For many organizations, SAP Solution Manager (SolMan) remains the primary solution for the administration of their SAP enterprise applications. Here you will find out what SolMan does, what functions it offers, but also what challenges come up when using the Solution Manager. And most importantly, how you can prepare for the end of maintenance in 2027.
SAP Solution Manager, also called SAP SolMan or just SolMan, is an intelligent platform for application lifecycle management software (ALM). ALM, in turn, consists of tools and processes that help manage the lifecycle of a software product – from development to product design to product retirement.
Basically, SolMan is a collection of tools and services that help manage and monitor SAP environments. Solution Manager is already integrated as a toolset in all SAP systems and is free of charge for license holders.
The platform is used as a central management tool that supports companies in the digitization and automation of business processes.
SAP Solution Manager is an important tool, especially when it comes to automating processes. But that’s not all: As a “single source of the truth,” Solution Manager helps to create transparency and reduce administrative effort by mapping the applications in an SAP infrastructure in a centralized manner. This possibility always exists, regardless of whether the IT solution is in the data center, hybrid or in the cloud.
The latest version of SAP Solution Manager is version 7.2, which can be used to implement, maintain, operate and take over all, even non-SAP, IT solutions of a company. Version 7.2 provides functions to extend and improve system landscape management, such as the following:
From 2020, SAP additionally introduced SAP Cloud ALM as SaaS. It has been completely redeveloped with a focus on cloud products and implementation methods. SAP Cloud ALM relies much more on standardization than on individuality like SAP Solution Manager. Whether it makes sense to switch to SAP Cloud ALM depends on your system landscape. It is not absolutely necessary.
Solution Manager is modular, so you can flexibly adapt it to the individual needs of your company. This way, the Solution Manager has access to all important technical information in order to to ensure smooth operation of the systems and guarantee agile lifecycle management.
SAP Solution Manager thus provides everything needed to ensure efficient management of the system. Below are the most important modules and their functions:
Due to its extensive range of functions, SolMan is very complex and not so easy to manage. The introduction alone is time-consuming and cost-intensive. Furthermore, the operation requires high personnel costs and corresponding expertise, which is difficult to obtain in the current times.
Due to the proprietary architecture and the lack of standardized interfaces, complete integration is difficult and involves additional effort.
The upcoming end of maintenance is another considerable challenge. Companies need to find alternatives to compensate for the loss of the current solution. The SolMan successor SAP Cloud ALM does not offer an ideal replacement, as it does not have the same range of functions as Solution Manager.
SAP teams that rely on ChaRM in particular face major challenges. Cloud ALM is not an adequate alternative for change management. So how can you manage your SAP transports without ChaRM? Discover third-party solutions that can be even better than SAP SolMan.
Finding an alternative is the first step. However, the transition itself is not trivial as well. Discover SmartChange, which is not only a reliable successor to ChaRM, but also an automated migration solution. This way you don’t have to worry about your important change documents.
The functions and application areas of SAP Solution Manager are diverse, but also very complex. The complexity requires thorough training and knowledge of the tool to use it effectively. However, many companies do not need all the functions included in SolMan. To keep efforts low, they use specialized third-party tools that focus on single disciplines.
REALTECH also offers solutions that replace individual Solution Manager features. Our product portfolio includes lean and easy-to-administer change management software (SmartChange) and the ITSM solution SmartITSM, which covers all your IT service management needs, including SAP integration.
Solution Manager is a central software for the administration of SAP enterprise applications. As an application management solution, SolMan provides functional support to the IT infrastructure and helps optimize the effective management of the software environment throughout the application lifecycle.
SAP Solution Manager ensures that the system landscape is continuously monitored and its smooth functioning is guaranteed. It provides all the necessary content, tools and services that are used within the framework of Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) to maintain system functionalities and the optimal use of applications.
2027 puts an end to SolMan
Find out how to deal with it and what alternatives are available.
