Release Navigator for SAP BTP - What's New in Q3 2024

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The Release Navigator for SAP BTP is always evolving to better serve our customers. With the latest update in Q3 2024, in addition to quarterly content maintenance and a new product page we've made significant improvements to the user experience:

1. New Side Menu for improved page navigation
2. New UI Elements for additional context
3. New Search Feature 

Read more about the details of these enhancements in this blog post.

This section details the new UX features added to the release navigator for SAP BTP.

New Side Menu for Easier Navigation

We've implemented a new side menu on every page of the release navigator to provide a more intuitive user experience. This menu allows easy navigation to the four new main pages of the release navigator:

1. Product Specific
2. General
3. Get Assistance
4. User Feedback

Fig 1. The side menu on all new pages

As a result, some content previously found on the Home page has been rearranged. Let’s walk through what you can find on each of the new pages.

Product Specific Page

This page serves as the starting point for the release navigator and corresponds to the former Home page. It contains the core of the release navigator: curated release information for specific products and services of SAP BTP as well as information on release schedules.

Fig 2. The Product Specific page, formerly known as the Home page

At the top of the Product Specific Page you can find a message tile with helpful information and a Release Calendar. The calendar includes release dates for SAP BTP as a whole, links to product-specific release schedules and dates for upcoming release navigator updates.

Below you can find the section Products. The cards in this section are sorted alphabetically and each one takes you to a dedicated page with in-depth information and curated resources on the 27 SAP BTP products and services covered.

Product Page Navigation

Fig 3. Example of a dedicated product page

Once you are done exploring the resources on a product page and want to move on to the next product or service, you can either click on Product Specific on the side-menu or on the back arrow on the left of the page title to get back to the Product Specific page and navigate to other pages.

General Page

On this page you can find General Resources that are helpful across all SAP BTP products and services. If you can't find a certain product or service on the Product Specific page, we recommend you check out the resources on this page (and also feel free to let us know in our survey).

Besides the General resources, there are two more sections on this page:

• Additional Resources contains non-release specific but nevertheless important resources one should be aware of.
• Release Navigators by SAP Enterprise Support provide direct links to all currently available release navigators for other solution areas.

Fig 4. The General page

Get Assistance Page

This page contains resources to help you use the release navigator and to improve your experience. You can access it from all pages in the release navigator by either clicking on Get Assistance in the side-menu or by clicking on the red bar at the very top of the page.

At the top of the page, you can find the following elements:

• Release Navigator Enablement:
  • SAP Community Blog Posts: These blog posts go into detail about new features that are being added to the release navigator and provide other news.
  • SAP Partner Masterclass: This recorded digital session is only available to SAP partners.
• Translation Feature: Allows you to translate the release navigator (not the pages linked to) into 40 languages. The translation process takes a few moments and may impact layout and design of the navigator pages. Click on this card to sign in to the authenticated version with Universal ID or an S-user account to use this feature.
• User Feedback: Click here to provide feedback in a quick 3 question survey.

Below you can find the Navigation Tips, detailed instructions on how to use the release navigator, similar to the blog post you are reading now.

Fig 5. The Get Assistance page

User Feedback Page

We've embedded a feedback survey on this page with three short questions to gather feedback and suggestions for improvement.

• Your relationship to SAP.
• Whether you found the release navigator helpful.
• An open text field that allows you to let us know anything you liked, what you would like to see added, or what you think could be improved.

We strive to always improve the release navigator, so we really appreciate any feedback you submit.

Fig 6. The User Feedback page

Helpful UI Elements

We added two new types of UI elements that you will find throughout the pages of the navigator.

Lightbulb icon

Many pages come with additional information to guide you through the cards available on that page and provide more context on when to use which resource.

If you see a lightbulb icon next to a header, you can hover over it with your cursor to open a text bubble with additional information about that page.

The bubble can be moved around by clicking and holding your cursor and can be closed by clicking the  on the top right.Fig 7. Demo of the lightbulb icon text bubble

On product pages, the information displayed in this bubble corresponds to the information formerly found on Release Guidance tiles.

About this Card

Some resource cards come with additional tips and contextual information.

If you see three dots on the bottom right of a card, you can open a tip with additional information about that particular card. To open the link of that card, you need to close this tip by clicking the three dots button again.

Fig 8. Demo on the About this Card tips

Due to the high demand for dedicated pages for products and services, the number of pages to navigate has grown significantly since launch of the release navigator one year ago and we aim to increase the number of pages even further in future updates. More pages mean more content but also more cards to browse, which can increase the time it takes to find what you’re looking for.

Our goal is for you to find what you need as quickly as possible. That’s why we implemented a new Search Feature, which allows you to search for keywords and find all pages associated with this topic, product or service name. Click on the  Search icon at the shell bar and a pop-up will open. Once you enter key words, you will see which pages are associated to this term and you can jump directly to them. The search feature is optimized for product and service names.

Fig 9. Short demo of the Search function.

We collaborated closely with SAP BTP experts to add a new page for SAP Continuous Integration and Delivery. This page contains links to the release schedule, SAP Roadmap Explorer, What’s New Viewer in the SAP Help Portal and more. Check it out.

Fig 10. The new page for SAP Continuous Integration and Delivery.

Currently, the release navigator for SAP BTP covers content for 27 products and services on dedicated pages. For all products and services not featured with their own page you can find helpful resources on the new General page.

Expect more new pages dedicated to specific products and services in future updates and don't hesitate to let us know via our feedback survey, which products or services you would like to see added next. 

Last update, we announced the new SAP Note Consolidated Release Schedules for SAP BTP and the corresponding initiative of communicating the release schedules of SAP BTP products and services.

We are happy to report that the number of products and services who are communicating their release schedules has further increased to more than 50 now thanks to close collaboration with various SAP BTP teams.

Check the schedules here and from the Release Calendar section of the navigator.

Tip: Did you know you can mark notes as a favorite? If you do so, you will be notified via email whenever the note is being updated. This way you can stay on top of new release schedule communication, like new dates or skipped waves. We recommend you mark all those notes as a favorite that you are interested in receiving updates for.

Fig 11. Where to click to mark a note as a favorite and receive notifications once it gets updated.

Please note: To access SAP Notes you need to log in to SAP for Me using your Universal ID or S-user ID. Read more about the required authorizations here.

Next updates are scheduled on a quarterly basis in alignment with the Harmonized Release Calendar for SAP Cloud Products.*Disclaimer: The schedule is subject to change without prior notice including, when necessary, delays or incorporating changes in subsequent update windows and not a commitment, promise, or legal obligation to deliver any material, code, or functionality.Looking ahead, 2025 updates will mainly focus on quarterly maintenance of release resources and a steady extension of product coverage. Currently, there are no plans for further mayor UI updates in the near future.

The Readiness@Scale team at SAP Enterprise Support is dedicated to ensuring release readiness across the SAP Enterprise Support portfolio. Our mission is to empower SAP customers to be prepared and ready to adopt and utilize innovations.

If you have any feedback or specific requests for content in the release navigator, please don't hesitate to reach out to us.

And don't forget to check out our team's blogs tagged with Readiness@Scale.

Happy navigating!

Readiness@Scale 
SAP Enterprise Support