Change – Why do we make it more complex than it is?

Ever wonder why change seems complicated? For example, when it’s time to get a new car, we often plan to get the exact car we have; we’re creatures of habit. You think you know the color, style, make, model, gas mileage and all the functionality you want or need. But before you know it, you’re on the lot and see a beautiful new car and change your mind. It takes some time to get used to, but soon you are driving this vehicle as if you have always owned it. Your family and friends see the benefits of this new car, and before long you have them looking at similar vehicles!

Why should it be any different when it comes to automation in your SAP environment? You know exactly what you need, require, and want to have an entirely successful automated DevOps and Agile SAP environment, you just might not know how to get there and what technology to use.

People: So why don’t we change?

I have learned from working in technology that it starts with us! We have the hardest time changing our mindset and processes because maybe it’s “our baby” or it still works. But ask yourself, “does it?” Why do we even consider or look for another solution if what we have in place and our current approach is perfect? Because it’s NOT! I know, GASP --- you are wondering if I just called your baby ugly. I did not! I am suggesting that sometimes there may be a better or newer option that could help you succeed, rather than stubbornly sticking to what you know and are comfortable with.

When I think of all the Sr. Basis Admins or DevOps Team Leads I have spoken with, I hear the same concerns repeatedly: manual efforts, production downtime, and high costs. Wouldn’t you rather have automated technology to massively reduce the time and effort needed to execute SAP change and testing?

Process: Ask yourself?

When you are looking at your change and release management process, how time and effort-intensive is it? You may not even realize how much because you have been doing it so long, but when you start to consider the number of hours that are spent per transport or the potential cost of downtime it can be overwhelming. One of my customers had a solution in place and was unsatisfied with the transparency and flexibility it offered during SAP development projects. Sound familiar?

From the testing side: how many hours are spent maintaining and writing test scripts? I love Excel Spreadsheets, but even I know at some point it becomes too much and automation becomes a need rather than a want!

Technology: Waterfall or DevOps for SAP?

Technology is continually changing and what worked for you 20 years ago or even just 2 years ago likely is not going to work for you now. For example, I had a customer share with me that they built a homegrown solution for their change and release management process 20 years ago. It was intended to be a quick fix until they built or bought a more robust solution. Like in this case, those quick fixes tend to stay longer than expected and get rooted into your overall business process. Well, their quick fix and the process they had in place had become costly because of the amount of downtime, the frequency of human errors, and an overall lack of visibility into who was moving what transport when and where.

The individual who built the solution was the first one in the discussion to admit they needed true automation to enable them to go from waterfall to DevOps. After taking a closer look at what they could achieve with a new approach, the entire team decided the only option was to move forward. They are officially up and running with our DevOps automation solution, ActiveControl, because they’d realized the change was needed if they were going to remain agile and competitive in today’s business landscape.

Our software changes the way companies run SAP. Why wouldn’t you want automation technology that gives you the flexibility to deliver high-quality change on demand, without risk of business disruption?

It’s worth at least a more in-depth conversation. I am not here to sell you. I am here to enable you with software that is business-changing!

We are SAP experts, it’s what we do! Come find out at SAPPHIRE NOW 2019 at booth #2026. Or contact me, and we can set up a time with our automation experts at our booth.