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What you need to know about agile development for SAP
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The only constant in today’s business environment is change. Companies that can’t react quickly to ever-changing market demands face an uncertain future. The speed at which your business can respond in the new digital age, increasingly relies on how fast your software can change. The onus is on businesses to deliver applications faster – including SAP applications – to satisfy customer and business demands without delay. The result: agile development is fast becoming top of mind for business owners and CIOs with back-end SAP systems.
What is agile development?Simply,agiledevelopmentisawaytoquicklybuildsoftwareandgetitinthehandsofendusers.Thefocusisondeliveringqualityworkingsoftwarefrequently,whilesignificantlyreducingprojectoverheads.
Theagiledevelopmentmethodologywasbornoutofthefrustrationsaroundunproductivesoftwaredevelopmentprocesses.Longleadtimes,overblownbudgetsandinflexibleprojectscopeswereprevalent.Meaningsoftwaredevelopmentoftenfailedtokeeppacewithbusinesschangeandrisingcustomerexpectations.
Forexample,itwascommonforSAPprojectstorunoverbudgetandwithdelays,failingtoprovidevaluetoclientsandusers.Projectproblemsfrequentlyoccurredbecausethelevelofcomplexityrequiredadeepunderstandingofanorganization’sindustry,operationalprocesses,businesschallengesandcustomerexpectations.
Tomitigatemuchoftherisk,businessesandSAPprojectteamsadoptedthewaterfallapproachwiththeemphasisonplanninganddocumentation,notthequickdeliveryofworkingsoftware.
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Benefits of agile development for SAPUnlikethewaterfallmethod,agiledevelopmentisasteptowardsthecontinuousdeliveryofSAPchange,givingbusinessesacompetitiveedgeandacceleratinginnovation.Adoptingagileprinciplesdeliversbenefitstoyourbusinessandprojectmanagers.Theseinclude:
Increased Business Engagement - Fordeveloperstomeetprojectrequirementstheyneedtoregularlyengageandinvolvebusinessstakeholdersinthedevelopmentprocesstoensuretherequiredoutcomesandresultsaredelivered
Predictable Delivery and Cost - Usingshort2-4weeksprintsandpre-estimatedeffortsforchanges,youcananticipatethecompletionofnewfeaturesandfunctionality.Withafixeddurationandaknownexpectedeffortforthecontentofeachsprint,thecostiscappedandpredictable.
Allows for iterations - Teamsneedtofocusondeliveringpre-determinedcontentforthesprint.However,followingthesprintbusinessescanrefineandenhancerequirements,addingadditionalrequeststoabacklogwhichcanbereprioritized.
Business and User Value - Typically,requirementsaredefinedbyuserstories,ensuringthatoutcomesofafeatureorcapabilityrelatetoend-userengagement.Anorganization’sabilitytodeterminethepriorityofuserstoriesmeanshighlyengagedstakeholdersandabetterbusinessoutcome.
Improved Quality - Theuseofmultiplesprintstodeliveraprojectenablesconstantreview,refinement,collaborationandtheearlyidentificationofgapsinexpectations.
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Traditionally,demandsforhighqualityapplicationsandserviceswithoutsacrificingproductionsystemstability–ortwo-trackIT–shackledaccelerateddevelopmentanddelivery.
Yet,morethanever,respondingquicklytoconstantlychangingmarketdemandsiscrucialtosurvival.Asaresult,SAPITteamsarenowunderpressuretodelivermorechange,morefrequentlywhilemaintainingsystemintegrity.Organizationswhocanensureahighervelocity,volumeandqualityofdevelopinganddeployingSAPchangeswillgainacompetitiveadvantage.
Embracing agile practices within your SAP environment can:
• Speedupapplicationdelivery,
• Reduceoperationalcosts,and
• Minimizeproductionsystemdowntime.
Can agile development help your business?
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Whilethebenefitsofgoingagileareevident,achievingthemcanbehard.ThetransitiontoSAPagileisajourneyandnotwithoutitschallenges.Anagilestrategydemandschangesintechnology,processesandultimatelyculture.
SomeoftheissuesofadoptinganagileapproachinaSAPenvironmentare:
• Workflow management–Amovetowardsagiledevelopmentrequiresincreasedcross-teamcollaboration,improvingproductivityanddeliveringsoftwarefeaturesandcapabilitiesfaster.Thisisindirectoppositiontothelong-establishedwaterfallmethodwhereSAPITteamsworkinsilosonhigh-stakeprojectswithconcretemilestonestoachieve.
• Speed vs governance–AgileencouragesrapidSAPchangewhichisatoddswithgovernancerequirementsforcoresystemsthatlimitchangeorattheveryleastslowitdown.
• Parallel development–BeingagilecanmeanenablingparalleldevelopmenttospeedupSAPchange.Theproblemis:HowdoSAPITteamsmanageparalleldevelopment,whichhasbeenlargelylimitedduetoitsunpredictabilityandrisktoproductionsystemstability.
• Visibility of SAP change–SAPITteamsneedtechnicalvisibilityintochangestobetterunderstandandmanageapplicationdevelopment,dependenciesandtransportsequence,preventingproductionincidents.
Agile development for SAP: the challenges
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A way to make SAP agile workAutomationiscriticalforfirmstomeetSAPagileobjectives.Historically,SAPchangecontrolmanagementhaslargelybeenamanualprocess.Theproblemis,themoremanualproceduresandtasksyourbusinesshas,theriskierSAPchangesbecome.
AutomatingSAPchangecontrolprocessesenablesyourbusinesstobuildandenhanceapplicationsandservicesfasterandmoreeffectively.Error-pronemanualtasksareeliminatedandreplacedwithautomated,repeatableprocessestoaccelerateSAPchangeandavoidcostly,unscheduleddowntime.
Other benefits of SAP change control automation include:
• Enforces process compliance and significantly cuts audit effort–Policyisenforcedacrossmultiplesolutions,technologiesandlandscapes.Meaningyoucaneasilymeetregulatoryrequirements,drivedowncostsofcomplianceandreduceauditeffortwhilemaintainingarapiddeliveryschedule.
• Prevents avoidable SAP application development, transport and deployment errors–Automatedtechnicalvisibilityreducestheneedformanualchecks,speedsupapplicationdevelopmentandensureschangescanbedeployedwithoutbreakingtheproductionsystem.
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The bottom lineKeepingpaceinthedigitalagemeansmodernizingsoftwaredevelopmenttospeedupapplicationdelivery.Moretraditionalslow,manualapplicationdevelopmentmethodsareonthewayout.
ApplyingagileprinciplestoyourSAPenvironmentstreamlinesyourapplicationdevelopmentprocessestodelivermoresoftware,morefrequentlywhileavoidingasystemsoutage.Meaningyourbusinessgetsexactlywhatitwants,whenitneedsit,gainingacompetitiveedge.
Automationisthewayforward.OrganizationswhoautomatechangecontrolmanagementprocessescanincreasethefrequencyandvolumeofSAPchangewithoutrisk,alignsoftwaredevelopmentwithbusinessrequirementsandultimatelymeetmarketexpectations.
For more information on how to make SAP agile at your organization check out our resources page at www.rev-trac.com/resources/ or if you have a specific question, email [email protected]
and one of our SAP change management experts will get in touch.
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