The Jedi tricks that every SAP consultant should know
In a London bar last week with a group of SAP consultants from my distant past, I overheard two ex-colleagues voicing concerns about applying their latest planned release of SAP changes to their SAP Production system in case it caused “yet another business issue”.
As irrational (or indeed rational) as their fears might be, unfortunately, this scenario is all too common in many large organizations today.
With the increasing complexity of SAP and other systems in general, whenever IT changes are made, the risk of knock-on problems has also increased.
In many organizations running SAP, it’s sadly got to the point where IT teams are almost scared of delivering SAP change due to the fear of something going wrong.
Agility and efficiency have flown out the window, and as a result, it can often take weeks - and even months - to move even the smallest, simplest of SAP changes through the SAP landscape to Production.
What would a Jedi do to fight the fear of poor SAP Change Control?
When Luke Skywalker was about to blow up the Death Star, you’ll remember he heard Obi-Wan’s voice in his head “use the force Luke….” He switched off his targeting computer and trusted his instincts to perfectly release his payload in exactly the right place, at precisely the right time.
Luke Skywalker would make a great SAP Release Manager.
But only because he had that inner instinct to believe that everything would be fine. He had ‘something else’ that the non-Jedi’s around him didn't have.
At Basis Technologies, we see ActiveControl as that ‘something else’. It’s the one thing that turns everyday SAP Release Managers into Jedi SAP Release Managers.
You see, ActiveControl provides the inner confidence that everything is going to be fine and that when you finally pull the trigger, that the right SAP changes will be delivered with perfection.
Delivering better SAP Change Control with ActiveControl
Jedi SAP Change Control Trick #1 - Move SAP Changes automatically without touching them
“You’ve never heard of the Millennium Falcon? … It’s the ship that made the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs.”
ActiveControl automatically moves transports through the SAP landscape (once all the right approvals have been collected – again automatically), freeing up your Basis Wookies to focus on making your SAP system run at warp speed.
Jedi SAP Change Control Trick #2 – Sense where there are risky issues in SAP code – and where there are not
“You don’t need to see his identification … These aren’t the droids you’re looking for … He can go about his business … Move along”
ShiftLeft can tell an SAP Developer or SAP Change Manager if code adheres to development, performance and security standards, and will alert them if transports include objects that someone else is changing in a parallel universe (or parallel track SAP project environment).
This way, there’s no way that evil code is going to make its way through.
Jedi SAP Change Control Trick #3 – Avoid the Dark Side – roll back SAP transports from Production
“What are we going to do? We’ll be sent to the spice mines of Kessel and smashed into who knows what.”
In the unlikely event that an evil SAP change makes it way in Production and takes down a critical business process, ActiveControl enables the Jedi Release Manager (or any of his droid helpers for that matter) to quickly and effortlessly reverse out the SAP transport import that caused the problem in minutes and avoid a Production outage that would inevitably result in the Dark Side taking over.
Next time you’re pondering over the potential impact an SAP change or release and one of your colleagues says “I’ve got a very bad feeling about this…” – just close your eyes and imagine what it would be like if you could ‘use the force’ of ActiveControl.
May the Force be with you.
Learn more about ActiveControl now.
