SAP Rise, Enterprise Cloud services and SAP basis consultant

With introduction of SAP Rise, SAP has entered into a new service model. They build or migrate your systems to Azure, AWS , GCP or SAP’s own datacenter. Thereafter they manage the hosting. SAP basis consultant does not have access to operating system. Please note that , in this case Azure, AWS and GCP hardware is requested by SAP’s Enterprise Cloud Services themselves without the involvement of customer . Then SAP builds the system and gives login credentials to customer. Customer interacts with a PL during the build , then they interact with a dedicated distribution list ( email id) . Customer can also raise a service request. Although this mechanism of service request is similar to OSS messages earlier, a much faster and efficient reply can be expected. After the build phase, you have a dedicated Digital Customer Engagement Manager which is basically a 24×7 monitored-email-based-support.

In this situation almost all the work of SAP basis consultant is taken over by SAP , isnt it ? No. SAP basis consultant is still an essential part of the SAP implementation. What do they do ?

During the build, They have to arrange

1. The network connectivity to cloud datacenter. Mostly it is a VPN connection, but they have options of VPC peering, Expressroute and TGW too.
2. DNS forwarding has to be configured. If your systems have to access the servers with FQDN, you need to configure DNS forwarding. DNS configuration guide pdf file , HEC DNS address and IP shall be provided by build PL
3. Take handover from build and transition to operations and partners.

During the operations

1. SSL configurations.SAP basis consultant has to upload the trust certificates and establish https. Advise the partners and internal SAP teams regarding the custody of key user credentials.
2. Secure the application level security in collaboration with SAP authorisation and security expert
3. Attend end-user issues and raise service request to SAP operations team.
4. Work in collaboration to ensure technical issue resolutions
5. Ensure the connectivity to SAC ( SAP Analytics Cloud)
6. Ensure connectivity to PO, PI, SAP cloud platform etc
7. Ensure solution manager configurations, setup monitoring KPIs and establish regular monitoring.
8. Keep SAP launchpad and other system related information securely
9. Assist end user in connecting to SAP . Ensure ports are open.

As you can see, there are many activities which SAP basis consultant can only do, and thus I do not see this role retiring in any near future.  I request you to provide your questions, comments, suggestions and criticism.