IT MANAGEMENT

Change Management: Evaluating CM

Tools to Implement a Successful ERP
Application CM Strategy.
How effective is your organization at identifying and
managing change to your ERP Applications? IT is
becoming more accountable for maintaining Business
Process integrity during ERP-based business changes.
Now you will learn about the CM tools that not only reduce
the pain associated with ERP change, but also help your IT
staff tap into new efficiencies.

Overview
In the first article we examined the change management challenges that are introduced by managing
change to ERP software. Packaged applications for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) are a
strategic asset in all organizations. They provide the backbone for day-to-day business and e-commerce
applications, but are rarely used out-of-the box. Many compare an ERP installation to rewiring a
nervous system. With this in mind, I began my search for a best of breed solution to the common
change management challenges of ERP applications; there were some common capabilities that were
considered to be critical evaluation criteria. The features I was interested in were capabilities to manage
the complexity of these applications, automate repetitive and time-consuming change events, as well as
features to support analysis of changes, regardless of the source of change.
Advances in complex ERP applications, such as multi-tiered ACM vs. Traditional
architectures, have extended beyond the capabilities of most Change Management
conventional version management and configuration management
tools. Consequently, new ERP Change Management tools have To differentiate these new
evolved out of necessity to address the demands associated with capabilities from the broader and
patches, and analyze the impact of changes before changes are more traditional Change
applied in production. Without these capabilities, many IT Management concepts, we focused
infrastructures simply can't support projects as complex as ERP. on a subset of CM functions we
considered essential to managing
ERP applications are a target-rich environment for Application change to Enterprise-class
Change Management (ACM) case studies. When I began the process applications. Accordingly, I
addressed this CM subset as
of evaluating ACM tools for ERP applications, I was amazed at the
Application Change Management
complexity of the average applications environment vs. the typical (ACM), and defined some
level of automation/tools used to manage the complexity of these fundamental capabilities needed to
environments. For the most part, Application managers have either implement an optimal ACM
had a bad experience with tools, or assume that most of their change framework for Enterprise
management issues simply cannot be addressed by tools or Applications. This quest for an
automation. In this article, I have defined ACM tool evaluation ACM framework would identify
criteria, explored some of the ACM implementation issues for tools that would equip any apps
Oracle’s ERP applications, as well as provide some lessons learned. support group with capabilities to
analyze and process change much
faster, and with greater accuracy.
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Matching an ACM Strategy with the Right Tools

Many IT organizations have invested in Application Management tools only to see their expensive
investment in improved application management capabilities gather dust on someone’s shelf. Many
organizations have made genuine attempts to evaluate and implement application management tools.
Unfortunately, without a well-planned ACM strategy, a tools selection process may be doomed before it
starts. At the same time, these organizations have a formal promotion protocol established to manage
the testing and release of custom-developed software.

When ERP applications, or other large package applications are introduced, a number of new Change
Management issues are encountered that are associated with maintaining and reconciling custom and
packaged applications (i.e., ERP, SCM, CRM, etc.).

Managing Concurrency Issues across an ERP Implementation

Project concurrency issues are fairly common to ERP projects that involve some combination of
Financials, Manufacturing and HR modules. Project concurrency issues can surface fairly quickly after
a medium to large sized ERP implementation gets under way. While there are cases where an ERP
implementation requires a “Big Bang” approach, most implementations are staggered based on the
module deployment schedule, scope of the implementation effort, required functionality, etc. ERP
modules are commonly phased in as new functionality is evaluated, configured, tested and released. The
underlying benefit of the ERP architecture, a common data and application architecture, also presents
one of the biggest challenges. Since the various modules are tightly integrated, patches can affect
modules which were not the original target of the patch.

Large patches (or family packs) can affect many modules, not just the modules where the fix is desired.
It is almost impossible to isolate changes to prevent unexpected consequences. As a result, extensive
regression testing is used to validate even seemingly minor changes. Also, it is not unusual for the
finance, manufacturing, or HR to have completely separate testing and instance refresh schedules. The
right Application Change Management strategy can mitigate the project risk that is inherent to these
concurrency issues.

Maintaining a Documented Baseline

One of the biggest challenges to supporting ERP applications is to understand what makes up the
current production baseline, and how to keep up with changes to the baseline. The best defense the
support organization has is a well-documented baseline so the support staff can quickly determine which
changes to the production baseline caused problems. Also, automated change tracking capabilities can
be used to monitor the production environment(s) and provide a daily or weekly change reports.

Comparing Application Environments

One of the more common issues that ERP developers encounter is the problems associated with
inconsistencies across development, testing and production environments. More often than not, these
environments get out of sync as various changes (usually a combination of application patching and
routine promotions) are working there way through development and testing/UAT environments.
Frustrated developers and testers expend a lot of effort to determine why code that works fine in the
development environment does not work correctly in the testing environment. The larger the

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applications, the easier it is for the various application environments to get out of sync and the harder it
is to diagnose and resolve these differences.

At any given point in time, differences across

application environments can produce misleading
test results. The results of inconsistent
environments can be both disruptive and
embarrassing. This problem, more than anything
else, can both delay and even invalidate User
Acceptance Testing.

Automating Promotion & Compilation Processes

Since Oracle ERP Applications rely on extensive object referencing capabilities, an effective change
management strategy must consider application dependencies across Oracle Forms & Reports (Oracle
Developer), as well as the database. An effective Application Change Management Strategy will
improve your organization’s change analysis capabilities, and provide more fluid and efficient change
implementation/migration processes.
Version Management Prevent Problems from being Promoted to Production
Version Control &Promotion
&Release Control One of the biggest opportunity areas for realizing both improved
Promotion Model
productivity and faster adoption of ACM is to provide automated code
promotion and compilation processes. With the right promotion &
Test
ERP generation tools, you can even implement compile checks to ensure
Dev Prod that a program compiles error-free before it is moved into a given
Environments
Upgd* environment. At the same time, automated promotion and compilation
process are easier to both implement and enforce controls.

The following capabilities are key capabilities of a successful ERP ACM strategy:

1. Automate repetitive processes to reduce the risk associated with human error (code
generation, change documentation, impact analysis).

2. Finding the customizations made by your organization and the changes made by Oracle.

3. Comparing instances/environments to determine differences.

4. Performing impact analysis on your changes to forms, libraries, reports, server code, and
the database.

5. Migrate AOL Object Definitions with custom code.

6. Manage change migration processes across development, test, and production

environments.

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What to Look for in Application Change Management Software

To address these new ACM challenges, a new breed of ACM software has been introduced to automate
change management, and provide change analysis capabilities. Application Change Management software
now provides the enabling technology for managing change, and improve impact analysis capabilities. In
this article we will examine the various features of change management software and evaluate the key
functions to look for in change management software.

Local
There are many facets to ACM and consequently
Application New Release /Version ACM tools. One of the common shortcomings of
Customizations
Test Prod ACM initiatives in IT is that they may not
consider the ACM process from start to finish.
Dev ERP applications now challenge IT to view ACM
ERP New
Upgd * Vendor from an enterprise perspective.
Environments Release Software
New Release / / Patch Updates
Patch implementation A number of new software products have
appeared specifically to address many of the
* Apps Upgrade challenges associated ERP applications changes.
Test Environment. One of the more common functions addressed by
these new breed of ERP Change Management
applications is automated promotion &
compilation of application code.

Keeping up with Multi-Tiered ERP Architectures.

ERP application architectures have evolved to support web servers and multi-tiered architectures.
Database servers and application servers have been separated to isolate web traffic from database
transactions. These new multi-tiered architectures offer a greater variety of configuration options to
address load balancing. Some of the most important features of ACM would also seem to stem from
some of the pervasive issues that impact all ERP software customers. One of first questions is how will
this software help me prepare for and manage significant software changes resulting from new vendor
releases, major patches, and local customizations.

Normally, promoting and generating application code would not present much of a technical challenge.
ERP applications present a much bigger challenge just to manage application dependencies, and process
changes in the correct order based on these dependencies. Some of the key change management
capabilities I identified for ERP applications include (but are not limited to):

Maintaining a current application baseline & tracking changes to the baseline.

Automating the promotion process.
Analyzing change resulting from vendor software updates & local extensions/customizations
Comparing multiple application environments/instances to identify differences
Preparing for changes resulting from new releases/versions

To better understand the capabilities of ACM tools, I have developed a matrix that rates capabilities
based on change analysis capabilities and also on automation for common change adaptation and
migration/promotion functions. The following Change Management Matrix provides an overview of
Application Change Management capabilities/functions based on varying ERP and custom application
scenarios. This ACM matrix is used to formulate evaluation criteria for change management
software/utilities:
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ACM Capability/Product Matrix
Version Control, Configuration
Management, Change
Traceability, Defect Tracking,
Development Workflow
Change Detection & Dependency
Recognition (Impact Analysis)
Automated Software Patch &
Code Migration, Code Generation
& Change Control Process
Management.
Active & Passive Change
Detection and Documentation,
Advanced DB & Application
Impact/Dependency Analysis, and
Change Reconciliation.
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Essential change management capabilities.
Products: Merant PVCS Professional/ PVCS Dimensions; Rational ClearCase;
Telelogic CM Synergy; Borland Starteam; Applimation Change Manager (Oracle
Apps); Quest Software Stat (Peoplesoft); CA AllFusion Harvest Change Manager;
Serena ChangeMan; Microsoft Visual SourceSafe; MKS Source Integrity.
Basic change detection, cross-environment comparison,
and dependency analysis (impact analysis) capabilities:
Products: Applimation Change Manager & Setup Reporter (Oracle Apps); Quest
Software Stat (Peoplesoft); Serena ChangeMan;
Automated code migration and generation capabilities:
Products: Applimation Change Manager (Oracle Applications); Kintana Deliver
(Oracle Applications); Quest Software Stat (Peoplesoft); Serena ChangeMan;
Ringmaster APM (Oracle ERP Patches)
Advanced capabilities that support change detection,
advanced/cross-release impact analysis, as well as
automated code migration and generation capabilities:
Products: Applimation Change Manager (Oracle Apps); Quest Software Stat
(Peoplesoft); Serena ChangeMan;
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Preparing IT Controls to Support Compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley

Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act last year following the financial scandals at Enron and
WorldCom. The legislation seeks to make companies' accounting procedures more transparent to
investors and regulators. Eight-five percent of 60 companies that responded to the AMR Research
survey said Sarbanes-Oxley will require changes to their IT and application infrastructure. Section
404, which public companies must begin to comply with by the end of the year, pertains to the
certification of financial reporting and controls.

The following key ACM areas/capabilities will have a direct impact on demonstrating IT controls that
support compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley:

Implementing application change traceability capabilities.

Implement promotion & generation processes that provide for stricter security/controls over
code migration.
Implementing passive change monitoring for application objects/logic (both database & non-
database objects).
Implementing passive change monitoring for application setups.

Analyzing the Impact of Change from All Sources

One of the common shortcomings in current and earlier generations of SCM & CM software is the
absence of support/features for performing impact analysis on changes. Impact analysis support for
software changes is no longer just a desired capability; it is quickly becoming a required feature for IT
organizations that are evaluating Change Management software. Arguably, ERP applications present
an especially daunting challenge for CM software vendors. When you are supporting ERP or other
Enterprise applications, impact analysis capabilities should span changes resulting from local
customizations to vendor software updates/patches. Also, if you embarking on a major new ERP
release/upgrade (e.g., Oracle Applications Release 10.7/11.0 to Release 11i) and your ACM tools don’t
provide any features to support this migration, you may want to revisit your evaluation criteria.

How to Avoid the Common Mistakes While Implementing ACM

According to the Yankee Group, “75 percent of application downtime is caused by ‘self inflicted’
errors”. In today's world, IT spending is under the value microscope as never before, 80 percent of IT
budgets are used just to maintain the status quo. CEOs and CFOs want to see more return on their ERP
investments. In addition to spending wisely on self-funding, higher performance IT investments, IT
executives must provide change controls on business critical applications that support collaboration,
visibility, speed and audit-ability.

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The Delta Challenge

Virtually every Oracle Apps support organization has
experienced the “Delta Challenge”. This occurs on a day, like
any other day, that starts out normally, but quickly transforms
into a panicked search to find out what was changed the night
before. An important feature is not working, and to make
matters worse, you are also in the middle of a month-end close.

If you are responsible for production support, you must begin searching for a needle in a virtual
haystack to identify what has changed, what is affected by the change, and why the change was made.
If you are fortunate enough to have automated change tracking to monitor production changes, this
becomes an academic exercise. Otherwise, the search is on.

Avoid Disjointed Development and Promotion Processes.

An effective Change Management strategy simplifies and automates the processes that a developer must
go through to manage and migrate changes. Without Change Management, too much time and money
will be spent manually managing the environments and resolving day-to-day problems. The fastest way
to make an ACM strategy fail is to encumber the developer with extra control processes without
providing automation to reduce the total effort required to maintain the ACM process. Most
development teams are already overloaded and will quickly find a way to shun new responsibilities that
don’t add value to the development process.

Key indicators of an effective ACM strategy include the following:

•
Developer Dependency Analysis Developer
Functions & Change Doc. Tools Source code management;
•
Impact Release/Build
QA Analysis Bundling Change trace-ability;
Version Control & Promotion
• Maintaining a current Baseline;
•
Promotion Model

Test
Change impact analysis & dependency analysis;
ERP Dev Prod
Environments • Both application & database Change Tracking processes;
Upgd*

Baseline Documentation
• Automated code migration processes;
& Change Monitoring
• Vendor software patch analysis.

Avoid Communication Breakdowns on Critical Project Issues

One of the common areas where Change processes can break down is in the area of Issue Management
(typically referring to issues raised during the analysis, design and development phases). A common
solution to issue management is a combination of email and spreadsheets. On ERP projects, this
approach rarely does justice to the magnitude of the coordination problems, and the importance of
tracking and managing issues & defects during the pre-production phases.

Spreadsheets quickly become unwieldy and difficult, if not impossible, to keep current. Invariably, the
issue management process breaks down because it quickly becomes overloaded. Workflow tools

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designed for Issue Management & Software Change Requests, like Merant’s Tracker product, are
ideally suited to this problem and satisfy most audit requirements for change traceability.

Avoid an Incomplete ACM Strategy

A common ACM strategy disconnect is that the people implementing ACM do not understand how
development and promotion processes work for a given ERP Application. Some of the most important
features of ACM can be discerned from some basic questions directed to the ACM Software Vendors.
These questions should start with “How will this software help me prepare for and manage significant
software changes resulting from new vendor releases, major patches, and local customizations?”. From
an internal standpoint, ACM also requires a certain amount of cultural change. Like other undertakings
that require cultural changes, you can implement ACM in phases; however the final state should be a
fluid application change model that follows the entire lifecycle of application change, from the inception
of the request (e.g., Issue & SCR Tracking) to the promotion of the change.

At the end of the day, ACM is not just a change management protocol, it is part of a larger IT project
controls function. Project managers are now looking at ACM strategies to implement tactical project
controls. Since project change can cause the even the best project plans to unravel, a project manager’s
best defense against this project variable is an effective ACM strategy.

Summary
Change and adaptability have
For a large percentage of ERP customers, ERP implementation was become the central tenets to
their most complicated and costly software project they have surviving in a new and
undertaken. Companies have made big investments in ERP software, unforgiving business landscape.
and leading CEO's now want to see IT contributing more to the bottom IT strategies must mirror these
line - producing higher value at lower cost. Notwithstanding, patches new adaptive demands on the
and new releases create ongoing support and business adaptation business or risk becoming
challenges that can chip away from the returns on ERP investments. another victim to outsourcing.
Unmanaged changes to ERP applications have generated some of the Moreover, ERP applications are
being put to the test in the
most recounted project horror stories. Needless to say, Change
harshest business climate that
Management is becoming the focus of attention in many IT most have witnessed in their
organizations. entire careers. IT managers are
now looking to ACM solve
By equipping IT with the appropriate ACM tools & processes, a more change-related problems and
intelligent and deliberate change framework can be created that allows also prepare for Sarbanes-
IT to facilitate, and in many cases even drive, business process change. Oxley Compliance.

Authored by: Allan B. Hooks

Allan.Hooks@internext-group.com
InterNext Group, LLC
12777 Jones Rd, Ste. 297
Houston, TX 77070
Direct: 832.814.8100
Main: 832.237.9114

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