Addressing the SAP Data Migration Challenges with SAP Netweaver XI

Transcription

1 Addressing the SAP Data Migration Challenges with SAP Netweaver XI Executive Summary: Whether it is during the final phases of a new SAP implementation, during SAP upgrades and updates, during corporate restructurings, or during mergers and acquisitions, data migration continues to remain a challenging problem for IT. Exchange Infrastructure (XI), SAP s flagship business process and application integration solution can help address many of Data Migration challenges in SAP environments. Table of Contents 1. SAP Data Migration Current Situation Desired Situation for SAP Data Migration Data Migration Techniques and Interfaces Data Migration between SAP Systems using XI SAP to SAP Data Migration Assessment Prototype using XI... 6

2 1. SAP Data Migration Current Situation Data migration or data conversion is a persistent issue facing most organizations who have implemented SAP. Whether it is during the final phases of a new SAP implementation, during SAP upgrades and updates, during corporate restructurings, or during mergers and acquisitions, data migration continues to remain a challenging problem for IT. Most data migration projects are faced with a time and budget crunch. But, these projects usually require extensive support from programmers and other technical experts and therefore data migration projects tend to get expensive and time-consuming. The traditional tools for data transfer and data migration provided by SAP are very technical and have a steep learning curve associated with them. This leads to escalation of migration project time and costs. 2. Desired Situation for SAP Data Migration An ideal data migration scenario would let the data migration project be implemented by the business analysts and functional consultants themselves. Such users should have the ability to transfer and migrate data themselves without heavily relying on technical experts. Such a scenario would significantly cut the time and effort required in a data migration project. Reaching such an ideal scenario would require data migration mechanisms and tools that are easy to learn and require no programming. Furthermore, these tools should work across all the different SAP modules and the SAP products, including the different versions of SAP.

3 Such mechanisms and tools are expected to: Save time and resources during data migration projects. Make the SAP business-users and functional analysis more self-sufficient by reducing their dependence on valuable IT/IS resources. Save IT resources by significantly reducing custom programming efforts. Use the same tool for many applications and projects. Maximize the return on investment. Use of SAP Netweaver XI, SAP s flagship data and business process integration product, can help fill in the existing gaps and simplify the migration tasks to a significant extent. 3. Data Migration Techniques and Interfaces SAP offers multiple options for data migration. Judicious use of these techniques and interfaces need to be made depending upon the migration requirements. A brief description is provided below. SAP Migration / Interface Technique Business Application Programming Interface (BAPI) / RFC Intermediate Document (IDOC) Data Migration Interface (DMI) Batch Input Processing Read Write Description X X Library of standard SAP interfaces that are Remote Function Call (RFC) enabled Able to move data into and out of SAP Useful in data migration scenarios to do prevalidation, or look-ups, of legacy data against the SAP application x x Standard SAP data structures for common business entities, such as material master or purchase order Supports integration of both transactional and master data Although based on asynchronous data integration, IDOC, via SAP s Application Link Enabling (ALE) protocol, can support near real time data movement as well as larger batches of data x SAP certified interface tailored for SAP data migration Includes SAP delivered programs for the most common master and transactional data needed in any SAP data migration project Programs require data in a valid and well-formed flat file Programs support a combination of batch and direct input of data into SAP x Common method of moving data into SAP Programmatically automates and mimics processing data in the same fields and screens an online user would step through in a given SAP

4 Direct Input Processing Migration Workbench (LSMW) Computer Aided Testing Tool (CATT) transaction x x SAP supported technique of writing data directly to the database layer of an SAP system Unlike Batch Input, does not walk through the entire SAP transaction logic Contains SAP application validation checks Should be considered if throughput from Batch Input is not sufficient x x SAP tool that helps migration teams orchestrate data migration processes Able to schedule and run techniques listed above, such as BAPI, IDOC, or DMI processes to load data into SAP Supports both Batch Input as well as Direct Input Techniques x Tool that supports the testing of an SAP business process While designed for recording and automating QA test scenarios, it can be used to load data into an SAP production environment Web Services X X Web Services are open standards based encapsulated functionalities which can be invoked using open protocols like HTTP. SAP XI Solution can directly use BAPI, RFC and IDOC interfaces apart from other sources like File and databases. 4. Data Migration between SAP Systems using XI SAP Netweaver XI is SAP s flagship product for data and business process integration. It enables you to connect SAP and non-sap products having different versions and implemented in different programming languages (Java, ABAP etc) to each other. SAP Exchange Infrastructure is based on an open architecture uses open standards and offers integration services that are essential in a heterogeneous and complex system landscape: Modeling and design of data types, transformations, and mappings Configuring and establishing communication between SAP and non-sap systems Adapter Engine for integrating heterogeneous system components (XI has adapters for BAPI, RFC, IDOC, File, Databases and other types of interfaces) Runtime for business process management Central monitoring for monitoring message flow and processes SAP XI can be effectively utilized for data migration in SAP environments due to the inherent capabilities of its components which include Integration Repository, Integration Directory, System Landscape Directory and Runtime Workbench.

5 XI Components for modeling and execution of data migration and business process execution are shown below: Integration Repository contains the data types, data flow directions, mappings and transformations and specific conversions. Integration Directory maintains the technical communications between SAP-SAP and non-sap systems. System Landscape Directory captures the details regarding systems involved in data migration and process integration scenario. Integration Server executes the data transfers and business process integration. Migrating data from source SAP system to destination SAP system using XI The data can be extracted from source SAP system, transformed and loaded into target SAP system using SAP XI along with a suitable combination of other SAP migration techniques and mechanisms. Extraction: The data is extracted from SAP system using interfaces viz., BAPI, RFC and IDOCs in SAP XI. Depending upon the need, this data may be stored in a staging database or directly populated into target SAP system.

6 Transformation and Conversions: Using SAP XI Mapping Editor, Mapping Templates and Adapters. Loading: Using BAPI, RFC, IDOC interfaces in SAP XI. In normal SAP data migrations, some of the key data objects which ought to be transferred include: 1. G/L account master 2. Cost Elements 3. Material master 4. Bill of Materials 5. Vendor master 6. Customer master 7. Routings/Task Lists 8. Purchase information records 9. Condition records (pricing) 10. Purchase requisitions 11. Open sales orders 12. Accounting documents (open A/R and open A/P invoices) 13. Stocks Each use case can be evaluated and suitable mix of migration techniques can be decided to achieve successful migration. SAP XI can play a significant role in data migration by virtue of being SAP s own data and process integration product. Key Benefits of XI oriented data migration approach Application-layer data integration between SAP systems Real-time integration of data between SAP and other data sources Bi-directional access to SAP via BAPI and ALE/IDOC interfaces to facilitate synchronization activities Automated metadata synchronization with SAP applications for documenting, accessing, and reusing metadata via a single repository 5. SAP to SAP Data Migration Assessment Prototype using XI The desired approach to SAP Data Migration using XI would be doing an Assessment Prototype which is described below. Such prototype will pave the way to successful execution of the migration projects. Business Value of this Prototype Migrating the SAP data can be a challenging and expensive proposition. The Data Migration Assessment can help us understand the challenges of SAP data migration, how to mitigate the risks, value of SAP XI in such requirements and effectively scope and plan SAP data migration projects to be able to complete them on time, within scope, and on budget. The Data Migration Assessment can prepare us for large migrations by demonstrating how to execute a best practices-based data migration using SAP XI and other related migration techniques.

7 This assessment intends to use a sample data migration project as a prototype. Multiple source data sets from SAP system(s) are loaded into a target system using a pre-built development and test strategy. Data profiles, standard exception reports, migration mappings, and an evaluation report will be created. Deliverables At the conclusion of the Data Migration Assessment, an Evaluation Report is prepared. The Evaluation Report: Documents common data problems and provides specific examples found in the specific migration engagement. Demonstrates common mapping problems. Outlines probable project management challenges. Documents a data migration strategy for customer landscape so as to make the next data migration a success. Shows the value of XI in SAP data migration. We recommend assessing the value of SAP XI in Data Migrations by doing a prototype project. For more details, visit Sappers IMII Online