RISE with SAP Monitoring: Overcoming the 'Black Box' Challenge of monitoring Cloud ERP

Organizations transitioning from traditional on-premises SAP systems to Cloud ERP (formerly known as “RISE” and “GROW”) have a new set of monitoring challenges. Unlike the familiar on-prem landscape, where IT teams enjoyed full visibility and control, cloud environments can feel like a “black box,” with limited direct access to the underlying infrastructure and reliance on service tickets to understand system status.

Further, teams in transition are expected to monitor traditional ERP and Cloud ERP effectively and concurrently during the transition, with this additional responsibility likely to last a year or more for modest existing implementations and many years for complex ones. This shift introduces uncertainty and demands a scalable and flexible approach to observability.

While the Cloud ERP transition will be the right choice for many organizations, there are a few surprises some may not expect: “Cloud” ERP can be a lot more like a traditional on-premises implementation than customers may expect, depending on the base variety of Cloud ERP selected and any additional Cloud Application Services added to the Cloud ERP contract.

The Promise vs. Reality of Cloud ERP (Concierge Service vs. Shared Responsibility)

The appeal of Cloud ERP often centers on the idea of a fully managed ERP solution with
reduced customer responsibility for day-to-day technical operations. The reality, especially with Private Cloud ERP, is more nuanced.

Private Cloud ERP is fundamentally a hybrid model where customers retain significant operational responsibility despite the shift away from on-premises infrastructure. This means businesses must still actively manage system health, performance, and integrations, especially at the basis and business application layers, and often without the direct access to underlying hardware they were accustomed to in the past.

For many organizations, this hybrid responsibility can come as an unexpected
challenge. Tasks such as patching, monitoring customizations and ensuring compliance
often remain in the hands of the customer. In fact, it’s not uncommon for an SAP
customer in transition to Cloud ERP to require additional basis staffing. The balance between what SAP manages and what the customer must oversee is well documented,
but unfortunately in a 50+ page spreadsheet. Much of what would be considered
“included” in a typical cloud application – of often is in Cloud ERP Public versions –
remains a customer responsibility or Cloud Application Service add on in Cloud ERP
Private.

As a result, companies transitioning to Private Cloud ERP need to prepare for a more hands-on operational role than they might initially expect.

The "Black Box" Problem

This hybrid responsibility creates a unique challenge for organizations using Cloud ERP
Private: they are fully accountable for the application layer - including configuration,
performance tuning, user management, and custom developments - yet are completely abstracted from the underlying infrastructure. Customers cannot access operating system logs, database consoles, or system-level monitoring tools, which provide vital insights for diagnosing issues or optimizing performance.

As a result, when application-level anomalies or outages occur, IT teams are often forced to open support tickets and wait, sometimes leading to frustrating delays and a lack of transparency. Real-world experiences highlight this friction. For example, enterprises have reported extended investigation times when troubleshooting performance bottlenecks or
integration failures, as root cause analysis is hampered by the absence of infrastructure
visibility.

“We had thousands of performance tickets a year. With Avantra [...] business
users could self-check. We saved Basis time and eliminated entire ticket
categories.” - Darko Rozac, Principal Software Architect, Shutterfly

Recommended reading: https://www.avantra.com/shutterfly-case-study 

In some cases, customers have discovered issues initially believed to be application-
related were ultimately traced to infrastructure or network components managed exclusively by the provider - yet they had no means to proactively identify or address
these problems themselves. This disconnect underscores the importance of setting
clear support expectations and investing in robust application-layer monitoring tools to
mitigate the risks inherent in the “black box” model of cloud operations.

Monitoring Strategies for Cloud ERP

Monitoring Cloud ERP requires a fundamentally different technical approach compared
to traditional on-premises systems. Although the goals of ensuring reliability, performance, and compliance remain, the tools and methods must adapt to the unique
constraints and layers of abstraction in the cloud environment.

Application Layer: Focus on Batch Jobs, IDocs, RFCS

In traditional on-premises SAP environments, monitoring batch jobs, IDocs, and RFCs requires access to underlying system logs, application servers and real- time infrastructure metrics. IT teams utilize native SAP tools alongside custom scripts and third-party solutions, with the flexibility to collect granular data and troubleshoot issues across the application and infrastructure layers. This holistic visibility assists root cause analysis and remediation.

In contrast, when running SAP in a Cloud ERP Private environment, the approach to monitoring must adopt to the abstraction inherent in the cloud model. Customers are responsible for monitoring at the application layer - tracking batch job status, IDoc processing, and RFC communication using SAP’s built-in tools and cloud-compatible monitoring solutions. However, they lack direct visibility into the operating system or database layer, making it impossible to correlate application issues with infrastructure events.

For customers in transition, the issue is further complicated with the addition of
a completely new tool set for Cloud ERP monitoring vs. the existing on-premises
deployment. This is especially painful for basis teams, who face new tools, additional environments and no single point of control for visibility across the entire SAP estate during a long-running transformation where such visibility is the most essential and beneficial.

SLA Verification: Independently Verifying 99.7% Availability 

Cloud ERP Private offers two main Service Level Agreement (SLA) options: standard and enhanced. The standard SLA offers a baseline level of infrastructure availability, around 99.7%, covering the core underlying hardware, virtualization, and network services. Enhanced SLA options may include higher availability targets, faster response times for critical incidents, and prioritized support, catering to organizations with stringent business continuity requirements.

These SLAs pertain strictly to the managed infrastructure layer. Unless specifically contracted with Cloud Application Services (CAS) options, they do not extend to the SAP application layer. Business processes, configurations, custom developments and numerous other “above the infrastructure” concerns remain.

Confidently answering the question “can we do business today?” goes beyond
infrastructure uptime. It encompasses the health, performance, and reliability of the application layer, which remains the customer’s responsibility. Organizations must implement robust application monitoring and management strategies to complement the Cloud ERP infrastructure SLA, ensuring business operations are truly safeguarded.

Integration Monitoring: Connecting Cloud ERP

Integration monitoring is critical for ensuring external services and application links continue to function seamlessly within Cloud ERP environments. SAP systems often rely on a range of non-SAP solutions to deliver business functionality, exchange data, and support key processes. When transitioning to Cloud ERP, the needs for these integrations often remain and organizations must maintain the same level of oversight they had on-premises.

How Avantra Bridges the Gap 

Avantra provides a comprehensive solution to the monitoring and automation
challenges encountered in Cloud ERP environments, particularly for SAP IT teams
managing complex landscapes. With both agent-based and agentless deployment
options, Avantra ensures compatibility with Cloud ERP Private and hybrid scenarios,
allowing organizations to tailor their observability approach to meet security,
compliance, and operational requirements. This flexibility is especially valuable for
environments where direct access to underlying infrastructure is restricted or where
agentless operation is preferred.

Avantra delivers deep visibility into critical SAP components including batch jobs,
IDocs, RFCs, and custom development without reliance on infrastructure-level access.
Avantra automates the detection and alerting of configuration drift, helping IT teams
maintain consistent monitoring setups across evolving environments and reducing
manual oversight.

Avantra’s integration with ServiceNow streamlines incident management and
escalation workflows, ensuring alerts and remediation are seamlessly incorporated into
established IT processes.

Avantra empowers organizations to maintain robust SAP observability and automation
anywhere SAP runs. The unified platform allows basis teams to monitor, manage, and
automate across on-premises and cloud estates, providing continuity and control
during transformation projects. For customers evaluating solutions, Avantra delivers the
technical depth and flexibility needed to safeguard business operations, verify SLAs,
and ensure reliable integration.

Conclusion: Trust, But Verify

The decision to transition to Cloud ERP is a forward-thinking move that positions
organizations to leverage greater scalability, agility, and innovation. However, the true
value of this transformation is only realized when the Cloud ERP environment remains
continuously available to support business operations. Ensuring high availability and
reliability must remain a top priority, as any downtime or integration issue can directly
impact critical processes and overall business performance. By combining the
advantages of cloud technology with robust monitoring and management strategies,
organizations can maximize the benefits of their investment while safeguarding
uninterrupted service for the business.

Tell us about your experiences or speak with one of our experts to find out how we can help transform your SAP landscape.