Vendor Lifecycle Fields Transition Best Practices

Introduction

With the introduction of vendor lifecycle fields, vendor-provided lifecycle information is now stored separately from internal lifecycle fields. Previously, this data was synchronized from the SAP LeanIX reference catalog directly to internal lifecycle fields. If you have created custom fields to track your internal lifecycles and when you may have reports, diagrams, and integrations relying on these fields, making a thoughtful transition is beneficial.

This guide provides best practices for migrating lifecycle data while ensuring minimal disruption to your existing workflows.

Effects on Reports

Application report views focused on technology risk and compliance, such as aggregated obsolescence risk views, now automatically use a new algorithm that includes both internal and vendor lifecycle fields for view aggregation; hence, there is no change whatsoever. To learn more about views aggregation, see Obsolescence Risk View Aggregation.

For IT component reports, views related to risk assessment at the IT component level now have the vendor lifecycle field as an additional view. You can evaluate which view best fits your needs and do not necessarily switch to vendor lifecycle views in the saved reports. Instead of switching, you can consider whether it's more effective to continue using the lifecycle view while leveraging the ‘cluster by’ option in the report settings to cluster the fact sheets by vendor lifecycle to analyze IT components. To know about clustering, see Clustering.

However, if you have the need you can always transition to the vendor lifecycle views by manually adjusting the reports.

Assessing the Implications and Making the Transition

With the introduction of vendor lifecycle fields, the vendor-provided lifecycle information is now synced to these fields. However, you have the option to continue synchronizing vendor lifecycle data to the internal lifecycle fields along with the new vendor lifecycle fields.

To enable this, go to the reference catalog settings for IT components and check the option to sync all vendor lifecycle data into the internal lifecycle fields. This option will remain available until September 2025.

You can make use of this option when you have customized reporting views or have extensive integrations and automation that rely on existing lifecycle field values. In most cases, this is not necessary. The following scenarios help you evaluate whether you need this option and, if so, how to transition effectively.

Not Using the Reference Catalog for Lifecycle Management

If you have been using internal lifecycle fields for internal lifecycle management and were waiting for the vendor lifecycle to be introduced separately before using the reference catalog, you can now begin using the reference catalog. You can extend your current workflows and views to include risk assessments based on the vendor lifecycle.

Using Internal Lifecycle Fields for Both Vendor and Internal Lifecycle

If you have been using internal lifecycle fields for both vendor and internal lifecycle management by stopping synchronization once the vendor lifecycle was synced from the reference catalog, you can now start using the reference catalog again to manage internal and vendor-provided lifecycles separately and adjust your workflow accordingly.

Customized Report Views and Saved Reports Dependent on Existing Lifecycle Fields

If you have custom report views or saved reports that rely on existing lifecycle fields, assess whether you can quickly update them to depend on the new vendor lifecycle fields.

Only when the transition requires significant effort and time, then:

1. Enable the option in reference catalog admin settings to continue synchronizing data to internal lifecycle fields. This allows you to maintain continuity while you assess your future reporting needs and create or update the reports accordingly.
2. To help other users also understand, consider renaming field labels to indicate their temporary nature.
3. Once you have migrated your reports, deactivate the additional synchronization option and use the internal lifecycle fields to manage internal lifecycles.
4. Revert any temporary label changes to restore clarity.
5. If you previously maintained internal lifecycle data in custom fields, export and import the data through an Excel file to transfer these values to the internal lifecycle fields.
6. After migrating the data, either move the custom fields to the unused section of the fact sheet or delete them if no longer needed.

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Caution

Before transferring internal lifecycle data from custom fields, deactivate the additional synchronization option to prevent the reference catalog from overwriting your internal lifecycle fields.

Integrations and Automation Dependent on Existing Lifecycle Fields

If you have integrations and automation setups that rely on existing lifecycle fields, assess whether you can quickly update them to depend on the new vendor lifecycle fields.

Only when the transition requires significant effort and time, then:

1. Enable the option in reference catalog admin settings to continue synchronizing data to internal lifecycle fields. This allows you to maintain continuity while you update the integrations and automations.
2. Reconfigure the integrations, and for automations, clone them and adjust the clones to use vendor lifecycle fields. You can also extend them to benefit from insights provided by both internal and vendor-provided lifecycle data.
3. Once you are done with the changes, deactivate the additional synchronization option and use the internal lifecycle fields to manage internal lifecycles.
4. If you previously maintained internal lifecycle data in custom fields, export and import the data through an Excel file to transfer these values to the internal lifecycle fields.
5. After migrating the data, either move the custom fields to the unused section of the fact sheet or delete them if no longer needed.

🚧

Caution

Before transferring internal lifecycle data from custom fields, deactivate the additional synchronization option to prevent the reference catalog from overwriting your internal lifecycle fields.