Solution Manager Expert

Latest Articles in this Channel:

01/23/09--14:02: Use SAP Solution Manager Change Request Management (ChaRM) to Support Your Implementation Project (chan 1413999)

Learn how to deploy and manage change requests within an implementation project by using Change Request Management.


01/23/09--14:03: Configure Automatic Service Desk Email Notifications (chan 1413999)

Use this three-step process to configure SAP Solution Manager Service Desk to send email notifications automatically when a Support Desk message has been assigned to the users.


01/23/09--14:04: Create a Global Deployment Unit Test (chan 1413999)

Learn how to review, plan, organize, and execute unit testing for a global deployment of SAP Supplier Relationship Management 5.0 (SAP SRM) using Solution Manager.


01/23/09--14:05: Quick Tip: Reduce Administration Overhead in Change Request Management (chan 1413999)

Learn a few simple tricks to reduce your administrative overhead and work.


01/23/09--14:05: Enhance ChaRM Workflow to Handle Your Business Requirements (chan 1413999)

Change Request Management (ChaRM) workflow is based on SAP CRM Service Management configuration settings that provide significant flexibility for enhancements. This article offers an overview of the ChaRM workflow configuration settings and the available options for implementing enhancements you may require.


01/23/09--14:06: Use Job Scheduling Management to Manage Jobs from One Central Point (chan 1413999)

Learn how to manage your background job scheduling while maintaining accurate and up-to-date documentation on job requests and associated changes.


01/23/09--14:06: Use the Upgrade Functionality for a Well-Documented and Smooth Transition (chan 1413999)

Learn about the tools and methodologies in the SAP Solution Manager Upgrade Project for planning, executing, and documenting the most important aspects and phases of your functional upgrade projects.


01/23/09--14:07: Manage Key Project Strategy Documents with SAP Solution Manager Roadmaps (chan 1413999)

Strategic documents and methodologies set the direction and the processes for SAP projects. SAP Solution Manager Roadmaps provide the tools and content repositories you use to tailor a selected methodology and to set the direction for your project. Learn how to use these tools to ensure successful projects and to generate valuable assets for future projects.


01/23/09--14:08: Access IT Performance Reporting to Extract Performance Data at No Extra Cost (chan 1413999)

Learn how to set up IT Performance Reporting so that IT operations can employ a variety of useful reports and metrics.


01/23/09--14:09: Testing Made Easy in Solution Manager (chan 1413999)

Learn how to use Solution Manager for all the stages of your testing from configuration to execution.


02/10/09--12:46: The Issue Resolution Process: An Essential Prerequisite for Implementing Service Desk (chan 1413999)

By documenting the issue resolution process that best reflects your existing organizational support structure, you can configure the Service Desk to minimize negative impacts on your organization.


02/20/09--07:00: Business Process Design Made Easy with Solution Composer (chan 1413999)

Learn how to use Solution Composer 2.11.14 to develop processes to meet your business requirements. See a detailed example of customizing a business map.


02/20/09--08:49: New User Interface and Content Enhances Service Level Reporting (chan 1413999)

Learn about the redesigned Service Level Reporting Setup Workbench user interface. Discover the extended reporting capabilities that the enhanced Service Level Report content supplies.


02/23/09--12:34: An Excellent Combination for Training and Feedback: Learning Maps and End-User Roles (chan 1413999)

Find out ways you can use Learning Maps to facilitate fast and efficient training for end users. Discover the value that end-user roles can provide for filtering, reporting, and user feedback.


03/17/09--14:03: Java Memory Analysis — How Efficient Is Your Garbage Collector? (chan 1413999)

Learn how to perform effective Java memory analysis on your system using a Solution Manager Diagnostics component that many users don’t take advantage of. Find out how you can tell if your Java applications are performing at their best, and discover a variety of ways to analyze system performance.


03/20/09--11:14: Use Issue Management to Keep Your SAP Projects Moving Forward (chan 1413999)

SAP implemented Issue Management in the Service Desk to help you resolve issues that put your SAP projects at risk or disrupt processing. Learn how you can use Issue Management to internally create, track, and report on Issues and Top Issues in your project.


03/26/09--07:15: Quick Tip: Yes - Smaller Companies Can Streamline Operations with SAP Solution Manager (chan 1413999)

Discover how SAP Solution Manager can work in smaller organizations.


03/30/09--11:21: Quick Tip: Save Time During Your Service Desk Implementation (chan 1413999)

Learn some of the initial shortcuts you can use during an SAP Solution Manager Service Desk implementation to save time and effort for your organization.


04/01/09--11:40: Demystify the CRM Configuration Behind the Service Desk (chan 1413999)

Build on settings in SAP Solution Manager to roll out a central support system to administer both SAP and non-SAP trouble tickets. Learn effective practices for preparing and designing a comprehensive support system for issue reporting.


05/04/09--08:11: Analyze the Impact of SAP Software Changes on Your Business Processes (chan 1413999)

See how to achieve a risk-based test scope identification using Business Process Change Analyzer in SAP Solution Manager 7.0 EhP1 (Enterprise Edition). It allows you to analyze the impact of software changes triggered by SAP Support Packages, customizing changes, or custom code development on your important business processes.


05/05/09--09:19: Best Practices for Configuring the Solution Documentation Assistant (chan 1413999)

Learn how to configure the Solution Documentation Assistant in SAP Solution Manager to analyze your entire system landscape and provide a detailed report. This functionality is useful if an upgrade needs to be executed in a short span of time, because you can create an SAP Solution Manager project from that report.


05/05/09--12:24: Quick Tip: Uncover Defects Before Go-Live with SAP Solution Manager (chan 1413999)

Defect management during testing execution ensures that all testing defects are sorted out within the defined testing timeline, without hampering your overall project plan or the kick-off of the next project phase (cut-over and final preparation). It helps you to avoid costly surprises from testing defects after your release and go-live.


05/05/09--14:32: Guide Your Implementation Project with SAP Solution Manager (chan 1413999)

Learn how you can best use SAP Solution Manager 7.0 (formerly called SAP Solution Manager 4.0) functionality for an SAP implementation project. Specifically, read about the details of the Implementation Roadmap and the activities that should be performed in each implementation stage using tools found in SAP Solution Manager.


05/27/09--12:26: Configure Digital Signatures in SAP Solution Manager (chan 1413999)

Learn the essentials of digital signature configuration in this overview and basic guide to digital signature setup in SAP Solution Manager.


05/28/09--08:40: Quick Tip: Important Considerations for Business Process Hierarchies (chan 1413999)

Discover a shortcut to represent the shared processes in the Business Process Hierarchy (BPH) so you don’t have multiple definitions of the same process, which can confuse your process and support teams. Learn a few tips about what you should consider when building your BPH.


06/10/09--14:37: Use Business Blueprints to their Highest Potential for a Successful Implementation (chan 1413999)

Learn how proper use of the Business Process Repository and Business Blueprint can help set your organization on the course for a successful implementation and establish a foundation for effective support. Explore how to set your project scope and create relationships between scope items and objects to support traceability and transparency in change management.


06/12/09--12:52: Consolidate Your IDoc Monitoring with SAP Solution Manager (chan 1413999)

SAP Solution Manager can act as a consolidation system for business process monitoring. In this excerpt from the authors’ SAP PRESS book Mastering IDoc Business Scenarios with SAP NetWeaver PI, learn the steps you’ll need to use to create and link business processes to multiple systems for monitoring.


06/29/09--13:45: Thread Dump Analysis — Are Your Applications Hanging by a Thread? (chan 1413999)

Learn how you can use a Thread Dump Analysis in SAP Solution Manager to identify performance problems in the Java stack and isolate the problem to a specific Java package or application.


07/09/09--08:43: New Work Center Centralizes Issue and Support Service Management with SAP (chan 1413999)

Learn about the tools and functions in the SAP Engagement and Service Delivery Work Center that provide an overview of your IT issues and the services proposed by SAP. See how to link issues and services to efficiently solve them and get the most value out of SAP Support Services.


07/13/09--12:02: The Starting Point for Authorization in Change Request Management (chan 1413999)

Discover best practices on how to authorize users of SAP Solution Manager Change Request Management (ChaRM) with user roles. Learn about the biggest pitfalls you may encounter and precautions you should take when you set up authorizations.


08/03/09--12:26: Disciplined Testing is the Key to Success for Large SAP Rollouts (chan 1413999)

This guide can serve as the basis for your organization’s regression testing during a large global rollout.


08/11/09--11:55: Quick Tip: Move Documents within the Business Process Hierarchy Structure (chan 1413999)

Learn a fast and simple trick to move a document from one Business Process Hierarchy node to another.


08/13/09--08:30: Speed Up SAP Projects with Roadmap Accelerators (chan 1413999)

Many SAP projects lack common project standards when they are started, and trying to create them once a project is in progress requires significantly more time and resources. Even companies with a project methodology in place must spend a great deal of time gathering documentation. To alleviate this, SAP Solution Manager provides Roadmap accelerators to help with documentation templates, Web links, project phase checklists, and best practices documentation and guidelines.


08/19/09--12:25: Quick Tip: Streamline 5 Core Center of Excellence Functions with SAP Solution Manager (chan 1413999)

Find out how you can use SAP Solution Manager in combination with the SAP Center of Excellence to optimize performance, testing, support, and business processes in your SAP system.


09/03/09--11:25: A Guide to End-to-End Root Cause Analysis (chan 1413999)

Learn how to set up and use SAP Solution Manager Root Cause Analysis and Wily Introscope Enterprise Manager.


09/11/09--14:25: Quick Tip: Find Missing Messages in the Incident Management Work Center (chan 1413999)

Use the Quick Criteria Maintenance feature to find messages that seem to disappear from the Incident Management Work Center.


09/24/09--13:36: From Solution Composer Map to Business Blueprint in an Instant (chan 1413999)

After you create a business map using Solution Composer, you can use it in SAP Solution Manager to quickly generate a blueprinting document.


10/05/09--12:14: Self-Diagnosis: An Essential Process to Keep SAP Solution Manager Running Smoothly (chan 1413999)

Learn how self-diagnosis complements the scenarios configurable within SAP Solution Manager to monitor your entire SAP Solution Manager system, including system monitoring, Solution Manager Diagnostics, Root Cause Analysis, and business process and interface monitoring.


10/16/09--11:37: Quick Tip: Create Customer Attributes to Facilitate Decision-Making (chan 1413999)

Discover how the customer attributes functionality can help you make sense of large projects during an implementation or upgrade. In particular, the focus is on setting priority attributes.


10/22/09--07:58: Prepare to Keep Your SAP Systems in Top Shape with Business Process Monitoring (chan 1413999)

Gain insight into the prerequisites for integrating business process monitoring into SAP Solution Manager 7.0. To ensure a smooth, successful, and error-free business process monitoring integration in SAP Solution Manager, it is important that you meet all these prerequisites.


11/05/09--11:09: Quick Tip: Steps for a More Accurate Interface Description (chan 1413999)

Inside the interface repository, you can fill out many different attributes for interface descriptions, such as technology object and package size. Learn the two ways you can add custom attributes beyond the SAP standards.


11/05/09--13:04: Change Diagnostics: It Worked Yesterday, What’s Changed? (chan 1413999)

The next time your system behaves differently, use Change Diagnostics to uncover and analyze what’s changed.


11/16/09--13:55: Quick Tip: Find Documents Quickly in the SAP Knowledge Warehouse (chan 1413999)

Learn a quick and efficient way to search for documents in the SAP Knowledge Warehouse without wasting time or system resources.


12/10/09--13:06: Quick Tip: Define Projects and Systems in Change Request Management (chan 1413999)

In their new SAP PRESS book Change Request Management with SAP Solution Manager, Matthias Friedrich and Torsten Sternberg describe how to activate Change Request Management (ChaRM). This excerpt outlines the next step: how to create projects. This is an important final step before you can begin to use ChaRM.


12/11/09--10:32: A Checklist for an SAP Solution Manager System Audit (chan 1413999)

SAP Solution Manager's features make it a challenging candidate for a system audit and review. Use this matrix to establish your approach to auditing SAP Solution Manager.


12/16/09--08:54: Synchronize Multiple System Projects with Customizing Distribution and Customizing Scout (chan 1413999)

Learn how to use the SAP Solution Manager Customizing Scout and Customizing Distribution functions to synchronize global configuration settings in a system landscape consisting of SAP ERP Central Component, SAP Supply Chain Management, and SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse. The synchronization of configurations across a system landscape makes system maintenance easier and more efficient.


01/06/10--14:06: 4 Top Custom Development Questions Answered (chan 1413999)

Common questions regarding custom development and SAP Solution Manager are answered with specific examples and descriptions that can help you manage your development objects and activities more effectively. Also, learn about the new Custom Development Management Cockpit.


01/08/10--07:27: Outsourcing Your Support? Here Are 6 Reasons You Should Be Using SAP Solution Manager Anyway (chan 1413999)

While every SAP customer owns a version of SAP Solution Manager, far too many overlook the full range of capabilities offered by the tool. In this article, experts weigh in on the SAP Solution Manager functionalities you should consider and offer tips for getting started.


01/12/10--11:49: Top 10 Solution Manager Expert Articles for 2009 (chan 1413999)

Here's a list of the most popular articles that you accessed in 2009. Popular topics this year were varied, including Service Desk and articles that reviewed the main fuctions and benefits of SAP Solution Manager. You can click the titles of the articles to view them. (Note that you must have a Solution Manager Expert subscription to view the full articles.)


01/13/10--13:46: The SAP Solution Manager Role Matrix Made Easy (chan 1413999)

Learn how clearly identifying SAP Solution Manager roles that address your organization's requirements and support the future use of SAP Solution Manager functionalities can allow you to build a robust position-mapping role matrix.


01/14/10--08:44: Quick Tip: Improve Transaction Numbering to Avoid Gaps (chan 1413999)

Learn a fast, but effective, configuration setting that can help prevent redundant gaps between support notifications, change requests, and Change Request Management (ChaRM) identification numbers.


01/27/10--13:37: Demystify Digital Signature Configuration for Faster Approvals (chan 1413999)

Digital signatures enable you to send documents electronically, thereby avoiding time lost to physically mailing signed documents. To ensure that the digital signatures on your documents are authentic and secure, it is important that you understand all the SAP Solution Manager configuration steps involved. This article breaks down the complex process for creating master documents for statuses and the best way to sign documents with digital signatures.


02/05/10--12:46: Quick Tip: Improve Document Management by Securing Attributes (chan 1413999)

Learn how to give your project greater control of document management by setting up security for document attributes.


02/25/10--11:05: A Step-by-Step Setup Guide to SAP Solution Manager Adapter for SAP Quality Center by HP: Part 1 (chan 1413999)

In this first half of a two-part series, learn how to begin the setup of SAP Solution Manager Adapter for SAP Quality Center by HP. See how you can prepare and meet the requirements for connecting the two systems.


02/25/10--11:05: A Step-by-Step Setup Guide to SAP Solution Manager Adapter for SAP Quality Center by HP: Part 2 (chan 1413999)

In the second half of this series on setting up the integration between SAP Solution Manager and SAP Quality Center by HP, find out how to set up and finalize the connection between the two systems.


03/12/10--07:31: Meeting Resistance to Implementing SAP Solution Manager? Here’s What to Do (chan 1413999)

Here are five tips on how to explain why SAP Solution Manager should be considered an advantage to an organization, not a burden or the source of additional project cost. Also, learn how to structure the implementation of SAP Solution Manager once you have received approval.


03/24/10--09:07: Quick Tip: Assign Unique Categories to Service Desk Transaction Types (chan 1413999)

Learn how to have greater flexibility in Service Desk by assigning category lists to transaction types.


03/24/10--10:18: Optimize Your Software Change Process with Quality Gates (chan 1413999)

Learn how to configure Quality Gate Management, which gives an integrated and consistent overview of all changes implemented in an SAP solution for all operational units in a company. Learn the basics of Quality Gate Management and its configuration steps as well as the corresponding Change Management Work Center interface features.


04/08/10--11:59: Standardize Your Business Processes with Template Management in SAP Solution Manager (chan 1413999)

Understand the most important conceptual aspects of template management as driven by SAP Solution Manager.


05/10/10--09:57: Use SAP Security to Manage Your Project Scope (chan 1413999)

Finding the right balance between allowing teams to get work done and managing the business process scope can be daunting early in a project. Learn how to leverage the SAP security model in SAP Solution Manager to automate governance during the blueprint and configuration phases. See how to activate the change control, how to set up user access to the Business Process Hierarchy structure nodes, and the effects these activities have on the behavior of blueprint and configuration transactions in SAP Solution Manager.


05/12/10--15:11: Implement ChaRM Light to Ease Your ChaRM Implementation (chan 1413999)

Some people find that Change Request Management (ChaRM) is challenging to implement and requires a lot of effort. Find out how to achieve maximum benefits with less effort by using a strategy I call ChaRM light for your initial implementation.


05/12/10--15:13: A Guide to Improving Screen Layouts in ChaRM (chan 1413999)

Learn a strategy to make your SAP screen layouts in Change Request Management (ChaRM) more intuitive and easier for end users to navigate. This strategy is based on SAP standard customization that allows the changes to be easily maintained through upgrades. A streamlined set of screen layouts allows end users to quickly reach their goals.


05/17/10--09:41: Crossing Transport Request Boundaries with ChaRM (chan 1413999)

In this primer on the basics of Change Request Management (ChaRM) and how it can benefit your organization, learn how ChaRM controls changes from their creation to the transport and productive systems. Find out how to manage several change projects in complex landscapes using this tool and how SAP moved change management forward by creating ChaRM and giving change teams full control of configuration and development.


05/28/10--13:33: Manage Your Integration Test Using Test Plan Management (chan 1413999)

Learn how to use the SAP Solution Manager Test Plan Management functionality to run an integration test. Most SAP projects today have a complex system landscape of multiple applications. To run an integration or string test across these systems is very time consuming, but using Test Plan Management can make this process much more efficient.


06/17/10--09:30: Save Time Setting Up SAP Solution Manager After Installation Using Guided Procedures (chan 1413999)

SAP Solution Manager 7.0 with SAP enhancement package 1 provides a guided procedure to help you set up your SAP Solution Manager system and connect to the satellite systems in minutes after it is installed.


06/18/10--09:25: Combat Excess Growth in SAP Systems: A Guide to the Custom Development Management Cockpit (chan 1413999)

The Custom Development Management Cockpit (CDMC) helps clean up the system by identifying coding that is no longer in use. Armed with this information, you can apply only necessary changes to the system during processes such as an upgrade.


07/06/10--09:04: Take Control of Your SAP System Development with Change Request Management (chan 1413999)

Increase the security of your satellite systems by performing a few simple configuration changes. With these changes, you can prevent developers and testers from creating, managing, and releasing transport requests directly in satellite systems, which will ensure that only the person responsible for these actions (usually the change manager) can execute them.


07/08/10--12:16: Be Proactive with System Monitoring and Central System Administration (chan 1413999)

System monitoring is important to ensure system disturbances are dealt with as soon as possible. It helps you prevent or limit inconveniences and extra costs to your organization. Discover a central and integrated approach to setting up proactive system monitoring using SAP Solution Manager.


07/13/10--13:16: A Roadmap to Effective Business Process Management (chan 1413999)

This guide to an enterprise-wide business process management (BPM) strategy focuses on the features in SAP Solution Manager that you can use for the four phases of BPM. It also highlights the use of solution maps and third-party products (such as ARIS, HP Quality Center, and HP QuickTest Professional) that have standard integration adapters for SAP Solution Manager.


07/19/10--08:00: Improve Traceability with SAP Solution Manager (chan 1413999)

With the advent of Sarbanes-Oxley and other compliance rules, the need for full traceability across a solution development effort is expanding far beyond just the pharmaceutical industry. SAP Solution Manager has a collection of features that enable your project to provide end-to-end visibility to all aspects of solution development and delivery. From initial design through final testing and signoff, SAP Solution Manager allows you to link and trace all the activities, documents, and technical objects needed to deliver your solution.


07/27/10--09:47: Quick Tip: Hide Completed SAP Solution Manager Projects (chan 1413999)

Learn how to make an easy setting that hides completed SAP Solution Manager projects, which can make it easier for project teams searching for a particular project.


08/13/10--12:58: Keep Your Solution Documentation Current with the SAP Solution Manager Maintenance Project (chan 1413999)

Effectively use a solution, maintenance project, and integrated messaging for approvals to achieve a controlled and reliable way to keep your solution documentation in sync with enhancement deployments to your SAP system.


08/23/10--10:25: Time Recording in the Service Desk: Capturing Support Efforts in Incident Management (chan 1413999)

Implement SAP Solution Manager's Time Recording feature to capture, track, and report on the effort your support teams invest in processing incidents. Learn the fundamental configuration activities to integrate Time Recording into both new and live Service Desk solutions.


08/25/10--09:38: A Guide to Using CA Wily Introscope for SAP NetWeaver Applications (chan 1413999)

Learn why and how you should use CA Wily Introscope as part of your SAP Solution Manager Root Cause Analysis toolkit.


09/24/10--09:59: Keep Your Project Workflow Under Control with the Service Desk (chan 1413999)

You can use the Service Desk as much more than a help desk. Using its configuration capabilities, you can create and customize transactions to manage IT service requests, manage business process changes (regardless of whether they include system changes), and keep everyone on your team in the loop with automatic notifications. Explore how the Service Desk can help you enforce processes, manage approvals, and keep track of the life cycle of the many different activities within your project and your organization. In particular, dive into the details of setting up email alerts based on the specific status values of a Service Desk transaction.


09/24/10--10:32: Establish a Production Support Framework for SAP Using SAP Solution Manager (chan 1413999)

Read about lessons learned and best practices for the establishment of a production support group for an implemented SAP solution. Discover the recommended functions, activities, and team structures that must be established before and after go-live so that your company maximizes its SAP investment and provides high quality service and support to your user community.


09/28/10--11:59: The New Way to Set up Diagnostics: Guided Procedures in SAP Solution Manager 7.0 with SAP Enhancement Package 1 (chan 1413999)

Learn how to set up and use Solution Manager Diagnostics (SMD) and Wily Introscope Enterprise Manager 8.2.2 using Guided Procedures. This is new feature in SAP Solution Manager 7.0 with SAP enhancement package 1 that guides you through setting up SMD, which is often a very complex process.


10/13/10--14:29: Efficiently Set Up Solution Manager Diagnostics on Managed Systems Using Guided Procedures (chan 1413999)

Walk through all the necessary steps you need to perform on your managed systems to set up and use Solution Manager Diagnostics.


11/03/10--08:49: Tips for Managing Your Documentation During a Complex Rollout (chan 1413999)

Learn how to handle maintenance and deployment projects simultaneously, and find out about tools in SAP Solution Manager to manage potentially conflicting change requests, including custom attributes, templates, the solution directory, and compare and adjust.


11/08/10--10:24: How to Accelerate Production and Avoid Common Pitfalls of a Change Request Life Cycle (chan 1413999)

Read recommendations and suggestions for how you can use Change Request Management (ChaRM) to drive an efficient production change request process for your SAP solutions. See how to overcome typical challenges in this process, such as lack of traceability, poor communication between testing and development teams, and inadequate ticket response. Then find out how to set up and use ChaRM to support change requests.


11/09/10--07:03: Use ChaRM to Support Application Management (chan 1413999)

Learn how to use ChaRM within your SAP application management department to manage existing SAP applications, and see the benefits resulting from its use. Also, follow this step-by-step process for both urgent corrections and normal corrections.


12/06/10--08:45: Your Easy-to-Understand Guide to the Major Areas of SAP Solution Manager (chan 1413999)

Learn about some of the strategic, functional, and technical benefits of SAP Solution Manager and how to realize them. Find out the basics of functionalities such as the Service Desk, Change Request Management, and system and business process monitoring, including many helpful links to relevant articles.


12/06/10--10:32: Save Time on License and Maintenance Certificate Management with SAP Solution Manager (chan 1413999)

Learn how to use SAP Solution Manager to centrally distribute your license and maintenance certificates to all relevant managed systems. Automatic distribution eradicates the need to manually request the licenses from the SAP Service Marketplace and install them manually in each system.


12/10/10--07:09: How SAP Solution Manager Standards and Procedures Can Prevent Confusion (chan 1413999)

Learn the importance of defining SAP Solution Manager standards and procedures, and creating a reference document for all projects. Standards and procedures play an important role when your organization starts a new SAP Solution Manager project and wants to establish SAP Solution Manager as a central source of information. SAP Solution Manager provides different tools that you can use on projects, but if standards and procedures are not well defined and documented, projects have no organized method of using these tools.


12/10/10--07:29: Overcome Offsite Delivery Challenges and Improve Productivity (chan 1413999)

Learn how you can maximize your offsite delivery capabilities using both SAP Solution Manager and work tracking tools, such as VersionOne and Microsoft Project.


01/06/11--10:52: Clean Up SAP Knowledge Warehouse to Improve Performance for SAP Solution Manager (chan 1413999)

As you take advantage of all the utilities of SAP Knowledge Warehouse (SAP KW) in SAP Solution Manager, numerous versions of documents and high index counts can rob it of performance and use up valuable storage space. Learn how to quickly reclaim storage and improve the performance of SAP KW by removing obsolete versions of documents.


01/06/11--12:01: Implement and Use Forms for Service Desk and Change Management (chan 1413999)

Make the best use of forms attached to Service Desk, change requests, and change implementations, eliminating the need for attaching additional documents. Walk through the necessary configuration to create forms and assign them for different service transactions.


01/10/11--10:17: A Step-by-Step Guide to Installing CCMS Agents on AS400 Servers (chan 1413999)

If you have a pure AS400 environment, it can often be difficult to find staff with skills to monitor the systems. Discover how, with a base set of commands, you can implement the Computer Center Management (CCMS) agent on your AS400 servers to push data to SAP Solution Manager for centralized monitoring — even if you know very little about the AS400 operating system.


01/17/11--12:00: Quick Tip: Don’t Forget to Create Business Partners in ChaRM (chan 1413999)

See a quick way to create a business partner in ChaRM.


02/15/11--11:08: Cut Down on Unnecessary Notifications via Email with Individualized EarlyWatch Alerts (chan 1413999)

Learn how to customize the automatic email distribution of your EarlyWatch Alerts in SAP Solution Manager. Go beyond the default functionality of emailing all EarlyWatch Alerts to users and select individual recipients.


02/25/11--11:35: Detect and Resolve Project Intersections with ChaRM (chan 1413999)

When performing maintenance or implementation projects in parallel, parts of the project can overlap or intersect, creating problems in the system. Learn how to use Change Request Management (ChaRM) in SAP Solution Manager to help you detect these project intersections, and then fix them.


03/11/11--12:58: Categorize Your SAP Service Desk Tickets to Drive Support Process Optimization (chan 1413999)

Understand the importance and effective use of SAP support tickets categorization. The categorization feature in SAP Solution Manager’s Service Desk functionality provides guidelines for analysis and actions based on ticket categorizations.


03/25/11--14:48: Discover Custom Code Life Cycle Management Functionality in SAP Solution Manager 7.1 (chan 1413999)

Custom code life cycle management (CCLM) was designed to manage ABAP developments along the entire life cycle of custom code objects from creation of an object to use in productive systems all the way to clearing of unused custom code objects. Find out how to use a new feature in SAP Solution Manager 7.1 to manage CCLM in your system.


04/01/11--09:36: Configure EEM to Monitor Your End Users’ Application Issues (chan 1413999)

Learn how to set up SAP End User Experience Monitoring (EEM) in SAP Solution Manager with enhancement package 1. See how to configure and ready SAP Solution Manager to support EEM functionality, including the proper SAP Notes you need to use.


04/13/11--14:49: Getting Started with BMC AppSight for SAP Client Diagnostics (chan 1413999)

Learn how to download and install BMC AppSight for SAP Client Diagnostics, a tool you can use with SAP Solution Manager Root Cause Analysis. See how this application can play a role in your Root Cause Analysis process, resulting in reduced support costs and faster client-side problem resolution.


04/18/11--13:11: Functional Suggestions for the Coordination of ChaRM User Acceptance Testing (chan 1413999)

Discover the concept and approach to use when coordinating and executing user acceptance testing for Change Request Management (ChaRM). Learn about the key roles in testing and the objectives you need to meet to ensure successful user sign-off before turning ChaRM on in a production environment.


05/04/11--09:46: How SAP Solution Manager Can Lead Your Company to Business Process Excellence (chan 1413999)

Learn how to establish a common language for defining the business in terms of scenario, process, and step. Discover how to leverage the business process hierarchy to describe your processes from end to end across technologies and company boundaries. This improves your ability to more quickly deliver process changes, lower the cost of supporting them, and improve institutional understanding of key business processes.


05/11/11--09:57: Ease Your SAP Upgrade Transition with SAP Solution Manager (chan 1413999)

Understand the importance of upgrade-relevant features available in SAP Solution Manager. Learn the details of the mandatory features for an upgrade to use the compare and adjust functionality of SAP Solution Manager. Take away guidelines for upgrade project phases leveraging SAP Solution Manager as the key enabler.


05/12/11--08:48: Quick Tip: Organize Your Test Packages with Test Sequences (chan 1413999)

Walk through eight easy steps to create test sequences, which streamline and organize your testing process to improve efficiency.


05/16/11--09:16: End User Experience Monitoring: A Guide to the Technical Configuration of EEM Scripts (chan 1413999)

Learn how to record and edit SAP End User Experience Monitoring (EEM) scripts in SAP Solution Manager with enhancement package 1. See how to configure EEM from a technical perspective and get it ready for use.


05/24/11--12:40: Architecting a Document Strategy for SAP Solution Manager (chan 1413999)

The SAP Solution Manager process-oriented approach to storing documents using the Business Blueprint structure provides companies with a tool for facilitating communication, knowledge transfer, and conformance. Architecting a document strategy up front by planning, defining, and communicating standards and procedures to all team members ensures consistency and delivers the benefits of the tool.


06/07/11--14:57: Connect SAP Solution Manager to SAP Quality Center as Part of Your Automated Testing Solution (chan 1413999)

As part of an automated testing solution, learn how to create a project in SAP Solution Manager and SAP Quality Center by HP. After that, you can integrate the two projects for bidirectional transfer of data between the two applications. With this integration, you are preparing the projects so that test requirements can be transferred from SAP Solution Manager’s Business Blueprint to the requirements module in SAP Quality Center.


06/08/11--14:20: Gain Real-Time Visibility into End Users with EEM Dashboards (chan 1413999)

Learn how to deploy SAP End User Experience Monitoring (EEM) scripts in SAP Solution Manager with enhancement package 1. Then see some administrative tasks you can perform based on your requirements before observing the EEM dashboards with real-time data.


06/14/11--12:25: 8 Steps to Verify Your Root Cause Analysis Is Correct (chan 1413999)

Setting up Root Cause Analysis (RCA) in complex SAP landscapes can be a daunting task. Follow a checklist for building RCA in your SAP Solution Manager system in a stable, correct manner.


06/17/11--08:16: Quick Tip: A Quicker Way to Move Documents within the Business Process Hierarchy Structure (chan 1413999)

In just a few mouse clicks, you can relocate documents on the Business Process Hierarchy using the Insert as Link function.


06/30/11--07:57: Install and Set Up SAP TAO and HP QuickTest Professional as Part of Your Automated Testing Solution (chan 1413999)

Learn how to install and configure SAP Test Acceleration and Optimization (SAP TAO) and set up HP QuickTest Professional. See how to transfer preconfigured components from SAP TAO to SAP Quality Center.


07/13/11--09:27: Shift from a Template-Based Approach to an Implementation Project-Based Approach for Additional Functionality (chan 1413999)

In early implementations of SAP Solution Manager, many IT shops adopted the global template functionality because it provided more functionality than implementation projects. However, using template projects plus implementation projects can restrict downstream functionality available. Learn how to convert from a template-based approach to an implementation project-based approach.


07/18/11--09:41: Quick Tip: Create a Custom Documentation Type for Your Project (chan 1413999)

SAP Solution Manager allows you to document all the business scenarios being implemented and used in any SAP project, along with project-specific documentation including the Business Blueprint and functional specifications. Learn how to quickly create a documentation type with a document template based on your requirements during an SAP implementation or upgrade.


07/22/11--10:56: Host Training Material or Documentation Internally or Externally from SAP Solution Manager with Learning Maps (chan 1413999)

Learn how to make the best use of Learning Maps in SAP Solution Manager. This functionality enables end users to generate HTML-based Web pages from hosted training material and documentation that can then be shared internally or externally. Discover the configuration required for creating custom Learning Maps and tips on how to manage and share the material that can be hosted.


08/10/11--10:40: Define Test Requirements and Create and Execute Testing Components as Part of Your Automated Testing Solution (chan 1413999)

Learn a step-by-step procedure for defining and transferring test requirements from SAP Solution Manager to SAP Quality Center by HP. Create test components in SAP Test Acceleration and Optimization and execute the test cases in SAP Quality Center.


08/19/11--12:26: Monitor Batch Jobs Log Errors with Business Process Monitoring in SAP Solution Manager (chan 1413999)

Set up Business Process Monitoring in SAP Solution Manager specifically to monitor batch jobs logs of exceptions and errors.


08/26/11--14:44: Understanding Service Level Agreements in Service Desk (chan 1413999)

See how the configuration of Service Level Agreements (SLA) works in SAP Solution Manager, with a specific focus on how information moves among configuration objects. Knowing how the objects involved interact allows you to not only perform more effective configuration but also solve problems should anything go wrong.


09/12/11--08:09: Affirm Your Change Testing with BPCA (chan 1413999)

Learn about Business Process Change Analyzer (BPCA) in SAP Solution Manager. Discover the key needs and benefits of using BPCA as well as the system requirements to set it up. Walk through the steps to run BPCA and find out how to retrieve and analyze the results.


09/23/11--13:15: Discover the Compare and Adjust Functionality Changes in SAP Solution Manager 7.1 (chan 1413999)

Learn how to use SAP Solution Manager 7.1 to run a comparison and adjustment of structure nodes between solutions and projects as well as keep your productive SAP solutions and projects synchronized and up to date.


10/03/11--14:37: An Introduction to Business Process Blueprinting in SAP Solution Manager 7.1 (chan 1413999)

Discover what’s new with Business Process Blueprinting (BPB) 1.0. See how SAP Solution Manager 7.1 revitalizes the use of blueprinting in the SAP system, as well as how BPB allows you to take advantage of the business process modeling notation.


10/06/11--14:50: Improve SAP Solution Manager Reporting Capabilities by Using Your Own Custom Document Attributes (chan 1413999)

Just when you thought you had your documentation housed in an orderly fashion, someone from the business comes in and asks you if you can provide them with a list of all the documents related to an earlier release or a list of all the process documents that have process touch points with Warehouse Management. Discover how the use of the Document Management Workbench can enhance the metadata stored in the Knowledge Warehouse for your documents. Learn how to add custom attributes without having to do any custom coding, or even needing a developer key. See how leveraging the existing data structure of the transaction SOLAR_EVAL reports in SAP Solution Manager can provide you with a host of additional attributes without augmenting the Data Dictionary.


10/19/11--12:23: Create Custom Tables and Fields for Attributes (chan 1413999)

Enhance your custom document attributes by creating your own custom Data Dictionary objects. With custom document attributes, you can control entry values, provide search lists, and link to other data in the system. Custom Data Dictionary objects give you more flexibility in defining your custom document attributes.


10/26/11--11:39: 10 Brand-New Application Incident Management Features in SAP Solution Manager 7.1 (chan 1413999)

Develop a convincing business case to adopt the new Application Incident Management functionality within your SAP Solution Manager 7.1 system. Learn 10 brand-new features that are sure to inspire your implementation and support teams. Discover the key enhancements to SAP Solution Manager’s incident management functionality that boost SAP Solution Manager’s messaging capabilities. Whether you have a fresh 7.1 install and are implementing for the first time or you are upgrading your existing Service Desk solution, these key features help prepare you to adopt Application Incident Management.


11/03/11--14:19: Synchronize SAP Solution Manager with ARIS Business Architect to Empower Your Organization’s Business Process Management (chan 1413999)

The integration between Software AG’s ARIS for SAP and SAP Solution Manager has become quite robust, but it must be used correctly to be a true enabler, rather than becoming a project in and of itself. Learn how to get SAP Solution Manager and ARIS communicating smoothly in short order so that your project can move on to the business of improving the business. Discover how the synchronization works and what data is stored in ARIS.


11/08/11--06:29: Automate Your Business Blueprint Using RBPD and the Solution Documentation Assistant in SAP Solution Manager 7.1 (chan 1413999)

The 7.1 release of SAP Solution Manager introduces a strategic cooperation between SAP and IBIS to deliver an automated approach to reverse business process documentation (RBPD). With this new release, IBIS provides business content for the Solution Documentation Assistant (SDA). It supports a comprehensive analysis of the functional use of SAP ERP systems based on not only transactional processing but also SQL queries that apply an intelligent analysis of customizing, master data, and transaction data statistics to determine the Business Blueprint. The end result is high-quality content applied to reverse business-engineer the process structure for documenting projects and solutions.


11/18/11--13:04: Interview: Michael Pytel on the Project Functionality in SAP Solution Manager 7.1 (chan 1413999)

SAP Solution Manager 7.1 is more than just a marketing-focused release. It represents a major overhaul in the functionality and look and feel of the application. NIMBL consultant Michael Pytel explains some of the new functionality, as well as how the solution helps bridge IT and project management needs.


12/09/11--08:13: Part 1: Set Up Your SAP System to Monitor and Alert on Its Base Elements (chan 1413999)

Faced with the bewildering array of monitors available in the Computing Center Management System (CCMS), it is not an easy task to define an acceptable range of monitors to provide a general picture of the health of your SAP systems. With SAP Solution Manager systems up to enhancement package 1, Support Package 26, learn how to build a range of monitor elements using rules that help define an alerting infrastructure that does just that — monitor and alert on the base elements of your SAP system. Step through the setup and structure of the monitoring infrastructure.


12/16/11--13:35: How to Quickly Create Business Blueprints in SAP Solution Manager 7.1 Using Content Upload Interface (chan 1413999)

Learn how to create a Business Blueprint structure in SAP Solution Manager 7.1 based on any word processing program. A new feature in 7.1, Content Upload Interface, allows you to upload the Business Blueprint structure along with its relevant data (e.g., transactions, configuration, developments) to SAP Solution Manager. Discover the step-by-step process for creating a Business Blueprint in SAP Solution Manager using the Content Upload Interface.


12/22/11--08:00: Ease Your 7.1 Implementation Blueprint Phase with SAP Business Process Blueprinting (chan 1413999)

Follow a step-by-step procedure for appropriately configuring SAP Solution Manager 7.1 to enable SAP Business Process Blueprinting 1.0.


01/19/12--07:08: Simplify End-User Incident Management with Customer-Specific Application Components (chan 1413999)

SAP Solution Manager 7.1 Incident Management users are often looking for a customer-specific application component so that while creating incidents, end users can choose the component from the component hierarchy. Learn the steps to create a customer-specific application component and add it to the standard list of SAP components without any development.


01/24/12--11:08: Sync Your Global Template with Your Productive System for Better ALM (chan 1413999)

SAP Solution Manager 7.0 has reports and functionality that can assist project managers and business owners with identifying and maintaining process changes that can be leveraged in a global template. Explore the capabilities and limitations of these features in SAP Solution Manager 7.0 and discover how to augment the capabilities using audit procedures. Learn how to use SAP Solution Manager to aid in the process of updating the enterprise global template based on changes that have occurred as a part of ongoing application life cycle management.


01/24/12--11:08: Quick Tip: Determine the BPH Structure Context in a Solution or Project (chan 1413999)

When you discover that there are new Business Process Hierarchy (BPH) nodes in a solution or implementation project that need to be added to another project BPH structure (such as a global template), it is important to add them into the right area or context of the project.


01/24/12--11:09: Analyze Changes in a Solution to Support the Roll-In of New or Changed Processes (chan 1413999)

SAP Solution Manager 7.0 lacks the ability to compare projects to solutions. Leveraging the download capability of transaction SOLAR_EVAL reports and Microsoft Excel, you can identify changes made in a solution since the deployment of a project. Discover how to use Excel to fill in the gaps for the compare and adjust capabilities of SAP Solution Manager 7.0 relative to solutions.


02/03/12--12:19: Improve Custom Code Life Cycle Decision Making and Governance with the Custom Code Score Card (chan 1413999)

Companies are creating custom code on a continuous basis. Once built, it remains in their systems and the previous system state is irreversible. Uncontrolled custom code growth leads to high maintenance and operations, as well as upgrade costs, and bears unforeseeable risks. Discover how to control custom developments with Custom Code Lifecycle Management. With the Custom Code Score Card (CCSC), you can make custom developments more transparent among stakeholders. The CCSC enables you to gain valuable information for your decision-making process. This way, you can account for governance and establish effective, efficient custom development.


02/15/12--06:53: Quick Tip: An Easy Way to Delete Unused SAP Solution Manager Documents (chan 1413999)

Learn how to easily delete obsolete versions of project and solution documents from your SAP Solution Manager system to boost document management, improve document searches, release storage space, and improve system performance.