Federated Solution Manager Landscape

[Former Member]

Hi,

We are currently using Solman  v7.1 to manage a single BAU track (DEV, QAS, Pre-PRD, PRD). Applications include ERP, SRM, BW, BPC, Portal, PI, etc. The scope for Solman is currently limited to monitoring and maintenance.

We are looking to do two key things:

1. Split the landscape into Dual Track. This will mean another set of environments for the Project track (SBX, DEV, QAS). Host this track on the Cloud.

2. Extend the scope of Solman beyond typical system management tasks to other areas like Project/Delivery/Transport/Test/Change Management and analytics. We are looking to use ChaRM/CTS+ and most of the other ALM processes supported by Solman.

The challenge is that the Cloud hosted Project track will be a managed service, so the Service Provider will use their own Solman instance to deliver the service for their part of the landscape. Consequently, any transports/support packs/enhancement packs/etc need to be applied through their Solman instance. This means our on-premise Solman instance will have limited capability to deliver all the nice features SAP offers through the latest releases unless the landscape data is replicated in our on-premise instance on a regular basis. Even then, unless our Solman can access those cloud based systems directly, we can't do much with things like EHP Scope and Effort assessment, Test Scope assessment, Custom Code Management, etc

Moreover, as I understand, the ALM processes are tightly coupled with underling infrastructure so I am trying to understand if it is possible to make Solman work and use most of its features in a federated landscape. I have seen federation for Portal, PI, SLD, BW, etc but not for Solman other than integrating with 3rd party help desks. Is anyone aware if it can utilize all of the Change/Transport/Test/Business Process Management features in federated Solman landscape?

Regards.

[TomCenens · Accepted solution]

Hi

SAP has a Run SAP Partner for SAP Solution Manager offering which enables SAP partners to host SAP Solution Manager for one or more customers.

Two possibilities there:

Option 1:

One Solution Manager, used by multiple customers in a limited fashion - only four scenario's are available because other scenario's are not VAR capable (no possibility to keep customers separated in terms of authorizations etc)

Four scenario's there:

Incident Management

Maintenance Optimizer

EWA / SLR Reporting

Solution Documentation

Option 2:

Another scenario equals hosting a dedicated SAP Solution Manager for a customer where only that customer has access which is basically just hosting.

A federated scenario would equal option 1 which means very very limited.

To really use SAP Solution Manager in a proper way you need to have all your managed SAP systems connected & configured in SAP Solution Manager.

So your SAP Solution Manager would need to be able to directly access those managed SAP systems hosted in the cloud and pull date from them, get data from them through RFC, Diagnostics Agents and so on.

That is possible I assume but it's more of a technical story to accomplish it.

There is no decent federation scenario available for SAP Solution Manager which can offer extensive functionality ( ~four VAR scenario's is still pretty weak ) to date.

Looks like you figured it out already when I read your question and you are right on track: your SAP Solution Manager on premise will be seriously crippled in terms of what functionality you can use for those cloud systems if those cloud systems are not connected to it.

Best regards

Tom

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Thanks Tom.

What are your comments on the solution provided by Jon here. Do you think the proposed approach should give Solman what it needs to support full set of ALM processes? If we can connect all our sytems being managed in th cloud to our on-premise Solman instance in addition to their own Solman instance, would this also enable us to configure ChaRM, QGM, EhP Scope and Effort Analysis, Test Mangement, etc. processes which span the full landscape?

Thanks.

[TomCenens · Accepted solution]

Hi

I haven't tested it but that does match with what I've heard yes. According to SAP it should be possible.

Looking at Technical Monitoring for example you have multiple sources from where information flows - local CCMS, RFC based data pulling, Introscope data, Diag Agent data ...

So you really need to ensure you have all the necessary connections in place. Like I said, it's a technical challenge really. Besides the agent story you have other "concerns" such as your SLD where you also have to ensure you have the appropriate data in your SLD for those cloud based SAP systems. The configuration in a managed SAP system pushes it's data to one SLD so if it's pushed to a SLD of the hosting party, you would have bridge (or forward) that data to your on-premise SLD.

Do you have a private VPN connection to that cloud environment and are you able to access those systems directly on their IP address for example or do you have to pass through a SAProuter or ..

The above case isn't a federated SolMan anymore, it's a dedicated SolMan that connects to a bunch of cloud based SAP systems. So yes, that should be possible but you'll have to keep all those things in mind:

RFC connections

Diag Agents / Wily Introscope

SLD data

Best regards

Tom

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Thanks again Tom. I have reached out to SAP and awaiting confirmation as well.

You are correct that it will not be a federated landscape for Solman per say as local copies of data and configuration will exist.

Regards.

[Former Member]

Hi

I am not sure such a dedicated approach released for solution manager with cloud extended.  But solman7.1 can be easily integrate with al the 3rd party products, like IBM rational, tivoli, HP, ARIS, recently IT infrastructure management, IT portfolio and project management tools.

VAR scenario where you can connect 2 solution manager.

check out the new features in solman here.

Thanks

Jansi

[Former Member]

Hi,

Thanks for the response. Much appreciated.

A similar thread here seems to suggest this is doable. I am not sure though. May be someone from SAP or Partners can share their experience.

Regards.