MIT SAP Transport Request Process
Transport Request Summary
Development/Configuration
Transport Request Utility
Production Transport Request
Priority Status
Production Transport Request
Approval Process
Transport Request Summary:
This document is a summary of the SAP Transport
Request process at MIT involving technical code reviews for custom
development, configuration changes, acceptance testing, documentation,
training, and implementation into the production environment. Business
and technical area input and approval is implicit in appropriate
stages of the process.
Business areas generate the majority of changes
that are transported to the production environment for implementation.
However in some cases, changes are required by vendors, data providers,
and SAP OSS (Operating System Support) Notes which are first evaluated
in the staging environment, then appropriately approved for transport
to subsequent environments.
The business analyst should make every effort
to completely describe the business needs and benefits of the requested
change. Any major changes to the SAP production configuration or
environments (for example, upgrades, add-ons, infrastructure changes,
or new functionality) are reviewed and approved by Administrative
Systems and Policies Coordinating Council (ASPCC), SAPbiz, and perhaps
others as deemed appropriate.
top
Development/Configuration:
The development teams are responsible for
the plans associated with the code design, technical review, testing,
training, and documentation. If a developer considers making a change
to validation rules, the configuration, custom layouts, or status
of fields (required/optional/not permitted), the proposed change
must be described (and what is known of its consequences) in a message
addressed to MIT-ABAP@ mitvma.mit.edu as early in the process as
possible, but at least ONE WEEK BEFORE requesting a transport to
the Quality Assurance environment. The developer needs to wait 48
hours to receive any responses to the communication.
The development changes must also be in compliance with the MIT
SAP Development Standards found at: http://web.mit.edu/fss/dev/.
Technical documentation is required for programs, includes, and
function modules.
In the ABAP Editor use the 'Pattern' button and select ZDOCUPRG
for program documentation template or select ZDOCUINM for include
documentation template. For function module documentation template
use program ZFUNCDOC.
If the development includes new ABAP programs,
includes, or function modules, a technical code review is required.
The ABAP Review Team (ABAP-REV) reviews the program for conformance
with the MIT ABAP Development Standards and the ABAP ReviewChecklist
at: http://web.mit.edu/fss/dev/abap_review_check_list.htm.
When using ZUTTREQ to generate the transport
request for the Quality Assurance environment and new programs are
within the transport, a prompt displays asking if mail should be
sent to ABAP-REV. When you select yes, ABAP-REV@mitvma.mit.edu
is added to the cc:list. The team replies to the e-mail with their
review comments and ABAP programming suggestions.
As appropriate or upon request, the development
team must provide updates and feedback to the business process owners
and others about the application changes as needed.
top
Transport Request Utility:
ZUTTREQ is an MIT-customized SAP utility used
in the multiple SAP environments designed to generate transport
requests. The developers complete the fields on a five-tabbed screen
and then e-mails are sent to specific mail lists or staff communicating
the changes destined for production implementation. For more information
on how to run ZUTTREQ, see: http://web.mit.edu/fss/docs/zuttreq.htm.
When a ZUTTREQ is sent to the Change Coordinators
(FSS-Chg) for production implementation, the request is also recorded
in Casetracker which is a suite of tools utilized by MIT's computing
support service providers for tracking computing support requests
from staff and students. More information on Casetracker is located
at: http://web.mit.edu/is/help/casetracker/.
top
Production Transport Request Priority
Status:
The Transport Request priority status can be
designated as Normal or Critical.
Critical production transport requests
are processed any day of the week. A critical priority status means
that one of three circumstances exists in the production environment:
a business process has halted, a calculation or formula is incorrect,
or a system repair is needed. Call or e-mail a Change Coordinator
that you have a critical production transport request in progress,
as soon as possible.
Normal transport requests are processed
between 6:00 pm on Thursday and 9:00 am Friday morning. ZUTTREQ,
the transport e-mail request, must be in Casetracker by 3:00 pm
on Thursdays. If Thursday is the last business day of the month
and Friday is the first business day of the next month, then transport
requests are processed on Wednesday. When transport requests must
be processed on Wednesday, a notification is sent mid-month to the
MIT-ABAP@mit.edu mail list.
The developer or project team must be available
for issue resolution during the production implementation of the
changes and for some reasonable period of time afterwards.
top
Production Transport Request Approval
Process:
The
FSS business analyst or developer completes ZUTTREQ and forwards
the request to the Business Process Owner or Business Coordinator
for testing and production approval.
The business area performs tests to validate
the changes in the Quality Assurance environment in SF5. When testing
is successful, the Business Process Owner or Business Coordinator
should change the subject line to read "Transport SF5 toPS1"
and forward the ZUTTREQ e-mail to FSS-Chg@mit.edu,
the FSS Change Coordinators, with
their approval statement signifying that the testing process has
been completed and that the changes are ready for the MIT SAP production
environment.
A Change Coordinator reviews the ZUTTREQ requests
for conformance with the development standards and Transport Request
process. When appropriate, the Change Coordinator forwards the requests
to R3-chmgt@mit.edu for production implementation.
Any questions or comments about the Transport
Request Process can be sent to Financial Systems Services, Quality
Assurance, fss-qa@mit.edu.
top
|