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SAP Technical Upgrade and SAP EHP - AFunctional Overview

SAP Technical Upgrade and SAP EHP - A Functional Overview

SAP Technical Upgrade is a periodic project that is implemented across companies to upgrade their SAPsystem to the latest released version. Most of the upgrade activities are done by the technical team and therole of functional consultants is limited and mostly confined to regression testing. This article

tries to provide a functional overview about technical upgrade and also covers the evolution of SAP technicalupgrade to Enhancement Packages concept. Reasons for SAP Technical Upgrade :

Since technology and businesses evolve, companies need to maintain a technological infrastructure thatcan support that change. This is the major reason why companies should undertake a technical upgrade oftheir SAP system. Of course there are many secondary reasons, the significant one being the fact that like allsoftware vendors SAP supports a released version of its software only for a limited period. Technical Upgrade vs Functional Upgrade : As the name implies, technical upgrade only upgrades the software to the latest version and the newfunctionalities that come with the new version are

not activated or implemented. Whereas in a functional upgrade, the functionalities offered by the new SAPversion are also implemented in addition

to technically upgrading the software. Steps in Technical Upgrade : 1. System preparation As the first step, the latest SAP version is installed on the hardware and all the general patchesup to the latest stack level are applied. All the

stack levels of various patches Basis, ABAP, XI etc should be brought up to the latest level sinceotherwise it may cause issues during the upgrade or

thereafter. 2. SPDD Phase


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Transaction codes SPDD and SPAU are the core of an upgrade project. In SPDD, the system compares all theABAP dictionary objects (data elements, database tables, structures) of the latest system with the old system.Here we have the option to choose the latest version of the object (Reset to Original) or to keep the changesmade in the previous system (Adapt Modification). Basically if the customer has made any modifications to theobjects in the old system and wants to retain it, he will choose Adapt Modification. Else, by choosing Reset

to Original, the system will overwrite the customer changes and will reset the objects to the latest standardversion. Thus this is one of the most important steps in the upgrade project. 3. Upgrade of the System After the SPDD activities are completed, the system is then upgraded - the old version is replaced by the newversion. 4. SPAU Phase

Transaction SPAU is similar to SPDD but the objects involved here are the Repository objects(Programs, Function Modules, Screens, Interfaces, Documentation and text elements). Here alsowe have to choose between Reset to Original or Adapt Modification. The SPAU activities can bedone either immediately after SPDD activities or after the Upgrade of the system. 5. Testing The major role for functional consultants in an upgrade project is during this Testing phase though their inputsare sought during SPDD and SPAU phases also. Testing strategy plays an important role in the success ofan upgrade project. Since it is not possible to virtually test every single transaction or business process in the

limited time available, care should be taken to test the critical processes so that the business continuity afterthe upgrade is ensured. Typical issues encountered during testing are short dumps, performance issues, variants for reports missing,not printing the smart forms correctly, etc. For most of the issues there will be corresponding SAP notesdetailing the solutions. In other cases the technical consultants may have to debug the corresponding programof the transaction or report not working correctly. As a good practice, the old production systems copy should be available till the new systemstabilizes after upgrade. This will facilitate troubleshooting of issues by comparing how atransaction worked in the old system if it is not working correctly in the new system. Z- Programs The number and size of custom modifications in the system determines the complexity of the upgrade project.Because many of the function modules and dictionary elements might have become obsolete and replacedby newer ones, the Z programs using the old functional modules and dictionary elements will not function


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correctly in the new system. Hence enough care should be taken to check and correct all the custom programsto ensure they are working as expected. 6. Post upgrade activities :

Some activities have to be executed manually in each system after upgrade since they cannot be included in aTransport Request. Eg. Regenerating ABAP queries after upgrade.

Terminologies used in SAP upgrade : Other terminologies that are associated with an upgrade project are briefly explained below. Freeze periods :

Change management is a critical challenge in an upgrade project. While the upgrade team is doing theremediations for the programs, tables, etc during the upgrade project, it becomes imperative that no freshdevelopments or changes occur in the system. But since an upgrade project can last several months basedon the system complexity and other factors, it is impossible to avoid developments altogether for such a longperiod. Hence an appropriate change management strategy should be defined that will restrict and regulate thechanges to the production system. Soft Freeze This phase extends from the start of the project till development system upgrade. Changes allowed during this

phase are : - Pre-approved corrections (to solve production problems)- Complete the final few critical ongoing change requests Hard Freeze This phase covers the period from development system upgrade till User Acceptance Test signoff. Allowedchanges during this phase are : - Only critical production issue resolution (License To Operate (LTO) / Priority 1 business stoppage issues) Deep Freeze This phase covers the period from UAT signoff till Go-Live. Absolutely NO changes are allowed during thisperiod. Dual Maintenance :


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During upgrade process, as described above, production support fixes and LTOs should go

through the landscape to the production system. But the upgraded development and test

systems should not be disturbed since that would affect the upgrade fixes and testing carried out

during the project. Hence the solution is to create a dual landscape to cater to this need. When the development system is taken out for upgrade, it should be copied to a new client and handed overto production support team so that Priority 1 and LTO fixes can be done here and transported through to theproduction system. Transport path also needs to be changed accordingly. Once the dual landscape is setup, care should be taken to maintain both landscapes in the same state till golive. Changes done in the old version landscape should be redone in the upgraded landscape also to ensureconsistency between the systems. Upgrade Strategy :

SAP offers different upgrade strategies to choose from. Upgrade project team should carefully evaluate theclient specific technical considerations and business needs before finalising on the strategy. i) Downtime-minimized strategy

Shorter production downtime Higher demand on system resources

This is the preferred strategy if the business cannot afford longer downtimes and if sufficient hardwareresources are available. ii) Resource-minimized strategy:

Lower demand on system resources Increased production downtime

This is the preferred strategy if the business has hardware resource constraints but can afford longerdowntime. Uptime and Downtime It must be noted that the SAP system need not be down during the entire upgrade process. Most of theprocessing steps that are part of the upgrade can be performed while the system is running. This is called asuptime.


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System is taken down only during that part of the upgrade process when live, running transactions have to bereplaced by new functionality since there is a potential risk for data inconsistency.

SAP Evolution of SAP Enhancement Packages

As we can see, SAP technical upgrade is a complex project and can last for months. Hence SAP has come upwith the Enhancements Package concept since the release of its ECC 6.0 version.

Todays enterprises do not wish to disturb the stability of their core processes often but they wantto innovate very often. Also, they do not want their system to be down for upgrade for a longtime. SAPs Enhancement Package concept exactly meets this demand. SAP now delivers evolutionary as well as breakthrough innovations in shipments that haveminimal negative impact on the customers operation and

business. Smaller roundoffs to the existing applications will be delivered using the SAP Notesservice or Support Packages and Innovations that are deeply

interwoven with the core applications will be delivered as enhancement packages or add-ons.
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SAP Thus the EHP concept reduces the conflict between Stability and Innovation. It delivers innovation on timewithout disrupting the stability.

1. Innovation : Fast and easy introduction of business innovation at any time when needed2. Stability : Stable and robust business processes ; Routine deployment of support packages to sustain

compliance

What are Enhancement Packages? Optionally installed and activated software innovations for SAP ECC 6.0

Software innovations include user interface simplifications, functional enhancements and Enterpriseservices

SAP enhancement packages are built on top of each other; Installation of latest EHP willautomatically get all functionalities delivered

with previous EHPs Enhancement packages are not support packages; Support Packages contain corrections and legal

changes

EHPs initially introduced for ERP and the story continues


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SAP

Features of Enhancement Packages : 1. Selective Installation :

Each enhancement package contains new versions of existing software components Customer can choose to update only those software components which are related to the

functionality that he wants to use

After installation:

No user interface or process change until a Business Function is activated One common regression test for both Support Pack and Enhancement Package

2. Selective Activation

New functionality must be explicitly switched on to become active in the system

If activated:

Changes are predictable, only well described changes in the activated areas Testing is simplified with templates, provided for every Business Function


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SAP

Advantages of EHP

1. Gain stability and access to innovation2. Upgrade only the enhancements applicable to your business3. Reduce risk and downtime4. Speedy implementation and less Testing. While the average project duration for an upgrade is 21 weeks,

the average duration for EHP installation is only 7 weeks.5. Reduced training effort

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