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- Herausgeber: Packt Publishing
- Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
- Sprache: Englisch
Learn every aspect of SAP S/4HANA and develop the skills needed to migrate from SAP ECC
Key Features Gain insight into the implementation and configuration of SAP S/4HANA Design business processes with SAP Central Finance Learn the available SAP S/4HANA deployment options in depthBook Description
SAP S/4HANA implementation, migration, and Central Finance are the key projects being employed across the globe, with millions of consultants working day and night to implement them. Mastering SAP S/4HANA 1709 - Strategies for Implementation and Migration will allow you to gain a virtual implementation experience, and you can follow the steps to configure the learning system as per your requirements. This book focuses on several topics; each topic is covered in detail to make you a successful SAP S/4HANA professional.
You will begin by understanding SAP HANA and then move toward S/4HANA and the deployment options available to customers, including what suits various customer needs. You will then understand the impact of S/4HANA on General Ledger, Asset Accounting, and Profitability Analysis; SAP notes will also be listed when needed. As you progress through the book, you explore premigration, migration, and post-migration steps including the Near Zero Downtime strategy and learn how to implement Central Finance with and without MDG using SLT. In the concluding chapters, greenfield implementations using SAP Activate methodology will also be covered.
By the end of this book, you will have learned to successfully implement SAP S/4HANA projects that are customized for your business needs.
What you will learnUnderstand SAP HANA and SAP S/4HANAImplement SAP S/4HANA as a greenfield implementation with SAP Activate methodologyDiscover the hidden challenges in SAP Central Finance Migrate from ECC to S/4HANA successfully in a non-disrupted roadmapExplore the change from Classic Asset Accounting to New Asset AccountingLearn to configure General Ledger, Profitability Analysis, and ControllingApply the Near Zero Downtime strategy to migration projectsWalk through Customer Vendor Integration (CVI)Who this book is for
Mastering SAP S/4HANA 1709: Strategies for Implementation and Migration is for project managers, solution architects, and consultants who are planning to implement SAP S/4HANA for ERP solutions and are in the process of implementing it or are currently upgrading/migrating to it.
Nitin Gupta is an IT professional with expertise in SAP solution architecture, business process transformation, and project management and over 11 years of experience in managing and delivering complex SAP and transformation projects resulting in efficiency and productivity. He has successfully led and managed full lifecycle SAP implementation projects across the globe. He holds a master's in business administration and is presently based in Auckland.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018
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Mastering SAP S/4HANA 1709 – Strategies for Implementation and Migration
Copyright © 2018 Packt Publishing
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Commissioning Editor: Merint MathewAcquisition Editor: Sandeep MishraContent Development Editor: Akshada IyerTechnical Editors: Abhishek Sharma, Adhithya HaridasCopy Editor: Safis EditingProject Coordinator: Prajakta NaikProofreader: Safis EditingIndexer: Rekha NairGraphics: Jisha ChirayilProduction Coordinator: Deepika Naik
First published: June 2018
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Published by Packt Publishing Ltd. Livery Place 35 Livery Street Birmingham B3 2PB, UK.
ISBN 978-1-78883-933-4
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Contributors
About the author
Nitin Gupta is an IT professional with expertise in SAP solution architecture, business process transformation, and project management and over 11 years of experience in managing and delivering complex SAP and transformation projects resulting in efficiency and productivity. He has successfully led and managed full lifecycle SAP implementation projects across the globe. He holds a master's in business administration and is presently based in Auckland.
About the reviewer
Pallavi Gupta is a finance expert with vast experience in SAP. Her expertise includes SAP Financials and SAP S/4HANA. She is presently working as an independent consultant on several projects under her own company. She has excellent interpersonal skills and is involved in several client-facing roles. She is presently based in Auckland.
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright and Credits
Mastering SAP S/4HANA 1709 – Strategies for Implementation and Migration
Dedication
Packt Upsell
Why subscribe?
PacktPub.com
Contributors
About the author
About the reviewer
Packt is searching for authors like you
Preface
Who this book is for
What this book covers
To get the most out of this book
Download the color images
Conventions used
Get in touch
Reviews
An Overview of SAP HANA, S/4HANA, and Migration
Technical requirements
In-memory data – a core to SAP HANA
Optimization of in-memory data
Data storage model
Data compression
Delta storage
Data aging
SAP HANA Live
Introduction to SAP S/4HANA
Understanding SAP S/4HANA
The Universal Journal
Compatibility views for historic data
Merging G/L accounts and cost elements
Logistics changes
Changes to material master data
Sales activity
SD rebate processing
Data model changes
Credit management
Introduction to SAP Fiori
What is SAP Fiori?
Key pillars of the Fiori experience
Type of Fiori apps
SAP Fiori Launchpad
SAP Fiori architecture
SAP Fiori business benefits
S/4HANA migration overview
Introduction to migration
Concept of business partners
Customer vendor integration
What is CVI?
Business impact of CVI
CVI conversion scenarios
Summary
Questions
Migration to SAP HANA – Tools and the Project
Technical requirements
System migration
SAP homogeneous system copy
Reasons for a homogeneous system copy
SAP heterogeneous system copy
System copy consequences and decision table
Migration check service
Benefits of migration check service
System copy method
Database-specific copy method for Java
SAP migration tools
ABAP OS/DB migration
DB object size calculation with R3SZCHK
JAVA OS/DB migration
System copies – import and export
Software logistics toolset
Software provisioning manager
Target database size
Migration project overview
A sample schedule
SAP OS/DB migration check analysis
SAP OS/DB check verification
Required source system information
Required source system – technical information
Performing a migration test run
Final migration planning
Installing and upgrading
Software update manager
Summary
Questions
SAP S/4HANA – Deployment Options
What is deployment?
SAP S/4HANA deployment options
SAP S/4HANA On Premise
SAP S/4HANA on Cloud
Comparing S/4HANA On Premise and On Cloud
Types of cloud
An overview of implementation scenarios
Hybrid model of deployment
Summary
Questions
Impact of S/4HANA on the SAP General Ledger
Technical requirements
The history of the General Ledger
An overview of the Classic General Ledger
An overview of the New General Ledger
Features of the New GL
General Ledger in SAP S/4HANA
Data structure of GL in SAP S/4HANA
Universal Journal
Ledgers and currencies
GL account and cost elements
Changes to transactions and search options
Customizing the SAP General Ledger
Activating SAP Reference IMG
Checking and adopting Fiscal year variants
Migrating General Ledger customizations
Defining settings for the Journal Entry Ledger
Defining ledger groups
Assigning the accounting principle to the ledger group
Defining a ledger for Controlling
Defining document types for posting to Controlling
Defining the document type mapping variant
Defining default values for posting in Controlling
Defining the offsetting account determination type
Defining the source ledger for migration of balances
Executing the consistency check for the General Ledger
Activating business functions
Summary
Questions
Impact of S/4HANA on SAP Controlling and Profitability Analysis
Technical requirements
An introduction to SAP Profitability Analysis (CO-PA)
Usage of COPA
Methods of profitability management
Methods of Profitability Analysis in SAP
Aspects in SAP profitability management and organization units involved
Comparative analysis of various methods
Types of CO-PA
Account-based COPA
Costing-based COPA
Differences between account-based and cost-based COPA
COPA in SAP S/4HANA
Integration of Account-based CO-PA to Universal Journal
Attributed profitability segments
Realignment in CO-PA with SAP S/4HANA
Characteristics that cannot be changed
Characteristics that can be changed freely
Characteristics that can be changed only if the account assignment is not true
Characteristics that are changeable if the field is initial at the time for execution of realignment
Reporting options in CO-PA with SAP S/4HANA
The Fiori app
Analysis for Office
HANA Live
COGS split in S/4HANA-based CO-PA
Defining accounts for splitting COGS
Defining additional quantity fields
Defining accounts for Splitting Price Differences
Material Ledger in SAP S/4HANA
Significant changes in Controlling in SAP S/4HANA
Changes in transactions
Changes in tables
Changes in configuration
Configuration of the document type for CO
Maintaining document-type mapping for CO transactions
Checking and defining default values for posting in Controlling
Maintaining version for the ledgers
Summary
Questions
Impact of S/4HANA on SAP Asset Accounting
Technical requirements
An overview of SAP Asset Accounting
Features of SAP Asset Accounting
Organizational units in Asset Accounting
Charts of depreciation
Integration components
Integrating with Controlling
Integrating with General Ledger (FI)
Integrating with Material Management (MM)
Asset classes and their components
An introduction to New Asset Accounting
Key changes in New Asset Accounting
Changes to transaction codes
An introduction to the Technical Clearing Account (TCA)
Changes to AuC and Transaction Types
Posting to the Universal Journal
New depreciation-calculation engine
Depreciation areas and ledgers
Data migration in New Asset Accounting
Summary
Questions
S/4HANA New Functionalities – Cash Management, BPC, and Fiori UX
Technical requirements
Introduction to Bank Account Management (BAM)
Solution overview
Redesigned approach in SAP S/4HANA
Configuration
Maintaining number ranges for bank account technical IDs
Maintaining bank account types
Configuring enable payment approval process
Configuring payment signatories
Configuring cash pool for cash concentration
Existing options for extensibility
ICF services
BAM and BAM Lite
Introduction to Cash Management
Prerequisite check
Master Data set up
Bank statement processing
Manage cash operations
One Exposure from Operations
Introduction to BPC
What's new in this area?
Before and after S/4HANA comparison
Applications used
Components supported
How data flows
Authorizations
Planning modeler
Introduction to Fiori
Summary
Questions
Overview of Implementation Scenarios
Technical requirements
Available implementation scenarios
New implementation
Duration of the new implementation
Approach in new implementation
Data migration
System conversion
How to plan a migration project?
Key performance indicators (KPIs) in migration
Landscape transformation
Benefits of landscape transformation
Characteristics of SAP S/4HANA landscape transformation projects
System landscape transformation (SLT)
Preconfigured solutions
Available consolidation scenarios
Migration of business units
Migration of selected applications (central finance)
Elements of central finance
Central finance replication model
Solution methodology – central finance
Summary
Questions
Period End Closing in SAP S/4HANA
Technical requirements
Closing activities
Month-end closing
Year-end closing
Reporting with SAP S/4HANA
Financial statement versions
Reporting options in SAP S/4HANA
Closing Cockpit in SAP S/4HANA
Closing Cockpit usage scenarios
Closing Cockpit configuration
Creating a template
Creating tasks
 Defining the Dependencies and Create Task Lists
Releasing the Task List
Checking dependencies
Executing dependencies
Process control
Summary
Questions
Premigration Activities
Technical requirements
Preparation for migration
Prechecks in migration
Preparation and migration of customizing for General Ledger
Activating SAP Reference IMG
Checking and adopting Fiscal year variants
Migrating General Ledger customization
Defining settings for the Journal Entry Ledger
Defining ledger groups
Assigning accounting principles to the ledger group
Defining the ledger for controlling
Defining document types for posting to controlling
Defining document type mapping variant
Defining default values for posting in controlling
Defining the offsetting account-determination type
Defining the source ledger for the migration of balances
Executing consistency checks for General Ledger
Activating the business functions
Preparing and migrating customization of Asset Accounting
Preparing and migrating customization of controlling
Preparing and migrating the Material Ledger customization
Preparing and migrating the House Bank accounts customization
Preparing and migrating the Credit Management customization
Summary
Questions
Migration Activities
Technical requirements
Data migration
Partition of Universal JE Line Items
Regenerating CDS views and field mapping
Analyzing transaction data and status display
Starting and monitoring data migration
Overview tab
Migration runs
Status of migration run
Control tab
Tables tab
Migration of cost elements
Technical check of transactional data
Material Ledger migration
Enrichment of data
Migration of line items
Migration of balances
Calculation of depreciation and total values
Migrating General Ledger allocations
How to do it?
Migrating house bank accounts
Migrating Credit Management
Migrating Credit Management Master Data and status display
Migrating Credit Management exposure and status display
Initializing Documented Credit Decisions (DCD) and status display
Reconciling Documented Credit Decisions (DCD)
Completing migration
Reconciling and comparing migrated data
Setting migration to complete
Summary
Questions
Post-Migration Activities
Technical requirements
Activities after migration
Running reconciliation reports
Business process validation
Transferring application indexes and displaying the status
Filling due dates in FI documents and the display status
Filling offsetting accounts in FI documents
Enrichment of balance carryforward
Settings for enrichment of balance carryforward
Reconciling the balance with line items and displaying reconciliation status
Specifications for Balance Sheet and P&L accounts
Enriching balance carryforward based on line items
Manual activities for credit management
Completing a credit management migration for unmigrated customers
Deactivating the reconciliation ledger
After migration testing
Testing HANA-optimized reports
Testing reporting
Testing database usage
Testing intercompany reconciliation
Testing Universal Journal and the closing process
Summary
Questions
Central Finance – a No-Disruption Approach
Technical requirements
An overview of SAP Central Finance
Understanding Central Finance
Key business benefits and use cases
Central Finance process use cases
Key limitations
Short-life master data
Fixed assets
Inventory
Logistics documents
Costing-based COPA
Document-splitting
Profit-center-only postings
Central Finance architecture
Source system
System Landscape Transformation
SAP Master Data Governance (MDG)
S/4HANA system  
Application Interface Framework (AIF)
Central Finance interfaces
Central Finance mapping 
Initial load and real-time replication
System configuration 
Source system 
System Landscape Transformation (SLT) 
Defining objects
Defining the initial load object
Defining the replication object
Activating the Initial Load and Replication Objects
Control Load/Replication using the SAP LT Replication Server
S/4HANA system
Configuring the SAP Application Interface Framework (AIF)
Clearing Functionality
Central Payments
Business benefits of Central Payment
Configuring Central Payment
Managing cost-based COPA in SAP Central Finance
Summary
Questions
Greenfield Implementation
Technical requirements
Greenfield implementation
ASAP methodology
The key benefits of the ASAP methodology
Phases of the ASAP methodology
Agile ASAP 8 methodology
SAP Activate
Pillars of SAP Activate
SAP Best Practices
Guided configuration
Methodology
SAP Activate methodology's features
Activate methodology key characteristics
The Activate methodology structure
Governance, roles, and responsibilities
Activate journey – new implementation (cloud)
Activate journey – new implementation (premise)
Activate journey – system conversion
Differences between SAP Launch, ASAP, and SAP Activate
Summary
Questions
The Near Zero Downtime (NZDT) Strategy
Technical requirements
The Near Zero Downtime strategy
Summary
Questions
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Preface
If you look on the internet, you will find that SAP is one of the blooming areas in technology, and with the introduction of SAP S/4HANA, the processes and organizations are going through major changes. Millions of jobs are available; however, the skill set is limited as the product is new and is still evolving. The content is scattered across areas such as logistics, Central Finance, changes with S/4HANA, Closing Cockpit, and migration steps. You can find these areas in several books covered in several ways, so what is it that this book offers that's different?
This book is the one-stop shop for all these areas. You will find an end-to-end overview of the processes, changes, simplifications, deployment options, and configuration of all the relevant areas, including, but not limited to, SLT, Central Finance, New Asset Accounting, and Fiori tiles.
Who this book is for
This book will work as a guide to those who have SAP project experience and are looking to learn more about SAP S/4HANA, such as functional consultants, integration experts, project managers, design leads, and solution architects. Also, people who are new to SAP S/4HANA can start with this book.
What this book covers
This books is purely focused on SAP S/4HANA innovations, and also gives a background of how the process was handled before SAP S/4HANA within SAP itself. It covers the following areas:
Chapter 1, AnOverview of SAP HANA, S/4HANA, and Migration, helps you get into the topic. You will understand the journey and path of innovation, starting from HANA and then moving to S/4HANA. This will set the stage for the rest of the chapters.
Chapter 2, Migration to SAP HANA – Tools and the Project, is a purely technical chapter in which the focus will be on understanding the migration to SAP HANA, the tools available, the steps, and the effort required in terms of resources and time. Also, we will talk about a sample project to impart practical understanding.
Chapter 3, SAP S/4HANA – Deployment Options, takes you through the available deployment options—cloud, on premise, and the hybrid model, along with their key features, benefits, and challenges.
Chapter 4, Impact of S/4HANA on the SAP General Ledger, purely focuses on changes to General Ledger areas with the introduction of SAP S/4HANA. We will see the necessary functionality changes as well as the configuration changes.
Chapter 5, Impact of S/4HANA on SAP Controlling and Profitability Analysis, purely looks at changes to Controlling as well as COPA with the introduction of SAP S/4HANA. SAP recommends that users use Account-based COPA with S/4HANA, and also covers the benefits. We will also take a look at the necessary functionality changes as well as the configuration changes.
Chapter 6, Impact of S/4HANA on SAP Asset Accounting, gives you a view of all the changes done in the Asset accounting area with the introduction of new asset accounting. It will involve the configuration as well as the functionality changes.
Chapter 7, S/4HANA New Functionalities – Cash Management, BPC, and Fiori UX, runs you though the new functionalities introduced in S/4HANA, such as BAM, Credit Management, and changes to BPC, and we will also learn what Fiori is all about and see how to create a simple Fiori tile.
Chapter 8, Overview of Implementation Scenarios, discusses the available implementation scenarios, which may be different for each customer, and also we will learn how to move ahead based on the present customer situation.
Chapter 9, Period End Closing in SAP S/4HANA, is mainly dedicated to the closing features as well as the closing cockpit. We will see how the closing cockpit introduced in SAP S/4HANA 1709 is different from the cockpit of SAP ECC.
Chapter 10, Premigration Activities, helps you learn about the preparatory activities involved in migration.
Chapter 11, Migration Activities, covers an end-to-end view of migration activities, including configuration, which we have to do when we move from SAP ECC to SAP S/4HANA.
Chapter 12, Post-Migration Activities, is all about the wind up activities necessary to complete the migration. It involves some sanity checks as well as some reconciliations.
Chapter 13, Central Finance – a No-Disruption Approach, is a chapter dedicated to Central Finance, one of the key areas in which organizations are investing and looking toward for the future. All configurations, processes, and relevant aspects of central finance are covered in this chapter.
Chapter 14, Greenfield Implementation, is the best way to learn about SAP activate in detail. This chapter will guide through the methodology and how it differs from the previous SAP implementation methodologies.
Chapter 15, The Near Zero Downtime (NZDT) Strategy, is a small chapter that guides the readers through the core features of NZDT and explains how it can be used to reduce the downtime during migration.
To get the most out of this book
In order to use this as the best method for learning, ensure that you understand the key SAP terms, processes, and organization structure in SAP. Although it is not expected that you should be aware of all SAP ECC configurations in advance, if you know them and have previously used them in your projects, that's excellent.
When you are learning the configuration chapters, have the system ready (maybe DEMO system) so that you can follow the instructions and get the correct results.
Download the color images
We also provide a PDF file that has color images of the screenshots/diagrams used in this book. You can download it here: https://www.packtpub.com/sites/default/files/downloads/MasteringSAPS4HANA1709StrategiesforImplementationandMigration_ColorImages.pdf.
Conventions used
There are a number of text conventions used throughout this book.
CodeInText: Indicates code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles. Here is an example: "The tables are merged to the ACDOCA table with the header table BKPF. FAGLFLEXA and some other New GL tables are now obsolete."
Bold: Indicates a new term, an important word, or words that you see onscreen. For example, words in menus or dialog boxes appear in the text like this. Here is an example: "SPRO | Financial Supply Chain Management | Cash and Liquidity Management | Bank Account Management | Basic Settings."
Get in touch
Feedback from our readers is always welcome.
General feedback: Email [email protected] and mention the book title in the subject of your message. If you have questions about any aspect of this book, please email us at [email protected].
Errata: Although we have taken every care to ensure the accuracy of our content, mistakes do happen. If you have found a mistake in this book, we would be grateful if you would report this to us. Please visit www.packtpub.com/submit-errata, selecting your book, clicking on the Errata Submission Form link, and entering the details.
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An Overview of SAP HANA, S/4HANA, and Migration
The purpose of this chapter is to understand SAP HANA, which forms the base of learning for SAP S/4HANA and will be discussed in subsequent chapters. SAP HANA is a database management system (DBMS) based on in-memory technology. In SAP HANA, memory is available to such an extent that storing data is not a constraint. This makes it different from other available databases that have memory constraints, even though they have potential in terms of hardware. SAP HANA optimizes memory access between cache and the primary/main memory. In the present age, the volume of data is a big challenge for all organizations, specifically finance organizations, as they have to store the data for longer time due to audit requirements and, of course, for planning and forecasting purposes.
The basic concept of SAP HANA includes the following areas:
In-memory data
Optimization of in-memory data
Delta storage:
Technical requirements
For this chapter, the following are required:
SAP HANA Database 2.0
SAP ECC system with non-SAP database
SAP SLT system
Running RFC connections between systems
In-memory data – a core to SAP HANA
If you have noticed the trend of computers and their core configuration, it should be evident that there has been a drastic change over a period of time, let's say, in the last decade. Prices have been moving around with a slight dip, and memory capacity has increased drastically. From an enterprise server perspective, the capacity today is in terabytes with a single enterprise-class server.
The hard disks are cheap and affordable and are at the lowest space in the consequential structure, but the key to this entire process of in-memory data modeling is performance. In the following figure, if we move from top to bottom, it shows a higher latency with lower price, and if we move vice versa, it depicts a higher performance:
The main memory is normally directly accessible, and if we compare its access to that of the hard disk, the speed is 100,000 times faster.
All traditional database management systems use the disk as a primary storage and the main memory is used as just a buffer.
Optimization of in-memory data
SAP HANA stores data in a columnar format, which results in effective compression and reduction in overall data size. Also, this resolves the problem of data flow between the main memory and cache.
Data storage model
Normally, the data storage in databases is in a table format. A table is a data structure in which the information is organized. It can store data in rows and columns and can be used to display data in a structured format. Databases normally comprise several tables, and each table has a specific purpose.
The options available are as follows:
Row-based layout
: Stores data elements in a row
Columnar layout
: Stores data elements in a columnar format
Let's take a look at a very simple example to understand this concept:
The preceding table is a simple example of data. Now, we will check out what it looks like in a row-based layout:
Also, this is what it looks like in a columnar data format:
Both methods of storage have their own pros and cons, and SAP HANA supports both the models. However, performance is enhanced when the columnar model is used, as it enables an effective projection by accessing only relevant columns, which reduces the number of accesses to memory. Also, it allows for an effective compression, especially when column sorting is done.
Data compression
The technique that is used to reduce the count of bits for data in memory is known as data compression. In this technique, the overall memory is reduced and, hence, the cost is reduced, and all of the data reading is done on the compressed set. Many compression methods, such as run-length encoding, cannot be applied in the row-based layout. This is a very technical topic, so we will not go into too much detail here, but, for now, it is important that we understand the storage scenarios and the meaning of compression.
Delta storage
Normally, data insertion to compressed data is really slow. This problem is solved with SAP HANA, as it brings the concept of delta storage with it. In this structure, the storage of a columnar table includes the main storage and delta storage. Any write operation, such as insert, update, or delete, is done in delta storage, which is, again, a columnar storage, and any addition is appended to the end of the structure:
This is what the architecture looks like; it simplifies the database structure and results in faster processing:
Data aging
In today's world, we are just playing with data. Businesses' data volumes are immense, and their data is confidential and important in terms of business continuity as well as growth and compliances. For example, companies have to detail their financial data for 7 years to 10 years due to IRS audits.
The size of the data is growing day by day, and much effort, as well as money, is spent on the maintenance of that data.
This is what the data view looks like:
For sure, we need the actual and latest data to run the business, which is about 10%, and, from time to time, we might need access to 30% of the data. However, what about the remaining 60% data? Have you accessed the documents of the projects that you worked on 7 years ago? Do you frequently see photos of your holidays that you had taken around 8-10 years ago? The typical answer is no.
The same applies to organizations; they don't really access that 60% of data. So, what are we doing with that data? What is our strategy? In rare cases, we will need to access the old data as and when we are showing the order history to a customer or when we are running comparisons over decades, or during an audit.
In the new concept of data aging, the data that we access regularly, that is, the latest actual data, is known as hot and the rest, the 60%, is known as cold. The temperature of the data decides the strategy to store the data. The goal of aging is to reduce the main memory footprint and to speed up database queries by only keeping operationally relevant (hot) data in the main memory. In SAP HANA, aging is different from archiving in the sense that cold data is still kept within the SAP HANA database and remains accessible via SQL in the very same table as the hot data.
Regular daily queries are on hot data, and the cold data is generally partitioned, as shown in the following figure:
The configuration has to be defined once in the setup phase, and, using this solution, data can be restructured by a background task and automatically pushed out of memory if needed.
As an example of partitioning, all entries in the following table with entries 00000000 are in hot memory:
Table name
Partition ID
Range
FAGLFLEXT
1
00000000
FAGLFLEXT
2
00010101 - 20120101
FAGLFLEXT
3
20120101 - 20130101
FAGLFLEXT
4
20130101 - 20140101
FAGLFLEXT
5
20140101 - 20150101
SAP HANA Live
To gain the market and advantage in any competition, it is important for the organization to have analytics of their own data. Every decision is driven based on data, but that decision can be more efficient if the analytics of the data is as accurate as possible. With the emergence of technology, there has been a shift in the data models for decision making. Old data with multiple accesses has been replaced by new real-time data with access to a single source of truth. Complex systems and data can have a multilayered structure, including OLAP and OTLP systems. Before we move ahead, let's understand the following concepts:
OLAP
: Online analytic processing
OLTP
: Online transactional processing
In traditional databases, transaction processing is completely separate from analytics processing. The key factor to this is the database design of both these systems. However, it results in a complex and redundant data processing. You process the transaction now and, for analytics, the same will be available after a day, which results in a lag for the finance department, especially at the time of closing.
SAP S/4HANA is powered by SAP HANA, which combines both OLTP and OLAP processing. Now, the transactional data does not need to be moved to another system for analytics, and they run in the same tables, which results in efficiency and avoids redundancy.
SAP HANA Live is an out-of-the-box, preconfigured, and extensible data model. It is an architectural framework that can be used for analytical reporting on the SAP HANA database. It enables businesses to create analytics suites based on a semantic data model that enriches the underlying SAP ERP structures.
This data model has the following attributes:
Optimized for operational reporting
Eliminates data duplication
Ready to be consumed
Extensible
Easy to consume, with true business-like semantics
This is what it looks like with and without SAP HANA Live:
The SAP HANA Live architecture is shown in the following figure:
Introduction to SAP S/4HANA
The focus of this chapter will be to understand the overview of SAP S/4HANA—what is S/4HANA, what is so interesting in S/4HANA that customers are investing, what benefits does it provide, and how has SAP planned to make it different from its own ERP? Let's begin deep diving to understand the concept.
