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SAP ERP Central Component (ECC 6.0) upgrade guide

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This guide explores best practices for SAP ERP upgrades, and is designed for an SAP ECC 6.0 upgrade project. Learn how to complete an SAP ERP upgrade audit to determine which SAP components you are looking to upgrade and learn how

to overcome and address upgrade challenges and pitfalls.

This guide, which is designed to help SAP administrators through an SAP ECC 6.0 upgrade project, explains best practices for SAP ERP upgrades and lists resources for establishing an SAP ERP upgrade strategy.

The first thing an SAP administrator should know is whether their company is ready to upgrade, and if so, how to complete an SAP ERP upgrade audit to determine which SAP components to upgrade.

This guide will help SAP admins discover how to build a successful business case for SAP ECC 6.0 upgrade projects, how to get management on board for the project and how to make users aware of ERP upgrade benefits. Readers of this guide will also learn

how to perform an SAP ERP upgrade assessment, how to address upgrade challenges and how to avoid upgrade pitfalls. They can also see how other SAP users have benefited from ERP upgrades by exploring the section on SAP ERP upgrade best practices,

tips, advice and lessons learned.

Table of contents:

SAP ERP Central Component (ECC 6.0) upgrade guide

SAP ERP/ECC 6.0 upgrade planning and strategy

SAP ERP/ECC 6.0 upgrade best practices

 Making an SAP ECC 6.0 upgrade assessment: Are you ready to upgrade?

Knowing when it's time for an SAP ERP upgrade

There are several questions to ask when considering an SAP ECC 6.0 upgrade project. The major question is whether you really need to upgrade to SAP ECC 6.0 in the first place. It may be wise to go through a systems management checklist of items to consider

for an ERP software upgrade project, such as:

 Do you need to upgrade?

 How much will the upgrade cost in terms of time and money?

 Whom will the upgrade affect?

 Which components will the upgrade affect?

 What problems will arise if the upgrade fails?

 Do you have SAP support for the upgrade?

More on SAP ERP/ECC upgrades

 Can you back out of the upgrade if you run into problems?

'Best Practice' add-on problems when upgrading

 What is the timeframe for the upgrade?

to ECC 6.0

Read how SAP users have historically formulated SAP upgrade plans. Upgrades from SAP R/3 4.7 should be to the most current version of ECC, ECC 6.0. The upgrade tools are built to cover several source

SAP FI/CO consultant's role during upgrade from releases and to "bypass" versions. Upgrading to ECC 5.0 before 6.0 will only increase the cost of the upgrade and the need for downtime.

R/3 to ECC 6.0

Managing system landscapes during an SAP ERP

6.0 upgrade

Hard to make a case for technical SAP ERP

upgrades in this economy

Assess resources before an SAP ERP upgrade project

SAP consulting versus SAP support for upgrades

 Assess your resources before an ERP upgrade project, including who will be needed on the ERP upgrade team.

In turn, consider whether you'll need assistance for your ERP upgrade from an outside SAP consultant or support from SAP. Whether you'll need a consultant depends largely on your organization's internal SAP expertise its experience with upgrades. In most

cases, SAP consultants are engaged for the duration of an implementation project.

The benefits of hiring consultants include help with upgrade strategy and business process design, as well as with configuring and customizing the software. Consultants can also share best practices for change management.

SAP consulting will almost certainly be required in four upgrade or migration situations:

 The upgrade is steep (i.e., from 4.2 to ECC 6.0).

 Your SAP applications are heavily customized and the customizations may not be upgradeable.

 The upgrade includes additional extended applications or a migration/rollout to other sites.

 SAP systems are heavily interfaced to other internal or external business applications.

Creating an SAP ECC 6.0 upgrade business case

When looking to upgrade, you'll want to make a successful SAP ECC 6.0 upgrade business case, pinpointing how you'll benefit from the upgrade and why the upgrade is needed in the first place. But if you're struggling to build a business case for an SAP ERP

upgrade in this recession, you're not alone.

Only one in three SAP customers have upgraded to ECC 6.0. Of those, 90% have opted to do only technical upgrades in order to save time and money.

"I think the economy is going to reinforce the likelihood that companies want to do a technical upgrade," said Derek Prior, research director at Boston-based AMR Research. "The bad news is, there's no business payback for doing the upgrade -- the only thing you

end up doing is staying on support. If you're saying [to the board] the business justification is staying on support. . .[t]hey're going to cross you off their Christmas card list."

Still, Prior says there are ways to do a technical upgrade and stay on the board's good side. In terms of making the case on how to make your upgrade succeed, there are steps to follow to make the upgrade proceed more smoothly, such as addressing business

objectives for ERP upgrades, preparing the organization for the upgrade, talking to companies who have already performed successful upgrades, and even making training for the new system a priority.

Even though training is a low priority for some companies, many long-time SAP customers still invest heavily in training because they have learned the importance of training the hard way, but these companies are the exception, not the rule.
 Of course, the case for upgrading might be more straightforward if it's simply a matter of the time being right. Some customers upgrading to SAP ERP 6.0 are doing so primarily because they've reached the end of their extended support agreements for R/3 4.6C.

"When you survey people, functionality is the No. 1 reason [people say] they're upgrading," said Jim Shepherd, senior vice president of research at Boston-based AMR Research. "And they're always lying."

But there are other reasons to upgrade to SAP ERP 6.0 besides being pushed off R/3 4.6C, or even 4.7. Foremost among these is consolidating software instances. This will facilitate a better return on investment (ROI), and allows faster and more accurate

production of orders, consistent customer experiences, decreased error rates and facilitated compliance, according to Ray Wang, principal analyst with Cambridge, Mass.-based Forrester Research.

Forecasting ROI for an SAP ECC 6.0 upgrade

When evaluating the potential ROI of an SAP upgrade, you should look to SAP to quantify the value. While the features of the upgrade can be attractive, it's up to the vendor to provide the business value of those features, as they can help pay for the upgrade.

There are several areas for finding ROI from an SAP upgrade to ECC 6.0. The upgraded system might have a lower total cost of ownership (TCO). Reduced TCO can come from reducing the number of servers to host the application, lowering database size or

using fewer IT operations and support staff to manage the infrastructure.

It may also be that new capabilities from the upgrade streamline business processes, or that availability and service levels are improved. Moreover, focusing on future improvements that an upgrade will enable can also help in forecasting ROI for an ERP business

case.

For instance, the project team for the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. knew early on that a mySAP ERP technical upgrade would not result in hard ROI. But focusing on future improvements helped the project get approved. The project team, which included

business and IT personnel, built the business case with the future phases of the project in mind to make the strongest argument for the upgrade.

"We positioned ourselves to say, 'Here's the benefit we'll gain in a year, two years, three years down the road, with additional investments," said Stéphane Rivest, director of CBC's financial systems. "But we needed the technology upgrade to take the next step

forward."

https://searchsap.techtarget.com/tutorial/SAP-ERP-ECC-60-upgrade-planning-and-strategy

SAP ERP/ECC 6.0 upgrade planning and strategy

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 Designing an SAP upgrade stategy is critical to the success of your SAP ERP/ECC 6.0 upgrade project. Find out how to decide whether you want a technical upgrade, a functional upgrade or strategic upgrade, as well as how to measure the

success of your upgrade project.

This section of the SAP ERP ECC 6.0 upgrade guide offers resources to help you create an SAP ERP upgrade strategy and determine what to include in your ERP upgrade planning. Learn the difference between a technical upgrade, a functional upgrade and a

strategic upgrade, and which makes the most sense for your organization. Find out who should be on the upgrade team. Read about best practices from companies that have upgraded to SAP ERP ECC 6.0 in order to minimize disruptions and downtime during

your upgrade.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

 SAP ERP Central Component (ECC 6.0) upgrade guide

 SAP ERP/ECC 6.0 upgrade planning and strategy

 SAP ERP/ECC 6.0 upgrade best practices

Designing an SAP upgrade business strategy

By addressing potential pitfalls during an SAP ECC 6.0 upgrade up-front, you can avoid critical ERP upgrade mistakes. Many IT managers tend to put off ERP upgrades for as long as possible -- perhaps with good reason.

"Upgrades are the thing users love to hate," said Jim Shepherd, vice president at AMR Research Inc. "They'd like new technology and updated functionality, but they don't want to do upgrades -- they seem too expensive, disruptive and risky. [Customers] hold off

until they have no choice in most cases."

But SAP experts warn that if the upgrade process is postponed until the vendor is about to end support for the current ERP version, the upgrade project could turn into an expensive fire drill.

For organizations embarking on an SAP ECC 6.0 upgrade, it is important to first create an SAP upgrade business strategy . According to Shepherd, an ERP upgrade strategy should include a five- to seven-year plan that answers these questions:
 What will be the short-term ramifications of the upgrade?

 Will the move change how the company performs its daily business?

 How will the upgrade affect other parts of the IT infrastructure?

 What will be the long-term benefits of the upgrade be?

There are endless debates among SAP administrators and SAP managers over how to maintain and update ERP systems. It used to be that the decision of whether to perform an upgrade was either made by the IT department, or else dictated by the software

vendor's ERP release schedule. (All software vendors support a given version of their software for a limited number of years. SAP is no exception. Many SAP customers upgrade to ECC 6.0 for support and software consolidation reasons. However, SAP ERP

upgrades are now critical enough that upper management needs to have input into the planning of the SAP upgrade project.

The first question is whether the upgrade is a technical upgrade, a functional upgrade or a strategic upgrade. A technical upgrade involves upgrading just the SAP software technology. A functional upgrade takes it a step further to take advantage of new features in

the SAP software. A strategic upgrade involves upgrading other aspects of the business, including business processes.

Because the technical upgrade is the easiest and least risky, many companies choose to take this upgrade path. However, functional and strategic upgrades are more valuable.

Shepherd advises AMR clients to decide upfront whether their upgrade will be just a technical upgrade or one that includes major new functionality as well.

If an organization is dealing with only a version upgrade, the project team will consist of primarily IT staff, with some user involvement for testing. But for companies adding major new ERP functionality, the scope of the project will be greater, and business users

must be included from the start. Any ERP project without substantial user buy-in will be doomed to failure.

In a SearchManufacturingERP.com article on ERP upgrade planning, Shepherd offered advice for those involved in the upgrade process. He said that "if the business has the appetite for it, then you should take advantage of the upgrade to incorporate new

functionality, revisit business processes and look for any modifications or extensions that you can get rid of."

It's also important to identify metrics for measuring the success of the ERP upgrade project. Companies can measure the success of their ERP upgrade by revenue gains, cost reductions or improvements in customer satisfaction. However, ERP vendors and SAP

consultants may measure upgrade success by being on time and on budget.

Selecting a partner for an SAP ERP upgrade and building the upgrade team

It's important that SAP customers know how to select the right SAP partner. That means not only finding consultants with the appropriate expertise, but ones with the right cultural fit for your company.
 Chris Church, systems integration analyst for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, was in charge of Lockheed Martin's upgrade from SAP R/3 4.7 to SAP ECC 6.0. He recommends that the upgrade team include all Basis experts, advanced business

application programming (ABAP)programmers, and one or two key users.

When it comes to assembling an all-star ERP upgrade team, experts suggest developing some technical skills in-house, pulling in business experts, and looking to consultants to fill in the blanks. "Make sure your best people are on the upgrade," said Jon Reed, a

consultant with JonERP.com.

Most experts agree that bringing in executives who represent the business side at the outset is critical for ERP upgrade success.

Organizations preparing for an upgrade should also create a plan with an outline of specific tasks, according to AMR's Shepherd. The plan will include such items as data conversion, database loading, identifying needed testing, creating the test scripts, creating a

test system, getting users to do the testing and, eventually, performing the cutover activities. The upgrade plan should also include a timeline and the resources required to accomplish each milestone. Changes always occur, but the upgrade should be kept as

close as possible to the timeline.

https://searchsap.techtarget.com/tutorial/SAP-ERP-ECC-60-upgrade-best-practices

SAP ERP/ECC 6.0 upgrade best practices

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Learn how to overcome SAP ERP/ECC 6.0 challenges and pitfalls, including how to avoid mistakes during the upgrade process, how to minimize the impact of your ECC 6.0 upgrade on your other software systems and how to prevent upgrade

project scope creep.

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 sThis section of the SAP ERP ECC 6.0 upgrade guide offers tips for overcoming the challenges and pitfalls of upgrading to ECC 6.0. You'll find tips that can help you minimize downtime and disruptions during the implementation of the newest version of the ERP

software, advice on building an upgrade team, and SAP ERP ECC 6.0 best practices culled from case studies of companies that have implemented successful ECC 6.0 upgrades and their lessons learned.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

 SAP ERP Central Component (ECC 6.0) upgrade guide

 SAP ERP/ECC 6.0 upgrade planning and strategy

 SAP ERP/ECC 6.0 upgrade best practices

Overcoming SAP ECC 6.0 upgrade challenges and pitfalls

Many things can go wrong during the course of an SAP ECC 6.0 upgrade. Poorly documented processes, upgrade scope creep and failure to keep the software constant during the upgrade are three common SAP upgrade challenges that lead to system

disruptions and increase the time required to finish the upgrade.

System disruptions usually take place in the first 60 days of the go-live during software upgrades. According to Eric Kimberling, president and founder of ERP specialist Panorama Consulting Group, a study by his firm showed that SAP implementations cause less

disruption than upgrades from competitors such as Oracle and Microsoft.

However, there are still disruptions common to SAP upgrades, and there are ways for IT managers to minimize business disruptions during an SAP ERP upgrade.

Also, if you're upgrading to SAP ECC 6.0 and are engaged in a separate, concurrent development project to customize your SAP HR system, you'll want to coordinate both projects so that the end product is the same.

Another issue: Say you're involved in a technical upgrade to ECC 6.0 and another department is upgrading an application that is integrated with ECC 6.0. Does it matter whether you ugprade to ECC 6.0 first, or should the integrated application be upgraded first?

SAP ECC 6.0 upgrade user case studies and lessons learned

Reading SAP ERP upgrade user case studies and hearing about lessons learned from SAP users can help you prepare for the challenges of an upgrade project.

Can you make ERP upgrades less disruptive with better planning? An SAP ERP upgrade will bring changes to the rest of your IT infrastructure. Changes in one SAP environment can impact another, and they can also drag down the performance of other software

systems. According to SAP expert Paul Hayes, automating the change control process can minimize the impact on other software systems as well as ensure a smooth SAP upgrade.
 CHEP, a provider of pallet and container pooling services, learned that lesson when it performed a strategic upgrade that called for an overhaul of its SAP infrastructure, including SAP R/3, SAP BW and SAP SRM. Any one of the upgrades could have caused

downtime and transaction failures in the company's entire system infrastructure. The company used change control to protect its IT stack from cascading changes, and to ensure a smooth upgrade path for all three SAP products.

Another SAP upgrade best practice from SearchSAP.com expert Bert Vanstechelman is that after an upgrade to a higher SAP ERP release, avoid using an SAP best practices add-on from the previous version, since it may no longer be active.

Find out about the ERP upgrade lessons learned when Lockheed Martin completed its nine-month SAP R/3 4.7 upgrade to SAP ECC 6.0. The installation was one of nine different ERP environments in the corporation's overall IT infrastructure.

Lockheed Martin had been running six instances of R/3, four instances of SAP BI 7.0 and three instances of EBP. The company has 4,500 users, 1,100 to 1,300 of whom are concurrent users.

Some of the lessons learned during the ERP upgrade project, according to Chris Church, system integration analyst for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, were these:

 IT people need to be available for the weekend and the next week following the upgrade.

 It's important to keep the upgrade software constant for the entire project. In the middle of the project, Lockheed Martin decided to add support pack stack 11 and SAP enhancement package. Changing the mix of the software added two months to the

upgrade schedule, Church said.

 Expect password issues. Despite repeated reminders, users failed to heed warnings that passwords were now case-sensitive, and after the upgrade, many users were locked out of their accounts.

 Ongoing communication is critical. The upgrade team continuously updated the service desks and desktop support, sent multiple emails to users, and even created a blog and telephone message system to keep users notified, Church said. They also

scheduled a meeting at noon each day on the final upgrade weekend to discuss status and problems.