Software Lifecycle Manager
Purpose
mySAP Business Suite is a suite of business solutions that enable companies to manage the entire value chain across business networks. mySAP Business Suite solutions consist of multiple business scenarios, which in turn consist of a set of business processes. Business processes run in the same context on one or several software components. Business scenario templates provide information about different variants of a business scenario and how they can be realized. To build up a business scenario, you choose a variant of software components and assign them to application systems. The Software Lifecycle Manager of SAP NetWeaver (SLM) guides you through this process and facilitates the design of a required technical system landscape.
Bear in mind that the abbreviation SLM is not intended to define a product, since the Software Lifecycle Manager is part of SAP NetWeaver. This abbreviation is only intended to improve readability.
Be aware that the SLM does not yet cover all dependencies that are relevant for planning system landscape changes. As a result, before you perform any software lifecycle tasks you still have to consult the relevant documentation, such as Master Guides, Upgrade Master Guides, Support Package Stack Guides, and SAP Notes. You cannot rely on the results of the software lifecycle manager. SAP shall have no responsibility and disclaims any liability and warranties for any and all damages and/or problems resulting from your use of the software lifecycle manager not in accordance with the guidelines above. In all other respects, the end user license terms shall apply.
As long as the SLM does not cover all dependencies, you can use the information provided by the tool as a starting point that should be cross-checked with the standard documentation. Also, the SLM provides an easy way to bring the information of your individual system landscape into the planning and validation process for software life-cycle tasks that you want to perform or about which you want to learn more.
As a result, the SLM complements the relevant documentation. It provides planning functions based on the information of your current system landscape and allows you to validate planned software life-cycle tasks. For each plan, you get the list of software life-cycle tasks that are required in your system landscape to realize the plan. The information about required steps and possible conflicts of a software life-cycle task in your individual system landscape is provided without touching your systems. As the list of required changes is automatically updated based on the data from the system landscape directory, you can also use this list to track the realization status of such a plan.
The SLM has the following features:
● Offers an overview of the existing system landscape:
¡ Software components, including support package information, installed on application systems
¡ Business scenarios realized on application systems
· Offers an overview of the planned system landscape:
¡ Planned application and software components, including support package information, to be installed on application systems
¡ Planned business scenarios to be realized on application systems
· Guides you through the landscape planning process via planning wizards:
¡ Realize new business scenarios
The planning wizard is extended and you can also plan to realize new application systems on which you can realize new business scenarios.
¡ Deploy application components
The planning wizard is extended and you can also plan to realize new application systems on which you can deploy application components.
¡ Update support packages
· Checks whether planned changes to the system landscape conflict with both planned and existing system landscape and offers possible actions to handle conflicts.
· Allows you to view details about SAP solutions and business scenarios from the System Landscape Directory of SAP NetWeaver (SLD).
Bear in mind that the abbreviation SLD is not intended to define a product, since the System Landscape Directory is part of SAP NetWeaver. This abbreviation is only intended to improve readability.
· Allows you to view and maintain details about third-party software solutions and business scenarios from the SLD.
Integration
The SLM is integrated with the SLD. The SLM receives information from the SLD and stores information in the SLD. Therefore, all functions depend on the SLD.
The SLD has two major parts: component information about all existing software modules as well as their combination options and dependencies, and the system landscape description, which is a model of the installed system landscape. The component information part of the SLD is regularly updated with the latest descriptions of products, software components and support packages. The latest descriptions are automatically reported by SAP systems that are configured to supply data to the SLD.
The SLM is integrated with the Solution Manager. The Solution Manager provides initial plan data about application components that are installed. Using this data, the SLM creates a plan to update support packages. You can view and change the plan by selecting different support packages. When the planning is completed, the SLM sends the plan data to the Solution Manager.
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