Automating as many areas as possible in manufacturing companies represents an unprecedented challenge, but at the same time offers the opportunity to future-proof a company and realize the full potential of its technological investments. Artificial Intelligence Operations (AIOps) - IT operations based on artificial intelligence - create the conditions for the intelligent automation of many tasks involved in maintaining an IT environment, allowing specialist teams to focus on other tasks.

This also applies to the tasks of SAP Basis administrators, who are responsible for the functionality and security of an SAP landscape - whether as an internal Basis team or as external SAP consultants. This includes, among other things, regular updates through so-called 'kernel upgrades', which bring the core of the SAP systems up to date, for example to close security gaps or integrate new functionalities. In the past, these upgrades had to be carried out by experts from the Basis team. This often required several hours to connect to the server, stop the system, ensure that no jobs were running and that authorizations were set correctly, install the patches and then restart the system. This means that these specialists were only available for other tasks to a limited extent. In addition, operating errors that can never be completely ruled out lead to longer, unplanned maintenance windows, which can quickly affect business.

The kernel upgrades

AIOps platforms can provide a remedy here. They are able to automatically carry out the entire kernel upgrade process on all affected modules in an SAP environment. This not only reduces the workload for the Basis teams, as these upgrades can now be handed over to Level 1 support. It also enables these upgrades to be carried out much more frequently, so that the system is practically always up to date (in terms of security). Scheduled upgrades, which run without any operator intervention, for example at night or at weekends when the systems are not in use anyway, are particularly efficient. Needless to say, operating errors are practically impossible. And in the unlikely event that something does go wrong, AIOps platforms generally support a complete rollback with automatic cleanup.

Automation of workflows

Not only kernel upgrades can be automated with the help of AIOps solutions, but also other tasks. To this end, these systems have the option of automating certain workflows. This allows many recurring workflows to be divided into individual steps and executed in a controlled manner. In some of them, it is also possible to link or nest these automated workflows.

One example of such workflows is the "system refresh" of SAP HANA-based systems, in which a Q system is updated with "fresh" data from the production system in order to then test new or extended SAP components there before they are implemented in the production system. This creates a realistic test environment with real production data.

Such a system refresh is an extremely complex, time-consuming, resource-intensive and error-prone procedure if carried out manually. Given that SAP recommends that this procedure is carried out every three months, automation at this point therefore holds particularly high profit potential for companies. Companies report that a system refresh, which previously took three to four days, can now be completed in around 18 hours - without operator intervention.

Integration of SAP HotNews

With its "HotNews", SAP informs its users about important, often security-critical vulnerabilities in the system and provides instructions on how to rectify them, for example by applying patches. Depending on the type of SAP HotNews, manual work - and therefore time and personnel - can also be saved here through automation. This means that the problems are not only recognized and reported, but an automatic change, for example to the affected parameters, can also be carried out with a subsequent system restart.

The important thing here is that with this method, each step is carried out transparently, as if a system administrator were carrying it out, and not undocumented "behind the scenes". This is an indispensable factor in the context of traceability during an audit, for example.

Hyperautomation with AIOps

Using an AIOps platform is like adding more reliable members to your team - but without the usual costs. In a way, the team gets colleagues who work nights or weekends without complaining. In other words, SAP automation frees up a company's teams and budgets, while at the same time making systems more secure and employees happier.

AIOps platforms are indispensable trailblazers on the road to the universally aspired hyperautomation - according to the motto "What can be automated will be automated" - because they enable the automation of areas, systems and tasks that were previously closed to automation.