The target system
Technical system copy for the upgrade
As a rule, the SAP basis has to fulfill: to provide SAP system copies as quickly as possible for the increased usage purposes. The performance of modern tools has developed rapidly. An assessment of the current situation.
SAP upgrade: Before a very extensive SAP upgrade, you may want to test the run and analyze any errors that occur, especially if the development and test systems are not allowed to be down for too long. In that case, it's best to do this on a system copy.
Verification of source system status and infrastructure - analysis of software versions, database disk layout, system status, etc.
Suitable tools make it possible to automate and accelerate the necessary creation of true-to-original SAP system copies, for example. This means that you have all production data available on your test system in a short time.
"The creation of SAP system copies used to represent an enormous effort," says Martin Schulz from SAP Basis Administration. Almost 4,000 employees worldwide access our SAP systems directly. If the SAP systems are down, then nothing works in many departments - and that certainly happened in the past. Although the actual copying process is completed in just a few hours, the manual post-processing - which includes, for example, adjusting parameters, users and rights, profiles, system settings and interfaces - can take up to a week. This keeps the entire seven-person SAP Basis team busy.
With "Shortcut for SAP Systems" any tables can be saved and restored. This is especially useful in the context of an SAP system copy - quite a few tables are system-specific and must exist unchanged in the system after a system copy.Shortcut for SAP Systems uses R3trans - a utility from SAP that is essentially used in the Transport Management System (TMS) environment. With "Shortcut for SAP Systems" it is now also available outside the TMS and enables completely new and diverse application possibilities. Among others in the environment of a system copy. R3trans works database independent. I.e. even in the case of a system refresh from an SAP system with an Oracle DB to a system with HANA, the backup and restore process works!
There are various ways to tame this time robber and reduce run times.
Although a one-time effort is still required, the system landscape is examined so well that the system copy and any subsequent ones are performed literally at the push of a button.