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Figaf 2.11 is out, enabling DevOps for SAP PI and CPI

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Now we are able to deliver Figaf IRT 2.11, it will enable automation of SAP Integration never seen before. It contains 150 tasks or bugs and 55k new lines of code. So it is a massive improvement we have worked on. It contains two main areas.

  • Transport and governance system
  • Migration of SAP PI/PO if you are still missing to migrate to 7.5

Transport and governance process

When we have talked with clients of the Figaf tool and our integration with CTS+. It seems like only 50% of the customers were using it. I could configure it on our system without much knowledge in 4 hours. So it should be possible for all SAP users to use it.

My these on why CTS+ it has not been implemented as much is that it is not adding much value, and is just complicating the process. You cannot really see what is in the transports and once you have imported the directory you anyway needed to perform manual steps to configure it.

That is the reason I’m stoked we have created our own transport approach. It is really simple to configure and make it possible to improve the delivery of SAP Integration. This is the way transports are supposed to be handled in the modern world.

The process is as follows, in most cases:

  1. Create a Ticket that links to the business requirement or failure created
  2. Add the objects that you have changed
  3. Figaf will then know what objects need to be tested and can test the flows
  4. You can create transport with all the objects.
  5. You then configure what channels will be like on other systems in the landscape
  6. A user can then approve the transport and allow you to transport in the landscape
  7. You can import the transport in the landscape, and it will then configure the communication channel
  8. You can create an Excel report of the change and upload it to Jira, Service now

You can see how this enables DevOps for SAP PI/PO in this video.

Migration of SAP PI/PO

The new release also enables users to help optimize the migration process. A lot of users still need to perform migration projects. It is quite a labor-intensive process that you need to perform. That is why it would make sense to automate the process. If you are looking for a migration project, recommend to check out the migration option. I have created a video of the process

Roadmap

There are still areas that we would love to improve, depending on what customers see as most important. Like how to perform validations on the QA system. Does it require running the test on that platform, or are there other functions that could make sense. A lot of the configuration on how transport should be imported is now possible it just requires users to figure out what they need to be.

For the migration support of Classical scenarios is also on the which list, but will require we can work with a customer to enable it.

If requested we can incorporate it with CTS+ so it will still run your transports and Figaf would handle configuration and documentation.

Get Started now

You can start using the Figaf tool for free. Just go to Figaf.com/IRT and signup. Then you will get a free license key you can use for the migration.

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Get assistance to help get your SAP PI/PO migration started

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This week we are releasing our SAP PI/PO Migration tool as a service in the Figaf IRT. Quite a number of customers are looking for a way to migrate from their old 7.31-7.4 system to a 7.5. It is quite a labor-intensive process. That is why we think it would make sense for users to automate the full process, making it a lot easier for the customer to perform the migration.

Why is it different from the SAP Migration tool

The Figaf tool will help manage the full migration process. Not just a copy of directory objects like ICO or communication channel. You simply select the ICOs you want to migrate to a Wave or release. For the ICOs selected Figaf will then:

  • Reuse the Test case you ready have for it
  • Migrate the repository and directory content to the new environment. It is possible to set up the mappings of parameters. Password will in most cases be copied
  • Test the migrated objects to ensure everything work as expected.
  • Create a transport for the new environment
  • Run the transport thru the new environment and configure all channel including passwords
  • Manage the process for the ICO

So it is not the same, it is a tool that will help you perform the migration faster and ensure you are able to test the affected interfaces.

Currently, only ICOs are supported, but it can be expanded for Classical scenarios if requested.

Try it out

The migration tool is a part of the Figaf IRT application. So in it, there is the option to perform migrations.

You simply sign up on Figaf.com/IRT, and then can you get started and migrate 10 interfaces your self.

Requirements to get started

To get started you need the following.

  1. Go to Figaf.com/IRT and signup. Then you will get access to download the latest build, get a license key and view installation information
  2. Computer when Figaf can run. It comes with a build-in database so you can just start the application and run it on your laptop. This is the preferred way for Proof of Concepts or tests of it. If you want to deploy Figaf to a bigger group of developers there is a number of different options for it too servers.
  3. On the old SAP PI landscape you need a developer that has to assess to the Directory API, and then normal development configuration. It should be possible to perform file export from the development system
  4. On new SAP PI landscape SAP PI/PO 7.5 a user needs that can import, configure communication channels and use the write API. In most cases, a standard user can handle this.
  5. Access to get user management, so it is possible to adjust to create system users and add roles if possible.
  6. If you want the best test you must be able to deploy an SCA file with a module on all systems, configure it and create a user for it.

Getting started offer

We want to help you get started, so you can start planning your migration and use the Figaf tool. There is on 13 months to end of support of 7.1-7.4.

We offer a free 2-hour getting started session with one of our developers. We will help configure Figaf IRT on your laptop or a server if you have one, so you can see how the migration works in your landscape. We will help you with the first migrations. You will share your screen via Zoom and then we will help you set it up.

Register by sending an email to support@figaf.com, with information about your landscape, timezone, and availability. Then we will try to plan a meeting to help you get started on your migration. Limited sessions are available.

What is the idea with the migration tool

How fast a migration can be performed

In this video you will see the tool in action. It 17 minutes you will get introduced and will be able to see how it is possible to move multiple interfaces.

What is new in 2.11 new Transport for SAP PI/CPI

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Over the last two months, we have written a lot about all the features that are in the coming release, and that it can automate the migration. To be able to auto migration we have added quite a number of new functions, which also makes the platform more useful for everyday usage. The biggest is to make governance much tighter integration with the transports.

Transports

One of the big things we needed to figure out was how to do transports. It is one of the areas where I do not think SAP PI/CPI is lacking modern change management. Sure CTS transports work but they don’t really give good visibility of what is transported.

Figaf can handle full transport no more need for CTS+. A number of our customers are not using CTS+ and therefore have not really been able to leverage a good way to do change management. So now you can just switch a flag on the landscape definition in Figaf Integration Tool and then be able to use Figaf to handle all your transports.

In the transport, we have now added an option to set up approval. So Architects can approve all transports before they can be imported.

Speaking of transports we have added two new options for the transport.

  1. Direct access to transport configuration from one view. So you can configure what hostnames should be in production. Once the transport has been approved it is not possible to change the configuration, otherwise, you will need to create a new transport.
  2. Virtual comparisons of change of what is change when applying the change. This makes it a lot easier to see what really will be changed when applying the patch.
  • Transport overview with approval
  • Simulated import and affected change
  • Landscape configuration to specify non transportble values in QA and production

We are considering how we can improve transport better. That there should be required testing on QA/Test system or secondary approval before transport can be imported to production. Only specific users can approve transports or they are imported at specific times.

Releases

Normally you will just develop single development and fix an interface at the time with a link to the service request. Other times you have a release or wave with some new interfaces that need to be applied on at special time and that contains a number of changes. Which this functionality it is possible to group and manage multiple tickets and interface at the mime.

Demo

See the video about how thise functions work together, making governance possible.

So now we are just waiting on our tests is working satisfying so we can create our release. There is still a number of regressions and flows that we need to optimize. We hope to release a beta of it soon.

Be the first to know

You can signup now and be one of the first to know when something changes.

Get to try this release soon

Figaf Automatic Migration Demo

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Over the last 2 months, we have been working on making full automation of the migration tool. It is probably the longest we have worked on a release. I had expected it would be a lot faster but once we got into the different areas we could see there process we could improve.

There are still a large number of customers how are still not on 7.5 for all their integrations. They will need to be using a lot of effort in migrating. We want to be able to save them time.

The migration is handled in waves/releases that each can contain a number of interfaces/ICOs. Once you have assigned an ICO to a migration task then it will guide you through the process. There is two processes and you will get tickets to handle them both in the Figaf Tool.

  1. Migrate the content from old Dev system to new Dev system
  2. Development to move from new Dev system to production.

What is the goal with the tool

The Figaf tool will handle all transports, testing, and configuration from an easy to use approach. Check the video below to see how smooth it works for the process of migrating 3 interfaces at once time.

There are still some gaps that we need to solve for the process to be maximumly automated, but we are moving towards it. It is a great leap compared to what existed earlier. It also gives a much better view of what you have migrated for each process.

Signup now to get access to the first release once we are ready.

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Join webinar

We have a webinar on the October 24 to share and show more of what the tool can do. We hope that you will join us to learn more.

Sign up here.

Change Management can be simple

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In the old-time, you had the SAP R3 ABAP system. There it was a pretty good tool to do change management. There was a limited number of objects that you could change and they could all be managed by one way of handling transports. In the new world, it is a lot more complicated.

Now the landscape is completely different. You have many different services that you need to find a way to manage. And if you start using SAP cloud solutions many of them have their own way of handling transports.

I have created a video to show, how I see the concept in some more details.

You have two options for Change Management: A generic approach or a specialized approach for your most important systems.

Generic Change management

No matter what you need to develop change, everything is handled in the same way. Then all developers know how to do change management for everything. It will speed up making it possible for other developers to handle the tooling.

The downside is that you will need to make a process that can encompass all systems. You will, therefore, get to little information or spend to much time creating the documents that you need for your project.

You may also miss an important part, and that is the ability to like changes both ways

Tool specific change management

If you have a lot of development or highly critical tools. It does make sense to have a better way to handle it.

When we are working on our Java application for the Figaf tool. We use Jira to create tickets in, Developers will then use this ticket number for all commits to a given ticket. Changes to our unit tests are also linked with the ticket. That is allowing us to trace all changes back to a ticket. That is a hyper-specialized tool to make change management for just one case. It can then be bundled with Jenkins to make build and test automation.

This type of specialization of your change management saves you time for your development. Because developers don’t need to note all the different places they are making modifications. It is handled automatically by the tool and captured as a part of the change.

Sure it will cost you more to buy or create an environment. It will cost both money, time and effort to get it working. Hopefully, this investment will be returned with better documentation, easier change management and faster delivery of code.

If you are using SAP Integrations products like SAP PI/PO, CPI or API mgt then we have a tool that will allow you to optimize your delivery process. Check the tools at https://figaf.com/IRT there are even free versions that allow you to get started.

With our approach we will handle all the tool-specific requirements in our application and then let your original system containing all organizational data.

Download Figaf IRT

If you want to see how our tool works to make DevOps possible check this video