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The notion of DevOps is often linked to mindset, culture, and collaboration, but beneath these aspects one needs tools and guidance that enable efficient development and operations.
SAP Cloud Platform offers a rich set of DevOps-related services supporting the development and operations of cloud-native and hybrid solutions. Earlier this month, at SAP TechEd Las Vegas and Barcelona, we shared our DevOps portfolio to a larger audience.
The portfolio covers a broad spectrum of topics, each of which would perhaps need a separate article. This one is not about any specific DevOps tool – it touches upon the overall DevOps portfolio, in particular some of its key characteristics:
DevOps is sometimes used synonymously with CI/CD, but efficient DevOps is much more than agility in your deployment pipelines. How fast can you get started with your projects? How quickly can you detect and resolve issues (and where possible, prevent them)? How can you avoid “waste” in regular operations tasks? These problems span the entire application lifecycle, from Plan to Operate, and our portfolio of services covers this broader space.
Efficiently managing SAP CP based applications requires a deep integration of the DevOps toolset with the platform, its opinionated programming models, and its services. From SAP Web IDE offering built-in support for key project types (including CAP) to SAP CP Alert Notification exposing a single API for alerts originating in the platform, the portfolio offers the out-of-box integration you need for efficient DevOps. Other examples include: SAP Cloud SDK libraries as abstractions for key platform services, Integrated transport of SAP Cloud Platform Integration (CPI) content, alerting in API Management and CPI, and the deployment of SAP CP Workflows.
Complementing this close integration with the platform is the integration our DevOps services offer with third-party (or Open Source) tools. Jenkins for CI/CD, Dynatrace for Application Performance Management, AWS CloudWatch and SNS for monitoring and alerting – these are examples of external tools that can be integrated with the platform. This strategy (of deep integration coupled with openness) is driven by the diversity we’ve seen among our customers and partners – a “one-size-fits-all approach” does not work for all segments SAP Cloud Platform targets, and we will continue our open philosophy by offering public APIs and guidance on how to integrate external tools into our DevOps toolchain.
Teams using SAP Cloud Platform for extension or integration scenarios often work in hybrid landscapes: the cloud-based solution has a dependency to on-premise SAP systems, or needs to be managed by on-premise management tool like SAP Solution Manager. Such teams can use the option to integrate with CTS+ or SAP Solution Manager, integrations that help you efficiently manage SAP CP based solutions in hybrid landscapes. Specific examples include orchestrating changes to your SAP CP based application or content via CTS+ and SAP Solution Manager ChaRM, and receiving alerts from SAP CP in SAP Solution Manager (or SAP Focused Run).
The DevOps portfolio supports different SAP CP environments, and our aim is to make DevOps services environment-agnostic (where possible) so that users benefit from the same lifecycle abstractions across Neo, Cloud Foundry and ABAP. For instance, the Multi-Target Application (MTA) approach to deployment is available on Neo, Cloud Foundry, and will soon support deployment of ABAP content; the SAP CP Alert Notification service enables you to send alerts from all three environments and consume them through a single API; SAP Cloud SDK offers unified abstractions that support different SAP CP environments. Such standardization greatly simplifies the management of applications that span environments (for example, a Cloud Foundry-based Fiori UI with an ABAP-based backend). It also offers continuity as you migrate your applications across environments (for example, Neo to Cloud Foundry).
The DevOps portfolio follows the SAP Cloud Platform’s Multi-Cloud strategy, and targets availability of key services across AWS, Azure, Alibaba, and SAP Data Centers. Over time, we will offer better integration with the native tools of individual hyperscalers, like Azure DevOps. (One recent example here is the integration of alerts from AWS based backing services with the Alert Notification service.)
It is not all about tools: accompanying our DevOps tools is guidance in the form of best-practice documentation and “content”. (The CI/CD pipeline within SAP Cloud SDK and the Piper library are good examples of such content). Over time, as we learn from you – our customers and partners – this guidance will be extended to cover more scenarios and tools.
This is a broad vision, and we are still early in this journey. But what’s important to note is that the characteristics outlined above are also our guiding principles, and while technologies and environments may change, these principles (and the services that follow them) will remain stable. They are the building blocks you can rely on.
For an overview of the services and guidance in this portfolio, please refer to the SAP TechEd session CAA112 (Enable Efficient DevOps with SAP Cloud Platform) and also the learning journey Apply DevOps in a SAP Solution Landscape. And if you are attending SAP TechEd Bangalore in November, do join session CAA112.
SAP Cloud Platform offers a rich set of DevOps-related services supporting the development and operations of cloud-native and hybrid solutions. Earlier this month, at SAP TechEd Las Vegas and Barcelona, we shared our DevOps portfolio to a larger audience.
The portfolio covers a broad spectrum of topics, each of which would perhaps need a separate article. This one is not about any specific DevOps tool – it touches upon the overall DevOps portfolio, in particular some of its key characteristics:
- The DevOps portfolio covers the entire lifecycle, not just CI/CD
DevOps is sometimes used synonymously with CI/CD, but efficient DevOps is much more than agility in your deployment pipelines. How fast can you get started with your projects? How quickly can you detect and resolve issues (and where possible, prevent them)? How can you avoid “waste” in regular operations tasks? These problems span the entire application lifecycle, from Plan to Operate, and our portfolio of services covers this broader space.
- It offers out-of-the-box integration into SAP CP technologies and services
Efficiently managing SAP CP based applications requires a deep integration of the DevOps toolset with the platform, its opinionated programming models, and its services. From SAP Web IDE offering built-in support for key project types (including CAP) to SAP CP Alert Notification exposing a single API for alerts originating in the platform, the portfolio offers the out-of-box integration you need for efficient DevOps. Other examples include: SAP Cloud SDK libraries as abstractions for key platform services, Integrated transport of SAP Cloud Platform Integration (CPI) content, alerting in API Management and CPI, and the deployment of SAP CP Workflows.
- It is open to integration with 3rd party (or Open Source) tools
Complementing this close integration with the platform is the integration our DevOps services offer with third-party (or Open Source) tools. Jenkins for CI/CD, Dynatrace for Application Performance Management, AWS CloudWatch and SNS for monitoring and alerting – these are examples of external tools that can be integrated with the platform. This strategy (of deep integration coupled with openness) is driven by the diversity we’ve seen among our customers and partners – a “one-size-fits-all approach” does not work for all segments SAP Cloud Platform targets, and we will continue our open philosophy by offering public APIs and guidance on how to integrate external tools into our DevOps toolchain.
- It supports hybrid landscapes, enabling cloud applications with on-premise integrations
Teams using SAP Cloud Platform for extension or integration scenarios often work in hybrid landscapes: the cloud-based solution has a dependency to on-premise SAP systems, or needs to be managed by on-premise management tool like SAP Solution Manager. Such teams can use the option to integrate with CTS+ or SAP Solution Manager, integrations that help you efficiently manage SAP CP based solutions in hybrid landscapes. Specific examples include orchestrating changes to your SAP CP based application or content via CTS+ and SAP Solution Manager ChaRM, and receiving alerts from SAP CP in SAP Solution Manager (or SAP Focused Run).
- It standardizes DevOps across different SAP CP Environments: Neo, Cloud Foundry, ABAP…
The DevOps portfolio supports different SAP CP environments, and our aim is to make DevOps services environment-agnostic (where possible) so that users benefit from the same lifecycle abstractions across Neo, Cloud Foundry and ABAP. For instance, the Multi-Target Application (MTA) approach to deployment is available on Neo, Cloud Foundry, and will soon support deployment of ABAP content; the SAP CP Alert Notification service enables you to send alerts from all three environments and consume them through a single API; SAP Cloud SDK offers unified abstractions that support different SAP CP environments. Such standardization greatly simplifies the management of applications that span environments (for example, a Cloud Foundry-based Fiori UI with an ABAP-based backend). It also offers continuity as you migrate your applications across environments (for example, Neo to Cloud Foundry).
- It follows the Multi-Cloud strategy
The DevOps portfolio follows the SAP Cloud Platform’s Multi-Cloud strategy, and targets availability of key services across AWS, Azure, Alibaba, and SAP Data Centers. Over time, we will offer better integration with the native tools of individual hyperscalers, like Azure DevOps. (One recent example here is the integration of alerts from AWS based backing services with the Alert Notification service.)
- It covers tools PLUS guidance
It is not all about tools: accompanying our DevOps tools is guidance in the form of best-practice documentation and “content”. (The CI/CD pipeline within SAP Cloud SDK and the Piper library are good examples of such content). Over time, as we learn from you – our customers and partners – this guidance will be extended to cover more scenarios and tools.
* * *
This is a broad vision, and we are still early in this journey. But what’s important to note is that the characteristics outlined above are also our guiding principles, and while technologies and environments may change, these principles (and the services that follow them) will remain stable. They are the building blocks you can rely on.
For an overview of the services and guidance in this portfolio, please refer to the SAP TechEd session CAA112 (Enable Efficient DevOps with SAP Cloud Platform) and also the learning journey Apply DevOps in a SAP Solution Landscape. And if you are attending SAP TechEd Bangalore in November, do join session CAA112.
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