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What is SAP Cloud ALM?

SAP Cloud ALM, a cloud-based offering from SAP, facilitates the implementation and management of cloud solutions.

SAP Cloud ALM serves as an ALM suite for application lifecycle management, enabling companies to swiftly transition to the cloud. Additionally, it aids in optimizing the operation of cloud solutions and their management.

What does SAP Cloud ALM (Application Lifecycle Management)

SAP Cloud ALM offers a full ALM suite tailored for application lifecycle management, specifically designed for customers heavily reliant on cloud solutions. It delivers extensive implementation and operational functionalities for cloud solutions.

Notably, this solution boasts cost-effectiveness and immediate usability, adhering to established standards without requiring extensive configuration. SAP has meticulously crafted SAP Cloud ALM and SAP Solutions Manager on Cloud from the ground up, leveraging cutting-edge technologies.

What functionalities does SAP Cloud ALM provide?

SAP Cloud ALM offers a comprehensive range of functionalities. It enables companies to both operate and implement SAP solutions effectively. This encompasses all crucial aspects during implementations, including process management, testing, deployment, and task management.

In the operational realm, SAP Cloud ALM empowers companies to conduct business process monitoring, health monitoring, and user & performance monitoring seamlessly.

Moreover, the solution is enriched with embedded intelligence across all functions. This enables more efficient process handling, leveraging machine learning capabilities to detect errors and malfunctions early on.

SAP Cloud ALM Features

End-to-End Application Lifecycle Management

Project Management: It supports the management of SAP projects from the initial stages of implementation, through configuration, to deployment and maintenance.
Solution Documentation: Allows the creation, management, and documentation of business processes and system configurations.
Requirement Management: Tracks business and system requirements through various stages of development, ensuring alignment with business goals.

Application Monitoring and Operations

Real-Time Monitoring: Provides continuous real-time monitoring of SAP cloud solutions,including performance,availability,and health of applications.
Incident Management: Supports identification and resolution of incidents with integrated alerts and proactive issue detection.
System Landscape Management: Allows for the management of cloud system landscapes, including SAP S/4HANA Cloud, SAP SuccessFactors, SAP Ariba, etc.
Service Level Agreements (SLA) Management: Ensures that the operations meet predefined SLAs and performance benchmarks.

Change and Release Management

Change Requests: Manages change requests through a structured workflow, helping ensure controlled and systematic changes in SAP systems.
Release Planning: Supports planning and implementation of releases with a structured approach to testing, deployment, and rollbacks.
Automated Change Impact Analysis: Identifies the impacts of changes before they are implemented to ensure minimal disruption.

Testing and Validation

Test Management: Provides capabilities for planning, executing, and tracking tests to ensure the quality and reliability of SAP applications.
Automated Testing: Supports automation of testing tasks, reducing manual efforts and ensuring consistent results.
Test Case Documentation: Allows businesses to document and manage test cases, ensuring they meet business requirements.

Collaboration and Communication

Collaboration Tools: Facilitates collaboration between various stakeholders (developers, project managers, business users, etc.) in the application lifecycle.
Integrated Communication: Supports the seamless exchange of information, status updates, and issue tracking between teams and stakeholders.

Integration with SAP Solutions

Integration with SAP S/4HANA Cloud: Seamless integration with core SAP applications such as SAP S/4HANA Cloud, SAP SuccessFactors, SAP Ariba, and more.
Integration with SAP Solution Manager: Works closely with SAP Solution Manager, allowing businesses to extend on-premise capabilities to the cloud environment.

Cloud-based Architecture

Scalability: Being cloud-based, SAP Cloud ALM offers scalability, ensuring that businesses can expand their usage based on growing needs
Accessibility:Accessible from anywhere with an internet connection, providing flexibility for distributed teams.
Security:SAP ensures that the data is secured in the cloud, including compliance with relevant standards and certifications (e.g., GDPR, ISO 27001).

Analytics and Reporting

Dashboards and Reports: Provides interactive dashboards and detailed reports to monitor the health, performance, and status of SAP applications.
KPIs and Metrics:Tracks key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics to ensure that systems meet organizational objectives.
Customizable Views:Allows users to create custom views for reporting, focusing on specific aspects of the application lifecycle.

Cloud Transformation Support

Migration Planning: Helps plan and manage migrations to the cloud by offering tools for system conversion, data migration, and testing.
Deployment Tools: Offers deployment and configuration management tools that support cloud transformation initiatives.

User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI)

Intuitive UI: A user-friendly interface that simplifies the management of complex application lifecycle processes.
Customization: Ability to customize workflows, screens, and notifications to suit the specific needs of the organization.

Support for Agile Methodology

Agile Project Management: Supports agile methodologies, allowing for iterative development, continuous integration, and faster deployment cycles.
Sprint and Backlog Management: Tracks work items in sprints and helps in managing product backlogs in agile environments.

Compliance and Governance

Audit Trails: Tracks all changes and activities, providing an audit trail for compliance purposes.
Regulatory Compliance: Ensures that all changes and activities comply with relevant regulations and standards.

What are the Benefits of SAP Cloud ALM?

An essential benefit of Cloud ALM is its foundation on established standards and frameworks.

With SAP Cloud ALM, companies can implement SAP S/4HANA and SAP S/4HANA Cloud effortlessly, leveraging the SAP Activate framework and providing SAP best practices.
It facilitates the seamless execution and documentation of all activities within a single tool, encompassing fit-to-standard workshops, change creation and tracking, and test documentation.
During operations, companies benefit from comprehensive system monitoring capabilities offered by SAP Cloud ALM, ensuring high transparency. This empowers the proactive identification of errors or critical conditions, enabling targeted responses.
SAP Cloud ALM serves as the central hub for project management upon integrating SAP solutions.

What other solutions are available from SAP in the area of ALM?

Apart from SAP Cloud ALM, SAP offers various other solutions within its ALM portfolio.

These encompass SAP Solution Manager on Cloud featuring Focus Build and Focus Insights, primarily suitable for on-premise systems and hybrid landscapes.

Additionally, SAP Focused Run stands out for managing extensive IT landscapes.

Which ALM domains does SAP CALM encompass?

SAP Cloud ALM spans the entire "design-to-deploy" and "detect-to-correct" processes, ensuring comprehensive functionalities for both implementation and operation.

Is SAP Cloud ALM exclusive to SAP S/4HANA?

No, the versatility of the product extends beyond SAP S/4HANA. It now caters to a diverse range of solutions, including SAP Ariba, Concur, Field Service Management, IAM, and various products from the customer experience portfolio.

How does SAP Solution Manager on Cloud differ from SAP Focused Run?

The distinction between SAP Solution Manager on Cloud and SAP Focused Run is straightforward.

SAP Solution Manager on Cloud serves as a comprehensive ALM suite tailored for on-premise-centric customers, while SAP Focused Run is specifically designed for operational purposes only.

Companies seeking to implement an SAP solution require either an SAP Solution Manager on Cloud or SAP Cloud ALM.

Conversely, if a company's focus lies solely on operational aspects as a subset, then SAP Focused Run may also be a viable option to consider.

Is SAP Cloud ALM a cloud-based Solution Manager?

No, SAP Cloud ALM is distinct from the SAP Solution Manager on Cloud.

This product was built from the ground up using the latest Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) technologies.

Its user-friendliness, exemplified by the consistent use of the FIORI concept, sets it apart from Solution Manager.

Which ALM solution is ideal for me?

The question of "Which ALM solution is ideal for you?" hinges largely on your chosen deployment option and required functionalities.

For instance, if your company operates an SAP S/4HANA on-premise system with sporadic cloud solution usage, SAP Solution Manager on Cloud is likely the optimal choice.

Conversely, if your company predominantly manages its business processes using cloud solutions (e.g., SAP S/4HANA Cloud), then SAP Cloud ALM is the more suitable option.

What are the licensing expenses for deploying Cloud ALM?

There are no extra license fees for utilizing SAP Cloud ALM. SAP Cloud ALM is included in SAP Enterprise Support and Cloud Editions.

Hence, customers are eligible to leverage SAP Cloud ALM if they subscribe to an SAP Cloud Service that incorporates SAP Enterprise Support and Cloud Editions. SAP even covers the hyper scaler costs for running SAP Cloud ALM as part of the fair use rights.

What are the plans for SAP Cloud ALM?

The roadmap for SAP Cloud ALM is quite clear: SAP aims to develop a fully comprehensive ALM suite tailored for cloud-centric customers.

The company's current strategy is to encompass all processes and functionalities crucial for application lifecycle management within the solution by 2023.

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