SAP Data Archiving


What Is Data Archiving?

Data archiving is the process of identifying data that is no longer active or infrequently used and moving it out of production systems into a separate storage device for long-term storing. Data archiving is sometimes referred to as enterprise information archiving, or EIA.

A business may conduct data archiving to meet compliance or information governance requirements, lawsuit management, reduce storage load and costs, or for reasons related to business intelligence.

Today, data’s value potential has increased, and businesses see strategic advantage in having a sound data archiving strategy. They are looking beyond compliance and organizational requirements as drivers of their data archiving strategy to opportunities for gaining competitive insights, reducing costs, and improving performance.

SAP provides SAP Data Archiving service, formerly called SAP Cloud Platform Data Archiving. SAP Data Archiving service runs on SAP Business Technology Platform and offers blocking and archiving capabilities for business data to reduce total cost of ownership.

Many vendors and consulting firms support data archiving. For example, Accenture has developed a data archiving approach which the company applied internally when it needed to migrate its archiving solution from on-premise to the cloud.

And Auritas provides tools that support data archiving, including Archive Scheduling Manager and SAP Data Archiving Tool.

What Is Data Archiving?

Data archiving is the process of identifying data that is no longer active or infrequently used and moving it out of production systems into a separate storage device for long-term storing. Data archiving is sometimes referred to as enterprise information archiving, or EIA.

A business may conduct data archiving to meet compliance or information governance requirements, lawsuit management, reduce storage load and costs, or for reasons related to business intelligence.

Today, data’s value potential has increased, and businesses see strategic advantage in having a sound data archiving strategy. They are looking beyond compliance and organizational requirements as drivers of their data archiving strategy to opportunities for gaining competitive insights, reducing costs, and improving performance.

SAP provides SAP Data Archiving service, formerly called SAP Cloud Platform Data Archiving. SAP Data Archiving service runs on SAP Business Technology Platform and offers blocking and archiving capabilities for business data to reduce total cost of ownership.

Many vendors and consulting firms support data archiving. For example, Accenture has developed a data archiving approach which the company applied internally when it needed to migrate its archiving solution from on-premise to the cloud.

And Auritas provides tools that support data archiving, including Archive Scheduling Manager and SAP Data Archiving Tool.

Data Archiving vs. Backup

Data archiving makes it much easier to index and retrieve specific information. Data archiving allows for the data to remain active and accessible.

A backup, on the other hand, provides a snapshot of the entire system, making it nearly impossible to separate out and move specific data.

Case Study: Nexeo Solutions’ Data Archiving Strategy Ensures Security and Improves Performance

For Nexeo Solutions, an independent chemicals, plastics, and environmental services distribution company, a data archiving project was the second piece of a significant and phased data management journey.

Following a separation from its parent company, Nexeo Solutions undertook a two-part data management project: separate its data from the parent company and archive the data.

Nexeo used a carve-out application to break down the overall data archiving exercise into two distinct phases. The first phase consisted of mass archiving related transactional data that the solution selected according to conditions the company required.

The second phase was a master data carve-out, which increased the complexity of the project. A significant contributor was the company code, which was shared by Nexeo Solutions and the parent company.

Nexeo’s data archiving project concluded in September 2017, resulting in successfully carving out 91% of targeted customers, 88% of targeted vendors, and 72% of targeted materials. The company also achieved a 500GB reduction in the size of its database.

5 results

  1. Key Considerations for Decommissioning Systems

    Reading time: 2 mins

    Though it is an important process, systems decommissioning is frequently an afterthought when it comes to the transition to SAP S/4HANA. Companies should plan for this eventual necessity as a key part of their digital transformation. It is important to have a decommissioning roadmap as part of a transformation plan. In this article, we will…
  2. Overcoming Data Archiving Pain Points with ArchiveHub

    Reading time: 2 mins

    Data is the lifeblood of any business, but as companies grow and evolve, many have to archive older data to make room for new systems. The SAPinsider 2023 Data Management Strategies research report found that in 2022, 15% of respondents said they used data archiving tools. By 2023, that figure more than doubled to 35%.…
  3. Ensuring Data Archiving Success With TJC Group

    Reading time: 3 mins

    Data archiving is an essential function of IT teams. It can help companies reduce technical debt, save money on data storage, and meet governmental and industry regulatory standards for data management. Proper data management gives organizations clean and harmonized data so they can provide real-time information to their users, partners, and customers. However, data management…
  4. Data Archiving Checklist

    Reading time: 1 mins

    Challenges arise with data archiving when systems are too large, when the business can’t access data in a reasonable amount of time, and when the mission is complicated by compliance requirements.
  5. data archiving

    Data Archiving and Decommissioning

    Reading time: 7 mins

    Data is the most valuable asset of any company, and that is doubly true for the data that is in SAP systems. But as organizations transform their systems to better meet today’s needs, there will inevitably be legacy systems that must be decommissioned as new solutions are deployed. Managing the data that is in those…