As outlined on the Migration of SAP Systems to SAP HANA page, several options exist for the migration of ABAP-based SAP systems to SAP HANA. To support you in finding the best option for the individual requirements and boundary conditions you are facing, SAP now provides a decision matrix in the End-to-End Implementation Roadmap for SAP NetWeaver AS ABAP, created in a combined effort of several colleagues and teams (thanks especially to Iwan Kostin) - and as also already presented at SAP TechEd 2013 in our session ITM212 - How to Migrate ABAP-Based SAP Systems to SAP HANA.
The matrix is intended to highlight important aspects for your decision on the right migration procedure, including these key considerations:
- What is the release and Support Package level of your existing SAP system? Is an update mandatory or desired as part of the migration procedure?
- Is your existing SAP system already Unicode?
- Do you plan any landscape changes - such as changing the SAPSID of your SAP system or the hardware of your application server - as part of the migration or do you rather prefer an in-place migration?
- Are your operating system and your database versions supported according to the Product Availability Matrix (PAM) of the target release or are corresponding updates required?
The following figure shows a screenshot of the matrix - please see the roadmap guide for the latest version:
- The left column gives an example for the corresponding row (that is, one initial situation for which the technical requirements in this row would apply)
- The columns with the technical requirements cover the key considerations mentioned above
- The right part of the matrix lists the corresponding recommendations which migration procedure to use when and what aspects to consider
- The lower part of the matrix provides the explanation of the symbols
- To keep the matrix in a usable format, not all combinations of technical requirements are listed - if several technical requirements should apply, try to merge the corresponding recommendations and consider all aspects given there
In the End-to-End Implementation Roadmap for SAP NetWeaver AS ABAP guide, you can also find a small example how to use the matrix.
Again, use the decision matrix only as starting point for an individual assessment - that is, consider your situation with the support of the matrix and take the relevant aspects and recommendations into the discussion with your cross-functional teams and use them as basis for an individual assessment based on the boundary conditions you are facing.
We hope that the matrix is a step into the right direction to make the selection of the best migration procedure for you easier and more transparent!