Change Analysis in SAP Solution Manager is based on the data of the configuration and change database (CCDB). Any change figures are stored in SAP NetWeaver BW, the configuration data itself is stored in the configuration stores of the CCDB.

The change analysis function provides an overview of the changes that have been applied to the managed systems and their product instances. You can access it from the Root Cause Analysis Group. It reports changes of configuration items of a system (for example, OS, DB, ABAP parameters, Java parameters, transport requests, and Support Packages) and serves as a central entry point for root cause analysis.

Change analysis helps you to keep track of the changes in your solution landscape. Your development system might behave differently than your production system. Or, J2EE instances of your productive system behave differently and you need to find out the reason. Therefore, regular snapshots of the configuration settings are taken and stored in the configuration and change database (CCDB) of SAP Solution Manager. With this information, the change analysis function enables you to identify the changes. The change analysis function provides the number of changes details and history of a changed item.

Figure Change Analysis Product Instance – Overview

The Overview Chart aggregates the number of changes per product instance, the table gives a more detailed view. If offers to jump directly to the items of a selected Config Store.

The tab strips e.g. FBT – Application Server ABAP group the changes related to topics like ‘Security', ‘Software Maintenance', ‘Parameter', ‘Transport Requests', ‘SAP Notes' and ‘Miscellaneous':

Figure: Change Analysis Product Instance – Application Server ABAP

The groups are related to the system type like ABAP or JAVA.

To get the details activate the tab strip e.g. ‘Parameter', find the number of changes and click on the Config Store (ABAP_INSTANCE_PAHI in our example) or the figure.

Figure: Change Analysis Product Instance – Application Server ABAP – Parameter

The items and their current and former values are displayed in Change Reporting:

Figure: Change Analysis Product Instance – Change Reporting