Migration of SAP Systems to SAP HANA

Migration of SAP Systems to SAP HANA

Introduction

This document provides a starting point for the planning of your migration procedure of SAP systems to SAP HANA in an on-premise landscape. Beginning with an overview of available migration path options, we provide a general recommendation and further aspects and guidance how to identify the best procedure for your requirements. Take these aspects into the discussion with your cross-functional teams and use them as basis for an individual assessment based on the boundary conditions you are facing.

Overview of Migration Path Options

ABAP-Based SAP Systems

For the migration of ABAP-based SAP systems to SAP HANA, several migration path options are offered:

1. In case you want to change your existing solution landscape in the course of a migration project, there are several transformation offerings from SAP Landscape Transformation, where you install a new system for the transformation, such as performing a step-wise or partly migration of an SAP system or the consolidation of several systems into one system running on SAP HANA.
2. The classical migration of SAP systems to SAP HANA (that is, the heterogeneous system copy using the classical migration tools software provisioning manager 1.0 and R3load) is using reliable and established procedures for exchanging the database of an existing system - it is constantly improved especially for the migration to SAP HANA.
3. To further smooth the way to SAP HANA, SAP is providing a one-step procedure that combines system update and database migration for the migration to SAP HANA. This is provided with the database migration option (DMO) of Software Update Manager (SUM).

The options are outlined in an overview video. Spend 15 minutes to get a quick-start to the available migration options to SAP HANA for SAP ABAP systems:

Slides used during this video are also available as separate SCN document here.

In addition, see the corresponding End-to-End Implementation Roadmap guides that also outline available migration path options.

Java-Based SAP Systems

For Java-based SAP systems, the classical migration is available, as outlined above.

How to Choose the Right Option for You?

1. See the Standard Recommendation from SAP

Use the following recommendations as starting point for an individual assessment - that is, take the recommendation and relevant aspects into the discussion with your cross-functional teams and use them as basis for an individual assessment based on the boundary conditions you are facing.

For ABAP-based SAP systems, the following recommendation applies:

• The general recommedation is to use the database migration option of SUM, as it has become our standard procedure for migrations to SAP HANA - with it, you can profit from a simplified migration to SAP HANA, performed by one tool, with minimized overall project cost and only one downtime window.
• As reasonable alternative to our standard recommendation, in case the database migration option of SUM does not fit your requirements, consider to use the classical migration procedure with software provisioning manager, which is also continuously improved especially for the migration to SAP HANA. Reasons might be that the database migration option of SUM does not support your source release or if you prefer a separation of concerns over a big bang approach as offered by DMO of SUM.
• As possible exception, there are further migration procedures for special use cases, such as the consolidation of SAP systems in the course of the migration project or the step-wise migration to SAP HANA, as oultined above.

For Java-based SAP systems, use the classical migration approach (and skip step 2 below).

2. Individually Assess Your Situation

Based on the standard recommendation from SAP, find the best option depending on your individual requirements and the boundary conditions you are facing. To support you in this process, SAP provides a decision matrix in the End-to-End Implementation Roadmap for SAP NetWeaver AS ABAP guide (SMP login required), which is intended to highlight important aspects for your decision on the right migration procedure, including these key considerations (see the guide for the lastest version of the matrix) - the matrix is also described in this blog:

• What is the release and Support Package level of your existing SAP system? Is an update mandatory or desired as part of the migration procedure?
• Is your existing SAP system already Unicode?
• Do you plan any landscape changes - such as changing the SAPSID of your SAP system or the hardware of your application server - as part of the migration or do you rather prefer an in-place migration?
• Do you plan the migration of your complete system or a partial migration?
• Are your operating system and your database versions supported according to the Product Availability Matrix (PAM) of the target release or are corresponding updates required?
• Do you expect a significant downtime due to a large database volume?

All these aspects are reflected in the matrix, which is intended as a starting point for your individual assessment as outlined above.