SAP Basis Administration

What is SAP Basis Administration?

SAP Basis Administration involves routine maintenance, operation, and upgrades of the SAP environment as well as planning and executing migrations and other major projects.

What is SAP Basis Administration?

SAP Basis Administration involves routine maintenance, operation, and upgrades of the SAP environment as well as planning and executing migrations and other major projects.

The activities include application and system management, problem response, and capacity planning. SAP Basis Administration also involves the technical infrastructure standards and requirements for the integration of specific SAP modules.

The key responsibilities of an SAP Basis Administrator include:

• System installation and configuration
• Load balancing on servers
• Performance management of different components
• Management of interfaces and integration with servers
• Management of servers and different services

With the help of SAP Basis Administration, different SAP modules like finance accounting, production planning, sales and distribution, SAP EWM, and other modules can integrate and communicate with each other. SAP Basis Administration supports the installation and configuration of SAP applications on different operating systems like Windows, Unix, etc., and different databases like SQL Server, Oracle, and IBM DB2.

The Role of SAP Basis Administrators Today

Technology advancements have led to an expanded role for SAP Basis administrators, reflecting the broader transformations in the IT industry. Merely focusing on system maintenance and performance is no longer the role of SAP HANA Basis administrators as they are now responsible for cost control, IT strategy, and even experience in business policy. This expanded role plays a critical part in the effective implementation of SAP’s simplification plan. SAP has been striving to simplify and consolidate its product offerings since the introduction of SAP HANA. This involves more than just offering a reduced number of products with improved capabilities; it entails modernizing the adoption and maintenance of technology for both the company and its users.

Migrating to HANA can be a complex, multi-phase project. Companies have made significant investments in the previous generation of SAP products, including expertise, hardware, and support services. SAP Basis administrators collaborate with the migration team and other stakeholders to carefully plan a transition that maximizes benefits, considering factors such as cost, technological priorities, potential disruptions, and more. They also critically evaluate their current approach to Basis maintenance and ensure that it aligns with the overall functioning of the organization.

Further Resources for SAPinsiders:

The Basics of Basis Administration: Best Practices for Architecture, Monitoring, Troubleshooting, and More. This SAPinsider Q&A with Deb Donohoe and Christian Baessler from Syskoplan Reply provides answers to important questions about Basis Administration to ensure SAP landscapes run smoothly and efficiently. Whether you are new to Basis Administration or a more experienced administrator, this is an opportunity to get new tips and techniques to add to your admin toolbox.

Basis & SAP Administration: Case Study: Tools and strategies Microsoft uses to significantly reduce planned downtime. This presentation details how Microsoft leveraged the SAP zero downtime option (ZDO) to reduce the downtime for SAP deployments substantially. It covers downtime comparison between traditional deployment tools and ZDO, important planning steps for ZDO, requirements for ZDO, end-to-end technical details about ZDO, and other key considerations for ZDO.

Basis & SAP Administration: Install or upgrade? This presentation by Vivek Banerjee examines the lessons learned from Cintas’ upgrade of SAP Solution Manager. Banerjee reviews the various scenarios Cintas implemented within SAP Solution Manager, areas of “adjustment” required after the upgrade, what steps Cintas took to prepare for the upgrade, and how Cintas leveraged the CAL system to mitigate some of the major impact areas.
Vendors that can assist SAP customers with Basis Administration include: Advanced Applications, American Digital, Basis Expert Consulting Services, KBJ, Libelle, Managecore, and Soterion.