Mitigating mySAP ERP upgrade constraints and risks...

In the SAP world of today it's important to stay on top of the latest SAP releases. SAP's standard support for version 4.6c, which is the most common release, will expire 31st December 2006. For those companies who wish to embrace the compelling functionalities the new SAP releases offer, the time has come to begin the preparation for the major transition. Mandant's consultants have consistently been at the forefront of SAP upgrades, all the way from having completed the worlds first R/3 3.0 upgrade to currently assisting clients in ramp-up for ECC6.0.

A good point to note is that SAP has continued to refine the upgrade process, but nevertheless it inevitably remains a highly complex area, both from a technical perspective and in terms of potential business impact. The interdependencies between, and complexity of SAP applications and their underlying architecture has greatly increased over the last few years and has become an overwhelming challenge for even the most skilled SAP self-sufficient companies. One thing that will be indispensable in this process of Enterprise upgrades is some guidance from those who have travelled the road before.

Mandant's approach and focus is to minimise the pain associated with an upgrade project by taking responsibility for the whole process. However, we also understand the differing requirements of individual clients and remain flexible enough to be able to act in supporting roles, offering Ad Hoc expertise for planning and quality assurance as well as the provision of full project delivery. There are countless pitfalls and gotchas that will keep even the most experienced Basis administrators on their toes and knowledge of the entire SAP architecture will need to be called upon for troubleshooting the many encounters the upgrades will present. Having experience of the release you’re moving to will make a huge difference, both in terms of time and the bottom line, and as it’s a new release and new boards to walk, you’re unlikely to carry the skills or experience on your SAP team.

Mandant would begin by reviewing the source release system and devise an upgrade path to the target SAP release using the most pragmatic approach, be it direct or via a transitional system. In the case of more complex upgrades, where for example there may be database migrations such as Oracle 7 to Oracle 9, or hardware migrations - we will include this in the upgrade roadmap in such a way as to minimise risk and business impact. This is to ensure that the SAP system remains fully utilisable and supported throughout the entire project.

At the strategic level Mandant can help you to filter the SAP jargon minefield and offer practical guidance derived from real-world upgrade experience. This will help to identify an appropriate target release, what implications need consideration and what the difference means to your business. Our specialists will identify which components are mandatory and which are not required for your current and future business model. This will present ample opportunity to flag where the quick wins can be gained from the new release. The system landscape and architecture should be reviewed, not just the SAP element. This is done to identify critical dependencies and impact on other systems to ensure they will continue to co-exist post upgrade.

At the detailed level, Mandant can carry out as much up-front work as is possible to help minimise the impact of the upgrade. These include but are not limited to–

• Quick wins in archiving
• Identifying inconsistencies between development and production systems
• Reviewing bespoke developments/interfaces, determining which will need to be redeveloped and which can be taken forward

Mandant will ensure that as much preparatory work as possible is done to help simplify the upgrade process, minimise the downtime, project duration, cost and risk to your business. We will ensure there are no gaps in the project plan even down to generating a Solution Manager key where required.

* Why is the SAP Solution Manager necessary for the installation of/upgrade to mySAP ERP 2004? The SAP Solution Manager is the strategic application management platform for the collaboration between the customer and SAP. To ensure the availability of this application management platform a SAP Solution Manager system is technically required to perform any upgrade or installation of mySAP ERP 2004. During the installation process a SAP Solution Manager system is required to generate the “SAP Solution Manager Key” for the installation of/upgrade to mySAP ERP 2004. Without this key, the installation process cannot continue.

SAP system environments are increasingly complex: as the software evolves, the interdependencies grow and the complexity of each individual SAP upgrade project will vary considerably. Mandant will propose the best strategy for the organisation, be it a CBU (Customer Based Upgrade), a bespoke strategy, or even a migration - as an alternative to upgrading. We will ensure that your existing source release landscape remains available for the duration of the upgrade project, and introduce a change control strategy that ensures that there will be no unpleasant surprises when the productive system is upgraded for real.

Finally, on completing the upgrade Mandant will also leave you with a strategy and roadmap that will enable you to go forward with confidence. For example if you subsequently wish to use Web AS Java we will factor that and the hardware additions into our plan at the offset. Similarly if you require a UNICODE conversion we’ll include that in our upgrade roadmap too.

The Complete Upgrade Solution - Mandant has been at the forefront of delivering SAP upgrades for over a decade. From relatively minor to major upgrades; we have managed some truly complex scenarios and have a wealth of experience in dealing with every upgrade aspect across the whole of the SAP product set. We are currently involved with a number of SAP ECC5 and ECC6 upgrade projects and having worked on many project firsts over the last ten years we can often say what clients want to hear. “We’ve done that before so we know how it works.”

Contact Mandant to find out how we can help you to fast track your SAP upgrade.

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