Lesson 2 of 5
Implementation capabilities
7 min
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Cloud ALM for implementation follows the life of a project: set it up, decide the scope, capture what the standard does not cover, build it, test it and deploy it. Each step has an app, and each app links its objects to the ones before it. Those links are what make reporting and sign-off possible later.
- Project setupProject, teams, timeboxes, SAP Activate roadmap tasks
- Scope and processesSolution processes from SAP Best Practices, plus custom processes
- RequirementsGaps found in Fit-to-Standard, linked to processes
- User stories and featuresBuild work and the deployable change that carries it
- TestsTest cases, test plans, test runs, defects
- DeploymentFeatures move transports through the landscape to production
Projects, tasks and SAP Activate
A project is created in the Projects and Setup app. The key choice is the SAP Activate roadmap: when you assign the roadmap for your product, Cloud ALM generates the Activate tasks for your project, so the methodology arrives as a task list you can assign, track and close. Changing the roadmap later replaces the earlier roadmap tasks, so choose carefully.
The project plan is structured by timeboxes. The SAP Activate phases Prepare, Explore, Realize, Deploy and Run are predefined; you set their dates and can add sprints and milestones such as kickoff and planned go-live. Discover, the first Activate phase, happens before a project exists, so it is not a timebox. Quality gates sit at phase ends as checklists the team works through before moving on.
- Before the projectDiscoverHappens before a Cloud ALM project exists, so it is not a timebox
- Timebox 1PrepareProject set up, roadmap assigned, Activate tasks generated; quality gate at the end
- Timebox 2ExploreFit-to-Standard workshops, scope and requirements; quality gate at the end
- Timebox 3RealizeBuild in sprints, test cases, test plans and defects; quality gate at the end
- Timebox 4DeployFinal testing, cutover and planned go-live milestone; quality gate at the end
- Timebox 5RunOperations, hypercare and regression for later releases
Processes and scope
The Processes app is the heart of a Cloud ALM project. You define one or more scopes (for example, one for the US and one for Mexico) and select solution processes from SAP Best Practices content. Each solution process carries flow diagrams and accelerators, such as test scripts. Customer-specific processes can be authored as custom solution processes. Above them, a process hierarchy mirrors how your business is organized.
During Fit-to-Standard workshops in the Explore phase, the team walks through the processes in scope and records requirements wherever the standard does not meet a business need. Each requirement links to its process.
From requirement to deployment
| Object | What it holds | Contoso example |
|---|---|---|
| Requirement | A business need the standard does not meet | Fleet customers need a consolidated monthly invoice |
| User story | A piece of build work that delivers part of a requirement | Configure collective billing for sales area 1710 / 10 / 00 |
| Feature | The deployable change, carrying the transports | Feature for the billing configuration transports |
| Test case | Activities and actions that prove the process works | Bill Great Lakes Fleet Services for a month of deliveries |
| Defect | A failure found in a test run, assigned for fixing | Invoice splits by delivery instead of consolidating |
Implementation objects and how they relate.
For testers, the test apps matter most: Test Preparation (build test cases from processes), Test Plans (group test cases for a cycle and assign testers), Test Execution (run tests and record results and evidence) and Defects. The Analytics app adds requirement and solution process traceability and test execution analysis. Later courses in this track cover each in depth.
Release managers live in Features and deployment management. A feature moves through statuses from specification to implementation, testing, successfully tested, ready for production and deployed. Cloud ALM orchestrates the transports behind it using the SAP transport tools for your edition.
- SpecificationThe change is described and linked to its requirement
- ImplementationUser stories are built; transports are attached
- TestingLinked test cases run in the quality system
- Successfully testedTests passed; evidence recorded
- Ready for productionApproved by the change manager
- DeployedTransports imported to production
What would you do?
Priya, Contoso's test lead, finds that the build team has written 200 test cases in a spreadsheet and plans to upload them to Cloud ALM without assigning any processes. What should she ask for?
- Projects get their task list from the SAP Activate roadmap you assign; timeboxes follow the Activate phases.
- The Processes app holds scopes and solution processes; requirements come out of Fit-to-Standard and link to processes.
- Requirements break down into user stories and features; features carry transports to production.
- Test Preparation, Test Plans, Test Execution and Defects are the testing apps; Analytics shows traceability.
Check your understanding · not graded
Lesson check
1. What does assigning an SAP Activate roadmap to a Cloud ALM project do?
2. Where are requirements typically captured?
3. Which object carries transports toward production?
4. Which Activate phase is not a Cloud ALM project timebox?