Cisco Cisco Process Orchestrator 3.0 Guida Informativa
less error-prone process, which leads to more
accurate system testing. And the compressed
refresh time means the system data is more
available, which positively affects everyone in
the business, all the way up to the customer.
accurate system testing. And the compressed
refresh time means the system data is more
available, which positively affects everyone in
the business, all the way up to the customer.
Learning to Build Workflows
According to Wilson, each workflow takes
about five days to build. “It’s very, very logi-
cal, but you have to take your time and have a
clear picture of where you want to arrive,” she
says. “Luckily, we had documentation about
system refreshes so we had a good place to
start. Then, as we built the workflow, we chal-
lenged and questioned every single step and
action. We reviewed and validated our process
so that the resulting workflow could be used
over and over again.”
The team engaged Cisco consulting services
to help build the custom workflows and trans-
fer knowledge to the Enbridge team. “They
were very knowledgeable and willing to help
and stretch the software to its limits to accom-
modate our needs,” says Wilson. “At the end
of it, we really know the product and are in a
place where we can confidently build our own
workflows.”
Wilson especially appreciated the support
Enbridge received throughout the project.
She kept track of any questions that arose
during the workflow building and sent Cisco
support a wish list of how she thought the
product should look or behave differently.
“After just a week, I received a request to
schedule a conference call with some of the
product managers — during which we went
through the list step by step, bullet by bullet,
so they could understand everything that was
there,” she says. “They were very receptive to
any suggestions and took all of my comments
very seriously. And one week later, they came
back with dates for all of my wish list. That
was phenomenal. I was very impressed.”
MacMillan agrees that Cisco was a big help
to Enbridge, but emphasizes that the whole
exercise involved more than simply deploy-
ing a piece of software. “This project involved
not just the acquisition and configuration of
a workflow product, but also some interesting
things that we had to do around our database
cloning methodology.” (See the sidebar to the
about five days to build. “It’s very, very logi-
cal, but you have to take your time and have a
clear picture of where you want to arrive,” she
says. “Luckily, we had documentation about
system refreshes so we had a good place to
start. Then, as we built the workflow, we chal-
lenged and questioned every single step and
action. We reviewed and validated our process
so that the resulting workflow could be used
over and over again.”
The team engaged Cisco consulting services
to help build the custom workflows and trans-
fer knowledge to the Enbridge team. “They
were very knowledgeable and willing to help
and stretch the software to its limits to accom-
modate our needs,” says Wilson. “At the end
of it, we really know the product and are in a
place where we can confidently build our own
workflows.”
Wilson especially appreciated the support
Enbridge received throughout the project.
She kept track of any questions that arose
during the workflow building and sent Cisco
support a wish list of how she thought the
product should look or behave differently.
“After just a week, I received a request to
schedule a conference call with some of the
product managers — during which we went
through the list step by step, bullet by bullet,
so they could understand everything that was
there,” she says. “They were very receptive to
any suggestions and took all of my comments
very seriously. And one week later, they came
back with dates for all of my wish list. That
was phenomenal. I was very impressed.”
MacMillan agrees that Cisco was a big help
to Enbridge, but emphasizes that the whole
exercise involved more than simply deploy-
ing a piece of software. “This project involved
not just the acquisition and configuration of
a workflow product, but also some interesting
things that we had to do around our database
cloning methodology.” (See the sidebar to the
right for more information about Enbridge’s
homegrown solution for database cloning.)
“There was a lot of really good creativity
shown by a lot of people,” he says. “It was a
joint effort between software consultants and
employees that worked out, in my opinion,
quite well.”
homegrown solution for database cloning.)
“There was a lot of really good creativity
shown by a lot of people,” he says. “It was a
joint effort between software consultants and
employees that worked out, in my opinion,
quite well.”
Implicit and Explicit Business Benefits
Enbridge has seen and expects to continue to
see a host of both implicit and explicit ben-
efits since implementing the software. Most
directly, the business was able to reduce the
refresh time of the SAP production data
from a month down to about a week, with
further improvements in the works. “Usually,
these types of process improvements are in
the three-to-four to two-to-three week range,
but to decrease by that kind of a factor in
terms of this one particular process is pretty
staggering,” says MacMillan.
The explicit benefit is more accurate testing.
Fresher data means fewer potential testing er-
rors or invalid results due to unforeseen data
scenarios or stale data. And instead of letting
testing work accumulate before cramming it
into a short window of time, Enbridge now
has regular testing and enhancement cycles.
The implicit benefit is that the pre-produc-
tion system will be more available. “Because
there’s going to be less downtime, the sched-
uling of releases will go more smoothly, and
there’s more availability to get more enhance-
ments and defects fixed going forward,” says
MacMillan.
From a technology point of view, the main
benefit of building a workflow that automates
a painful process is simple reusability. “After
you’ve taken the time to think about your
processes and put them into this kind of au-
tomation software once, you can be done with
it,” says Wilson. “Replacing repetitive, manual,
boring, nobody-wants-to-do-them tasks with
a product that does it reliably for you all the
time is invaluable.”
see a host of both implicit and explicit ben-
efits since implementing the software. Most
directly, the business was able to reduce the
refresh time of the SAP production data
from a month down to about a week, with
further improvements in the works. “Usually,
these types of process improvements are in
the three-to-four to two-to-three week range,
but to decrease by that kind of a factor in
terms of this one particular process is pretty
staggering,” says MacMillan.
The explicit benefit is more accurate testing.
Fresher data means fewer potential testing er-
rors or invalid results due to unforeseen data
scenarios or stale data. And instead of letting
testing work accumulate before cramming it
into a short window of time, Enbridge now
has regular testing and enhancement cycles.
The implicit benefit is that the pre-produc-
tion system will be more available. “Because
there’s going to be less downtime, the sched-
uling of releases will go more smoothly, and
there’s more availability to get more enhance-
ments and defects fixed going forward,” says
MacMillan.
From a technology point of view, the main
benefit of building a workflow that automates
a painful process is simple reusability. “After
you’ve taken the time to think about your
processes and put them into this kind of au-
tomation software once, you can be done with
it,” says Wilson. “Replacing repetitive, manual,
boring, nobody-wants-to-do-them tasks with
a product that does it reliably for you all the
time is invaluable.”
Capabilities Beyond System Refreshing
While reducing system refresh time was the
key driver for adopting the Cisco product,
Enbridge ended up using it for much more.
“Once we looked at what the software could
key driver for adopting the Cisco product,
Enbridge ended up using it for much more.
“Once we looked at what the software could
Duplicating system data is a key step
in refreshing an SAP system. The busi-
ness must rely on back-up or cloned
data until the database is completely
restored, and the data is not avail-
able to system users. Given the size of
Enbridge’s SAP systems — 6TB for
SAP ERP, 3TB for SAP CRM, and
6TB for SAP NetWeaver BW —
restoring a system after a backup
could take anywhere from 12 to 20
hours, which could translate into an
equivalent system outage of 15 to
20 hours. Also, the refresh is per-
formed over the network to an offsite
location, which excludes the options
for fast data cloning methods such
as mirroring.
in refreshing an SAP system. The busi-
ness must rely on back-up or cloned
data until the database is completely
restored, and the data is not avail-
able to system users. Given the size of
Enbridge’s SAP systems — 6TB for
SAP ERP, 3TB for SAP CRM, and
6TB for SAP NetWeaver BW —
restoring a system after a backup
could take anywhere from 12 to 20
hours, which could translate into an
equivalent system outage of 15 to
20 hours. Also, the refresh is per-
formed over the network to an offsite
location, which excludes the options
for fast data cloning methods such
as mirroring.
“There was nothing we could do
about the time it takes to restore, but
what we could do is not equate that
restore time to an outage time,” says
Wilson. Her SAP Basis team, along
with the department’s UNIX team,
put their heads together and came
up with a creative homegrown solu-
about the time it takes to restore, but
what we could do is not equate that
restore time to an outage time,” says
Wilson. Her SAP Basis team, along
with the department’s UNIX team,
put their heads together and came
up with a creative homegrown solu-
to reduce the outage, coupled with
the Cisco Tidal Intelligent Automa-
tion application for SAP for the pre-
and post-processing.
the Cisco Tidal Intelligent Automa-
tion application for SAP for the pre-
and post-processing.
so that it restores to a location differ-
ent from what the users are access-
ing, and then we do a quick switch
when everything is ready so the out-
ent from what the users are access-
ing, and then we do a quick switch
when everything is ready so the out-
says Wilson. “There’s a very mini-
mal interruption to the users and they
always have what they need.”
mal interruption to the users and they
always have what they need.”