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Unlocking the value ofSAP system change intelligenceHow to avoid an SAP systems disaster with Rev-Trac Insights

An RSC solutionExecutive summaryThere is no doubt, SAP is a complex environment. New technologyadoption to keep pace with competitors, has resulted in solutionsand landscapes of increasing complexity. As SAP environmentsgrew to meet ever more demands from the business and customers,Revelation Software Concepts (RSC) introduced Rev-Trac Insights fordeep visibility into systems of all sizes. The Rev-Trac Insights suite ofapplications provides change intelligence and insights in SAP customcode and system information.With Rev-Trac Insights, users can analyze, decide and act on importantsystem information in real time. You can base decisions on fact, notguesswork. Ultimately, the software reduces risk in SAP systems byproviding real-time accurate intelligence on systems and code.The application suite provides real-time intelligence in three areas,delivering tangible and measurable benefits: Developers are code-centric, and Rev-Trac Insights’Developer Utilities help them work faster and more productively. Managers know how fragile a complex landscape can be.Rev-Trac Insights’ Landscape Management applications helpthem understand the state of play in each system. This can be ofparamount importance when, for example, un-promoted code leftin QAS leads to incorrect test results. Stakeholders from developers to CIOs understand the cost ofrecreating custom code if it is lost, for example during a crash,restore, backup or system restart. Rev-Trac Insights’Object Repositories guards against potentially expensive disasterswith auto-save and archiving and keeps custom ABAP code anddata dictionary objects safe and secure.Rev-Trac Insights helps businesses to significantly reduce the risk ofcrashes or unscheduled downtime. Even small changes carry risk ofaccidental disruption and the more complex the system, the greaterthe risk. Rev-Trac Insights provides specific data to the appropriatedteam member/s, who can then act quickly to make improvements orto avoid disaster. It safeguards custom code and eliminates the risk oflost work.2This whitepaper describes the eight Rev-Trac Insights’ applications,stating technical and business benefits of the intelligence they deliver.Version Number 1

Tableof contentsExecutive summary2Introduction4Section 1: Rev-Trac Insights lets you see inside your system5Developer Utilities6Code Ferret6Watch Bot7Match Box8Landscape ManagementMatrix99WIP Window10Cold Case11Object Repositories12Life Saver12Version Vault14Section 2: Rev-Trac Insights addresses security risks15Conclusion16About the author16Get in touch17Version Number 13

IntroductionRev-Trac Insights responds to theneed for change intelligence inaddition to well governed changecontrol on complex SAPsystem-based infrastructures. TheRev-Trac Insights’ suite ofapplications reduces risk byproviding essential fact-basedinformation on current systems toauthorized managers, developersand other SAP IT team members.Its real-time intelligence enablesdecisions based on fact, notguesswork, and saves time inmultiple areas on a day-to-day basis.Rev-Trac Insights delivers real-timeintelligence on system state andcustom ABAP code in three areas: Developer Utilities Landscape Management Object/Code RepositoriesTogether, these visibility tools providethe means to analyze systems,notify users of changes to objectsor systems, keep custom ABAPcode safe and accessible. The toolsalso find ABAP code anywhere ona system and reveal changesor inconsistencies betweenobjects and systems.4Version Number 1

Section 1: Rev-Trac Insightslets you see inside yoursystemSAP system-based infrastructures have multiple stakeholders – project team members,basis and release managers, developers and team leaders, and users. These stakeholdersrequire different types of change intelligence at different times. Users, for example,may only need to know when a change will arrive. Others need more precise changeintelligence. That’s where Rev-Trac Insights comes in.Packaged within a maintenance-free, secure virtual appliance, Rev-Trac Insights is easyto install, update, maintain or remove. Its applications are both secure and user friendly. Itruns in a separate virtual machine (VM), communicating with systems through SAP’s ownconnectors using standard security safeguards, so it never poses a risk to the system itself.Version Number 15

Developer UtilitiesDevelopers are code-centric, and Rev-Trac Insights helps them work faster and moreproductively.Code FerretMaster the custom ABAP code on your system, no matter where it resides:Never lose another code snippet. If it’s on the system anywhere, Code Ferret finds itimmediately. You can find specific types of objects, such as functions, that were changedby a particular developer, for example a departed contractor, during a specified date range.Or go right to that bit of code you remember seeing somewhere the other day. Here, CodeFerret checks code standards (Figure 1) and also noses out functions coded by a particulardeveloper during a specified period.Figure 1: Checking code standards using Code Ferret

Watch BotKeep on top of your systems:Watch Bot lets you decide what to monitor, how to report it and who gets the reports.Did someone make a manual change directly in QA or PRD, bypassing your processes?Watch Bot will spot it. It will inform you of changes to complex objects or even wholedevelopment classes. It can round up changes made overnight in your absence and emailyou a report each morning. And it can sound an alarm if a system goes unstable, goesdown or comes back up. Watch Bot can issue auto-alerts to monitor object changes ordetect potential parallel development issues between BAU and Project landscapes, as inFigure 3.Figure 3.1: Watch Bot alert ruleFigure 3.2: Watch Bot parallel development alert emailVersion Number 17

Match BoxNever lose work to an out-of-sync object:Developers know how quickly objects can fall out of sync if a transport on one systemchanges an object copied to DEV from another system. Match Box detects even smalldifferences between code versions, so you can directly see conflicts in a single view,compare objects and prevent problems. Differences between systems, versions or evenother named objects show up in a single, color-coded view that allows for easier sorting. InFigure 4, Match Box shows differences between objects on separate systems.Figure 4: Match Box diffs btween systems8Version Number 1

Landscape ManagementKeep your landscapes stable.Team Leaders to CIOs and managers know how fragile a complex landscape can be.Prevent out-of-sequence version imports or old and forgotten code being accidentallycarried in an unrelated transport. Understand the state of play in the individual systems toensure each is the same. For example, significant amounts of code lying un-promoted inQAS can distort test results and destabilize PRD if promoted. Rev-Trac Insights’ LandscapeManagement applications can prevent such mishaps by enabling users to identify suchcode beforehand.MatrixUnderstand your SAP landscapes:Matrix compares systems in detail, so you can visualize and quantify the differentialbetween DEV, QAS and PRD. It works by analyzing objects on every specified systemand revealing the differences. Are overtakes and overwrites increasing between BAU andProject landscapes? Matrix makes it easy to track down the sources. In Figure 5, see howMatrix can reveal objects that need re-syncing after refreshing QAS from a backup of PRD.Figure 5: Matrix finding objects to re-syncVersion Number 19

WIP WindowMonitor work in progress:It’s much easier to manage development teams if you can click a button and view theirworkloads. Which work hasn’t yet gone to QAS or PRD? Or, what work has a departedcontractor not completed. WIP Window reveals all this and more. Explore unreleasedchanges in DEV as well as changes not yet moved to PRD and use the information tobalance workloads between teams or individual team members.Figure 6: WIP View10Version Number 1

Cold CaseKeep systems stable and trim the costs of keeping unused old code:Over time, any system accumulates forgotten or abandoned work from any numberof sources. Consultants move on, projects change, transports go stagnant. Any codeleft behind costs time and money and can interfere with integration testing. Cold Caseidentifies who created an abandoned object and why it stopped advancing, enabling youto remove it, complete it, move it to a repository or even promote it directly into PRD. You’llclean up your system, and potentially rescue thousands of hours of lost work. In Figure 8,Cold Case identifies code that, in three months, has not moved beyond DEV.Figure 7: Cold Case identifies code that has not yet moved to PRDVersion Number 111

Object RepositoriesSafeguard your custom code and eliminate the risk of lost work. When a program’s customcode gets lost during a crash, restore, backup or system restart, it can be an expensivedisaster. With Rev-Trac Insights you can quickly rebuild, analyze or simply browse throughactive objects and recover previous states after an unexpected loss or change of plans.Life SaverAuto-saved snapshots puts you in control of ABAP changes:Eliminate problems with changed ABAP objects and take control of back-outs using LifeSaver. Better than a simple “back-out” button that gives you little or no control over theresults, Life Saver creates and displays auto-saved, point-in-time snapshots of active codein any system. Later, you can view, compare with earlier or later versions, or restore to abetter state as needed. No more ‘backing out blindly’ and hoping for the best – Life Saverputs you in control. Figure 10 is an example of a transport with two different timestamps,compared in Life Saver to show what changed.Figure 8: Life Saver showing different timestamps on same transport12Version Number 1

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Version VaultKeeps custom ABAP code and data dictionary objects safe and secure:Your teams will never have to reinvent the wheel. Version Vault keeps historical datadictionary and code objects easily accessible, continually updating all associated auditsupport data in an external repository of custom SAP objects. When you review thecomplete development version history it’s easy to discover the differences betweenversions of object attachments.Figure 9: Version Vault object differential14Version Number 1