How we manage to keep the data in the course of the
Validate S/4 Hana migration at the push of a button

Data! Data! Data!

Even in the first phases of an S/4 Hana migration, it becomes apparent that, in addition to the new processes and interfaces, a great deal also depends on the correct, clean data. At the beginning, you still design the data transfer at object level, but very quickly you check the individual data records at table level. Instead of SE16 - Excel - SE16... is there anything better? What I take away from my migration projects so far: With the right tool, time and resources can be saved.

Here's what's important: Reusability of analyses. Creating, modifying and saving the necessary queries must be as quick and easy as possible. Always and everywhere. There are a wide variety of systems (old, new, sandbox, productive, test, etc.), and queries should be exchanged between them as efficiently as possible and assigned to a wide variety of users. Queries that are only available to one user in a system are not useful.

The devil is in the details. The object level is not too much of a problem, because here it is possible to quickly evaluate whether the number of objects is correct by counting entries. But what happens when the details become increasingly central? How does it look at the field level? Is the newly calculated value correct in all positions? It must be possible to create the queries at all levels, no matter how detailed. After the project is before the operation. In the course of the implementation, data was checked and all these analyses want to be further used in the ongoing operation. Of course, data quality will also be checked and kept high during the next major project. 

Okay, data quality and consistency are important. But how? 

Of course, there are various possibilities within the SAP universe, but they all reach their limits at some point. We have therefore developed the SQL Cockpit which perfectly supports the process of data migration and also provides valuable services in the context of data quality after the successful go-live. For 14 years, SQL Cockpit has been continuously adapted to the needs of our customers. As you can see: Data quality in SAP systems was an issue even before S/4 Hana. 

The typical deployment in an S/4 Hana migration project 

At the beginning, the objects to be transferred are defined. After that, it follows very quickly how these objects change. Some tables no longer exist, some are merged. With the SQL Cockpit, an evaluation is written right at the beginning, which data volumes I have in the system at all. And I have already saved the basic structure with the most important tables. Because SQL Cockpit, no statements that have ever been written are lost! In each workshop, the consultants now expand these queries, break them down to all the details and customer enhancements. Parallel to the analysis in the legacy system, they also discuss where all this information will end up in S/4. With copy-and-paste, the queries are transferred to S/4 and adapted to the new data model. And now the first conversion/migration? If we've done everything right, both in the legacy system and in the new S/4 we get not only the number of all relevant data objects, but also all the important details at the push of a button.

Now, after the first migration, we can compare the number of customers AND also all the calculated totals at the item level. What if something is wrong now? Then we start the list comparison and get the differences displayed on field level. AND THAT EVERY TIME! You simply can't get the results any faster! Now we are live! What's next? The test cases we built up during the project are not lost. First, these prepared analyses help in daily support, and second, after the project is before the project. Because the next enhancement or the next merger is just around the corner. Our tool has become indispensable in the daily work of our customers in the DACH region, as it provides excellent support both in projects and afterwards. It helps developers with their tasks, test cases can be checked quickly, and troubleshooting and establishing appropriate solutions in support are facilitated. 

The future is hot 

We see the need among our customers for these checks to run automatically in the background. Even if this is not absolutely necessary in the S/4 Hana migration project, at the latest after the go-live the system network has more than just one SAP instance and then the queries and comparisons simply want to continue to be used. We have heard the wishes and are working on the next major release this year.