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Unlocking the Value of SAPChange Intelligence:What Developers andSecurity Managers AskAbout ImplementingSalt in Their SAP Systems

Executive SummaryIn 1999, when Revelation SoftwareConcepts (RSC) introducedRev-Trac to simplify SAPchange control, the companyfundamentally changed howleading companies managetheir SAP Change Control. As SAPsystems grew more complex, RSCintroduced Salt for heightenedvisibility into systems of all sizes.The Salt suite of applicationsprovides change intelligence andinsights into SAP custom code andsystem information.With Salt, users can analyze,decide and act on importantsystem information in real-time.Salt lets you base decisions onfact, not guesswork.

Salt reduces risk in SAP systems by providing current,accurate intelligence on systems and code. It runs in aseparate virtual machine, communicating with systemsthrough SAP’s own connectors using standard securitysafeguards, so it never poses a risk to the system itself.Salt provides real-time intelligence in three focus areas thatdeliver tangible and measurable benefits: Developers are code-centric, and Salt’s Developer Utilitieshelp them work faster and more productively. Managers know how fragile a complex landscape canbe. Salt’s Landscape Management applications helpthem understand the state of play in each system. Thiscan be of paramount importance when, for example, unpromoted code left in QAS leads to incorrect test results. Stakeholders from developers to CIOs understand thecost of recreating custom code if it is lost, for exampleduring a crash, restore, backup or system restart. Salt’sObject Repositories guards against potentially expensivedisasters with auto-save and archiving and keep customABAP code and data dictionary objects safe and secure.Salt delivers significant reduction of risk. Even small changescarry risk of accidental disruption and the more complex thesystem, the greater the risk. Salt provides specific data to theappropriate stakeholders, who can then act quickly to makeimprovements or to avoid disaster. It safeguards customcode, eliminates the risk of lost work, and lets you sleepeasier.RSC’s free Salt trial lets you discover Salt’s value by using it onthe systems you know best – your own. Expect to be startledby some of the system intel it provides.

Table of ContentsExecutive Summary. 2Introduction. 5Section 1: Benefits of Visibility - Salt Lets You See Inside Your System .6Developer Utilities. 6Code Ferret. 6Watch Bot. 8Match Box. 9Landscape Management .10Matrix. 10WIP Window.11Cold Case. 12Object Repositories.13Life Saver . 13Version Vault . 14Section 2: Easy Secure Installation.15Conclusion . 17About the Author .18Contact Us. 184Unlocking the Value of SAP Change Intelligence: What Developers and Security Managers Ask About Implementing Salt in Their SAP Systems

IntroductionSalt, from market-leading third-party SAPchange control automation specialistRevelation Software Concepts, responds tothe need for change intelligence in additionto well governed change control on complexSAP system-based infrastructures.The Salt suite of applications reduces risk byproviding essential fact-based informationon current systems to authorized managers,developers and other stakeholders. Its realtime intelligence enables decisions based onfact, not guesswork, and saves time in multipleareas on a continuing, day-to-day basis.Salt delivers real-time intelligence on system state andcustom ABAP code in three focus areas: Developer Utilities Landscape Management Object/Code RepositoriesUsed together, these visibility tools give you the means toanalyze systems, notify stakeholders of changes to objectsor systems, keep custom ABAP code safe and accessible,find ABAP code anywhere on a system, and revealchanges or inconsistencies between objects and systems.“Salt’s real-timeintelligenceenablesdecisions basedon fact, notguesswork, andsaves time inmultiple areason a continuing,day-to-day basis.This whitepaper describes the eight Salt applications thatcomprise the suite, stating technical and business benefitsof the intelligence they deliver and describing Salt’s safe,secure and problem-free implementation process.5Unlocking the Value of SAP Change Intelligence: What Developers and Security Managers Ask About Implementing Salt in Their SAP Systems

Section 1: Benefits of Visibility- Salt Lets You See InsideYour SystemSAP system-based infrastructures have multiple stakeholders – project,basis and release managers; developers and team leaders; users. Thesestakeholders need different types of change intelligence at different times.Users may only need to know when a change will arrive. Other stakeholdersneed more precise change intelligence. That’s where Salt comes in.Salt’s small applications deliver change intelligence in three areas –developer utilities, landscape management and the object repository.Packaged within a maintenance-free, secure virtual appliance, Salt isstraightforward to install, update, maintain or remove. Its applications areboth secure and easy to use.Developer UtilitiesDevelopers are code-centric and Salt 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, CodeFerret finds it immediately. You can find specific types of objects, such asfunctions, that were changed by a particular developer, such as a departedcontractor, during a specified date range. Or go right to that bit of code youremember seeing somewhere the other day. Here, Code Ferret checks codestandards (Figure 1) and noses out functions coded by a particular developerduring a specified period (Figure 2).6Unlocking the Value of SAP Change Intelligence: What Developers and Security Managers Ask About Implementing Salt in Their SAP Systems

Figure 1: Checking code standards using Code Ferret“Code Ferretchecks codestandardsand noses outfunctions codedby a particulardeveloper duringa specifiedperiod.Figure 2: Searching for functions by developer7Unlocking the Value of SAP Change Intelligence: What Developers and Security Managers Ask About Implementing Salt in Their SAP Systems

Watch BotKeeps you 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 manualchange directly in QA or PRD, bypassing your processes? Watch Bot will spot it.It will inform you of changes to complex objects or even whole developmentclasses. 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 goesunstable, goes down or comes back up. It can issue auto-alerts to monitorobject changes or detect potential parallel development issues between BAUand Project landscapes, as in Figure 3.3.Figure 3.1: Watch Bot alert ruleFigure 3.2: Resulting alert8Unlocking the Value of SAP Change Intelligence: What Developers and Security Managers Ask About Implementing Salt in Their SAP Systems

Figure 3.3: Watch Bot parallel development alert emailMatch BoxNever lose work to an out-of-sync object. Developers knowhow quickly objects can fall out of sync if a transport onone system changes an object copied to DEV from anothersystem. Match Box detects even small differences betweencode versions so you can directly see conflicts in a singleview, compare objects and prevent problems. Differencesbetween systems, versions or even other named objectsshow up in a single, color-coded view that makes sortingbetween them a breeze. In Figure 4, Match Box showsdifferences between objects on separate systems.“Match Boxdetectseven smalldifferencesbetween codeversions so youcan directlysee conflictsin a singleview, compareobjects andpreventproblems.Figure 4: Match Box diffs between systems9Unlocking the Value of SAP Change Intelligence: What Developers and Security Managers Ask About Implementing Salt in Their SAP Systems

Landscape ManagementKeep your landscapes stable. From Team Leaders to CIOs, managers knowhow fragile a complex landscape can be. Prevent out-of-sequence versionimports or old and forgotten code accidentally carried in an unrelatedtransport. Understand the state of play in each system to ensure each systemis the same. For example, significant amounts of code lying un-promoted inQAS can distort test results and destabilize PRD if promoted. Salt’s LandscapeManagement applications can prevent such mishaps by enabling users toidentify such code beforehand.MatrixUnderstand your SAP landscapes. Matrix compares systems in detail so youcan visualize and quantify the differential between DEV, QAS and PRD. Itworks by analyzing objects on every specified system and showing you thedifferences. Are overtakes and overwrites increasing between BAU and Projectlandscapes? Matrix makes it easy to track down the sources. In Figure 5, seehow Matrix can reveal objects that need re-syncing after refreshing QAS froma backup of PRD.Figure 5: Matrix finding objects to re-sync10Unlocking the Value of SAP Change Intelligence: What Developers and Security Managers Ask About Implementing Salt in Their SAP Systems

WIP WindowIt’s much easier to manage development teams if you canclick a button and see who’s working on what, which workhasn’t yet gone to QAS or PRD, or what work a departedcontractor has left undone. WIP Window shows all thatand more. Explore unreleased changes in DEV as well aschanges not yet moved to PRD, and use the informationto balance workloads between teams or individual teammembers.Figure 6: WIP View“With WIP Windowyou can click abutton and seewho’s working onwhat and whichwork hasn’t yetgone to QAS orPRD.11Unlocking the Value of SAP Change Intelligence: What Developers and Security Managers Ask About Implementing Salt in Their SAP Systems

Cold CaseKeep systems stable and trim the costs of keeping unused old code. Overtime, any system accumulates forgotten or abandoned work from anynumber of sources. Consultants move on, projects change, transports gostagnant. Any code left behind costs time and money, and can interfere withintegration testing. Cold Case finds and helps you discover who created anabandoned object and why it stopped advancing so you can 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 7, Cold Case identifies code that, in three months, has not movedbeyond DEV.Figure 7: Cold Case identifies code that has not yet moved to PRD12Unlocking the Value of SAP Change Intelligence: What Developers and Security Managers Ask About Implementing Salt in Their SAP Systems

Object RepositoriesSafeguard your custom code, eliminate the risk of lost work,and sleep easier. When a program’s custom code getslost during a crash, restore, backup or system restart, it canbe an expensive disaster. With Salt you can quickly rebuild,analyze or simply browse through active objects andrecover previous states quickly after an unexpected loss orchange of plans.Life SaverEliminate problems with changed ABAP objects and takecontrol of back-outs using Life Saver. Much better than asimple “back-out” button that gives you little or no controlover the results, Life Saver creates and displays auto-saved,point-in-time snapshots of active code in any system. Later,you can view, compare with earlier or later versions, orrestore to a better state as needed. You won’t “back out”blindly and hope for the best, because Life Saver puts youin control. Figure 8 is an example of a transport with twodifferent timestamps, compared in Life Saver to show whatchanged.“Life Savercreates anddisplaysauto-saved,point-in-timesnapshots ofactive code inany system.Figure 8: Live Saver showing different timestamps on same transport13Unlocking the Value of SAP Change Intelligence: What Developers and Security Managers Ask About Implementing Salt in Their SAP Systems