6 reasons to embrace regular Data Archiving in SAP

Data archiving in SAP is an essential strategy for organizations to efficiently manage obsolete data, optimize storage costs, enhance system performance, ensure compliance, and contribute to environmental sustainability.

Data archiving in SAP is a powerful technique to handle obsolete data that is rarely accessed but must remain available to comply with tax, audit or legal requests. Such data is taking up precious space in the SAP system database. Essentially, data archiving refers to the process of removing data from the SAP operational database to store it away in a separate archive repository, which comes at a cheapest cost.

SAP Data Archiving has become an indispensable practice for organisations that want to streamline their operations and optimise system performance. But is that all? Is it really advantageous to adopt data archiving practices in SAP? In this article, we will shed light on some important reasons to emphasise regular data archiving in SAP, discussing the benefits it brings to the table.

Benefits of Data Archiving in SAP

SAP Data Archiving not only boosts system efficiency but also safeguards valuable historical data, ensuring that organisations maintain compliance and have access to critical information when needed. By seamlessly managing the ebb and flow of data, SAP Data Archiving becomes an integral element in fostering a streamlined and resilient data management strategy. Below are some of the prominent benefits it offers.

1. Reduce data storage needs

One of the immediate advantages of SAP Data Archiving is the significant reduction in data storage requirements. By selectively removing inactive data, organisations can free up valuable storage space in the database, saving on storage costs. This is particularly crucial if your organisation has already migrated to SAP S/4HANA. HANA memory comes at a high price, therefore keeping the database size under control is highly advisable.

A while ago, this article compared two companies with drastically opposite approaches:  one that has an automated data archiving program in place vs. another one that does not take any action. At an estimated growth rate of 4TB/ year, a company would typically double the data volume every 3 years. Left unchecked, data volumes can easily spiral up becoming a huge burden for the companies operation and a terrible headache for IT managers. See the full comparison in this article: Data Volume Management – what is the effect of doing nothing?

2. Avoid the saturation of HANA memory

In SAP S/4HANA, The scalability of HANA memory is small, meaning that once the maximum capacity has been reached, jumping up to the higher tier isn’t that easy. Regular data archiving will ensure the memory space is optimum by archiving old data that does not to be one memory.

Learn more about the functioning and how to deal with table growth: HANA memory HANA Database: How to keep data growth under control | SAP Data Management.

3. Enhanced reaction times and system performance

As the volume of data in the system decreases through archiving, the overall reaction times and system performance witness a substantial improvement. Retrieval and processing of data become faster, leading to a more responsive and agile SAP environment. Reducing data volumes also improves cyber resilience, by making data recovery quicker in the event of a cyberattack. This is particularly crucial for organisations with complex business processes and large datasets.

4. Reduced migration times

The equation is simple: the more data, the longer migration times. In case of migrating data to the cloud or to a new ERP, or to SAP® S/4HANA, a lighter database will result in shorter migration times. As the reader will know, the time frames to migrate data to the cloud tend to be quite short, therefore a lighter system will be highly beneficial.  The following article points out the Importance of SAP data archiving when migrating to S/4HANA if you’d like to know more on the subject.

5. Green benefits

An often overlooked yet significant advantage of data archiving in SAP is its positive impact on the environment. Organisations indirectly lower their carbon footprint by reducing the need for extensive database storage. The equation is simple: less data requires less storage, leading to energy savings and a more sustainable approach to information management.

Find out more in this article: SAP Data Archiving: A way forward to curbing carbon footprint 

6. Higher system availability

Regular data archiving contributes to higher system availability by minimising downtime during upgrades and releases. The process allows smoother transitions between different SAP versions, reducing the risk of disruptions to ongoing operations. This is instrumental in maintaining business continuity and ensuring uninterrupted service delivery.

Wrap up

Regular data archiving in SAP is not merely a routine IT practice; it is a crucial practice for organisations aiming to stay agile, efficient, and environmentally conscious. Embracing SAP Data Archiving offers tangible benefits, from cost savings and improved performance to a reduced environmental impact.

When it comes to implementing robust data archiving solutions in SAP, TJC Group stands out as a trusted partner with decades of expertise in the field. On top of that, the Archiving Sessions Cockpit is the only SAP-certified solution that automates data archiving jobs bringing the benefits to the next level.

In our customer’s words “Automation is the big win. Trying to do data archiving without that is almost like having to put somebody in a hamster wheel, it’s hard work. It does make sense to use automation. Once you’ve got it up and running, it’s an automated process, it’s there”, says Mark Holmes, Principal Architect at British Telecom.