SAP Cloud ALM: A Practical Look at Selective Data Transfer

You might already know that SAP Solution Manager 7.2 will reach the end of mainstream maintenance at the end of 2027, but what’s more important is ensuring you’re ready to transition smoothly and future-proof your ALM strategy. SAP Cloud ALM is SAP’s next-generation platform for application lifecycle management (ALM), offering a more modern twist on the traditional approaches we have come to know via SAP Solution Manager. Another important thing to consider is that some of the data you've invested in building up in SAP Solution Manager can be reused in SAP Cloud ALM through a guided process called Selective Data Transfer (SDT).

To support customers in retaining the value of their existing ALM assets, the use of the SDT will allows you to migrate critical content, like process hierarchies, documentation, and libraries from Solution Manager into SAP Cloud ALM, without carrying over unnecessary legacy data.

This capability is part of SAP’s ongoing commitment to incremental innovation, ensuring SAP Cloud ALM continues to evolve in response to today’s dynamic digital landscapes. We explored this topic further in our previous blog, SAP Cloud ALM's Latest Strategic Updates, which outlines what’s ahead for operations, implementation, and test automation. Further details about SAP Cloud ALM capabilities can be found here: Are you still using spreadsheets for SAP Testing? or Change Management in Cloud ALM - Different, but better?

Why Choose Selective Data Transfer?

SDT guides you in moving the most important aspects of your SAP Solution Manager data (process structures, associated documentation, and libraries into SAP Cloud ALM in a way that is organised, clean, and ready for the future, by:

• Align with SAP’s innovation roadmap: SAP Cloud ALM is continuously enhanced and represents SAP’s long-term ALM strategy.

• Preserve your investments: Migrate valuable documentation, structures, and knowledge that you’ve built over years, without carrying legacy baggage.

• Reduce disruption: SDT gives you a focused, one-time migration that minimises downtime and business impact.

• Lay the groundwork for a simplified future: The move is also an opportunity to streamline your ALM footprint and eliminate unnecessary complexity.

Fig 1: SAP Activate Roadmap for transition to SAP Cloud ALM

What SDT Enables?

• Move only what matters: Transfer critical elements such as process hierarchies, documentation, and libraries, without dragging legacy noise.

• Maintain operational continuity: Rebuild and optimise key processes in SAP Cloud ALM without losing business context.

• Adopt modern best practices: Take advantage of SAP’s Activate Roadmap and built-in tools to streamline implementation and operations.

• Plan with control: With no live sync between systems, you're in control of what gets moved, when, and how it fits into your business strategy.

Things to Know Before you Migrate

If you missed one of our previous blogs, Future-Proof Your ALM: Transitioning to SAP Cloud ALM, it will provide our recommendation based on the main functionalities that organisation are most concerned about.

Regarding operations and service functionality, you can already move to SAP Cloud ALM. However, for SAP Cloud ALM for implementation you can move at your own pace, once the required functionality is ready for you.

For a successful transition to SAP Cloud ALM, it is crucial to ensure your ALM processes can work effectively within the new environment. This verification guarantees, that the core functionalities, such as process management, test management, and documentation, are fully operational and aligned with business requirements.

The ‘Selective Data Transfer’ app provided in SAP Solution Manager offers reports and functionalities to facilitate the seamless transfer of data to SAP Cloud ALM. It also enables you to modify the data during the transfer process. You can combine the redesign of your ALM processes with the retention of important data, ensuring the protection of your investments.

SAP Cloud ALM Best Practice for SDT

You can minimise disruptions and maintain the integrity of your application lifecycle management and today you can leverage the SAP Best Practice Tools & Methodology for SAP Cloud ALM to follow and execute the selective data transfer process from SAP Solution Manager to SAP Cloud ALM.

Check our blog Introducing the SAP Activate Roadmap for SAP Cloud ALM where we talk about how this activate roadmap provides a structured project plan, which breaks down the journey into specific phases, tasks, and deliverables that follow SAP’s best practices for cloud transformation.

Mapping Entities from SAP Solution Manager to SAP Cloud ALM

As part of your transition, it’s helpful to understand how key content from SAP Solution Manager aligns with the structure in SAP Cloud ALM. While the platforms are different, many of the core elements from Solution Documentation, such as process hierarchies, diagrams, and documentation can be transferred and mapped to equivalent entities in SAP Cloud ALM.

This mapping is predefined by SAP and cannot be customised, but it ensures that your existing documentation has a place in your new environment.

Fig 2: Mapping between entities in SAP Solution Manager and SAP Cloud ALM

Further considerations for the selective data transfer include:

• Logical Component Groups (System Groups), which define the system landscape.
• Tags, which enable categorisation and filtering of data.
• Users, whose access and roles must be preserved or adjusted during transfer.
• Document Type mapping, which ensures alignment of document types between systems to maintain consistency and functionality.

SDT isn’t just about moving data, it’s about reimagining your ALM foundation. You'll be working with modern libraries, simplified hierarchies, and new ways to manage processes, users, and documents. Some things will be mapped automatically (like process steps or executables), while others, like tags or user roles will need planning. But it’s all designed to help you move with control.

Explore SAP Cloud ALM

Before you begin the transfer, it’s well worth taking time to explore SAP Cloud ALM and understand what it offers. This is your discovery phase, and it can make all the difference in ensuring a smooth, value-driven transition.

Ask yourself:

• How does SAP Cloud ALM align with your current and future business goals?

• What new capabilities can it unlock for your teams?

• How can this move simplify and modernise your ALM processes?

This is your opportunity to streamline what you keep, leave behind what you don’t need, and set the stage for a smarter, cloud-first ALM foundation.

1. Not sure what you’re currently using in SAP Solution Manager?
   Rapid X can help you get clarity with our ALM Healthcheck, a quick way to assess what’s in use, what’s outdated, and what’s ready for transition.
2. Unclear on what can be migrated?
   We can help you define a tailored SAP ALM migration strategy based on your data footprint, usage patterns, and business priorities.
3. Need help planning your transition?
   Whether you’re exploring options or preparing for your Selective Data Transfer, we can support you with expert guidance and practical steps at every stage.