SAP Cloud ALM vs SAP Solution Manager: which to use?

SAP Solution Manager is an application lifecycle management (ALM) platform used to implement, maintain, and integrate SAP systems. It’s designed to troubleshoot issues and keep things running securely, cleanly, and smoothly.

SAP Cloud ALM is a SaaS offering by SAP launched on May 29^th, 2020, positioned mainly for Cloud based SAP applications. Multiple clients recently raised important questions around the use of SAP Cloud ALM and/or SAP Solution Manager and when to use them.

So, which is right for your specific needs?

This blog post summarises the key points you should take into account to determine  your Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) strategy.

Primary use cases

SAP Cloud ALM is primarily recommended for clients with a strong focus on SAP cloud solutions. In addition, cloud-only customers (customers who exclusively use cloud solutions from SAP), cloud-first customers (customers whose strategy is primarily focused on cloud solutions) and cloud-centric customers (customers who predominantly use cloud solutions from SAP and may have only a small proportion of on-premises applications). Nevertheless, it is important to emphasise that all SAP customers can use SAP Cloud ALM, provided they have a valid SAP Enterprise Support contract or corresponding cloud subscriptions.

SAP Cloud ALM supports both cloud and hybrid landscapes, with a focus on cloud-centric scenarios. However, customers with a predominantly on-premises share should note the functional differences compared to SAP Solution Manager.

On-premise use cases

While Cloud ALM works well for cloud-centric scenarios, you might wonder about on-premise environments. On-premise customers considering SAP Cloud ALM should be aware of the following aspects:

• Functional limitations: SAP Cloud ALM is not designed as a complete replacement for all functionalities of SAP Solution Manager, especially for complex on-premise scenarios. Certain functionalities such as Data Volume Management are not currently planned and there is also no complete comparability for Change Request Management (“ChaRM”). It is therefore very important to check whether the available functional scope meets the specific requirements.
• Hybrid landscapes: Although hybrid landscapes are supported, the focus is on cloud-centric environments. Customers with primarily on-premise systems should consider whether SAP Cloud ALM sufficiently covers their needs. Therefore, please check note 3236443 SAP Readiness Check for SAP Cloud ALM.
• Supported solutions: On-premise customers should check first the list of supported solutions to ensure that their relevant systems can be integrated.
• Parallel use: The parallel use of SAP Cloud ALM for operations and SAP Solution Manager for implementation projects can be a sensible strategy during a transition phase.
• Connectivity: Communication takes place via web communication (REST APIs) and not via RFCs, which can have implications for the network configuration. Agents are not required, unlike in SAP Solution Manager.
• Migration: SAP offers support for migration from SAP Solution Manager to SAP Cloud ALM in the form of Readiness Checks, methodologies, and tools. Therefore, please check note 3236443 SAP Readiness Check for SAP Cloud ALM.

Associated costs

Understanding the functional aspects is important, but what about the financial implications? Although basic usage is often available without additional licence fees, there may be costs associated with using SAP Cloud ALM in some scenarios. Here’s an overview.

Customers with SAP Cloud Service subscriptions that include Enterprise Support, with SAP Enterprise Support, or with Product Support for Large Enterprises are entitled to one SAP Cloud ALM Tenant Pro customer number free of charge. This includes a base volume of 8 GB of SAP HANA storage and 8 GB of monthly API data transfer. There are no additional licence or subscription fees for this basic usage.

• No additional infrastructure costs: There are no additional costs for a hyperscaler's cloud infrastructure as long as usage remains within the SAP fair use guidelines. SAP covers the costs of the hyperscaler running SAP Cloud ALM.
• Exceeding usage limits: If the limits of 8 GB of SAP HANA storage or 8 GB of outbound API data transfer per calendar month are exceeded, additional charges may apply. It is also possible to apply routine programs to avoid consuming too much memory. See also SAP Cloud ALM for Operations - Housekeeping. In addition, it is possible to set up alerts in Health Monitoring to be notified when you get close to the 8 GB limit.
• Additional tenants: If additional SAP Cloud ALM tenants are required (e.g., for separate organisational units, sensitive systems, training, development, and testing of extensions), they can be purchased for a fee. SAP Cloud ALM, Tenant Extension is available on the SAP price list. The costs for additional tenants may vary depending on the subscription. More information can be found in following SAP Technology Blog. A SAP Cloud ALM, Tenant Extension includes: one additional, fully productive SAP Cloud ALM tenant, 8 GB of SAP HANA storage usage, and 8 GB of outbound API data transfer per calendar month.
• No costs for Identity Authentication Service: The Identity Authentication Service of SAP Business Technology Platform required for user management is included in SAP Cloud ALM; there are no additional costs.

Support after 2027

Beyond functionality and costs, you should also consider long-term support options. The good news is: after the end of mainstream maintenance for SAP Solution Manager 7.2 in 2027, support options will still exist.

• Optional Extended Maintenance: Customers who opt for the optional extended maintenance for SAP Business Suite 7 (until the end of 2030) will automatically receive extended maintenance for selected functionalities of SAP Solution Manager 7.2.
• Customer-Specific Maintenance: Even after 2030, SAP Solution Manager 7.2 will be supported under customer-specific maintenance, although there may be limitations. Please check SAP Note 52505 and 3255311 for more information.

It is important to note that customers with  valid on-premise SAP maintenance contracts have a perpetual licence for SAP Solution Manager and can therefore technically continue to use it even after the regular maintenance phases.

However, SAP recommends transitioning to SAP Cloud ALM, especially with regard to SAP cloud strategy. For customers with complex on-premise landscapes, SAP Focused Run can also be a relevant option to consider. To determine the appropriate business case, you need to determine the GB of Memory required as this is the licence metric of SAP Focus Run (perpetual option).