Focused Build and SolMan 7.2 for S/4 Hana

In the meantime, the first Focused Build implementation projects have been completed and the experiences have been presented at the DSAG Annual Conference and the SAP Solution Manager Theme Days.

Even if a few teething problems had to be overcome in the projects at first: The combination of the established SolMan services and the processes introduced with Focused Build is convincing.

SAP Focused Build is installed as an add-on in the existing SAP Solution Manager. Focused Build convinces with the added value at the interface between business units and IT with preconfigured end-to-end processes.

SAP Solution Manager is more of a solution for IT, integrating end users into IT processes or communicating with IT, for example in service desk or incident management.

The Focused Build processes, on the other hand, are rather a solution for the business departments in the preparation for S/4 Hana or in the context of the implementation, especially for the project organization.

Many companies have started to prepare conceptually for S/4 Hana. Some are already in the middle of implementation. Each of the projects must meet a variety of requirements and satisfy the needs of the individual departments as well as take into account the direction of the entire company and its future processes.

The requirements-to-deploy process of Focused Build is implemented end-to-end for precisely this purpose. Instead of documenting requirements in a standalone tool or on paper in implementation projects, with Focused Build the complete requirements description, coordination and processing takes place within SAP Solution Manager.

Here, Solution Manager uses its integration into the SAP landscape to bring requirements securely and in a coordinated manner from the project system through the development, test and acceptance system to production.

At the same time, the released requirements can be incorporated into the modeling of the business processes and are thus the basis for configuration and implementation.

Furthermore, it makes sense to create the test cases and test case descriptions together with the documentation of the business processes. This reduces the effort while increasing quality at the same time.

Another component is project management. This has a feature for S/4 projects and provides numerous dashboards for project planning and control.

With the delivery of Focused Build processes, project management can be used without lengthy design or complex implementation. Focused Build supports the now widely established agile approach to releases.

Integration with JIRA plays a particularly important role here, since many development departments today develop in sprints and waves. Professional test management is required for consistent release management.

The Focused Build test suite supports the establishment of an effective test organization with a focus on repetitive testing within a project.

Unlike the standard processes delivered with Solution Manager, Focused Solutions are designed to be used with little customization.

In return, the companies receive tested, end-to-end and highly integrated processes, from data collection in the specialist departments to dashboards for project organization and, in particular, for management reporting.

For this, companies need to deal with the Focused Build processes before the start of the S/4 project, especially to carry out the necessary communication, training and organizational roll-out into the project organization.

The roll-out should be completed before the start of the S/4 project so that the business units and IT can focus on the content aspects of the project.