Maintaining your SAP Environment:

Enhancement Packs vs.

Support Packs
Wednesday September 15, 2010

Mark Sonnentag
Client Manager Symmetry

Download the presentation recording with audio from the

Symmetry Knowledge Center
www.sym-corp.com/knowledge-center

Symmetry Corporation

Established 1996
Based in Milwaukee WI
100% SAP focus
All SAP applications
All platforms

Quality proactive support delivered by

US-based experts
Accessibility 24x7 direct access to your
support team
Affordability highly competitive, fixed
price contracts

Introducing

Mark Sonnentag
Client Manager Symmetry
10+ years experience in the
SAP industry
SAP administration
Installations & upgrades
Hosting implementations and
DR

Agenda
Establishing the Right Maintenance Strategy

Support Package Stacks VS. Enhancement Packages

EHP Project Lifecycle
The SAP Vision for the Future of Maintenance Strategy

Determine which (if Any) Enhancement Packs your

Organization Should Implement

ESTABLISH THE RIGHT MAINTENANCE

STRATEGY FOR YOUR BUSINESS
Maintenance Strategy Overview
Four Common Strategies

Maintenance Strategies in General

SAP software is almost perfect, but has its flaws.
SAP is always coming up with solutions

Regular maintenance why?

Protects your investment
Maintains functionality, serviceability, stability, and performance
Provides opportunity for new functionality

So why do organizations avoid maintenance?

Introduces risk
Other project work too demanding
Current maintenance too far behind

Maintenance Strategies in General

SAP recommends implementing a maintenance strategy one to four
times a year
No one solution fits all!
A maintenance strategy must be tailored to suit your business
environment

Make sure to have business advocates support the strategy

Common Maintenance Strategies

Strategies and Mottos
Latest and Greatest - Early Adopter
When can I get it

N-1
Stay Current, but wait and see first

As Needed
Business Driven, On Demand

Status Quo
If it isnt broken, dont fix it

Latest and Greatest Early Adopter

Make software changes as they become available
Need/want the latest software functionality and maintenance
Disadvantages
Stability can be impacted
Unsuspectingly introducing new problems

Advantages
New features can be implemented sooner
Avoid known issues before they are encountered

N-1 Stay Current but Wait and See

Apply at defined intervals (monthly, quarterly, yearly)
Usually N-1 or N-2
Disadvantages
Postpones the benefits associated with new software functions that are
included in new software releases, but does not avoid them totally

Advantages
Organization benefits from the experience of early adopters
New features can be implemented after a little patience

As Needed Business Driven, On Demand

Only apply support packs after encountering an issue
Only make software changes when driven by the business
Disadvantages
Miss out on opportunities associated with new software release levels
e.g. performance improvements

Changes required are often significant and associated with a business

critical need

Advantages
Reduces the chance of introducing issues or instability
New features can be implemented after a system has been brought up
to speed

Status Quo If It Isnt Broken, Dont Fix It

No goals to keep current or havent establish a strategy to keep
current

Disadvantages
Next maintenance likely to be very challenging
Future upgrades or maintenance may not be possible or very difficult
New features cannot be implemented
Eventually becomes a system of Let it die or Do over

Advantages
???

Key Takeaways

Time for a Poll on Your Maintenance Strategy

Which strategy best fits your business environment?

Current SAP Maintenance Schedule for ERP

SUPPORT PACKAGE STACKS VS.

ENHANCEMENT PACKAGES
ERP Support Packs
What is a Support Pack
Support Pack Stack Schedules
ERP Enhancement Pack
What is an Enhancement Pack?
Equivalent Support Packs
Business Function
Switch Function
Activation
Implementation Strategy

ERP Support Pack Stacks (Definitions)

Definition: SAP Note
Correction to SAP code and/or Data Dictionary
objects
(Notes are lowest level.)

Definition: Support Package

Collections of SAP Notes and Patches for
software components that work best together
(Also Called SP)

Definition: Support Package Stack

Collections of support packages for software
components that work best together
( Also called SP Stacks or SPS)

SP Stacks, SP, and

SAP Notes are
available as part of
standard software
maintenance.

ERP Support Pack Stacks (SP Stacks)

Difference between ABAP and Java Support Packs
ABAP Support Packs
Provide patches and updates for the ABAP components of SAP

Each update is designed to be sequentially installed

If you apply support pack 12 without applying all those prior, it will NOT
work!

JAVA Support Packs

Contain corrections and updates to Java components
Always contain the complete version of the development components
for the application and are independent of other support packs.
Only the latest version needs to be applied!

HR applications require a higher maintenance frequency due to

legal changes.
Additional Support Packages or Country Legal Changes Packages
(CLC) are provided between SP Stack releases.

ERP Support Pack Stacks (SP Stacks)

Check Point
When planning any type of maintenance
project, make sure to validate the SP Stack
prerequisites.
This is absolutely critical for update and
enhancement pack projects.

ERP Support Pack Stack Schedule

ERP Support Pack Stacks (SP Stacks)

ERP Support Pack Stacks (SP Stacks)

Maintenance Foundation
SP Stacks have been the foundation for
providing corrections and stability for SAP
products.
This critical maintenance tool will continue to
play its same support role moving forward with
all SAP Products. It does not go away once
Enhancement Packs have been installed.

ERP Enhancement Packages

Enhancement Packages
=
Innovation without Disruption

Deploy innovations on your schedule, not ours.

ERP Enhancement Packages

Definition: Enhancement Packages

Enhancement Packages are a new software
delivery strategy which allows customers to
modernize and innovate their business
processes without the need of traditional
upgrades
( Also called EHP)

Enhancement
Packages are
available as part of
standard software
maintenance.

Motivation behind the EHP Strategy

SAP listened to customers and realized the following:
Customers want:
Longer life cycle
System downtime limited

Between major updates:

Remain stable, predictable and controllable
Capability to add new functionality

New functionality is driven by the business, not by technology

requirements
Option to select only the necessary functionality
Innovation needs to be continuous

Thus, SAP introduced Enhancement Packs

What are Enhancement Packages?

SAP EHPs
Optional packages that deliver new or improved business functions
New functionality can be selectively deployed
Adding new functionality in a predictable and controllable manner
Effort for testing and end-user training is reduced because it does not
change existing functionality

EHPs include:
Functional enhancements
Industry-specific enhancements
UI simplifications
Enterprise service bundles

Enhancement packages are NOT Support Packages

Support Packages contain corrections and legal changes

What are Enhancement Packages?

Only one EHP level exists per system
They are optionally installed and activated
EHP installation and functional activation is non-reversible
EHPs are cumulative

What are Enhancement Packages?

EHPs are part of DELTA Shipments
Effort to implement EHPs is greater than
Support Pack Stacks, but significantly less
than Upgrade Projects

Consider Implementations of EHPs as miniupgrades

For EHP installation projects, always
prepare by validating the appropriate SPS
are ready and available

When implementing
EHPs, SAP
recommends applying
the appropriate SPS
at the same time.

Equivalent Support Packages

Definition: Equivalent Support Packages
Equivalent Support Packages are time-synchronized SPs for
different versions of one software component
Common components are synchronized.
Additional corrections, for the higher level EHP, will only be provided
in the higher support pack

Equivalent Support Packages

Another view of Equivalent Support Packages:
EhP4 SPS06 -- EhP3 SPS06 -- EhP2 SPS07 -- SAP ERP 6.0 SPS17
EhP4 SPS05 -- EhP3 SPS05 -- EhP2 SPS06 -- SAP ERP 6.0 SPS16
EhP4 SPS04 -- EhP3 SPS05 -- EhP2 SPS06 -- SAP ERP 6.0 SPS16
EhP4 SPS03 -- EhP3 SPS04 -- EhP2 SPS05 -- SAP ERP 6.0 SPS15
EhP4 SPS02 -- EhP3 SPS04 -- EhP2 SPS05 -- SAP ERP 6.0 SPS15
EhP4 SPS01 -- EhP3 SPS03 -- EhP2 SPS04 -- SAP ERP 6.0 SPS14
EhP3 SPS02 -- EhP2 SPS03 -- SAP ERP 6.0 SPS13
EhP3 SPS01 -- EhP2 SPS02 -- SAP ERP 6.0 SPS12
EhP3 SPS00 -- EhP2 SPS01 -- SAP ERP 6.0 SPS11

EHP Additional Terms to Understand

Business Functions
Switch Framework
Activation

EHP - Business Functions and Switch Framework

Business Functions
EHPs can be broken down into smaller related components of technical
and business functionality
These smaller subsets of functionality are called Business Functions
Business Functions are selectable during implement of EHPs
Business Functions not selected will not be installed

Switch Framework decouples installation steps from activation steps

Installing new Business Functionality DOES NOT cause functional
changes in the existing system
Benefit: An administrator can install EHPs one weekend and months
later SAP specialists can activate business functions as necessary

EHP - Activation of Business Functions

Switch Framework controls the Activation of new Business
Functions and deploy them in a modular fashion

Activation can be done at any point after installation

Activation controls whether or not code is executed at runtime
Transaction SFW5 is used to activate Business Functions

EHP - Activation of Business Functions

SAPs Recommendations for EHP Installation

Existing ECC 6. 0 Environment
Recommendation is to do Selective Installation of EHPs
This means only those Business Functions that are needed should be
installed
Goal is to minimize risk and efforts during installation

Challenge with this approach is that the business needs to be able

to specify which Business Functions are required ahead of time
If your Business has NO Business Functions identified, then SAP
does not recommend installing EHP

New ECC 6.0 installation or major upgrade e.g. 4.6C to ECC 6.0
SAP open to complete EHP installation

EHP INSTALL PROJECT LIFECYCLE

Comparing EHPs to Traditional Upgrades
Project Duration
EHP Runtime
Steps During an EHP Installation
Variables Affecting the Run Time
Case Studies

Comparing EHPs to Traditional Upgrades

EHPs have replaced the traditional major upgrade roadmap
Consider EHPs as mini-upgrades from a technical point of view

EHPs projects have dramatically reduced the overall project

timeline when compared to a traditional upgrade:
Selective components can be installed
No need for data or customizing migrations
No table conversions
No upgrade customization at time of installation
Innovations are hidden by Switch Framework

Overall, EHPs benefit the customer by providing:

Lower manual effort
Lower risk
Faster installations

Project Duration

Individual EHP Runtime

Steps During an EHP Installation

Variables Affecting Overall Process Timing

Each customer project is unique
Memory, CPU, Storage Systems, SPS level,
Business Functions selected..

Perform a
Sandbox test
ahead of time!

Recommended System Landscape While Installing EHPs

Step 1: Create sandbox and
apply support packs and
enhancement packs to sandbox

Step 2: Remove sandbox, create

temporary second DEV for
emergency transports, then apply
support packs and enhancement
packs to DEV and QAS

Step 3: Plan for PRD EHP

installation, apply to PRD,
reestablish transport landscape
and remove temporary DEV

Recent Project Case Studies

Sample Project Time Line

Perform Sandbox ahead of time

Secondary DEV should go in shortly before applying EHPs to primary DEV
Refresh QAS with PRD before apply EHPs to QAS
Provide appropriate time between QAS and PRD

THE SAP VISION FOR THE FUTURE OF

MAINTENANCE STRATEGY
SAP Maintenance Roadmap
Continuous Innovation
EHP 5

SAP Maintenance Roadmap

Support Package Stacks will continue to play
their fundamental role in providing corrections
they wont go away
EHPs are a proven concept and live in 6500+
customers

EHPs are scheduled to come out yearly

EHP5 In ramp-up since July 2010

Mainstream Maintenance for ERP 6.0 goes to

2015 or longer.
SAP wants its customers to take advantage of
EHPs

EHPs have
replaced the
traditional
Upgrade.

Continuous Innovation Vision

EHP 5 Enhancements

EHP 5 Reversible Business Functions

Reversible business functions new to EHP 5
37 reversible business functions
Can be tested/evaluated in DEV/QAS, but only in separate clients
During the test no other tests can take place as business functions are
active in all clients
To completely undo a Business function the whole client must be deleted

DETERMINE WHICH (IF ANY)

ENHANCEMENT PACKS YOUR
ORGANIZATION SHOULD IMPLEMENT
Enhancement Pack Information Center (Option One)
Solution Browser Tool (Option Two)
Business Function Prediction (Option Three)

Enhancement Pack Information Center (Option One)

http://service.sap.com/erp-ehp

Enhancement Pack Information Center

A single point of access to all levels of details around SAP
Enhancement Packages.
http://service.sap.com/erp-ehp

Enhancement Pack Information Center

The SAP enhancement package information center contains
documentation for each EHP business function
Short description and target group
Understand each business function
Features included
Benefits
Target users
Technical name

Understand each feature of a business function

Assess each business function
Links to documentation, test cases, release notes, detail presentations, etc.

Prerequisites that must be satisfied before the activation

Solution Browser Tool (Option Two)

http://solutionbrowser.erp.sap.fmpmedia.com/
Assess the value of upgrading
Compare functional enhancements between existing SAP R/3 release
and SAP ERP 6.0
Discover new functionality across different SAP ERP releases and
enhancement packages
Summarize key functionalities between two releases
Identify capabilities that respond to user requirements
Discover new capabilities across different releases and enhancement
packages
Filter new capabilities according to a dedicated source and target
release

Business Function Prediction (Option Three)

Report Information:
Drill in capabilities to see different
levels of detail
Recommends business functions that
apply to your environment
Reports on how popular the
functionality is with other customers
Provides everything at your fingertips
to make decisions
Transactions/areas not used, wont
show on report

Business Function Prediction

How does it work?
Extract SAP transaction usage
Recommendations are based on existing transaction
usage

Initiate your request at http://service.sap.com/BFP

Answer the questions in the email template
Attach the list of used SAP transactions
E-mail results to SAP

SAP will email you the results report

Versions from 4.6C and up are supported with

this tool

HIGHLY
RECOMMENDED
Register for a free
Business Function
Prediction today!

Wrap Up
Recommend a maintenance strategy that incorporates updates at
least once a year

Support Packs are an essential part of annual maintenance

Support packs are included in Symmetrys Basis Complete service
If on ECC 6.0 Enhancement Packs are only necessary if you want to
update business functionality
Enhancement Packs are more like a mini upgrade, requiring:
Sandbox
Downtime
Support and involvement from both business and technical departments

Download the presentation recording with audio from the

Symmetry Knowledge Center
www.sym-corp.com/knowledge-center

Mark Sonnentag

Heather Mickelson

414-292-3109
msonnentag@sym-corp.com

414-732-2738
hmickelson@sym-corp.com