Lesson 1 of 5
Projects and roadmap templates
9 min
Everything in SAP Cloud ALM for implementation lives inside a project. SAP describes a project as a container that helps you report and manage information. Requirements, user stories, test cases and defects all belong to a project, so the decisions you make when you create it shape every report the program will run for the next two years. This lesson walks through creating Contoso's project and choosing its template.
Where you work
Projects are created and maintained in the Projects and Setup app. SAP's help organizes it into tabs for general information, timeboxes, teams, scopes and the deployment landscape. The person creating the project needs a project administration role; at Contoso that is Grace, the PMO lead, with Priya as a second project lead.
- Create the projectName, description, dates and access level in Projects and Setup
- Choose the templateSelect the SAP Activate roadmap that matches the product and transition path
- Roadmap tasks generatedCloud ALM loads the roadmap's tasks, organized by phase and deliverable
- Set timeboxesDates for phases, plus sprints and milestones
- Add teams and rolesAssign people to project roles and teams
- Define scopesSelect solution processes for each scope
Choosing the SAP Activate roadmap
The single most important setup choice is the task template: the SAP Activate roadmap for your product and path, such as a private edition system conversion. When it is assigned, Cloud ALM generates the roadmap's tasks in the project. SAP's learning content describes these tasks as predefined in SAP Activate, organized by phase and deliverable, linked to accelerators, and automatically assigned to project roles. SAP has since renamed "template tasks" to roadmap tasks; older material uses the earlier name.
A project holds only one template, though it can support several products. Changing the template later replaces the roadmap tasks, so assignments and status on the old tasks are lost. Contoso chose the private edition system conversion roadmap at setup and wrote the reason into the project description.
Programs and multiple projects
Cloud ALM supports several parallel projects, and SAP has added programs as a level above projects, with program-level teams. Contoso keeps one project for the conversion and will create a second for the planned Mexican acquisition if it goes ahead. Some objects can be reused across projects, such as roles, system groups and deployment plans, while teams and timeboxes are specific to each project. Check your tenant's current options before designing a program structure, because this area has changed quickly.
| Design choice | One project | Several projects in a program |
|---|---|---|
| When it fits | One go-live, one roadmap, shared teams | Separate go-lives, products or roadmaps |
| Reporting | All in one place | Per project, plus cross-project analysis |
| Risk | Very large projects can get crowded | Duplicate processes and test cases across projects |
| Contoso | The US conversion | Future option if Mexico becomes its own implementation |
Access level
Each project has an access level that controls who can see it, and a user's team assignment can further affect what they can do. Contoso's project is restricted to named project members, because requirements and defects include pricing and customer details. Executives get read-only viewer access rather than project membership.
What would you do?
A partner consultant created Contoso's Cloud ALM project with a roadmap for the public edition by mistake. Three weeks of task assignments have been made. What should Grace do?
- Projects are created in Projects and Setup; a project is the container for all implementation objects.
- Assign the SAP Activate roadmap that matches product and path; Cloud ALM generates roadmap tasks (formerly template tasks).
- A project has one template; changing it later replaces the roadmap tasks.
- Programs group several projects; set the access level deliberately.
Check your understanding · not graded
Lesson check
1. In which app are Cloud ALM projects created?
2. What do SAP Activate task templates provide in a Cloud ALM project?
3. What happens if you change the project's template later?
4. What is a project task?