What is an SAP SuccessFactors Release?
SuccessFactors is a Software as a Service (SaaS) offering from SAP. SAP SuccessFactors customers are using a common code base, hosted and managed by SAP. As part of the subscription, SAP provide updates to their HXM suite of applications as a product release.
Note: For the purposes of this blog post, I am explicitly excluding EC Payroll which has its own product update process (known as HR Support Packs “HRSP” – read more here).
How often do releases occur?
SAP SuccessFactors product releases occur twice a year; in April/June there is the first half release (1H) and in Oct/Nov there is the second half release (2H).
Note: Validated Learning instances only get an annual release so they can validate their software to a regulator – read more about this process in this SAP blog here and the latest release schedule here.
What are the upcoming SAP SuccessFactors Release dates for 2023?
| Release | Preview | Production |
| 1H 2023 | April 28, 2023 | June 02, 2023 |
| 2H 2023 | October 20, 2023 | November 17, 2023 |
Preview/Production – what is the difference?
SAP provides each customer with at least one non-productive instance in their “Preview” environment and at least one in their “Production” environment.
To enable customers to manage the release into their organisations, the SAP SuccessFactors release is applied to the Preview instances ~5 weeks before the Production instances. In this window, customers should review, and regression test the automatically available changes using test cases.
Customers will have their production instance in the Production environment and at least 1 non-production instance in the Preview environment. If you are using a 3 tier (or more) then your own strategy will determine whether you put the additional instances in the Preview or Production environment. I typically recommend your Test instance is in the Production environment so that you have a non-production instance on the same code base as your production instance at all times (for the purposes of BAU support).
Does that mean there are optional updates?
The same code base updates will be applied to all instances. However, within the release there will be different functionality & features that are either automatically available or require some positive action to enable (or occasionally, to disable). This distinction is communicated (from the 1H 2023 release onwards) in a filter called “Enablement”. The purpose of this value is to tell you about the time you need to invest to get value from the enhancement or new feature.
SAP’s own definition of the “Enablement” filter values is:
|
Value |
Definition |
Notes |
|
Automatically On |
The feature or enhancement is turned on in production environments at the Valid as Of date. No configuration is required. |
You get the value when it rolls to production by doing nothing, but you also cannot “configure it away” from your business. |
|
Customer Configured |
The feature or enhancement is available in production environments on the Valid as Of date, but it requires self-service enablement by the customer before it can be used |
Even if some parts of the feature or enhancement are automatically on, to get the full value of the feature we are describing, you have configuration work to do. |
|
Contact Enablement Partner |
The feature is turned off by default, and you need to contact your enablement partner to turn it on. |
Even if some parts of the feature or enhancement are automatically on, and other parts are customer configured, to get the full value, you must contact an enablement partner. |
|
Contact Product Support |
The feature is turned off by default, and you need to contact Product Support to turn it on. |
Even if some parts of the feature or enhancement are automatically on, customer configured, or require you to contact an enablement partner, you must also contact product support to get the full value. |
“Automatically On” features tend to not have a change management impact on end users; they might be minor improvements or adding an additional feature that might not be fundamental to a process, but useful. Other Enablement types, such as optional updates, are likely to have more of an impact and require some additional steps for you to activate, test and manage the change into your organisation.
Typically I find customers will review the optional features but leave their activation until the production environments have been upgraded and once they have had a chance to review with their business stakeholders.
Are these just “bug” fixes?
No, the release update is predominantly about bring new features and functionality to existing customers. However, the release update cycle also brings with it a host of “defects and customer-reported issues” as part of the release – these are called “Fixed Issues”. As an example, in the 1H 2022 release there were ~330 release updates and ~470 issues fixed.
Does everyone get the same updates? At the same time?
SAP SuccessFactors uses one code base for all customers. So in one sense, yes all customers get the updates at the same time (over the same release timeframe). To be more specific, all instances in the environment being updated (e.g. Preview / Production) get the same release update on the same upgrade date (subject to data centre locations & time zone).
What do SAP do to help me?
SAP, via the SAP SuccessFactors Community (login with S-User), provide a wealth of information about the overall process and ahead of each release, and for each release there is specific information released about that upcoming release such as:
- What’s New Viewer – online list with details of all elements in this release with notes, screenshots and sometimes video demos.
- Release Q&A Series – live sessions (also recorded) where product experts are available to answer questions (submitted in advance).
- Release Highlights (video and document) – High level summary of the key updates.
- Product Highlight – videos of the product highlights per product area
- Road to Release document – checklist of tasks, explanations of terms, timeline (the timeline also published as a standalone document – Release Timeline & Administrator Checklist One-Pager)
- Notable Fixed issues – list of bug fixes.
- Known Issues – if issues are identified in the release, they are published here to avoid the same issue being raised.
What should I be doing to prepare?
The “Road to Release” document contains a handy checklist and some guidance for administrators, which in summary says:
1. Learn what’s coming
2. Align Internally
3. Try out new features in your Preview environment
4. Carry out testing
5. Deploy and manage the impact of changes into your organisation
Personally, I’d split some of these activities and focus on “Automatically On” updates first; review, regression test and monitor the system around the production release upgrade. Once this is confirmed, review the optional features, align internally, activate those of interest and manage the impact of these changes into productive use.
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Where else can I get help?
SAP has a strong partner eco-system; some partners have stronger capability in different functional areas (Finance, Procurement, HR, etc.) and in different geographies. You can use the SAP Partner Finder to search by all these criteria.
Partners with a strong capability in HR will have SuccessFactors certified consultants and may already provide either general consulting support capability or a service specifically tailored to release management. Many of these specialist organisations also publish content or host webinars too.
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What do Zalaris offer?
Zalaris is an SAP gold partner focused on HR & Payroll solutions utilising SAP and SAP SuccessFactors. Zalaris is located in 13 European countries and in 3 APAC countries where our Professional Services consultants hold over 150 certifications in SAP SuccessFactors.
Existing Zalaris customers across our geographies are invited to Release Webinars at each SuccessFactors Release where we communicate the key elements of the release. This is part of a wider calendar of release updates across our solutions covering HR, Payroll (including legislative updates) and mobile applications.
We also publish (free for anyone) a set of articles for each SuccessFactors Release – one article per product area. These are written by our consultants and consolidated into an eBook which you can download and keep for future as a searchable reference. Find all our SuccessFactors articles by following this link.
Finally our Professional Services teams offer Consulting and Support services. As part of our support service for SAP SuccessFactors customers, we offer a release management service where we specifically tailor the content based on the customer’s solution & geographical spread. We then deliver that to your stakeholders in your organisation and enact the requested updates into your environment, managing them through to productive use.
If you want to know more about Zalaris’ capability around SAP SuccessFactors or our release management service, then please contact us on info@zalaris.com.