Lesson 5 of 5
Roadmap
10 min
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The last step turns decisions into a plan with dates, owners and an operating model for the months when both tools run. SAP provides the structure; the customer provides the sequence, which should follow its own business calendar rather than SAP's dates alone.
SAP's transition path
SAP's transition page lays out five steps: discover with the Readiness Check, request a Cloud ALM tenant and join the expert-guided implementation for setup, learn through SAP's learning and community channels, transition using the SAP Activate roadmap "Transition to SAP Cloud ALM" as the project template, and adopt using SAP's adoption use cases. SAP's learning content adds that the roadmap follows the Activate phases and treats data migration, including Selective Data Transfer, as a planned deliverable in Realize, with prototypes or pilots early, for example for operations or manual testing.
- DiscoverReadiness Check; usage inventory and capability mapping
- RequestCloud ALM tenant; expert-guided setup
- LearnTeam enablement on Cloud ALM implementation and operations
- TransitionSAP Activate transition roadmap as the project template in Cloud ALM
- AdoptUse cases rolled out; Solution Manager functions retired
Sequencing for Contoso
Contoso's advantage is that the S/4HANA program already lives in Cloud ALM, so implementation capabilities are in use. What remains is change control for the converted landscape, operations monitoring, and the retirement of Solution Manager after ECC is gone. Grace built the roadmap backwards from two fixed points: the Q3 cutover weekend and the date Contoso's Solution Manager usage rights end.
- ExploreDiscover and decideReadiness Check, inventory, mapping; transition project created from the Activate roadmap
- RealizePilot change controlFeature-based change control piloted on CMD and CMQ; approvals and transport restrictions tested
- RealizeRebuild test and monitoringS/4HANA regression pack from ECC intent; CMQ connected to Cloud ALM operations
- CutoverSwitch the homeAll S/4HANA changes through Cloud ALM; CMP monitoring and hypercare alerts live
- HypercareFreeze and exportECC changes frozen; ChaRM records and Test Suite history exported
- After ECC retirementRetire Solution ManagerSLD and license measurement relocated; Solution Manager shut down before usage rights end
The interim operating model
For a while, both tools run. The rule that keeps the interim period sane is that every artifact has exactly one home, decided by the estate it belongs to. Write it into the test strategy and the change management procedure, and repeat it in onboarding.
| Artifact | ECC estate (until retirement) | S/4HANA estate |
|---|---|---|
| Changes and approvals | ChaRM in Solution Manager | Features and deployment plans in Cloud ALM |
| Regression tests and defects | Test Suite in Solution Manager | Test plans and defects in Cloud ALM |
| Process documentation | Frozen; read-only reference | Cloud ALM process management |
| Monitoring and alerts | Solution Manager technical monitoring | Cloud ALM operations |
| Incidents | Corporate service desk | Corporate service desk, linked to Cloud ALM defects |
Three practices make the model work. First, a change freeze on ECC as cutover approaches, so dual maintenance stays small; any ECC change that must also exist in S/4HANA is raised once in each tool and cross-referenced. Second, reporting from one source per estate, so a steering pack never mixes numbers from two tools. Third, a dated exit for every interim arrangement, owned by a named person, reviewed at each program gate.
Plan the people side as carefully as the tools. Contoso's ECC support team has years of ChaRM habits; the S/4HANA change process in Cloud ALM uses different objects, statuses and approvals. Two short training sessions, a one-page procedure and a rehearsed urgent change in CMQ before cutover did more for adoption than any amount of configuration.
Governance of the transition
- Owner: Grace owns the roadmap; the ECC change manager owns ChaRM until its exit date; Sam owns monitoring and relocation of SLD and license measurement.
- Gates: each capability switch has entry criteria (pilot passed, people trained, procedure published) and an exit check (old tool read-only, exports verified).
- Evidence: the transition project in Cloud ALM holds tasks from the Readiness Check and the roadmap, so progress is visible in the same tool.
- Audit: internal audit signs the archive plan for ChaRM records and test history before Solution Manager is retired.
What would you do?
Three weeks before cutover, the ECC change manager asks to keep ChaRM for S/4HANA emergency changes during hypercare "because the team knows it". What should Grace decide?
- SAP's path: discover, request, learn, transition with the Activate roadmap, adopt.
- Plan backwards from your own fixed dates: cutover, ECC retirement and the end of Solution Manager usage rights.
- In the interim, every artifact has one home by estate; freeze ECC changes and report from one source per estate.
- Give every interim arrangement a dated exit and review the Cloud ALM roadmap at each gate.
Check your understanding · not graded
Lesson check
1. Which SAP asset serves as the project template for the transition?
2. What is the one-home rule in the interim operating model?
3. From which dates should Contoso plan its transition backwards?
4. Why review the Cloud ALM roadmap at each gate?