When an SAP customer starts planning for S4/HANA migration, a common first step is to decide if they will adopt a Greenfield or a Brownfield approach for their S/4 applications and data environments. Regardless of the approach, companies often recognize the need for data volume management when running their applications in an in-memory database environment. To manage database volume, many ECC customers implement data archiving operations. SAP Customers not actively archiving usually begin efforts to explore Data Archiving and how it can optimize database size and application performance.

ECC customers who currently use SAP Data Archiving capabilities recognize the need to ensure real-time access to online and detail-level archived data. This is because they understand that full access to detail-level historical data is important for business operations and audit and compliance requirements. Whether in an ECC or S/4HANA environment, customers always benefit from concurrent and seamless retrieval of online and archived data in a single SAP transaction.

To achieve simultaneous access to online and detailed archived data, SAP customers turn to PBS Software. With PBS Software “add-on” solutions, users can navigate seamlessly through document chains and data even if a portion of the required data has been archived. These “add-on” transactions are integrated into the SAP application space and require minimal end-user training to access online database and archived data simultaneously.

In North America, PBS Software Americas, a wholly owned subsidiary of PBS Software GmbH, offers PBS software licensing and a full suite of consulting services to implement and support PBS Software products, provide SAP Data Archiving services, and implement best practices of SAP data volume management strategies.

As Steve Shoaf, Vice President, and General Manager of PBS Software Americas says, “Our customers are those seeking to improve SAP end-user productivity while at the same time solving their data volume management issues whether in an ECC or S/4HANA environment.”

Creating seamless access to online and archived data

The core of PBS Software’s innovation is in the unique archived-data indexing methodology which enables efficient access to archived data concurrently with data in the “online” SAP database. This capability is seamlessly integrated into SAP and provides end-users with the same look and feel as standard SAP transactions, including Fiori tiles.

PBS Software offers a suite of six SAP-based solutions, with the following three products most frequently purchased:

PBS archive add-ons: PBS's archive add-ons deliver seamless online and archived data access across a wide range of SAP modules and objects. The add-ons enable:

• Integration with PBS-Adapted Transactions and Reports: Users can view and analyze archived data using PBS-adapted transactions and reports as if the data were still present in the original SAP database. This ensures that the transition from active to archived data is smooth and transparent to the user.
• Data Extraction for Audit and Legal Compliance: The add-ons include several options for data extraction specifically tailored for audit purposes and to fulfill legal requirements for organizations needing to comply with regulatory standards.
• Modular Solutions for SAP modules: PBS add-ons are compatible with all major SAP modules and support more than 75 SAP archiving objects, demonstrating their extensive applicability within the SAP ecosystem. Customers also have the flexibility to select PBS add-ons that best align with their business requirements and offer the most significant savings potential.

PBS Nearline Analytic Archive (PBS NAA): With PBS NAA, organizations can transfer all legacy ECC/ERP data into an optimized database designed for rapid retrieval of data and documents. This database integrates with the SAP S/4HANA system and ensures that all existing business relationships are preserved. This approach allows users to operate within their familiar work environment, eliminating the need for additional training. Importantly, access to this data adheres to the SAP authorization concept and does not place any burden on the HANA database.

PBS ContentLink: This product offers a streamlined interface solution and serves an optimal storage choice for various SAP files and document types, including SAP archive files, documents, print lists, and more. It is compatible with the SAP ArchiveLink interface and supports the WebDAV 3.1 protocol, enhancing data with metadata that includes retention values. This feature complements SAP ILM Retention Manager and Retention Warehouse. PBS ContentLink effectively bridges SAP systems with modern, cutting-edge storage platforms as it meets all the criteria for compliant and highly efficient data storage. This integration ensures that data storage is not only compliant with regulatory standards but also leverages the latest advancements in storage technology. The PBS ContentLink solution includes a lean and powerful interface and data can be resident on Premises or a Cloud environment.

Getting there: How SAP customers can launch archiving and position for migration to S/4HANA

Moving to a HANA database environment involves attention to data volumes and data retention policies. Although it is not necessarily different from data volume management when using a disk-based database system, database size and cost considerations can have considerable impact on the end-user experience and overall IT budgets.

To help SAP customers analyze their SAP data environments, PBS Software Americas offers consulting and professional services to help customers identify which objects in their SAP database will best enable them to reduce costs and improve database utilization.

A significant component of PBS Software Americas services is supporting end-users in understanding the impact of archiving, assisting end-user and IT/Basis teams in navigating the decision-making process, and developing Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) policies.

As Jason Stansberry, Director of Client Solutions at PBS Software Americas, says, “Customers beginning their journey to S/4HANA engage PBS to implement effective data and document archiving strategies, so they are positioned for a successful migration.”

First Steps toward SAP Data Volume Management

PBS Software Americas offers three data volume analysis services that provide detailed benefits and return on investment associated with data archiving. These offerings are “Quick Check”, “Health Check”, and “Archive Roadmap”.

Quick Check is a no-charge analysis performed by a data archive consultant that provides customers with an introductory-level analysis of archive objects prioritized according to their size. Quick Check provides a simplified view of immediate archiving opportunities accompanied by a PBS archive “add-ons” recommendation for the identified archive objects.

Health Check is a detailed analysis service for an SAP landscape and delivers table-based analysis of the largest 25 tables and archive objects. The Health Check uses the PBS Software DB Analyzer tool and provides a more comprehensive review when compared to the Quick Check. Health Check results provide a report describing specific elements such as:

• Opportunities to reduce SAP tables sizes
• Risk areas for SAP table growth
• List of specific data archiving objects to optimize SAP environment
• Strategies to diminish the database size to improve performance and reduce costs.

Archive Road Map is a detailed SAP system evaluation that provides a strategic plan for customers to control their data footprint growth and implement (or expand) data archiving within the SAP landscape. This initiative utilizes the PBS Software DB Analyzer tool and includes:

• Analysis of the largest 100 tables in the database
• Identification of data management strategies including data archiving objects, data deletion, and data avoidance
• Workshops with functional users to gather data access requirements
• Best-practice data residency recommendations
• Solution recommendations
• Project plan(s) for implementation

Implementing PBS Software

With direct knowledge of the PBS product suite, PBA Software Americas’ consultants can comprehensively deliver and implement PBS products to maximize optimization opportunities for customers. Recognizing that each SAP environment is unique, PBS Software Americas consultants can tailor a solution set to provide the effective benefits for customers of all sizes.

Case Study

The challenges faced by EMCO, a global manufacturing enterprise operating in North America, Europe, and Asia, reflected a typical scenario experienced by PBS’s customers. Due to business requirements for real-time access to current and historical data, EMCO faced uncontrolled database growth, which created increased transaction response times and operational costs.

Through a project dedicated to solving EMCO’s situation, the company discovered that implementing SAP Data Archiving and installing PBS Software add-on transactions gave them control over database growth while providing real-time access to current online data and detail-level archived data in a single SAP transaction. This solution not only reduced their online database by 34%, but also positioned them for a migration to S/4HANA.

What it means for SAPinsiders

• SAP Data Archiving is a foundational element of data volume management and an important step in readiness for S/4HANA migration.
• Understanding end-user to access requirements for online and historical data is a key requirement to data volume control and Information Lifecycle Management (ILM).
• Data Archiving projects can be best scoped and organized with the help of expert data archiving consultants who then deliver best-practices methodologies to ensure initial and long-term successful operation of data volume management.
• Seamless transactions to achieve access to online and archived data with minimal end-user training are core capabilities of PBS Software products supporting SAP ECC and S/4HANA customers.