Series of Technology Essentials for Moving to SAP S/4HANA – tip #11: Optimizing Downtime in Conversions

This is a series of blogs written by SAP subject matter experts to prepare you for your journey to SAP S/4HANA. Ready? Let’s go!

Topic #11 focuses on options for system conversion that can help you meet your downtime requirements

Four options for system conversion can help you meet your downtime requirements:

Standard conversion – For smaller implementations of the SAP ERP application
Database migration option (DMO) with system move – When relocating to another data center or to an infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) provider
Downtime-optimized conversion – For midsize and large systems
Minimized downtime service – For extra-large systems

Standard conversion

The standard conversion is your default option. You can optimize conversion time by applying the right optimization strategy and exploiting the capabilities of the Software Update Manager tool. Use the Technical Downtime Optimization tool in SAP ONE Support Launchpad to choose optimal system settings based on the results of your first conversion run.

Read this blog for an overview of Technical Downtime Optimization and this one to understand the mechanics behind it.

DMO with system move

When combining a system conversion with relocation to another data center or to an infrastructure-as-a-service provider, your standard choice is the “DMO with system move” option of Software Update Manager. It lets you combine the system conversion for systems on non-SAP HANA databases with a move to SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, or Amazon Web Services in one step.

Downtime-optimized conversion

To meet business expectations on the cutover window for midsize and large systems, rely on the downtime-optimized conversion option in Software Update Manager. Learn more about this option here.

For technology consultants and system administrators, we offer a training course on this option (ADM329). Book your seat here.

Minimized downtime service

Our minimized downtime service is designed to help customers operating extra-large systems with:

Data volumes of 20 TB or more
A large data footprint in finance or logistics
A high volume of application changes

Using this service, you can also combine multiple maintenance events – such as a Unicode conversion, move to another data center or IaaS provider, and system conversion – into a single system downtime.

For more information, refer to SAP Note 693168 or contact [email protected].

Where to find more

Visit the Software Update Manager page in SAP Support Portal.

Earlier blogs of the series:

tip #1: Check Your Add-ons. Now.

tip #2: Check Your Finance Data Quality

tip #3: Don’t Just Rework Custom Code. Rethink it!

tip #4: How to Build Custom Extensions

tip #5: Plan Ahead with Compatibility Packs

tip #6: Gain Insight to Build a Solid Business Case

tip #7: Hardware Planning and Data Volume Management

tip #8: Curate Your Master Data before Deployment