Discovery and automation in application monitoring

Automation continues to grow across all industries, and SAP automation is no exception. Of course, many companies today still monitor applications using manual tools and techniques. However, there is a far better approach in which the discovery and monitoring process is automated. At Avantra, discovery in SAP system monitoring is all about automated detection of any problems in SAP applications, and this has already proven to be effective among enterprises many times. The next important thing that we offer to our clients is the automatic elimination of these problems.

Below we would like to share with you some Avantra-based automation solutions and projects that we have developed together with our clients.

#1 We built a custom check to supplement the out-of-the-box monitoring

Customer: Migros Group, Switzerland’s largest retailer with sales of CHF 28.7 billion (2019) and with over 106,000 employees.

Challenge: They wanted to monitor some QRFC queues according to specific criteria. The existing out-of-the-box QRFC was not versatile enough for their requirements.

Our solution: We developed a new QRFC custom check so that Migros can accurately define the circumstances to get notified.

#2 Our team created a new custom check to monitor IDoc in a dedicated way

Customer: Automobile manufacturer.

Challenge: The existing checks that monitored all IDocs according to the same criteria were not sufficient as the customer was only interested in certain IDoc types. These checks are relevant for data exchange between systems used in car assembly lines. In addition, the customer wanted to take over IDocs monitoring from Solution Manager to Avantra.

Our solution: We created a new custom check for dedicated IDoc monitoring, rolled out 72 checks.

#3 Avantra introduced new technical checks to proactively verify a third-party system

Customer: Automotive supplier. 

Challenge: Printing labels on their products in China was not possible due to problems with a third-party solution located there.

Our solution: We offered about 10 different checks for all involved components and interfaces to make the printing process smooth. Our team also created a dashboard to easily display these checks. Thus, the customer received a single pane of glass for the whole process and, in case of trouble, could act immediately before it would affect the production.

#4 Custom cloud service checks using API

Customer: Hidden Champion in the electrical industry.

Challenges:

• The application for electronic document exchange with tax authorities was only available in the cloud using SAP Cloud Platform Integration (SCPI).
• They needed to perform manual monitoring of messages and certificates in SCPI.
• Also, they needed to store sent messages for audit purposes.

Our solution: We helped our client create special ‘cloud service’ checks based on JavaScript using the API provided by SCPI.

#5 Custom cloud service checks for another client

Customer: Healthcare company from Basel.

Challenges:

• Long process chains, they wanted transparency among the interfaces.
• They needed to perform manual monitoring of messages and certificates as well as the health and state of the SAP Cloud Connector.

Our solution: We also showed this client how to create ‘cloud service’ checks based on JavaScript using API.

#6 We implemented 7 brand new checks for SAP Ariba

Customer:  Gordon Food Service.

Challenges:

Detailed, business-relevant data monitoring in SAP Ariba:

• Pending purchase orders and invoices,
• Interfaces between Ariba and S/4 (CIG).

Our solution: Our team implemented seven Ariba-specific checks for this customer. The areas involved were credit memos, Ariba integration monitor, invoice reconciliation, purchase requirements, purchase orders, and transaction monitor.

We are always delighted when we can provide customized solutions to our clients. We are confident that together it is possible to achieve more and are always open to new challenges. It is incredibly important for us to be aware of possible pain points of our customers, to know where they are experiencing difficulties. Because in this way we can stay ahead and see what is most important now and what drives our customers.

Learn how to automate SAP application monitoring >>