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Evolving Information Systems Running SAP(R) Solutions Drive Market for Change Control Solutions in Complex Landscapes

Revelation Software Concepts identifies complex system landscapes, non-ABAP(TM) stacks and regulatory compliance as key drivers for surging change control installations

BERLIN, Oct. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Revelation Software Concepts Pty Ltd (RSC), an SAP(R) software solution partner, has identified the rapid expansion of complex system landscapes as a key driver in the rapidly growing adoption by users of SAP solutions of comprehensive change control solutions. Key factors in today's more advanced landscapes are the use of phased release ("5-system") landscapes and the addition of non-ABAP(TM) stacks such as those found in the SAP ERP application and SAP NetWeaver(R) technology platform-based web services. External pressures for tighter corporate governance and regulatory compliance also play a role. The announcement was made at the SAP TechEd 2008 Berlin conference, where RSC is exhibiting in booth #2.24.

SAP recommends use of a 3-system landscape but increasingly, some larger SAP user companies find that a phased release or "5-system" landscape can make it easier to separate project work from support changes and help eliminate accidental importing of project transports that can disrupt systems. At the same time, however, the phased release landscape may introduce potential new problems with unintended parallel development of same objects or configuration tables within the support and project development systems, which can potentially impede successful management of synchronous systems.

Introducing applications based on non-ABAP programming language software, including Java components, into SAP solution-based infrastructures can further impact change management, as can web applications that are increasingly common in large organizations.

Such factors have made change control an increasingly important consideration for users of SAP solution-based systems, both those expanding their environments and those newly converting to SAP software.

"When deciding on how to manage change within our new SAP solution-based environment, we were looking for a solution that was certified for integration with SAP solutions, mature and multifaceted," said Colin Short, Business Unit Manager -- Materials Management and Technical Infrastructure at Highveld Steel and Vanadium Corporation. "We needed full audit traceability and a way to manage transports in a structured, orderly manner. We also needed to integrate change control with our current ITIL Service Desk. The Rev-Trac(R) solution filled all our requirements without putting pressure on our Basis resources."

External pressure for regulatory compliance and internally mandated audit documentation can directly complicate operations for IT teams by discouraging casual, undocumented adjustments for small problems. Such work-arounds can cause small-increment, evolutionary but significant undocumented shifts in the larger baseline system and can make transports fail that were developed correctly for the currently documented state of a system. Rev-Trac's automatic handling of such incremental changes and its enforcement of required approvals accelerate the change process and make undocumented work-arounds unnecessary.

"Managing the risks presented through parallel development, and keeping our production and project systems reliably in sync, were key drivers for us when we moved to a third-party change control solution," said Sudhish Mohan, Group Head of HR Systems at Anglo American, one of the world's largest mining and natural resources companies, headquartered in the United Kingdom. "We selected Rev-Trac based on its market leadership, product maturity and established 5-system change control capabilities. We will now begin the process of deploying Rev-Trac across all our SAP solution-based landscapes."

Highveld's Colin Short said selecting a third-party change management system had some unexpected benefits for the company, "A surprise for us was how quickly our consultants embraced the system," he noted. "The fact that they can attach multiple transports to a single Rev-Trac change request allows them to logically group their configuration and ensure the sequencing remains intact."

RSC's Rev-Trac, the market-leading third-party change control solution for use with SAP applications, has seen accelerating adoption by large organizations in response to the various and rapidly evolving market drivers. The company recently continued its change management leadership by extending OOPS, the industry's first overtake and overwrite protection system, to Java and other non-ABAP stacks.

Other global organizations using RSC's change control technology in support of SAP solutions include Ashland Inc., a diversified global chemical company; global HR specialist ARINSO International; CHEP, the Brambles company that helped change the economics of global shipping, and many other Fortune 500 and Fortune 100 companies.

For more information about Rev-Trac, visit http://www.xrsc.com or Booth #2.24 at SAP TechEd 2008 Berlin.

About Revelation Software Concepts

Revelation Software Concepts (RSC) specializes in change control management for use with SAP solutions, developing market-leading technology to reduce the risks and lower the costs of delivering changes into information systems. Since RSC was founded in 1997, some of the world's largest companies have come to rely upon its mature change control solutions. Its deep expertise and responsive support have made RSC the leading change-control specialist for SAP solution-based infrastructures around the globe. RSC is 100% SAP-focused and is an SAP software solution partner. Its flagship change control solution, Rev-Trac, certified as Powered by SAP NetWeaver. Rev-Trac supports change control for both ABAP and non-ABAP technologies, reflecting RSC's commitment to technologically innovative change control solutions that serve current market needs. For more information, visit http://www.xrsc.com.

SOURCE Revelation Software Concepts