Security and configuration governance across a hybrid SAP landscape is a complex, continuous responsibility. SAP Cloud ALM addresses this directly through its Operations work centre– a central hub for monitoring the health, performance, and security posture of your entire SAP landscape. One of the most strategically important applications within that work centre is Configuration & Security Analysis (CSA). This post walks through every part of the Data Stores application – what each tab does, how data collection works, and how to get your systems connected.
Configuration & Security Analysis in the Context of SAP Cloud ALM Operations
SAP Cloud ALM is structured around three primary work centres: Implementation, Operations, and Administration. The Operations work centre is where your day-to-day monitoring and observability capabilities live.
Configuration & Security Analysis sits within the Operations work centre as the dedicated capability for collecting, tracking, and validating the technical configuration state of your SAP systems and cloud services. It is deeply integrated into how SAP Cloud ALM provides a unified, centralised operations view across your landscape.
SAP describes the key capabilities of Configuration & Security Analysis within Operations as:
- Unified configuration visibility – explore technical configuration items in Store Browser, review evaluated changes and monitor managed system status in the Administration view.
- Continuous change detection – configuration changes are automatically tracked and available for analysis after each daily collection.
- Compliance validation – configuration data is evaluated against SAP Security Recommendations and customer-specific checks.
Configuration & Security Analysis builds on the same proven concepts from SAP Solution Manager and SAP Focused Run – the Configuration and Change Database (CCDB), Configuration Stores, and change tracking – now delivered natively in the cloud through SAP Cloud ALM’s Operations platform.
The Two Configuration & Security Analysis Applications in the Operations Work Center:
- Configuration & Security Analysis – Data Stores – Collect, browse, search, and track configuration data
- Configuration & Security Analysis – Validation – Evaluate collected data against security checks and policies
This is a technical separation for navigational clarity, not a split into separate products. Both apps share the same roles, authorization scope, and underlying CCDB. You can also access Validation from within the Data Stores app. This guide focuses on the Data Stores application.
What is a Configuration Store?
Before diving into the tabs, it helps to understand the core concept. A Configuration Store is a container in the CCDB that holds configuration data of the same semantics, for example – all ABAP profile parameters, or all BTP security recommendation settings for a specific service. These stores are the foundation for everything the Operations work centre’s Configuration & Security Analysis capability does – from browsing and searching, to tracking changes and running compliance checks.
The Application Tabs – What Each One Does
1. Home (Overview)
It provides a card-based overview of all managed components in your selected scope. The cards visible reflect your users last scope selection. Each card shows:
- Component name and service type
- Data quality status – last collection health (success, warning, error)
- Number of available Configuration Stores
- Check Results and Compliance Score from the Validation relevant to that managed object
Selecting a card header takes you directly into the Store Browser for that system.
The Home page gives your operations team the fastest way to spot systems with data quality issues or low compliance scores making it the ideal daily starting point for configuration governance routines.
2. Store Browser
The heart of configuration visibility in Operations.
The Store Browser shows all Configuration Stores for a selected managed component, grouped by system or service type. It is where the raw configuration data collected by the Operations platform becomes visible and actionable:
- First collection and latest collection timestamps per store
- Drill-down into individual configuration items and their current values
- Snapshot-based item history – so you can trace how a value evolved over time since its initial upload
Configuration Stores cover a wide range of configuration items – ABAP profile parameters, software component versions, BTP service configurations, identity settings, security recommendation data, and more.
Main event types and their meaning:
- INITIAL – First time this item was collected in CCDB
- UPDATED – A subsequent modification to an existing item
- ADDED – A new item added after the initial collection
Use this Store Browser tab when: You need to inspect the exact technical state of a system – for example, verifying a profile parameter value, reviewing the software component levels, or checking BTP service security configurations as part of an operational review.
3. Changes
Change tracking/analysis of your configuration landscape for selected scope and timeframe
Changes Tab tracks what changed and when in a selected calendar time window for both security operations and audit readiness.
Key capabilities:
- All security recommendation changes are automatically captured and logged here.
- Navigate into the full item history for a granular change trail.
- Configuration item changes are categorized by different event types.
The main event types are:
- DELETED – The item was not collected in the next run
- UPDATED – A subsequent modification to an existing item
- ADDED – A new item added after the initial collection
- If the exact change timestamp is unknown, the system uses the detection time based on snapshot comparison.
- The Stores table and individual change entries can be downloaded for audit purposes.
Use this Changes tab when: You need to investigate whether a configuration change caused an operational incident, or to produce an audit trail of all configuration modifications across your monitored landscape.
4. Search
Search capability for pattern-based browsing into configuration items of selected scope.
The Search tab allows you to query configuration data across all connected systems and services by field values and text patterns. Search operates on column contents and field values (not column names).
Use this Search tab when: You want to identify matches in the landscape to a certain search criteria, perhaps you need to identify all systems where a specific parameter is misconfigured, or when you want to quickly locate all instances of a specific security recommendation across your landscape – without opening each system individually.
5. Validation – Automated Compliance Checking Against Security Standards
Where raw configuration data becomes a compliance verdict.
The Validation tab within the Configuration & Security Analysis – Data Stores application is your embedded gateway to compliance evaluation without needing to navigate away to a separate application. It evaluates the configuration data collected across your managed systems and services against SAP-defined and customer-defined security checks, and presents the results as clear compliance scores and statuses. Refer link for Validation application.
6. Administration
Health monitoring for your data collection.
The Administration tab is where you manage and verify the data collection layer that feeds all Configuration & Security Analysis capabilities. This is important from a data quality perspective.
It shows:
- Overall status of system about the configuration stores.
- Whether stores are correct (data is reliable for validation purposes), have errors/info, or are still empty
- Individual store status and the configuration error
- Processor status
If a data quality issue is evident, use the return code message in conjunction with SAP Note
3291964 – SAP Cloud ALM Troubleshooting – Configuration & Security Analysis
Use this Administration tab when: A system is missing from the overview, stores are empty, collection is stale, or you need to onboard a new system into Configuration & Security Analysis monitoring.
7. Alerting Tab – Centralised Alert Management for Configuration Issues
A single view of all active configuration and security alerts across your landscape.
The Alerting tab is where all alerts generated by the events configured in Configuration & Security Analysis – Validation application, triggered either by compliance violations or configuration store changes are surfaced and managed. It provides operations teams with a centralised, actionable list of open issues that require attention, directly within the SAP Cloud ALM Operations work centre.
Alerting Tab displays a list of active alerts with the following key columns:
| Column | Description |
| Alert Name and Message | The name and description of the alert — typically the check name and description as provided by the user |
| Managed Components | The system(s) or service(s) affected by the alert |
| Object Details | Additional context about the specific configuration object that raised the alert |
| Worst Rating | The severity of the alert — indicated visually |
| Last Changed On | The date and time when the alert was last updated or modified |
| Status | Current lifecycle status of the alert (e.g. Open, Confirmed, In Process) |
| Managed Component Status | The overall health status of the managed system associated with the alert |
| Processor | The person or team currently assigned to handle the alert |
How Alerts Are Generated
Alerts in Alerting tab originates from the Events configuration (refer link for configuring events). They are raised when:
- A validation check evaluates a system as non-compliant against a defined policy.
- The content of a Configuration Store changes — for example, a profile parameter is modified or a new configuration item is added unexpectedly.
From the screenshot, you can see examples of real-world alerts:
- Global Change Options (SE06) — flagged as critical, status Open.
- Profile Parameter: login/no_automatic_user_sapstar = 1 , a security-relevant parameter check flagged multiple times across different systems, all showing a critical worst rating and Open status.
Supported Event Actions
- Confirm -> Acknowledging the alert. Confirming the alert ensures the next evaluation uses current data
- Processor-> Assign or reassign the alert to a specific owner or team for follow-up
Alert Lifecycle in Operations
Alerts in Configuration & Security Analysis follow the standard SAP Cloud ALM alert lifecycle within the Operations work center :
- Open — Alert has been raised and is awaiting action.
- Confirmed — Alert has been acknowledged; a fresh data collection is triggered automatically.
- In Process / Assigned — A processor has been assigned and is working on the issue.
- Closed — The underlying issue has been resolved and the alert is no longer active.
Use this Alerting tab when: You want a consolidated, real-time view of all open configuration and security violations across your monitored landscape without navigating into individual stores or checks. It is the primary tab for daily operations triage and for ensuring configuration issues are assigned, tracked, and resolved within your defined SLA.
How Data Collection Works in the Operations Platform
The Configuration & Security Analysis capability relies on a daily, automated data collection cycle.
Here are the answers to the most common questions:
Q: Can I manually trigger a manual data collection after making changes?
No. Manual triggering is not available. Data is collected automatically once per day at a fixed time, set by when the data was first pushed from the managed system. Collection frequencies are fixed and cannot be customized.
Q: How long until changes appear in the Operations dashboard?
Up to 24 hours. Any configuration change made after the daily collection window will only be visible in the Configuration & Security Analysis Data Stores app after the next scheduled run.
Q: What types of changes are captured?
All security recommendations referenced in the link are automatically pushed to SAP Cloud ALM Configuration & Security Analysis application and captured in the Changes tab of the Configuration & Security Analysis – Data Stores application. Changes are classified as INITIAL, UPDATED, or ADDED – and each item supports full history navigation.
Q: What is the data retention period?
By default, 30 days. This can be extended up to 20 years for audit and compliance purposes via the housekeeping settings in the Administration section.
Setting Up Configuration & Security Analysis on ABAP Systems (SAP S/4HANA & SAP Business Suite 7)
To appear in the Configuration & Security Analysis application, your ABAP systems must be connected and configured correctly as per Configuration & Security Analysis Setup.
For SAP Cloud Services, no special prerequisites are required – simply toggle monitoring ON in the Administration tab using the Configuration (cog) icon.
For ABAP on-premise and private cloud systems, setup is performed via Transaction `/n/SDF/ALM_SETUP`:
- Ensure /SDF/ALM_SETUP is correctly configured and Configuration Monitoring is flagged Active.
- Wait up to 24 hours for the first daily data push to complete.
- In SAP Cloud ALM, navigate to Operations → Configuration & Security Analysis – Data Stores → Administration – the system should appear with its collection status.
- Once data is collected, the system will also be visible in Operations → Configuration & Security Analysis – Validation for compliance evaluation.
- If the system does not appear after 24 hours, verify background user roles via SU01 on the managed system and check the Administration tab for collection errors.
Technical Prerequisites & Required Roles
Please refer to help:
- https://help.sap.com/docs/cloud-alm/setup-administration/setting-up-managed-systems
- https://support.sap.com/en/alm/sap-cloud-alm/operations/expert-portal/configuration-security-analysis/csa-setup.html?isu_page=1
Summary
Configuration & Security Analysis is a core pillar of the SAP Cloud ALM Operations work center – providing the foundation for continuous configuration visibility, change tracking, and security compliance across your entire SAP landscape, from on-premises ABAP systems to BTP cloud services.
Within the Operations processes, the Configuration & Security Analysis Data Stores application gives your teams:
- A daily, automated configuration snapshot of every connected system
- Full change history with categorised event types
- Cross-landscape search across all configuration stores
- Data quality monitoring for the collection layer itself
- A direct bridge to the Configuration & Security Analysis Validation capability for compliance scoring
The key principles to keep in mind: collection is automated and runs once daily, changes take up to 24 hours to appear, and correct ST-PI levels with proper authorisations are essential for ABAP system activation.
You below link helps you getting deeper insights to Configuration & Security Analysis.
- SAP Cloud ALM for Operations
- Configuration & Security Analysis Application Help — SAP Help Portal
- Configuration & Security Analysis Setup Guide — SAP Support Portal
- Setting Up Managed Systems — SAP Help Portal
- Exploring Configuration and Security Analysis in SAP Cloud ALM – IT Admin perspective — SAP Community
- What’s New in Configuration & Security Analysis — SAP Community
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