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LandscapeDescriptionsinGeneralWhyTheyar...|SCN

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wolf.hengevoss

LandscapeDescriptionsinGeneralWhyTheyare
ImportantandWhatMakesaGoodOne
PostedbyWolfHengevossinwolf.hengevossonAug26,20114:51:41AM
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Introduction
Landscapedescriptionsarewhatyouneedtofindyourdestinationwhentravelingorwhenaddressingsystemsin
applicationlifecyclemanagement.Letstaketheexampleofamap,whichis,indeed,alandscapedescription.The
followingthoughtsmightsoundsimplebutmighthelptobetterunderstandthewholeapproach.

ScaleandDetailandConnectiontoReality
Firstimportantthought:Amapisnot1:1inscalethiswouldntbeofmuchuse.Anylandscapedescriptiononlyshows
thosethingsthatareprobablyimportantforyou,whiletheordinarymeterisshowninfractionsofaninch.Ontheother
hand,thingslikeanimportantbuildingoftenareshownin3Dplaceinacityinasizethatishundredsoftimesbigger
thaninreality.Somethings,evenimportantones,aremissingonthemapeveniftheyexistwhileothersmaybepure
invention.

Figure1:Amapoftheworldasshowninearliertime.Inthisverysimple,mapmuchdetailismissing,soitsobviously
notderiveddirectlyfromreality,butitsimportanttonote,thatthiswillstillhelpyoufindCityBwhentravelingfromCity
A.
AlandscapedescriptionintheSAPSolutionManagerisnotfundamentallydifferent.Ofallthetonsofdatainyour
landscape,merelysomesystemmetadataareshown,someveryimportantconnectionsandpartsareshown.

1stConclusion
Landscapedescriptionsarenotthereality,butcanhelpyoufindyourwayinreality.

Reliability
Soevenifamapisonlyadescriptionofreality,youuseittoplanrealsteps.WhenColumbussetoutforhisfamous
journey,hehadanewideaofamapinmindbuthefailedtofindIndia,duetoanerrorinthescaleheestimated.(He
wasluckyenoughtofindawholenewcontinent,butchancesareyouwouldntbeasluckywhenrelyingonamapof
insufficientquality.)
Amapisnottherealityitself:evenifitisveryeasytodraworerasethebluelinethatsymbolizesariver(notbeinga
river)onamap,thiswillnotcreateordryoutanyriverinthecountryside(orlandscape)butifyourestandingatits
banksyoudbetterbepreparedorifyourethirstyandlookingforwateritdbetterbethere.Soevenifthemapisnot
thereality,itshouldcorrespondtorealityasexactlyaspossible.
Inearlydescriptions,impressionsofpeoplelikeMarcoPolothathavebeentravelingforyearsgavearoughpictureof
directionstotravelandwhattofind.Thisismuchbetterthannothingbutfarfromoptimal.
IfyoutaketheGooglemap,youwillfindamuchbetterrepresentationofreality.Whyisthis?Themaphasbeen
acquiredinanautomatedprocess,mainlystitchingsatellitepicturestogether,Iguess.
Theresult,whichismuchbetterthanthemapputtogetherbymanuallydrawingthemapbasedonstories,canthen,
beenrichedwithadditionaldatayouneed,suchascontinentorstreetnames.

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YoucanopenamapinGoogle(http://maps.google.com)andzoomoutcompletely.Youllgetavirtualfigure2this
cannotbeshowninastaticview,becausebeingupdatedregularlyisanimportantpartofit.
VirtualFigure2:AmodernmapoftheEarthpresentedbyGoogle.Thismuchbetterdescribesreality,butstill,whats
showninthemiddledependsonthepointofview,itsstillflatforconvenience,admittedly,andNorthAmericaor
Europewasaddedhelpful,butnottobefoundinthereallandscapeandzoomingindoesnotmakeAsiabigger.
WhathasbeensaidaboutmapsappliestothelandscapedescriptionoftheSAPSolutionManager,too.Trywhenever
possible,toreaddatafromthelandscapeitselfinsteadofcreatingthemmanually,tobecauseyouwillmakemistakes
inyourmanualdescription.Youwillstillnotgetreality,butabetterpictureofit.Also,youcancombinedifferenttypesof
datainyourdescription,enrichingautomaticallygathereddata.

2ndConclusion
Derivingdatadirectlyfromrealityisthebestapproachavailabletogetamap.Itdoesnothelptochangeyour
landscapedescriptiontochangethelandscape,butchangesinthelandscapemustbereflectedinthelandscape
description.Additionalinfocanbeadded.

UptoDatedness
EvenifyouseeasmallstreetonGooglesmap,itmighthavebeenreplacebyahighwayorwashedawaybyaflood
(and,muchmorelikelyyoullfindthiseffectonanyprintedmap).Soregularlycheckingthedescriptionespecially
whentravellingisagoodidea.Forthis,automatedprocessesaremuchbetterthanmanualrework.Sopictures
updatedall24hoursdirectlyfromeachsatellitewouldhelpyoueventotrackthestateofanyvolcanowhentravelling
toIceland.
AlsothiseffectcanbeseenintheITlandscapeandtheSAPSolutionManager:Systemsstartandshutdown,orget
newsoftwareversions.Allthisisimportanttoknowwhenusingthislandscape,soregularupdatesdefinitivelyareas
importantasfortraveling.Thetoolsyouneedtoretrievedataautomaticallyareavailable.

3rdConclusion
Usingautomaticallyandregularlyretrieveddataisthebestapproachtoknowthecurrentstateofanylandscape.

HowtoTravelSafelyintheITLandscape
Anexperiencedtravelerwillusethebestmaphecanget.Asinamapusedtoguideyourjourney,yourITlandscape
descriptionmustbecorrect,showingthedatayouneedinthestatethesystemsactuallyhave.Knowingthatyoucan
easilycreateanincorrectmapshouldmakeyoubeevenmorecarefullywhenworkingonyourlandscapedescription.
Anyerrormadeherewillmakeyourjourneycumbersome,difficultorevenfail.
Tohelpyoumakeyourselffamiliarwiththeentitiesyouneedtoknowasbeingimportant,thetoolsneededtoautomate
yourlandscapedescriptioncreationasmuchaspossible,andthestepsyouneedtoperform.Tolearnmore,followthe
linksprovidedonthelandscapedescriptionpageattheSDN:

Figure3:AsymbolizedITlandscapewithTechnicalSystems,SLD,andSAPSolutionManager
Anyeffortinvestedinunderstandingandimprovingthelandscapedescriptionusingtoolsandbestpracticesto
automatethecollectionofinformationwillpayoffinallprocessesyouneedtomanageinyourlandscape.

AdditionalInformation
Youllfindtheblogseriesandlinkstotoolsandapplicationdealingwiththemonadedicatedpagecalled
LandscapeDescriptionsattheSDN.

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