This partner insight was authored by Scott McKenzie, Content & Communications Specialist at Rev-Trac and Revelation Software Concepts. Don't miss your opportunity to connect with Rev-Trac in person at this year's ASUG Tech Connect conference (Nov. 4-6 in Louisville, Kentucky; register here).
With the sunset of SAP Solution Manager (SolMan) approaching, SAP change management is set to undergo a significant transition. The end of life of SolMan impacts its Change and Request Management (ChaRM) capability, which many organizations have relied on for years to control transports and manage change in SAP landscapes.
However, the future of SAP is in the Cloud. And SAP Cloud ALM is built for this new era. With this comes a fundamental shift in how change is managed.
Yet, it doesn’t mean immediate disruption; mainstream maintenance for SolMan ends in 2027. What it does mean is that organizations must plan their future approach to change management and have a clear timeline to do so.
What No More SolMan Means for Change Management
SAP has shifted its strategic focus to Cloud ALM – a Cloud-native application lifecycle management solution – built to streamline how organizations operate Cloud and hybrid environments across their business. Cloud ALM is leaner, more agile, integrates with modern technologies, including SAP S/4HANA Cloud and SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP), and supports SAP’s Clean Core principle.
While Cloud ALM is the future, it’s not a direct replacement for SolMan. It’s a different product with a different philosophy – it was developed to support Cloud-centric customers and some on-premises solutions. Cloud ALM is evolving but lacks the advanced change management functionalities that organizations both need today and to future-proof their SAP systems. Features such as automated retrofit for dual maintenance, cross-system object locking, and trackability of every change from start to finish are capabilities that Cloud ALM doesn’t currently offer a like-for-like replacement.
For organizations with complex landscapes or in highly regulated industries, the absence of mature change management functions creates a critical gap in enforcing, controlling, and safeguarding essential business operations. That’s where third-party alternatives come into play, helping to bridge the gap.
Move from ChaRM to Cloud ALM with Rev-Trac
Rev-Trac Platinum – an advanced SAP change management solution – is a third-party alternative to ChaRM. It is built from the ground up to simplify SAP change management with automation, enforcement, compliance, and safety embedded into every workflow. With Rev-Trac, you can transition from ChaRM to Cloud ALM at your own pace without losing critical functionality.
Rev-Trac helps by:
- Automating risky manual change processes to reduce effort and maintain system stability
- Enforcing governance and compliance with built-in safety checks, required approvals, segregation of duties, and trackable changes for audit readiness
- Supporting hybrid landscapes, managing changes across ECC, S/4HANA, and Cloud environments from a single central interface
- Integrating with Cloud ALM to future-proof your SAP environment and provide business continuity with robust change management functionality and full traceability of all changes
- Filling the functional gap with capabilities like automated retrofitting to synchronize changes between parallel landscapes and cross-system object locking to avoid conflict and sequencing errors
Strategic Considerations for CIOs and SAP Project Leads
ChaRM EOL is an opportunity to re-imagine change management in an increasingly Cloud-first world. CIOs and project leaders can take practical steps to ensure a smooth transition to Cloud ALM. Here are three quick steps to take:
- Assess current SolMan usage – identify which functions you rely on most, particularly with ChaRM
- Bridge the functionality gaps – determine whether SAP Cloud ALM’s feature set meets your requirements. If not, explore third-party alternatives like Rev-Trac to deliver the capabilities that fill the gaps
- Plan a roadmap for your transition to Cloud ALM – map out a timeline to reduce your reliance on SolMan before EOL. Adopt a third-party alternative, such as Rev-Trac, to orchestrate change across your legacy (ECC or S/4HANA) systems and Cloud ALM to maintain control
Future-proofing SAP Change Management Starts Today
Regardless of whether you are migrating to S/4HANA, shifting to the Cloud, or embracing SAP BTP, the need to manage SAP changes effectively remains constant. Without a disciplined approach, projects can run over time and budget, innovation is stifled, compliance compromised, and system stability threatened.
Adopting Rev-Trac to future-proof your SAP change management strategy addresses these challenges. For example, Rev-Trac accelerates your S/4HANA migration by keeping your legacy ECC and new systems in sync while automating and enforcing rapid, high-quality change without risking the Production system.
Truly, wherever you are in your SAP journey, you can deploy Rev-Trac to help you govern the different types of change to meet your current (and future) demands. It unifies change across interconnected systems, whether on-premises, Cloud, or hybrid. Rev-Trac automates and enforces pre-configured change workflows to maintain system stability, mitigate risk, accelerate delivery, simplify compliance, and enhance business agility. For highly regulated industries, Rev-Trac helps maintain compliance with stringent standards, such as GxP, by embedding enforcement, traceability, and accountability into their change processes.
The Bottom Line
The phrase “No More SolMan” doesn’t have to create uncertainty in organizations that rely on SAP. With Rev-Trac, organizations can transition from ChaRM to Cloud ALM with confidence, ensuring that governance, compliance, and stability remain the foundation of their SAP change management strategy.
Today, many of the world’s top organizations trust Rev-Trac to deliver fast, safe SAP change across diverse landscapes without interrupting business operations. With an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 on G2, a leading global software reviews site, Rev-Trac continues to prove its value in helping organizations accelerate their transformations while avoiding unplanned outages.
As SolMan nears EOL, the path forward is about more than replacing ChaRM. It’s about organizations maintaining or even improving their change management practices while leveraging Cloud ALM for Cloud ERP.
Don't miss your opportunity to connect with Rev-Trac in person at this year's ASUG Tech Connect conference (Nov. 4-6 in Louisville, Kentucky; register here).