Partnering to Enhance the Value of SAP Enterprise Support ......return on your past and future technology investments. Focus on Information Value IT value consists of two distinct

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| supporting Your sap solutions

S-�Reproduced from the Apr n May n Jun 2010 issue of SAPinsider with permission from its publisher, WIS | sapinsider.wispubs.com

Q: as our readers learn more about the value of

sap enterprise support, we’re hearing some

common questions. Does sap enterprise support

pertain only to sap solutions?

a: SAP Enterprise Support is vast in scope. It encompasses

methodologies, tools, standards, and services that enable

and support all phases of the application management life

cycle. At its core is the SAP Solution Manager platform,

which provides the integrated methodologies, content, and

tools that customers need to implement, support, operate,

and monitor their enterprise solutions.

But while SAP Enterprise Support’s scope is large, its

goal is simple: To help customers innovate and run their

business operations securely and without interruption. That

being the case, we understand that SAP customers don’t

only use SAP solutions. They rely on a heterogeneous

and intricately crafted mix of solutions and applications.

Accordingly, SAP Enterprise Support enables customers to

manage all of their solutions — including partner solutions

— in an integrated fashion.

Q: How can customers take full advantage of sap

enterprise support? How can they engage with

partners to add value?

a: You can’t support a solution in a vacuum. You have to

understand how that solution integrates with other solutions

in your landscape, and you have to take an end-to-end

approach to managing and supporting the solutions holisti-

cally. That’s why, at SAP, we’ve developed a robust set of

end-to-end solution operations standards, best practices,

tools, services, training, and a roadmap to help customers

reduce the total cost of operations (TCO) of their IT solutions.

We call this the Run SAP methodology. And only by embrac-

ing and adhering to the methodology’s standards can

customers take full advantage of SAP Enterprise Support.

Here’s where certified SAP partners add tremendous value

Partnering to Enhance the Value of SAP Enterprise SupportHow Run SAP and SAP Enterprise Support Certified Partners Are Helping Customers Maximize Their SAP Investments

Anja-Christina BruehlingVice President and

Head of Global Partner Management and Training SAP Active Global Support

Andreas GraesserVice President and Head of

Partner Global SupportSAP

Inside This Special Report

S-3 | Capgemini: Cut Your Costs — Not Your Potential: Harnessing Information Value Through Efficient Application Lifecycle Management

S-5 | T-Systems International: You Leverage Run SAP, But There’s Even More to Gain

S-7 | Tata Consultancy Services: Your Business Processes Run Efficiently — Now Elevate Your IT Processes to the Same Level

S-9 | HP Enterprise Services: HP Brings the Value of Run SAP to Its Application Services — and to Its Clients

S-10 | Vertex Inc.: Providing End-to-End Enterprise Support: SAP and Vertex Establish Support Center Connectivity Through SAP Solution Manager

Download this special report at sapinsider.wispubs.com

Þ

Companies run on an intricate web of mission-critical solutions, and lines of business expect those solutions to

be continuously available, allowing them to nimbly identify and respond to new business opportunities. IT

teams dedicate considerable efforts to ensure that those solutions — and the connections between them — run

without interruption. But they can’t do it alone. Companies need proper guidance, coupled with collaborative,

transparent, end-to-end support from their solution providers, to ensure that their solutions are running

optimally at all times.

That’s the motivation behind SAP Enterprise Support, the suite of proactive support services, tools, and pro-

cesses from SAP. What customers may not realize, according to SAP Vice Presidents Anja-Christina Bruehling and

Andreas Graesser in a recent SAPinsider interview, is that SAP Enterprise Support isn’t just for SAP solutions.

http://sapinsider.wispubs.com



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SDN


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supporting Your sap solutions | SAPInSIder

Reproduced from the Apr n May n Jun 2010 issue of SAPinsider with permission from its publisher, WIS | sapinsider.wispubs.com

— they implement and operate the end-to-end solution

operations standards within the customers’ solutions and

give customers the guidance they need to adhere to the

best practices that are core to SAP Enterprise Support.

SAP Active Global Support (SAP AGS) and SAP Consulting

offer a full portfolio of services for setting up, optimizing,

and executing your solutions in line with the Run SAP

roadmap. SAP AGS also offers partner certifications that

ensure partners — typically systems integrators and appli-

cation management services (AMS) providers — know how

to adopt the methodology, train and certify resources, and

develop a go-to-market strategy, all according to Run SAP

and SAP end-to-end solution operations standards.

Q: For our readers, what’s the benefit of working

with a Run sap certified partner?

a: If a partner is Run SAP certified, it is leveraging all of

SAP’s built-in application lifecycle management capabilities

to reduce the cost of implementation and operations for SAP

solutions. The partner establishes each customer’s SAP Solu-

tion Manager installation as the single source of truth; SAP

Solution Manager becomes the defined collaboration plat-

form between the customer, the Run SAP partner, and SAP.

The benefit for SAP customers is manifold. Support for

your solutions and critical business processes is implemented

and operated according to SAP best practices. Companies’

custom requirements are implemented in a safe way and will

be covered by SAP standards as much as possible over time.

SAP takes responsibility for supporting customers’ end-to-

end solutions via SAP Enterprise Support. And above all,

strong collaboration and co-ownership is established

between the Run SAP partner and SAP, ensuring the highest

possible quality for customers’ SAP-centric software solu-

tions. Without SAP Solution Manager, such a tight collabora-

tion wouldn’t be possible.

If the scale or unique requirements of a customer’s solu-

tion demand even deeper support, customers can establish

a tighter, more tailored collaboration model through either

an SAP MaxAttention or SAP Safeguarding engagement.

Customers can gain a deeper appreciation of the value of

Run SAP certification by understanding the two types of

partner certification programs that SAP offers:

The first certification program, called Run SAP Imple-

mentation, certifies partners in implementing solutions

according to the Run SAP methodology. To participate

in this program, a service provider must first be an SAP

Services partner. Then, in order to achieve certification,

the partner must participate in courses offered through

SAP Education and pass certification exams on SAP’s

end-to-end solution operations standards (including root

cause analysis, change control management, and busi-

ness process operations). The partner organizations

must also adopt the Run SAP methodology into their

current SAP implementation standards and create a

dedicated Run SAP practice.

By embracing and adopting the Run SAP methodology, our

partners can then implement the end-to-end solution

operations standards for their customers — and, in turn,

customers can optimize the ongoing management of their

solution operations and lower TCO. Since launching this

program in May of 2008, SAP has certified over 40 part-

ners worldwide. You can learn more about the program

and review a list of certified partners at http://partner.

sap.com/runsapimplementationpartner.

The second certification program, called Run SAP Opera-

tions, certifies partners in managing ongoing solution

operations according to the Run SAP methodology.

This certification program is for outsourcing partners

that incorporate the Run SAP methodology into their

operations standards. To achieve this certification, a

partner must complete a series of courses similar to those

required for the Run SAP Implementation partner certifi-

cation, but only individuals from within the partner’s

Article continues on page S-11

“One key focus area of our run SAP initiative was the

implementation of the e2e root cause analysis. Shortly

after the deployment of the respective underlying

SAP tools, our customers stated a potential labor cost

reduction of about 25% for troubleshooting efforts in

the incident management process.”

— Martin Schoenmayr, Director of Mission Critical and Data Center Services EMEA, HP Technology Services

SAP Active Global Support: Award-Winning Partner ProgramsIn November 2009, the Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA)

awarded SAP Active Global Support with the STAR Award for Service

Excellence in Partner Management. TSIA is the technology services indus-

try’s largest association, comprising more than 50,000 members in 80

countries. STAR awards recognize technology companies that display

exceptional leadership, innovation, and commitment in service excellence.


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Cut Your Costs — Not Your PotentialHarnessing Information Value Through Efficient Application Lifecycle Management

Renate RadonVice President

Application Lifecycle Solutions

Capgemini

IT platforms are burning with business value, even in the

aftermath of the great recession. Capgemini’s December

2009 CIO global report revealed that, despite a 15% aver-

age cut in IT budgets, CIOs see the economic downturn as

an opportunity to demonstrate the true value of IT.1

IT can more readily be viewed as a value enhancer if it

prioritizes projects that take advantage of new market con-

ditions and that contribute more value to the business. To

that end, businesses should industrialize their IT functions

by leveraging system integrators that can help standardize

and streamline the application landscape while also making

it more productive, flexible, and impactful.

This article discusses three key methods — augmenting

your organization’s information value, using Capgemini’s

3-by-3 framework, and leveraging SAP Business Suite 7 —

to help your business bring its IT value to life. These recom-

mendations all focus on how you can maximize the value of

your current SAP landscape through efficient application

lifecycle services and, in doing so, cut costs and improve the

return on your past and future technology investments.

Focus on Information ValueIT value consists of two distinct parts: IT deployment value

and information value. IT deployment value is the suitabil-

ity of IT systems to business requirements, whereas infor-

mation value is the value derived from the way in which

people use IT tools and information. Capgemini’s CIO report

shows that most business and IT management attention

today is still focused on IT deployment value, while infor-

mation value remains underappreciated.

Information value, however, is the part that CIOs really

need to focus on in order to demonstrate the true value of

IT. This means that CIOs will need to revisit the role of their

IT function. Only by evolving that function from a technol-

ogy utility role into one that also addresses and embraces

� Visitwww.capgemini.com/insights-and-resources/by-publication/global-cio-reporttoviewCapgemini’scompleteDecember2009CIOglobalreport.

business-side requirements will CIOs be able to cut costs and

improve the potential of their business at the same time.

Leverage Capgemini’s 3-by-3 FrameworkTo help clients evolve their IT function, Capgemini recom-

mends a holistic approach to application lifecycle manage-

ment. The approach is based on three promises — to increase

productivity, boost flexibility, and maximize impact — and

has three levers for each promise (see Figure �):

1. Increase productivity: Capgemini advises clients to

continually standardize and industrialize their software

solutions to decrease operations and deployment costs.

Through continuous technical and functional monitoring,

clients can optimize sourcing and drive business process

improvements, resulting in a lower cost of operations.

2. Boost flexibility: Using the SAP Enterprise Architecture

Framework, Capgemini helps clients take a collaborative

approach to governance that includes IT and business,

an adjustable scope of services, and an adaptive archi-

tecture to maximize agility and adaptability.

3. Maximize impact: Capgemini places special importance

on portfolio management, in-depth sector knowledge, and

a business-driven portfolio — critical success factors in an

Increase productivityGlobal sourcing and consistentindustrialization significantly reduce your application costs

3 Promises 3 Levers for Each Promise

Boost flexibilityVariable application costs andbusiness services improveyour agility

Maximize impactClosing the circle from IT tobusiness boosts value andincreases your potential

Rightshoring

Adjustablescope

Portfoliomanagement

Highlyindustrialized

Collaborativegovernance

Specializedsector solutions

Continuousimprovement

Architectedfor change

Poweringtransformation

FIgure 1 q Capgemini’s

3-by-3 framework

focuses on three

promises, each

with a set of three

levers to execute

on that promise



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SAP-specific environment. For example, if your goal is to

find out which products are selling faster than planned (to

prevent stock-out scenarios), we can help you bundle the

right SAP software and Capgemini services by systemati-

cally exploring the demands of your market-facing entities.

This 3-by-3 approach is designed to reduce your costs —

not your potential. It addresses a situation we’ve observed

time and again at client organizations. Often, more than

80% of IT’s budget is spent on ongoing maintenance and

support of existing ERP systems, while only 20%, or even

less, goes into new solutions and innovations. Our approach

to application lifecycle management is, therefore, to opti-

mize the level of ongoing maintenance while directing

investments into continuous improvement. Accordingly,

Capgemini’s new global service line, Application Lifecycle

Services, aims to develop a continuous business innovation

program jointly with clients. With SAP Business Suite 7, SAP

has delivered the ideal platform for doing just that.

employ a Platform for efficient Application Lifecycle Management: SAP Business Suite 7SAP Business Suite 7 enables customers to continuously

improve and innovate by implementing a set of software

components and packaged services in a short period of

time with a predictable ROI. Capgemini has developed a

comprehensive set of packaged services in a “menu card”

format, which bundles 300+ SAP Business Suite 7 enhance-

ments into 30+ key services. Based on our knowledge of

each client’s business needs and goals, we assist companies

in selecting the right functionalities for their business now

and as they grow, helping them develop a roadmap that

merges their business plans with the right SAP functionality.

increase productivity with continuous innovation

SAP Business Suite 7 delivers more than 150 functional inno-

vations, including new process collaboration and shared

service capabilities, enabling customers to manage complex

financial and supply chain processes more easily. We can

also help clients quickly resolve technical and functional

problems — this increases productivity and decreases oper-

ational costs, allowing companies to allocate more budget

to innovation and generate an immediate business impact.

increase adaptability with a Flexible architecture

SAP Business Suite 7’s service-oriented architecture (SOA)

helps customers leverage existing investments by transform-

ing the module-based ERP approach into an integrated plat-

form that helps create differentiated, end-to-end processes.

Capgemini leverages SOA as much as possible; we believe

it is the key to making flexible changes in a client’s applica-

tion landscape. In numerous reference projects, we have

helped our clients quickly adjust to market changes. For

example, using the Run SAP methodology, we helped one

client — a beverage company — significantly reduce its

research and development (R&D) cycles. By leveraging SOA,

Capgemini helped to create a seamless process — from

client demand in customer relationship management (CRM)

systems to product pipeline in R&D systems — helping the

company accelerate those products in its pipeline with the

highest market potential. By doing so, Capgemini won one

of SAP’s 2008 Pinnacle Awards.

increase impact with capgemini’s Roadmap

By defining a transformation and innovation roadmap — a

series of small projects with a quick ROI planned over sev-

eral years (see Figure �) — Capgemini helps clients create

the foundation to continuously improve their existing SAP

landscape, adjust it to ever-changing market demands, and

transform analytical insights into business process improve-

ments. Our Continuous Business Innovation program is the

first in a series of Application Lifecycle Services offerings,

which will also contain several verticalized solutions.

Cut Costs, Not ValueAs a certified Run SAP Implementation partner, Capgemini

helps customers unlock the value of SAP Business Suite 7

and use it to create differentiating business processes. By

focusing on information value and leveraging Application

Lifecycle Services, businesses can cut costs without hurting

their potential. To learn more, visit www.capgemini.com. n

As a certified

run SAP Imple-

mentation partner,

Capgemini has

adopted the run

SAP methodology

into its implemen-

tation standards to

provide end-to-end

solution opera-

tions and ensure

high-quality,

easy-to-maintain

solutions for its

customers.

Continuous Business Innovation

SAP ERP 6.0, SAP SRM 7.0, SAP CRM 7.0, etc.

Enhancementpackage Menu card

SAP ERP 6.0

SAP BusinessSuite 7

CRM SCM

SRM PLM

Upgrade + Quick wins New functionalitiesSOA

Year 1

Upgrade

...

Menu cardfunctionalities

Assessment

Year 2

Consolidation

...


Assessment

Year 3

Internal projects

...


Assessment

Year 5

...

...


Assessment

Year 4

Internal projects

...


Assessment

Application Lifecycle Services

Asse

ssm

ent

FIgure 2 q Capgemini’s

“continuous busi-

ness innovation”

roadmap is our

first offering in a

family of SAP

application life-

cycle solutions


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You Leverage Run SAP, But There’s Even More to GainEnhance Existing Solutions and Realize Greater ICT Efficiencies with T‑Systems’ Dynamic Services

Klaus-Heinrich Bommer SAP Relation Management

HostingT-Systems International

As technology becomes increasingly standardized and

harmonized, companies are holding their information and

communications technology (ICT) providers to even higher

standards. Businesses want unique, end-to-end services

that enable more efficient, effective operations.

When SAP customers evaluate ICT vendors, they’re look-

ing for a partner that can provide fast, agile, and innovative

applications of new technology, and that has a strong track

record of helping clients succeed. At T-Systems, an interna-

tional ICT services company and subsidiary of Deutsche

Telekom, the Run SAP methodology plays a fundamental

role in building this reputation.

The Power of 3In the ICT industry, Run SAP is regarded as the proven

methodology for implementing, upgrading, and supporting

the ongoing management of SAP solutions. It’s an incredi-

bly efficient methodology because it enables all solution

management participants — including the client, SAP, and

third-party providers — to speak the same language.

Rather than a fragmented view of individual components,

companies gain a complete picture (from both technical

and business perspectives) of the processes within their SAP

landscapes. This leads to lower operating costs and frees up

resources for other business investments. What’s more,

with Run SAP, customers benefit from processes that have

been designed in accordance with Information Technology

Infrastructure Library (ITIL) standards. These road-tested

designs lead to fewer errors and operational outages.

T-Systems intelligently meshes its own support processes

with Run SAP standards and methodologies, unlocking new

synergies: A high level of standardization shared by SAP,

the customer, and T-Systems maximizes quality, availability,

and efficiency while minimizing risk (see Figure �).

6 Benefit enhancersT-Systems’ Dynamic Services — an innovative operating

model for the implementation and ongoing operation of

SAP environments, coupled with demand-driven delivery of

ICT resources on a pay-as-you-go basis — enhances clients’

SAP operations by:

1. improving existing solutions

As a complement to Run SAP, Dynamic Services is a highly

standardized solution that provides flexibility and scalabil-

ity at the systems and basis level. Dynamic Services can be

scaled up and down in line with changing business require-

ments. Pricing calculations are based on usage, so clients

only pay for what they actually use.

2. combining innovations

When T-Systems and SAP combine forces, the result is

exceptional innovation. Simply look at the history of

Dynamic Services: In 2003, SAP helped T-Systems prepare

a virtualization platform based on the SAP Adaptive

Computing Controller tool, later named T-Systems’

Dynamic Services for SAP Solutions. Since then, the

management of SAP applications on the Dynamic Services

Three-way relationshipunlocks new synergy

+++

Standardization

Standardization Standardization

Customer

SAP T-Systems

FIgure 1 p The customer, T-Systems, and SAP all stand to

gain from standardizing on run SAP

run SAP is an

incredibly efficient

methodolgy

because it enables

all solution

management

participants to

speak the same

language.



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platform has experienced strong and growing demand from

international corporations.

3. leveraging Run sap on an international scale

T-Systems can ensure that its global clients are operating

efficiently and effectively. In late 2009, T-Systems achieved

implementation certification from SAP Germany; this certi-

fication is currently being extended to all countries that

maintain local SAP service partnerships.

4. saving time through tight integration and

Unique templates

T-Systems has integrated Run SAP directly into its

process landscape and existing support structures. As a

result, clients receive the benefits of Run SAP extremely

quickly. Additionally, T-Systems implements Run SAP

application management practices via unique templates,

including Change Request Management, Business Process

Monitoring, and Job Scheduling. These templates save

clients a lot of time and effort because the design

phase, which is part of the Run SAP roadmap, is already

fulfilled, and the implementation can start immediately

(see Figure �).

5. providing one-stop services

Run SAP combines application management and hosting

into an efficient and tightly integrated service, which

T-Systems then uses as the basis for its next-generation

approach to ICT service delivery. Through Dynamic Ser-

vices, clients experience a reliable, one-stop, end-to-end

solution for both ICT infrastructure and SAP application

management, ensuring high availability and low risk. The

comprehensive package also includes proactive business

process support services.

6. offering comprehensive consulting

T-Systems assists and advises both new and existing clients

with their SAP system landscapes. We help companies

in three key ways: by simplifying and optimizing their busi-

ness processes in order to meet SAP’s contractual require-

ments, by creating the infrastructure needed to comply

with the corresponding operational standards, and by

implementing SAP Solution Manager — a prerequisite for

Run SAP — at the customer site. By offering these consult-

ing and implementation services, T-Systems helps clients

assess their next steps — toward outsourcing or SAP appli-

cation management, for example.

Hold Your Solutions — and Your Providers — to the Highest StandardsThe Run SAP methodology ensures the delivery of end-to-

end solutions with the highest-quality standards. T-Systems

leverages the Run SAP methodology to offer its clients a

comprehensive, established solution — Dynamic Services —

that is enhanced by a high degree of automation. Plus,

T-Systems’ ongoing efforts to enhance and integrate its

offerings with SAP Solution Manager will allow clients to

gain significant benefits in terms of SAP application lifecycle

management and service-level agreement reporting at the

business-process level.

Building up to its Run SAP certification, T-Systems has

also earned the following SAP certifications: SAP Global

Partner, certified in Hosting and Application Management

Services, and SAP Global Partner Services. To learn more

about T-Systems, visit www.t-systems.com/enable. n

Initial consultingAnalysis of what is

possible and advisable

Installation/update ofSAP Solution Manager

Making SAP Solution ManagerRun SAP-ready

Run SAP implementation Implementation of SAP’send-to-end standards

Proven Run SAP operation Ongoing operations incompliance with those standards

+

+

=

FIgure 2 q T-Systems’

best-practice

templates provide

a fast, simple road-

map to becoming

a proven run SAP

operation

“With run SAP, T-Systems takes the standardiza-

tion of ICT operations to a whole new level. That

means greater quality, reduced risk, and cost-

effective support services. The standardization

of interfaces enables the consistently rapid

provisioning of service and support. In conjunction

with our established offering [dynamic Services],

this gives customers attractive ways to trim their

ICT spending.”

— Klaus-Heinrich Bommer, SAP Relation Management Hosting, T-Systems

T-Systems is one of

the world’s leading

SAP outsourcing

providers, running

SAP production

systems with more

than 1.6 million

named productive

users.


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Your Business Processes Run Efficiently — Now Elevate Your IT Processes to the Same LevelLeverage Run SAP with Tata Consultancy Services

Devendra ShetyeProduct Specialist

Tata Consultancy Services

To contain costs, increase the return on IT investments, and

adopt a culture of continuous improvement, SAP customers

are looking to bring their IT operations to the same high

level of maturity that their business processes have already

achieved. Reaching this maturity level involves focusing on

processes within your IT operations and closely aligning

your IT and business efforts.

Customers can now realize these objectives by imple-

menting end-to-end solution operations processes using

the proven Run SAP methodology, which helps companies

seamlessly connect their business processes with their

IT processes, and vice versa. The Run SAP methodology

includes several solution operations standards that custom-

ers can implement to optimize the ongoing management of

their solution landscapes — and thereby lower TCO. Once

implemented, the standards help the IT department work in

close alignment with the business team. Working from the

same baseline, everyone can speak the same language.

How Does the run SAP Methodology Align Your IT and Business Processes?One particularly useful Run SAP standard is solution docu-

mentation. Because business processes and system land-

scapes must be agile to cater to an ever-changing business

and regulatory environment, the need for well-documented

business processes is greater than ever before. To properly

document their processes, IT departments face three com-

mon questions:

1. How do we carry out our most critical business

processes?

2. How do end users utilize these processes?

3. How are various applications that support these

processes performing?

The Run SAP solution documentation standard, coupled

with the Solution Documentation Assistant feature of SAP

Solution Manager, helps customers address these questions.

From a Run SAP perspective, all the content that is

generated during IT projects (including solution implemen-

tations, upgrades, and migrations) is process-oriented and

is stored centrally in the SAP Solution Manager server. The

process steps, recorded by way of solution documentation,

are managed by the Solution Documentation Assistant,

a work center that automatically evaluates business

processes. The outcome of this evaluation helps in prepar-

ing for upgrade projects and analyzing customer develop-

ments. The analysis feature provides detailed results

about the way business processes are used across the

system landscape.

This solution documentation also helps companies tightly

align operational tasks with the business processes they

support, thereby establishing a single source of truth in a

common language that both business users and IT can

understand (see Figure �).

Solution life cycle

Solution 2

Solution 1

Solution 4

Solution 3

Bus

ines

s

IT

Business process monitoring

Root cause analysis

Custom development management

Test management

Change management

Business processes

Bus

ines

s pr

oces

ses

Update

Run SAP

Template 2

Template 1

Project 2

Project 1

Updat

e

Updat

e

Solutiondocumentation

System landscapeBusiness processes

Interfaces

FIgure 1 p By establishing a central solution documentation repository, run SAP

enables business users and IT to align around one source of truth



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How to Begin Your Process Alignment JourneyCustomers implementing SAP solutions, as well as those

with established SAP landscapes, can start aligning their IT

and business processes by building a comprehensive

solution documentation that captures their entire process

landscape and records it in SAP Solution Manager (see side-

bar). This solution documentation then serves as the opera-

tions process baseline for subsequent implementations and

improvement initiatives that will be undertaken in adher-

ence to the Run SAP methodology.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has helped several

customers to start leveraging the Run SAP methodology by

setting up their operational processes in SAP Solution

Manager, which enables customers to manage their

solution landscape with a very focused view of their

business processes.

The key benefits of leveraging SAP Solution Manager in

this way are threefold:

You establish a single source of truth that enables IT

and business alignment.

Your business processes become linked to your latest

SAP objects, such as transactions, customizing, test

cases, and training material.

Your decisions regarding upgrades, enhancements, and

new functionality implementations are better informed

because their impact can be analyzed based on real solu-

tions details captured in SAP Solution Manager.

Additionally, customers who establish Run SAP end-to-

end solution operations standards can achieve:

Reduced incident resolution time

Better control and visibility of business process changes

Simplified monitoring of complex IT landscapes

Moving from Concept to reality with TCSAs a globally certified Run SAP Implementation partner,

TCS helps SAP customers realize the benefits of Run SAP at

various stages in their solution life cycle:

For the project planning stages, we set up a Run SAP

demo center to help customers visualize the benefits

of Run SAP.

In implementation projects, our consultants utilize

SAP Solution Manager as the platform for subsequent

solution operations after the SAP system goes live.

In application support projects, our support teams have

introduced various standards for solution operations to

help align our customers’ IT operations closely with their

business operations.

These initiatives, combined with our extensive Run SAP

implementation experience and support expertise, enable

us to quickly guide you along your IT/business alignment

journey. We have incorporated this knowledge into a

comprehensive roadmap that we offer to our Run SAP

customers (see Figure �). To learn more about leveraging

Run SAP with TCS, visit www.tcs.com. n

FIgure 2 p The TCS run SAP roadmap helps customers realize the benefits of

the run SAP methodology in the shortest possible time

Which Processes Rely on Solution Documentation? End-to-end solution operations processes that leverage the Run SAP

methodology’s solution documentation standard include:

Change management

Test management

Issue management

Root cause analysis

Job scheduling management

Custom development management

Business process and interface monitoring


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In a constant battle to manage IT budgets, keep pace with

changing technologies, and maximize a project’s time to

value, IT executives and managers face four key challenges:

A reduced ability to fund strategic, core business activities

Executive attention that’s consumed by day-to-day

managerial, business, and technical challenges

A lack of flexibility and transparency for program costs,

and the requirement to predictably control these costs

The need to improve both the true and perceived business

value that system users derive from the services IT delivers

In other words, the game has changed for IT. Simply meet-

ing service levels and hitting quality targets is no longer an

adequate mark of success. Companies today need a highly

responsive architecture that allows their applications to

evolve as business needs change, resulting in faster time-to-

market and lower total cost of ownership (TCO) through

long-term reductions in application maintenance costs.

Standards You Can TrustFor more than 45 years, HP has been recognized as a global

leader in providing application management services

(AMS). HP has always created and sought out road-tested

methods, processes, and best practices — most based on

standardization and automation — to continually improve

how we deliver value to our clients. One of those standards

is Run SAP, a methodology designed specifically for the

“run” phase of the SAP application life cycle (see Figure �).

The Run SAP methodology extends SAP’s implementa-

tion methodology into the run phase, thereby minimizing

operational risk, enabling innovation and continuous

improvement, and reducing TCO. The Run SAP methodology

is delivered through a standards-based program that

helps you become a more proactive — rather than a

reactive — organization.

results That MatterUsing the Run SAP methodology, HP has helped several

clients make substantial improvements in the way their SAP

environments perform. Here are some examples of improve-

ments that SAP customers have experienced:1

65% improvement in core business process performance

50% improvement in average critical issue time-to-

resolution

55% reduction in average system response time

Estimated cost savings of more than US$16 million over

10 years from an improved data archiving strategy

18% time-to-resolution improvement with a 120% increase

in total number of users and a 134% workload increase

Reduced processing time from 72 hours to 2 hours (for

10 million records)

experience at WorkBy incorporating the Run SAP methodology into our services,

HP continues to define and deliver next-generation AMS

to the marketplace. This allows customers to dramatically

improve their bottom line and accelerate time-to-value.

For more information on HP’s Run SAP services, visit

http://h�0��.www�.hp.com/services/sapservices. n

� “SAPEnterpriseSupport:TheNextGenerationofSupport,”anSAPcustomervaluepresentation(2008).

HP Brings the Value of Run SAP to Its Application Services — and to Its Clients David Kelley

Global Offering ManagerWorldwide Product

Marketing Applications Services

HP Enterprise Services

Kristine GersabeckHP Applications

Management Services Leader

Americas SAP PracticeHP Enterprise Services

PlanBuildRun

Consult

SAP

FIgure 1 p The phases of the SAP application life cycle;

because the bulk of the life cycle is spent after go-live,

your system must be built with the “run” phase in mind

Using the run SAP

methodology, HP

has helped several

clients make

substantial

improvements in

the way their SAP

environments

perform.




http://h10134.www1.hp.com/services/sapservices

S-�0

special RepoRt

supporting Your sap solutions |

Integrating software products affords companies compel-

ling flexibility and efficiency benefits. But this integration

also poses a unique support challenge: When a problem

or an issue arises, it can be difficult to determine its

root cause.

For companies that are taking advantage of Vertex

Inc. tax solutions, which tightly integrate with SAP solu-

tions, this no longer has to be a challenge thanks to

Vertex’s latest investment in the growing SAP Enterprise

Support ecosystem.

Vertex has elevated its partnership with SAP, connecting

Vertex’s Support Center to SAP’s global support backbone

through SAP Solution Manager. This connection gives SAP

and Vertex joint visibility into customer issues so that they

can quickly determine a problem’s root cause and suggest a

solution. This support integration also means that clients

no longer need to perform their own issue diagnoses.

A Solid Support Backbone: SAP Solution ManagerThrough SAP Solution Manager, customers have one

central support backbone to engage with both SAP and

partners like Vertex (see Figure �). And to help customers

discern which partners are taking advantage of this new

support triangle, SAP has established a special SAP

Enterprise Support certification, which Vertex has already

earned as an Independent Software Vendor partner.

Vertex’s Support StrategyThe Vertex approach to support has always been to under-

stand the clients’ primary support needs and provide solu-

tions to meet those needs. Vertex views its support services

as a core competency of the organization.

By deploying SAP Solution Manager as its customer rela-

tionship management solution, Vertex has extended its

support commitment and is better positioned to meet, or

even exceed, clients’ service-level agreements. When a

customer logs a Vertex-related support incident through

SAP Solution Manager, Vertex is immediately notified and

can start working with SAP to correct the problem.

running Vertex Solutions According to Proven SAP MethodologiesTo further support customers, Vertex has added new and

updated documentation to the SAP Solution Manager Busi-

ness Process Repository, including enhanced documents

and best practices — all following the Accelerated SAP

(ASAP) implementation methodology — to consider when

implementing the Vertex Sales Tax O Series solution.

Other documents include directions for setting up user

guides, installation guides, troubleshooting and testing

best practices, and information on the security functions of

Vertex Sales Tax O Series. You’ll also find work plans and

templates (identified as “accelerators”) that can be used to

accelerate a Vertex Sales Tax O Series implementation.

When coupled with careful planning and execution, Vertex’s

library of implementation documentation and roadmaps will

help propel your Vertex Sales Tax O Series implementation

and mission-critical tax functionality in the right direction.

A Seamless, Streamlined Support experienceBy partnering with SAP’s support organization and leverag-

ing SAP Solution Manager, Vertex has established a clear,

streamlined approach to solution implementation and mainte-

nance. The result is a superb service and support experience

for customers. For more information, visit vertexinc.com. n

Providing End-to-End Enterprise SupportSAP and Vertex Establish Support Center Connectivity Through SAP Solution Manager

Steve RichardVice President

Customer SupportVertex Inc.

FIgure 1 q With

SAP Solution

Manager, custom-

ers have a central

support backbone

to engage with SAP

and partners (like

Vertex) that have

received the SAP

enterprise Support

certification

SAP Global Support Backbone

SAP

Customer

Vertex

ServiceDesk

SAP SolutionManager

SAP SolutionManager

Incident

SolvedIncident

SolvedIncident

Process Incident




http://www.vertexinc.com

special RepoRt

SAPInSIder | supporting Your sap solutions

S-��Reproduced from the Apr n May n Jun 2010 issue of SAPinsider with permission from its publisher, WIS | sapinsider.wispubs.com

AMS or support organization can be certified. After

adopting the Run SAP methodology into its current IT

operations processes and day-to-day procedures, the

partner must also demonstrate — through engagements

with a number of their own customers — that it has the

know-how and ability to implement and operate SAP’s

end-to-end standards in practice. Look for more informa-

tion about this certification at http://partner.sap.com/

supportpartner.

Q: What about software solution partners? What’s

their role in the sap enterprise support picture?

a: Customers are increasingly running integrated business

scenarios in which partner software is integrated into the

main SAP business landscape. Therefore, the integration

of software solution partners into the support backbone

of SAP — through SAP Solution Manager — provides a

seamless, integrated support experience for customers.

The integration of the partner solution can be certified

with SAP Enterprise Support (see sidebar). It also enables

customers to have end-to-end supportability for their

entire footprint of partner solutions and SAP solutions.

For example, the certification for SAP Enterprise Support

requires partners to provide diagnostic capabilities for

performance problems.

Q: How does this work? What value can sap

customers gain from working with integrated

software solution partners?

a: Software solution partners that have their applications

certified for SAP Enterprise Support are connected to

the support backbone of SAP; they use the SAP Solution

Manager application management solution during their

support operations, and they have built-in support for

incident processing and remote diagnostics. This allows

customers to realize significant improvements in time-to-

resolution for submitted incidents and diagnostic capabili-

ties for partner solutions.

Integrated partners have also signed a support agree-

ment with SAP that clearly defines the support responsi-

bilities of the partner solution; they’ve agreed to adhere to

SAP standards for shared support processes, service-level

agreements, and escalation procedures. For customers,

this means that they’ll have increased transparency and

efficiency once they submit incidents for partner solutions.

Plus, they can use the SAP Service Marketplace as their

one-stop shop for incident management.

This integrated support approach demonstrates SAP’s

commitment to the breadth and power of SAP Enterprise

Support: It’s not just for SAP solutions. It ensures that

support for partner solutions adheres to the same service

levels and escalation procedures that SAP Enterprise

Support offers for SAP solutions.

Q: Generally speaking, why should customers pay

attention to these certification programs? What’s

the return?

a: These partner certification programs are not to be

taken lightly. For partners, they involve an ambitious road

of adoption, education, infrastructure, testing, and busi-

ness planning.

But it’s through SAP’s and partners’ commitment to the

certifications that customers can find the true value of the

programs. If you turn to a partner certified in Run SAP

Implementation, Run SAP Operations, or SAP Enterprise

Support, you can rest assured that you’re engaging with a

proven, trusted, and reliable business partner.

By working with SAP and certified partners like the ones

highlighted in this special report, you’ll derive even more

value from the solutions and support offerings in which

you’ve already invested. n

Your Partner Solution Is Certified for SAP Enterprise Support — But What Does That Really Mean?When a partner’s solution is certified for SAP Enterprise Support, the part-

ner is providing support for its integrated application within the support

backbone of SAP using SAP Solution Manager. With this integration in place,

a customer using a certified partner solution can turn to SAP as its one

source for end-to-end support, greatly improving remote diagnostics and

monitoring capabilities, accelerating incident resolution, and increasing

the transparency of its submitted incidents.

To participate in this program, partners must have a signed support

agreement that defines (usually by way of an addendum) the solution

component that will be integrated and certified. The Global Partner

Support team validates the solution’s technical integration with the SAP

support backbone through SAP Solution Manager, as well as the functional

integration of support processes, including escalation procedures, and

the fulfillment of SAP Enterprise Support’s service-level agreements. The

certification also includes extensive knowledge transfer between SAP and

the software partner.

You can learn more about the program and review a list of certified

partners at http://partner.sap.com/es-integration.

Article continued from page S-2


Documents

Partnering to Enhance the Value of SAP Enterprise Support ......return on your past and future technology investments. Focus on Information Value IT value consists of two distinct