Demo: Value Stream Management for SAP Development

Whether you are developing and implementing change in an SAP or non-SAP environment, there is an underlying desire or driving force to continuously improve and optimize process efficiency in how a business request moves from the idea stage to working software in the hands of the end-user.

Gaining an understanding of how ideas flow through the pipeline is where Value Stream Management fits into the equation. If you are not already aware, Value Stream Management (VSM) focuses on improving the flow of value to the business, while managing and monitoring the software delivery lifecycle from end-to-end presenting opportunities for improvement. This software delivery pipeline typically consists of many integrated tools implemented to deliver specific capabilities spanning plan, design, develop, build, deploy, test, secure, release, operate phases.

To make things a little more fun, each delivery pipeline in an organization may utilize different tools for a particular task depending on the platform or technology involved, resulting in very heterogeneous software delivery environments. When you consider developing and deploying change in an SAP environment, which may have dependency on changes in non-SAP environments, this often requires the coordination of development activities across multiple teams and integration of multiple tools used in the multiple pipelines. A daunting task for even the most seasoned IT professionals.

But let’s back up a bit, narrow the scope, and focus on SAP development for now by introducing you to a SAP delivery pipeline that is using Jira for planning, SAP ChaRM for change and release management, and HCL Accelerate for Value Stream Management.

Hopefully by showing the management of work items in Jira and presenting the flow of that work in HCL Accelerate, you will be able to make the connection if we were to expand the scope and include the flow of work in a heterogenous situation – SAP and non-SAP development.

Our demo begins with the capturing of an innovative business idea in Jira and submitting it to the backlog for future development consideration. As the idea moves out of the backlog and is selected for development, the development and implementation of the idea will require a change to the SAP environment. Through the integration between Jira and SAP ChaRM, delivered as part of SAP Solution Manager, when the Jira work item is moved into an “in progress” state and assigned to a developer the Jira work item is automatically updated with key SAP data including the ChaRM ID and Transport ID. Upon completion of the development, testing and deployment/release activities in ChaRM, the work item state changes are synchronized with Jira and the movement of work items across the various value stream stages is presented in HCL Accelerate.

 

It is within HCL Accelerate where the flow of this value is monitored/governed and key VSM metrics are captured to present trends over time, detect bottlenecks as they surface, and provide the necessary information to identify opportunities for improvement. Teams now have the data they need presented in a single pane of glass to improve their software delivery process. Bottom line, HCL Accelerate helps organizations make better DevOps decisions based on data – not best guesses or intuition.

Click here to learn more about HCL Accelerate and how it can help your organization optimize your SAP and non-SAP development process to realize business objectives faster.