SAP UPGRADE TOOLS

The basic purpose of a technical upgrade is to replace existing software components with higher versions. In SAP R/3 technical upgrade, we aim to get the same or better functionalities in the new system (SAP ECC 6.0) as in the old system (SAP4.6) . User and customer created modifications to standard SAP take the most time during the upgrade project. The upgrade process is intended to overwrite (or renew) all objects in the SAP system. This is not a problem for standard SAP objects because SAP will replace them with newer ones. However, this overwrite process will replace all SAP objects (programs, texts, screens, etc.) and therefore modifications to these objects will be overwritten, too. In order to preserve these modifications, extra steps are necessary. Traditionally, we have been making changes and modifications to the ABAP system manually for custom object (ABAP) remediation.There have been many customized internal auto-upgrade tools developed by various organizations which they have been using in their projects. However, recently more credibility has been built and trust gained by some vendors who claim that their upgrade tools will reduce ERP Upgrade and testing efforts to more than 50%. However, it depends on the landscape of the client ,its complexity etc. , but even if it saves a considerable effort , these tools are worth incorporating. Here’s a look into some of them : 1. Panaya Tool Panaya's vision is to make ERP systems easy to install, use, upgrade, and maintain, by providing visibility & control over business application changes during their lifecycle from development, through configuration changes, to maintenance and upgrades. ERP systems are mission critical to companies yet extremely complex and sensitive to maintain. Any changes that are not properly handled may have catastrophic effects on a company. Panaya's software-as-a-service helps companies that use SAP or Oracle reduce 70% of their upgrade and testing risk and effort. Utilizing a cloud-based supercomputer, Panaya simulates the upcoming upgrade, automatically pinpointing which custom programs will break as a result of the upgrade and automatically fixing most of these problems. Panaya's testing solutions dramatically expedite ERP testing and eliminate the need for manual test script maintenance. Seamlessly capturing business knowledge in the background, as users work with the ERP applications, Panaya automatically generates plain-English test scripts that are rapidly executed and continually self-adjust based on test results. The SAP ERP 6.0 Upgrade Challenge SAP upgrades are always a challenge, often taking longer and costing more than expected, because of all the uncertainties involved: Planning: figuring out what will break when you upgrade and what you need to test can be complicated. Fixing & Testing: fixing all the code issues introduced by the upgrade, creating fresh test scripts that thoroughly cover critical business processes, running tests and documenting their results, and making sure test scripts are constantly maintained is extremely labor intensive. SAP Upgrade Automation, you say? Panaya's Upgrade Automation software-as-a-service takes out the guesswork and eliminates 70% of the effort and risk associated with SAP upgrades: Planning: shows you what will break and tells you what to test, in order of priority. Fixing & Testing: provides automatic code corrections, instantly creates test scripts by capturing your business processes, automatically runs tests and documents their results, and makes sure your test scripts self-adapt, so they're always fresh! Upgrade Automation means your project gets done in half the time, with 70% less risk. Key Features •Shows you what will break •Provides Automatic code corrections •Tells you exactly what to test •Creates test scripts for you, as you go •Documents the test scenarios for you •Tests can be run interactively or automatically •Test results are documented for you •Adapts the scripts automatically so they always stay up-to-date 2.smartShift Tool smartShift a Cambridge Technology Enterprises (NSE: CTE) company, is the leading provider of tools-based solutions for automated modernizations of complex IT systems. smartShift´s software and services accelerate existing IT systems into new environments, enabling customers to leverage and future-proof their IT investments. Using patented tools and proprietary methodology, smartShift automates the migration process for a broad array of technology stacks including SAP, Oracle and legacy applications. smartShift customers are major global organizations including Commerzbank, Kimberly-Clark, OfficeMax, Scotts Miracle-Gro and Shell. SAP system upgrades, unicode projects, consolidations and performance overhauls are recognized time and budget burners. But older, less stable custom ABAP code is not only expensive to maintain, it diverts limited staff from other strategic initiatives. smartShift provides automated tools for opimizing complex IT systems to solve this problems. Upgrades and Unicode With smartShift, you can easily combine release upgrade and Unicode conversion operations into a single project. System Landscape Optimization Increase system efficiency and availability while standardizing, consolidating and converting custom ABAP code across SAP instances, release levels, and locations. Performance Streamline systems to optimize performance, and reduce maintenance costs, so you can benefit from optimized applications throughout their lifecycle. Developer Quality Assurance The only comprehensive solution that integrate with SAP’s Change Transport System to find and automatically fix issues in ABAP custom code during the development, maintenance and QA process. Business Warehouse Performance Significantly improve the efficiency and performance of your BW systems with a patented SaaS solution that provides unique and fast performance analysis across entire BW landscapes. 3.Intellicorp LiveCompare for SAP Upgrades IntelliCorp's unique intelligent lifecycle optimization software is used by more than 35% of the Fortune 500 companies that run SAP to reduce their TCO by at least 30%. Intellicorp provides Automated Impact Analysis for SAP Upgrade. LiveCompare provides complete impact analysis reports on all versions of SAP, saving significant time and manual effort. Version upgrades can be challenging, especially given the complexity of the SAP landscape. Introducing a large amount of change poses risk, stretches resources and requires retraining of staff. However, upgrading enables us to get up-to-date on SAP support. It opens up new functionality, designed to meet demands from the business and enable innovation. Keeping systems up-to-date provides the foundations for improving compliance with legal and security requirements. Before you begin a version upgrade, use LiveCompare to get a complete and accurate picture of your SAP environment and how it will be impacted by the new version of SAP. LiveCompare scans your SAP environment to discover how your system has been configured and customized and how the system is being used daily in production. The software then compares the as-is environment with the new version of SAP to identify the impact of change. Key Benefits: •Eliminates the guesswork by answering all your key upgrade questions automatically. •Identifies the impact of change on your SAP environment. •Complete analysis of impacted custom code. •Identifies all unused custom code and transactions. •Analyse all syntax changes. •Simplifies project planning by minimizing manual discovery. •Direct connections to both their current environment and ECC 6.0. •Complete analysis on all Standard, Custom and Industry Solution (IS) transactions. •Supports core SAP and all SAP Extensions (SRM, SCM, CRM, BW). •Integration with Third Party technology, Basecamp, for complete project management capabilities.