Personnel deployment halved: nice SAP maintenance weekend

TÜV Süd has been using SAP enterprise solutions to support its diverse business processes for years. Internationally in 28 countries around the globe. SAP landscapes are provided worldwide from the headquarters in Munich: 14 SAP system landscapes with 64 SIDs and over 175 servers on an x64 basis (Windows and Linux). SAP ERP ECC is currently used, as well as several ERP systems, BW systems in various forms, Abap and Java systems, CRM and HR systems. The SAP Hana S/4 transition is currently running at full speed.

A total of twelve employees work in SAP Basis. They are responsible for a variety of tasks and activities in the TÜV Süd SAP environment. They are responsible for the maintenance, servicing, upgrades, operation, further development and new development of all TÜV Süd SAP systems. They are also responsible for structure, security and business harmony in the Authorization & User Management area. They are currently developing a well thought-out TÜV Süd master role concept, which forms the basis for secure and sustainable access management and thus enables derivations in line with business and IT processes as well as local requirements. They are following the need-to-know principle so that every user receives exactly the access they really need - no more and no less.

As Katharina Hoffmann, Head of SAP Basis/Manager SAP Basis at TÜV Süd, explains, "We have set ourselves the goal of optimizing the SAP Basis effort in meaningful places by effective means. We are delighted that we have already achieved so much by using Empirius software. The software meets our requirements and ensures demonstrable efficiency."

Automation requirements

For years, TÜV Süd has relied on the BlueCopy solution from Empirius for the automated creation of SAP system and SAP landscape copies. In order to become even better for future, new SAP Basis requirements, several automation solutions and their providers were examined in detail, including Empirius with Epos. In particular, the aim was to reduce SAP Basis personnel deployment at weekends. Background: The TÜV Süd SAP Basis was used for maintenance work on at least two weekends a month. This means that two SAP Basis employees were responsible for ensuring that SAP systems were up-to-date and secure on around 28 to 30 weekends a year. Planned downtimes should have as little impact as possible on users' day-to-day business.

"The starting point for the time windows was, in particular, the security requirement to keep the operating systems up to date at all times and to carry out operating system patches promptly. At TÜV Süd, these patches correlate directly with the SAP systems. When patching, it is necessary to stop and then restart both the SAP systems and the databases. This process takes up a considerable amount of time when carried out manually on this scale. We wanted to automate this process and minimize the use of personnel at weekends," reports Hans Zachenbacher, SAP Senior Basis Consultant at TÜV Süd.

When selecting suitable SAP Basis automation software, several solutions were examined and tested. This included the SAP Basis automation suite Epos (Empirius Planning and Operations Suite) from Empirius. Conclusion of the tests: "Of all the solutions examined, we as the SAP Basis team considered Epos with the maintenance app for starting and stopping SAP systems/databases to be the best system for us. We were also very interested in the SAP Kernel and Hana DB Patching applications. The automated starting and stopping of SAP systems is directly integrated in these apps," they say.

Significant savings

As part of the proof of concept, various Epos apps such as the Custom App, Hana DB Update, SAP Profile Parameter, Kernel Update, Cert Management, DB Info, OS Info and SAP Info were examined. Epos has been in productive use at TÜV Süd since May 2024. Six SAP Basis administrators are familiar with using the automation suite. And on each of the maintenance weekends, Epos is used after the jobs have been defined.

When asked whether the use of the SAP automation suite has met expectations and what the added value is, SAP Basis expert Hans Zachenbacher explains: "The PoC already showed that we can generate added value through the use of Epos. This has also been impressively confirmed in productive operation to date. If you consider that the number of staff required on maintenance weekends has been halved, meaning that instead of two SAP Basis experts, only one has to be assigned to the service, this means significant savings and a massive reduction in workload for us."

It is also emphasized that "the use of automation software ensures consistently high process quality". TÜV Süd also appreciates the fact that it has quick access to Empirius and its developers at all times if required.

TÜV Süd assumes that, in addition to the BlueCopy, Start/Stop of SAP Systems and SAP Databases, SAP Kernel Updates and Reporting apps, other apps from Epos will be used in the future. For example, the Security Notes (SEC Notes) app for handling and managing SAP SEC Notes or the Cert Management app for SAP software certificate management.

"In the comparatively short period of use since the PoC at the end of 2023, we have seen that some useful features and apps have been added to Epos that make our work easier during maintenance appointments, as we also carry out other necessary changes during these planned appointments," emphasizes TÜV Süd SAP Basis Department Head/Manager SAP Basis Katharina Hoffmann. She continues: "Our goal is to always position ourselves as SAP Basis in the best possible way and to continuously develop what we have already achieved. Automation plays an important role in this. Wherever automation is possible, we will use it."

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