Data Migration Challenges and Solutions for Successful SAP Implementations
SAP Data Migration Best Practices
Use The Right SAP Data Migration Approach
No matter which type of SAP ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) project you are planning to undertake, or which data migration tool you plan on using, you will eventually be faced with the risky task of data migration.
SAP BW Upgrades
One especially complex data migration arises when you are preparing to do a SAP BW 3.X to a SAP 7.X migration. You'll be glad to know that the SAP S/4 Data Migration Cockpit offers comprehensive data migration tools as part of a comprehensive data migration solution. This SAP migration tool drastically reduces data migration issues. It also offers support for SAP Business Objects Data Conversion requirements.
Data Migration Can Affect KPIs
Data migration, aside from usually taking more time than expected, if done wrong, can drastically affect quantitative data that was used to compute KPIs. Always take a snapshot of the existing financials before migrating. This is why this is always a process with strategic implications for the business. Successful data migration requires that data integrity is maintained throughout the data migration.
Strategic Data Governance Framework
That's why we have prepared this list of data migration related items you should be aware of to avoid or reduce data migration risks on your data migration projects.
Migrate Data with Confidence
You must avoid the following mistakes:
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Not having a defined data model, database reference architecture or Data Mapping rules.
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Not establishing the data migration environment early enough in the project
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Are your data migration procedures defined ( manual/automated) vs. Static/Real time?
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Not having a list of ‘source’ and ‘target’ applications prepared for migration
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Not classifying data as ‘historical’, ‘master’, or ‘transaction’ data (or possibly all three). You should prepare a data migration guide for use by your entire data migration team. It will be critical in preparing your data migration plan. It will also play a key role in ensuring data security is maintained.
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No strategy for extracting the source data for each of the types, possible rules to be applied for ‘cleansing’ the data – define the clear process in each of ETL stages
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Project Data Migration Approach not defined. You should have defined as one, all or some of the following as part of your data migration methodology:
- Big bang,
- Parallel run,
- Incremental migration,
- Zero downtime migration
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No Cut-Over strategy! Have you decided how or whether to run the old and new applications in parallel or migrate the application over during a ‘cut over’?
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Is your target solution architecture defined?
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Do you have a strategy for ‘reconciling’ that all the data has moved to the respective target without any loss of either quality or quantity?
These are the key questions you need to answer in order to accomplish your data migration, especially a SAP HANA DATA Migration Project, smoothly and efficiently. We designed, set up and built from scratch the SAP BW system for a major Defence Agency in San Diego California. We also helped design the data migration KPIs used to govern the data migration project.
This project involved multiple data migrations from several locations and the Co-founder was responsible for making that happen successfully. This was a very successful project on our part.
SAP Data Migration Tools Designed For Success
In short, we have already solved your Data Migration problem you are facing. We have system wide tools, designs, and data migration Best Practice already in place for successfully accomplishing your data migration project. If your proposed data migration project involves migrating data from 1 or more systems, we already have not only a design that will work for you but the experience to back it up.
There were a few keys to success to make it all work out properly and some tools you need to use that are not part of the normal BW data flow you will need to know about and use and we would like to share our knowledge with our customers.
SAP Data Migration Template
With our given experience, we created a comprehensive SAP Data Migration Template to help you avoid these 10 SAP Data Migration Mistakes and create a smooth transition between your old data to your new SAP system. Download our template below to ease your way through the SAP data migration process.
