ExperienceEfficient & SmootherSoH Migrations

The word “Migration” is widely heard & used in the SAP customer space. Migrations take place due to various reasons. While some customers decide on migrations due to the growth in complexity, some reason out the need for higher performance systems and others quote the organization strategy. Many a times, the migrations and upgrades are perceived to be the same, though they are different. We outlined various types of migrations, how they are different from upgrades and key drivers for migrations. This document is not aimed at makingconclusions on any vendor/product. This is purely based on our experiences while implementing SAP migrations.

What is a Migration?Migrations are not upgrades. Migrations are not transformations. As the name indicates, migrations are taken to change the environment. While the word environment leaves an open space, we typically denote it in three dimensions -Technology, Hardware & Application.Migrations are taken up by the customers for one or more of the following reasons: Optimize the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Improved performance of the hardware or application Enhanced / Expanded Landscape Better support from the vendors Need for a different Operating System, for strategic reasons at the customers’ organizationWhile every migration does not result in all the above advantages, the benefits / drivers depend on the nature / type of migration. The organizations needs coupled with the challenges being faced, technological advancements, current vendor’s performance and most importantly, maturity of the organization in terms of using technology for the business growth result in the strategy of the overall roadmap and the migrations that take place.Types of MigrationsSAP Technical Migrations, broadly, can be classified into 4 types. 1. Hardware Migrations 2. OS Migration 3. Database Migration 4. SoH MigrationWhile the first three are purely technical in nature, SoH migration is slightly different from the remaining. We tried to attempt to explain more about each of the migrations, keeping the overall explanation simple.Hardware MigrationHardware migration is the process of moving an Application from one operating environment to another operating environment. Examples include: Moving an Application from a P5 Series Server to New P7 Series Server Moving an Application from an Itanium Architecture to X64 ArchitectureWhile each partner has a model or process to take up the HW migration, typically in an SAP environment, the Hardware Migration is done through Standard SAP SWPM Utility (System Copy which exports the source system data to Target System Data).One question that arises is when such migrations normally take place. Some scenarios are: In general, most of the Hardware Migrations happen due to ageing servers Expiry of support for the current hardware by the hardware vendor Not meeting desired output with respect to the performance Architectural (or) technical advancements in other areas that mandate new hardware, like conversions from 32-bit architecture to 64-bit architecture Need for higher storage systems due to the growing data volumes and the increased load on the systemsThere can be several other reasons in addition to the above, but the most common ones are mentioned here. OS (Operating System) MigrationOperating System migration is the process of moving (DB/Application) from the one operating System to another operating system. Examples of such migrations include: Migrating from IBM AIX to SUSE Linux Migrating from Windows 2008 R2 to HP-UXSince we are focusing on the migrations in SAP, we are limiting the current context to SAP. In SAP, the Operating System Migration is done through Standard SAP SWPM Utility (System Copy which exports the source system data/Application from ExistingOperating System to Target Operating System). Each customer has a preference of the OS and there is no definite answer to the question on what OS one should choose. The decision on selecting a particular OS depends on the IT strategy of the organization. However, some of the factors (or) thoughts that lead to an OS migration are: Licensing Cost and also the costs associated with the surrounding applications in the overall landscape. This is seen from both capital costs & the associated operational (or recurring) costs The ability of the OS to handle / host / sustain the high end applications that run for years to come Security features that the OS can support(like single-sign-on /SSO) Architectural requirements that mandate changes in the underlying OS, like need to move to a 64-bit OS from a 32-bit OS SAP’s support mechanism for OS on specific hardware changes

DB (Database) MigrationDatabase Migration is about moving the SAP Application environment from existing database to a new database, without impact-ing the functionality and without incurring data losses. Various data migration procedures are followed to achieve the migration part. Examples include: Migrating Oracle to Sybase ASE Migrating from DB2 to MS SQL DatabaseDB Migration in SAP is done using the standard SAP SWPM utility. In this procedure, system exports the data in the form of data-base independent flat files at OS level, from there the files are imported to the target database.DB Migration typically takes place to: Technical & Architectural related decisions On the TCO basis of the existing DB (or) the new DB Performance related reasonsSoH (Suite on HANA) MigrationIn a simpler terminology, SoH Migration is a combination of DB Migration, OS Migration, HW Migration and Upgrade. While the customer environment will decide whether all the above migrations are required or not, Upgrade and DB migration are needed in all cases. Basic Concept of SoH Migration is to migrate the existing SAP ERP Database to HANA Database, resulting in better performance among many business areas.

As HANA is the latest SAP offering, migrating the database alone will not suffice the need and thus we need to technically upgrade the SAP System to SAP ERP 6.0 EhP6 (atleast) to support the HANA Database. So, it is completely different from other types of Migration as it includes DB Migration as well as Version Upgrade or Version Update.

As the system will be upgraded to latest version there are some limitations for the support on the architecture front. For example, SAP ERP 6.0 EhP7 does not support Linux on Power Machines. Due to this, SoH Migration sometimes might include Hardware Migration as well as OS Migration. SoH Supports only the below platforms AIX on Power Architecture (PPC64) HPUX on Itanium Architecture (IA64) Solaris on Sun Architecture (SPARC) Windows, Linux on X86 Architecture (X86_64)

Example: The existing SAP ERP 6.0 Landscape is running on Linux on Power Machines, then if they want to migrate to SoH, they need to migrate to AIX on Power (change of OS) or Linux on X86 (change of hardware). We need to follow different mechanisms for SoH migration based on points like whether it includes any platform change or not.If there is no platform change and the current architecture supports latest EhP7, then SoH migration can be done using SUM DMO Tool, which includes Upgrade/Update and Database Migration together.HW Migration Needed if the customer is moving to a new HW Also calls for OS Migration / Upgrade OS Migration requirement is based on the combination of underlying platform changes

Technical Upgrade Environment needs to be on SAP ECC6 EhP7 (latest as on date) If customers are on ECC6 already, then they need EhP update If customers are on lower versions than ECC6, then upgrade to ECC6 EhP7 is needed

DB Migration If the application servers do not change, then DB migration takes place automatically using SUM DMO tool If application servers change, then DB migration needs to be done manually using SWPM tool

SoH Migrations enriches the complete functionality of the existing SAP and it opens new doors for many new features like HANA Live, Smart Business, SAP FIORI etc.The main drivers for SoH migration will be the technological advantages and functional advantages. Technological Advantages like Database Size Compression(up to 5 times), High Speed Database as it is In-Memory Database can be realized post migration

vCentric Technologies (P) Limited, 43/A, MLA Colony, Road No. 12, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad - 500 034 A.P., IndiaTel: +91.40.4455 9999 Email: suiteonhana@vcentric.com Website: www.vcentric.com

Migrations - Misconceptions

While migration is considered as a change, for definite improvement areas and considerable changes, most often one ambiguity still exists in the minds of the SAP users is the differentiation between “Migrations” and “Upgrades”. While the intent of this information is not to compare or differentiate between these two aspects, we would like to point out that:

Migrations are more technical in nature (though SoH Migration is an exception) Migrations, especially, OS, DB and Hardware migrations do not enrich the functionality of the systems Migrations are IT driven, usually to realize better Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

Scenario Pre-Requisites Timeline Pricing

EhP Update + HANA (DB)Migration

1. Current Environment must be on SAP ECC6.02. Current platform must support EhP73. HW environment will continue as-is 8 weeks Rs. 17,25,000

HW Migration + EhP Update +HANA (DB) Migration

1. Current Environment must be on SAP ECC6.02. Current platform must support EhP7 10 weeks Rs. 20,00,000

HW Migration + OS Upgrade +EhP Update + HANA (DB)Migration

1. Current Environment must be on SAP ECC6.0 10 weeks Rs. 20,00,000

Version Upgrade + HW Migration +HANA (DB) Migration

1. Current Environment must be greater thanSAP 4.7 14 -16 weeks Rs. 27,50,000

Package Offerings

Please note:

Uncompressed Database size is assumed to be < 1TB Functional Testing (wherever applicable) is out of scope Downtime is dependent on Hardware Capability Pricing is exclusive of Taxes, consultants stay & travel