GROW with SAP customers face a unique challenge with the requirement to adopt a new release bi-annually (February and August). The challenge is compounded by the limited 3-week window between Release to Customer (RTC) and production release during which customers must perform all testing to identify and resolve the impacts to their solution.
Here are some of the common challenges:
- Testing and Validation: Ensuring thorough testing and validation of new features within a limited timeframe can be difficult. This can result in bugs or issues slipping through.
- Impact on Business Processes: Deprecated items may impact existing business processes, so it’s crucial to assess that impact and make necessary adjustments.
- Integration Issues: New updates may cause compatibility issues with existing integrations, requiring additional effort to resolve.
Given the challenges related to bi-annual releases, GROW with SAP customers need an Application Management Services (AMS) support model that incorporates support for release management. Release management support must include the following components:
- Test Automation Tool (TAT) Setup: Initial setup of the TAT framework, automated test case design, and test run of scripts.
- Test Execution Support: Ongoing execution of automated test scripts bi-annually.
- SAP Release Assessment and Scope Dependency (RASD) Tool: Leveraging this tool to assess the impact of new releases on customer solutions.
- Remediation Support: Support for remediation of failed test scripts.
NTT DATA Business Solutions has developed an AMS model for GROW with SAP customers that incorporates both traditional AMS support components (i.e., incident/service/change request management) and release management support within a single commercial framework. Our AMS model for GROW with SAP is composed of a combination of fixed fee and flexible value-based components. The key benefits include:
- Predictable Cash Flow: Level monthly billing helps smooth out cash flow by spreading costs evenly over the term of engagement.
- Risk Mitigation: Experience peace of mind with our release management support services through early detection and resolution of issues, ensuring your operations are stress-free and uninterrupted.
- Simplified Management: Our bundled offering of AMS support services simplifies the management process for our customers. They have a single point of contact for all their SAP support needs, which can streamline communication and reduce administrative overhead.
Using modern technologies is not about technology itself but about making it work for you. NTT DATA Business Solutions’ SAP Application Management Services combines data-driven insights with our best practices and proactive problem management to make it work for you. The visible outcomes for you are more agile business processes and a reduction of total cost of ownership to name just a couple. We help free you from the grind of just keeping the lights on, so that you can focus on strategic initiatives to grow your business. This includes ongoing recommendations and optimizations to ensure continual improvement over time. Your success is our number one priority.
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