Introduction
Jira excels at managing agile delivery. The challenge with SAP projects is that each business process generates layers of requirements, each involving design, configuration, development, and testing. Without structure, this complexity quickly becomes unmanageable.
SAP Cloud ALM solves this by organizing all project activity within a business process hierarchy. Every requirement, test case, and deployment task is anchored to the process it supports. This creates end-to-end traceability across the full solution scope and helps teams spot gaps, overlaps, and risks before they impact delivery.
As an accelerator, Cloud ALM provides best practice content out of the box, so teams never start from scratch. These capabilities are exactly why SAP strongly recommends Cloud ALM, especially for SAP RISE customers.
Adopting Cloud ALM does not mean abandoning your enterprise delivery model. When integrated with enterprise tools like Jira, it provides the structure and control that SAP demands, while maintaining alignment with agile delivery across the business.
Why SAP Breaks Agile Backlogs
On SAP programs, it is rarely feasible to start with a minimum viable product. The initial scope is usually far larger than most agile teams expect.
In a conventional agile model, teams begin with a small, well-defined use case. A simple prototype supports a narrow workflow, and additional capabilities are layered in over time. Scope grows gradually, keeping complexity manageable and allowing teams to adjust as they deliver.
SAP works differently. Instead of building from scratch, teams start with standard procsses and configure and extend the system to meet business requirements. SAP processes are deeply interconnected, so enabling one area immediately affects others. Even small changes can ripple across finance, logistics, procurement, and reporting.
As a result, SAP programs rarely start with an isolated functional scope. The platform is designed to support end-to-end business processes. SAP project scope often spans multiple departments, and capabilities must be delivered at once to support end-to-end workflows.
This breaks the agile backlog model. Agile delivery increases speed by limiting scope and containing complexity. SAP concentrates complexity early, forcing many interdependent requirements into the backlog at the same time. Without additional structure, backlogs grow quickly and progress becomes difficult to track.
On SAP programs, it is rarely feasible to start with a minimum viable product. The initial scope is usually far larger than most agile teams expect.
The Structural Gap Most SAP Programs Discover Too Late
Eventually, leadership starts asking how much longer until design can be signed off.
Teams that already run a mature agile delivery process often begin their SAP program assuming they can apply the same approach. Early on, it seems to be working. Scrum boards fill up, user stories are getting delivered, and the program appears to be on track.
But over time, momentum slows. Open issues accumulate faster than they are getting resolved, and teams begin to stall while waiting for key business decisions. As dependencies between teams surface, progress becomes harder to interpret, and the timeline starts to drift.
Rather than re-examining the delivery model, some programs respond by pushing into the build phase, assuming remaining design questions can be resolved through iterative sprints. This is when reality sets in. SAP does not respond well to churn. Late design gaps often force architectural changes that cascade through configuration, data, and integrations.
The deeper teams progress without a stable process backbone, the more rework they create, and the more expensive that rework becomes. This is when the business starts to lose confidence in the program.
Eventually, leadership starts asking how much longer until design can be signed off.
Enterprise Agility Without SAP Silos
Grounded in the business process structure, agile delivery can achieve its full potential.
But there is another way. Agile practices can work in SAP programs when they are grounded in a business process backbone.
- Design reaches real closure. When teams clearly see the full scope of the process, they are better able to systematically close gaps. Using the process structure for reporting helps leaders direct resources to where they are needed most.
- Build completes as a whole. The process structure keeps people aligned as they build workflows that span across teams. Critical workflows are prioritized, while low-runner use cases are intentionally deferred to later sprints.
- Testing proves business readiness. Tests are executed against end-to-end process scenarios. Teams can confirm which processes are fully validated and where gaps remain, avoiding late surprises.
To enable this model, SAP Cloud ALM provides the business process structure and surfaces best practice content that gives teams a jump start. Agile teams continue to knock out user stories in Jira or Azure DevOps. And bi-directional integration ensures these two views remain aligned, with the full traceability from requirements through deployment. This approach preserves the benefits of agile delivery while respecting the realities of SAP.
Grounded in the business process structure, agile delivery can achieve its full potential.
Conclusion
The right approach establishes an operating model that supports change long after the program ends.
SAP programs struggle when agility is applied without structure. The complexity of large-scale business processes overwhelms iterative delivery models, and progress becomes harder to judge as issues stack up and key decisions remain outstanding.
The programs that succeed do not abandon agile practices. They anchor them to a hierarchical structure that reflects the full scope of business operations. With the right framework in place, design reaches clear closure, build teams complete end-to-end workflows, and testing confirms true business readiness.
This approach not only achieves the business transformation goals of the project. It establishes an efficient operating model for change, and leaves the organization with a delivery model that will stand the test of time.
