While we explained the basis and trends like AIops in our first blog post on SAP automation and talked about SAP Changes and seamless cloud transformation in further articles, we are now showing how SAP environments can be managed optimally in day-to-day operation and adapted to new requirements. The key to this: our proprietary automation platform, together with a solution for service managment.
An increasing number of companies use hybrid infrastructures for their SAP environments based on the private cloud, like the Future Cloud Infrastructure (FCI) from T-Systems and public cloud services from AWS, Microsoft Azure or Google. However, although cloud providers all offer a similar portfolio of SAP services, the technology platforms they are based on vary considerably. The challenge: to consider all platform specifications for SAP operations as effectively as possible, without making this too laborious for administrators.
This is precisely where our automation platform “T-Systems Cosmos” (Cloud Orchestration SAP Managed Operational Services) comes into play. Using this platform, administrators can monitor and control all SAP systems in a software interface with the same appearance, regardless of whether a private, hybrid or public cloud is being used. As machines make less errors than people, they facilitate a high quality service level, and at the same time, reduce workload and costs.
At the moment, we manage the SAP systems of several hundred customers worldwide with the automation platform and continually develop these systems: from a service catalogue based on ServiceNow software, companies can search for desired functions. Using the platform, we supply new SAP services and best practices quickly and effectively.
Alongside central service request management, ITIL-based support and incident, problem and change management run through ServiceNow. Moreover, we use the software interactively to make contract details and service level agreements (SLA) transparent and measurable. And in future, we will process the entire invoice through interfaces.
In IT operation, service request management plays an important role. Through the self service portal in ServiceNow, customers can automatically add IT services for their SAP environment and tailor their cloud sizing. You don't need to be an IT or administration expert for your request - you can configurate your own service in just a few clicks.
To do this, we supply a comprehensive service catalogue in ServiceNow with preprepared functions and services. This can be NetWeaver servers, resources for test workloads or high availability systems. During the ordering process we retrieve all of the necessary information and paramaters to implement the desired SAP service: In which region - at AWS in the USA for example - should the server be implemented? How large is the planned workload? How many applications work with it? In short, the customer chooses how much power they need for infrastructure or where they need storage for databases and we deliver this immediately.
Since we have automized and standardized the management of SAP landscapes as much as possible, customers can comfortably order their SAP services in the IT service catalogue.
Through service requests, customers receive all the relevant managed services for their SAP operation. This includes the management of databases and operating systems, but also cyber security, like firewalls or components for communication like LAN or WAN. The art is in tailoring the management and operation of all components and services to every customer. And also considering this in the service level agreements and IT service catalogues.
With this in mind, all of the solutions listed in the service catalogue are of the highest standard. We have intensively tested all patches, updates and release versions so that they can be rolled out globally across over 1,000 SAP systems and 10,000 servers. The high level of automation reduces the manual processes here and therefore also the error rate, avoiding system failures and reducing operating costs. The resources made available through this are used by our teams to further develop the SAP landscapes of the customers and make them future-proof.
Uncomplicated delivery processes pay off. Unlike the times when new IT services were inconveniently ordered by email or telephone, users can now order required services or infrastructure components automatically in a matter of minutes. If an order reaches us today, the SAP team makes simple business services available in but a few hours. The basis of this is the IT service catalogue, a collection of our experiences in SAP automation over the last 15 years.
For this, compliance and data protection always need to be kept in mind. We explain how this is done in the next blog post. Here the experts from T-Systems explain how process documentation can be optimized through automization and why it is important to always use the most recent SAP versions, databases and security features.
