,
  
• Logout.

The first (default) SUM step is named after the name of the Selenium Test. Currently named myTest.
To change the Test name, in Selenium IDE:

1. Go back to the Test section.
   You can see the test you created at the end of the recording.
   
2. Click the 3 vertical dots to open the context menu (put the mouse cursor above the test name to see them).
   
3. Choose Rename.

4. Enter a new name and click RENAME.

For the next SUM steps, you can use the SUM annotation @sap.sum.step=”your step name”
c.f. SAP Cloud ALM for Operations Expert Portal → Synthetic User Monitoring → Creating Synthetic User Monitoring Scripts # Add SUM Steps to Selenium Tests

For instance, to declare a SUM Step for the Login phase:

1. Select the first command of the Step.
   In our case, the type of the user name.
   
2. In the command Description field, enter @sap.sum.step=”Login”

Do the same operation for the Logout step which, in our case, starts with the click command on the id=meAreaHeaderButton

Hint

It’s advised to end a step with a Wait for … command to ensure that the monitored UI displays the correct information before continuing with the next step (or finishing the script)

1.3.3. Declare the SUM variables

You may want to have field not hardcoded in the Selenium script but fed by the SUM Scenario configuration.
This is typically the case for the sensitive information like the credentials.

To have a SUM variable for the login password of our example, in Selenium IDE:

1. Select the type command where the password is entered.
   
2. Replace the Value field with a dummy value.

Note

If a replay is attempted in Selenium IDE, it will be required to temporarily set again the actual password.

3. In the Description field, add the @sap.sum.secure.variable=password SUM annotation.

For more information about the SUM variables, c.f. SAP Cloud ALM for Operations Expert Portal → Synthetic User Monitoring → Creating Synthetic User Monitoring Scripts # Define SUM Variables in Selenium Tests

Your script is ready, you can save your project.

This creates the SIDE file to import in SUM.

2. Upload the script as a SUM resource

1. Logon to your SAP Cloud ALM tenant.
   
2. Start Synthetic User Monitoring.

3. Open the configuration panel and, on the Resources section, enter the edit mode.
This opens the SUM configuration popup.

4. Click the Upload button.

5. Browse to the SIDE file you created.
6. Click Upload.

7. The Upload Report popup lists the scripts SUM detected in the SIDE file.

Your Selenium IDE script (SIDE file) was now imported and is visible in the resources.

3. Create and configure the SUM monitoring scenario

In the Synthetic User Monitoring Configuration popup:

3.1. Create a new Scenario using the script you previously created

1. Go to the Scenarios section.
   
2. Click the Add button.

This opens the Add Scenario popup.

3. In the General section, choose a name for the scenario and enter a description.
By default, the new scenario will be automatically added to your SUM scope.
4. In the Execution section, use the drop-down to select the script you imported via the SIDE resource.
5. In the Business Services section, select a business service to associate your scenario to.
This is used to indicate which applications are monitored by your scenario.
If you don’t have specified business services yet, you can use the SUM default one.
6. Click the Add button.

Your new scenario is now created. You still have to configure it.

3.2. Configure the SUM variables

In the Scenarios list:

1. Click on the scenario you created.

This opens the Scenario Details.

2. Go to the Variables tab.
3. Enter the variable values to use at execution time. For instance, enter the value for the password variable you defined during the script creation.
4. Save.

3.3. Associate the Scenario to a Runner

In the Scenario Details:

1. Go to the General tab.
   
2. In the Runners section, click the Assign button.
   This opens the Assign Runners popup.

3. Select one (or several) Runners to assign to the Scenario, then click Assign.

The popup is closed and the runner is added to the list of Assigned Runners.

4. Activate the Scenario on the Runner.
5. Save.

The Scenario is now scheduled to be regularly executed on the Runner.

Because you already added the scenario in your SUM Scope during the scenario creation, the SUM overview displays your new scenario.

3.4. (optional) Adjust the time interval between two executions

In the Scenario Details:

1. Go to the Scheduling tab.
   
2. Untick the Use default checkbox.
   
3. Change the Execution Period.
   E.g. set 900 (900 seconds interval) for an execution every 15 minutes.
   
4. Save.

3.5. (optional) Enable the capture of screenshots during the execution

In the Scenario Details:

1. Go to the Selenium tab.
   
2. In the Screenshots section, for the Automatic screenshots field:
   i. Untick the Use default checkbox.
   ii. Choose At each step in the drop-down.
   
3. Save.

You now learned how to create a simple Synthetic User Monitoring scenario to monitor a SAP Launchpad.

The post How to create a simple SUM scenario for the Fiori Launchpad first appeared on ERP Q&A.

1. When do you need test plans in SAP Cloud ALM?
   
2. How to use test plans in SAP Cloud ALM?

1. When do you need test plans in SAP Cloud ALM ?

In larger implementation or transformation projects you might want to run your test activities in iterations and so need setup multiple test cycles re-using the same or a similar set of test cases.

On top, you might want to roll-out the implemented solution or a global template to multiple organizations like subsidiaries, plants or markets which require dedicated tests per roll-out. Thus, you might want to re-use most of the test cases.

Although it was possible without test plans to run the same test case again while creating new test runs, the overall test status was always set to the status of the last test run.

With the following illustrations I would like to explain the underlying concept with the existing approach without test plans and the new approach while using test plans:

1.1. Lean Test Orchestration Without Test Plans

In the following example, the first test run was set to ‘Passed’ after all test actions were completed successfully and the test run was set to ‘Finished’. Then a second test run was started and test action 1.1 was set to ‘Fail’. In consequence, the overall test status is displayed as ‘Failed’.

After introducing test plans, this lean approach is still available, so you could continue without any overhead. In most cases, this is sufficient for smaller projects and public cloud implementations with an agile or lean implementation approach. Therefore, we still support executing test cases without the need for test plans.

1.2 Advanced Test Orchestration with Test Plans

For more complex projects, customers asked for the possibility to have a dedicated execution context for each test cycle.

To achieve this, you could create a test plan and assign relevant test cases

As the test plan status is still ‘In Preparation’, no occurrences of the assigned test cases are displayed in the Test Execution app yet.

After switching the test plan status to ‘In Testing’, all assigned test cases in status ‘Prepared’ get a new occurrence (execution context) and the test execution can be started.

The next picture shows the situation after Test Case 3 has been set to ‘Prepared’ and Test Plan B has been set to ‘In Testing’.

How to use test plans in SAP Cloud ALM?

New Test Plan App

There is a new tile in the launch pad called Test Plans:

When you open the Test Plan app, you will see a list of existing test plans with their status, time frame, and the aggregated preparation status and execution status of assigned test cases:

You can create new test plans choosing ‘Create’ to get this detail screen in draft mode:

To assign test cases choose ‘Assign Test Cases’ to get this simple assignment dialog:

You can either start typing in the field to get a prefiltered list of test cases, or you could open the value help to get an advanced assignment dialog with search and filter options:

After confirming the selection and the assignment dialog, you will come back to the test plan details in draft mode, showing the assigned test cases:

In draft mode, the test plan is stored but not yet available to work with. Only when you choose ‘Create’, there will be a ‘saved version’ that can be used for processing.

Whenever you open the test plan in edit mode, a draft version is created, which contains all your changes without saving. You can switch between the draft and saved version of your test plans next to the test plan title:

You could even close your browser without losing your changes.You can find more details on draft handling here.

Besides the test plan statuses ‘In Preparation’ and ‘In Testing’, there is a status called ‘Finished’, which indicates that the test phase / test cycle is finished. This status does not have any impact on the visibility of related test cases occurrences in the Test Execution app.

Enhancements in the Test Execution App

In the Test Execution app, you will find a new filter for test plans and the occurrences of test cases are grouped by test plans.

Without setting the filter for test plans, you will see at least one entry per prepared test case belonging to the group ‘(None)’ . In addition, you’ll get another entry for each test case per test plan that is in status ‘In Testing’ or ‘Finished’.

When planning to work with test plans, you could simplify the entry for your testers by setting the filter for the right test plan(s) and then sharing the URL.

Enhancements in the Test Preparation App

In the Test Preparation app, we have also added the filter for test plans to be able to reduce the list of test cases of the whole project to test cases that are not assigned yet to any test plan, or to list all test cases already assigned to a specific test plan.

Outlook on Planned Enhancements

We plan to enhance the test plan capabilities in several iterations. In one of the next itereations we plan to provide the following enhancements:

Analytics:

Filter on test plans in following dashboards:

• Test Execution Analysis and Defects Reporting
  
• Solution Process Traceability
  
• Requirements Tracebility
  
• User Story Tracebility
  
• Test-related cards in Overview app

Test Case Assignment to Test Plans

Advanced test case selection

• with additional filters in the Test Plan app
  
• by levaraging the Traceability apps to select related test cases for assignment to a test plan

Tester Assignment:

Assign testers to test cases

• Default assignment without test plan
  
• Dedicated assignment per test plan

Test Sequences:

Define the sequences of test cases within a test plan

The post Advanced Test Orchestration using Test Plans in SAP Cloud ALM first appeared on ERP Q&A.

The blog post is divided into following chapters:

• Prerequisites
  
• Find your tagged objects
  
• Work with the result list
  
• Wrap-Up

Prerequisites

You have used the tag management to have an easy way to find different object types based on a certain keyword / phrase.

Find your tagged objects

You can use the search field in the Launchpad Shell Bar or all other applications to start a search. Type in a specific tag label as search term and hit the magnifying lens icon to start the search.

The tag label it is the best way to utilize the search but you can enter every search term you want and you get suggestions while typing.

In case you are only interested in tagged objects you can select “Tags” in the drop down next to the search field to search tagged objects only.

The search is considering all tagged objects as of now. For the tagged objects following properties are taken into consideration for the search:

• Tag Name
  
• Object Title
  
• Project
  
• Object Type

Work with the result list

After executing your search the result list is showing up accordingly. In case you searched in “All” the results are showing the apps together with the tagged objects (for the time being).

On top of the result list you can select “Tags” and show filters to get further drill down options.

This leads to the result list of tagged objects showing the filter panel on the left hand side of the screen.

Nice to know: By selecting “Tags” in the drop down next to the search field you directly enter the result list filtered for tagged objects and the filter options side panel is visible – as shown in the screenshot below.

The result list is highlighting the search term. In this case it is about the “Tag” assigned to the respective objects but it is searching the title of tagged objects in addition.

• For items 6 and 7 in the result list the title has been considered as indicated by highlighting “company code”.

In order to restrict the results to certain projects and object types you can filter via the side panel.

Example: In my role as a test lead I am mainly interested in Test Cases and User Stories for two of the projects.

From here I can easily navigate to the items by clicking the title of an object. The object will open in a separate tab so that you are able to continue working with the result list.

Important: The search is respecting the project access levels. If you are not assigned to a project of access level “Private” the result list will not show any objects related to this particular project.

In the toolbar on top of the result list you can save your search as a Tile on the Launchpad which is pretty convenient to get easy access to the findings. Furthermore, you can send an e-mail with the link to the search by clicking on “E-Mail”.

Wrap-Up

The new search capability to find tagged objects is a first step into the direction of working with an object list across projects. In conjunction with the convenient tagging options in SAP Cloud ALM it can add value by simplifying your daily work.

The post Tag Search in SAP Cloud ALM first appeared on ERP Q&A.