Migrating Legacy Data

The SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit is included in the licenses for all SAP S/4HANA deployment options and is accessed with the Migrate Your Data Fiori app on the launchpad. The Migration Cockpit is a ready-to-use data migration solution with a set of comprehensive template-based migration objects for transferring business data. It automatically maps source data to the SAP S/4HANA target values and generates the necessary migration programs, so there is no programming required. The Migrate Your Data app guides you through the migration process with a step-by-step workflow that has built-in validation checks to ensure data quality and consistency.

Standard migration objects are predelivered by SAP and the availability in a system depends on the deployment (i.e. public cloud, private cloud, or on premise), and the customer's activated scope items. This means if additional scope item(s) are activated, additional migration objects may become available in the Migrate Your Data app.

The SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit is designed for data transfer from customer legacy system(s) to SAP S/4HANA and SAP S/4HANA Cloud during implementation, not continuous replication. The tasks to extract, prepare, and execute data migration are all defined in the relevant implementation phases of the SAP Activate Methodology.

In the extensibility framework, certain migration objects support custom fields created in the Custom Fields and Logic app. If the migration cockpit detects a custom field in a target function module or CDS behavior definition for a migration object, it will automatically add it to the source structure of the migration object to allow data to be entered for the field. In addition, the Migration Object Modeler tool enables you to customize and create new migration objects.

Note

• View the migration objects supported by the extensibility framework in the SAP Help Portal
• In some cases, custom fields cannot be automatically added and you must manually identify the source structure using the Migration Object Modeler.
• The Migration Object Modeler only supports certain objects for customization in SAP S/4HANA Cloud. Learn more in SAP Note 2999428
• New migration objects cannot be created with the Migration Object Modeler in SAP S/4HANA Cloud.

Click on each of the pictograms to see the benefits of the SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit.

You access the Migrate Your Data - Migration Cockpit app from the launchpad in SAP S/4HANA Cloud. In an SAP S/4HANA Cloud system, the migration approach is: migrate data using staging tables. A staging table is a database table that contains business data. Essentially, you are migrating data directly to the database tables in the SAP HANA database through the Migrate Your Data app.

Note

Access the Video Library for Data Migration in the SAP Help Portal

SAP predelivers template files for migration objects in the SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit. You can populate the data manually or use tools such as SAP Data Services. Template files can be downloaded in two formats: XML or CSV. We recommend using the default format, XML, for the following reasons:

• All data is contained in one file.
• The XML template file contains detailed information about the relevant data structures as well as instructions about how to enter data in the file.
• Microsoft Excel is a stable option for entering and editing values in an XML file manually.

Note

• If you manually populate data by copy-pasting, make sure to paste VALUES ONLY to strip any formatting from the data. If any existing formatting gets pulled into the XML template, it will corrupt the file and you will not be able to upload it.
• The size limit for each XML file uploaded to the SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit is 100MB. You can upload multiple XML files at once by using a zip file. The combined size of all the XML files you want to add to the zip file must not exceed 160MB, and the maximum permitted size of the zip file is still 100MB.

Using CSV template files is an expert option. We do not recommend using CSV files unless you have a specific use case for doing so. For example, if you are automating the extraction of data from database tables, CSV files may be easier to create using database or other file handling tools. A benefit of the CSV format is no size restriction for the file. However, we recommend using caution with the CSV template format for the following reasons:

• You need to use a separate CSV file for each data structure.
• There is no built-in protection for data formats.

Note

• A test script detailing the data migration process is available in SAP Best Practices Explorer: Data Migration to SAP S/4HANA from File (BH5)
• When you set a migration project to Finished, you can specify a retention period for the data.

Learn how to migrate your data to SAP S/4HANA Cloud using the SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit template files and check your results.

ExerciseStart Exercise

To transfer data to SAP S/4HANA from a separate staging database, you must have a remote HANA database deployed that will act as the staging system. Following the instructions in the setup guide for the Data Migration to SAP S/4HANA from Staging (2Q2) business process, you will first deploy an SAP HANA Database as a Service (DBaaS) on SAP Business Technology Platform. Then you request activation of the 2Q2 scope item via ticket component XX-S4C-OPR-SRV. Last, set up an integration between the DBaaS and your SAP S/4HANA tenant with communication arrangement SAP_COM_0259 (Migration Cockpit Integration) in the Communication Arrangements Fiori app on the launchpad.

Next, the customer must identify internal expert(s) with access to their legacy database(s) and with knowledge of extract, transform, load (ETL) tools. The ETL process pulls data from the legacy system(s) and loads into the staging database. Customers can use their own ETL tools or SAP tools such as, SAP HANA Studio, SAP HANA Smart Data Integration (SDI), or SAP Data Services. The staging database must be built on HANA, and integrated to the SAP S/4HANA target system. Through the integration APIs, data is transferred from the staging database to the SAP S/4HANA target system.

Note

More information on the staging database method can be found in SAP Note 2733253

1. Preparation
   • Assign necessary business roles
   • Deploy a separate staging database: SAP HANA Database as a Service (DBaaS) on SAP Business Technology Platform
   • Activate the Data Migration to SAP S/4HANA from Staging (2Q2) scope item in your SAP S/4HANA target system
   • Follow the setup guide to activate the integration between the staging database and your SAP S/4HANA target system (Communication Arrangement: Migration Cockpit Integration SAP_COM_0259)
2. Create Migration Project
   • Open the Migrate Your Data - Migration Cockpit app in the Fiori launchpad
     • Choose the Create button
     • Select Remote SAP S/4HANA Database Schema connection
     • Choose the staging database as the source system
3. Copy Migration Object(s) to project
   • Choose object(s) and select Move to Selected Migration Objects
     • Staging tables for each object are generated in staging DB automatically
   • To remove objects, select the object(s) and choose Move to Available Migration Objects
4. Finish creating the migration project
   • Select the Review button to review your Project Settings
   • Select the Create Project button to create your migration project
5. Populate Migration Objects with Data
   • In the staging database:
     • Customer uses their own or SAP ETL tools (e.g. SAP Data Services, SAP HANA Smart Data Integration (SDI), SAP HANA Studio) to extract data from legacy system(s) and populate staging tables in staging DB
   • In the SAP S/4HANA system - follow guided procedure to complete migration:
     1. Prepare the staging tables for each migration object to ensure they can be used to transfer data
     2. Process open mapping tasks. (e.g. Value mapping where you specify target values for corresponding source values, or Fixed Value tasks where you set default values for target fields)
     3. Optional: Simulate transfer of data
     4. Migrate data
   • Data from the staging tables will be posted to the target SAP S/4HANA system
   • When all data for an object has been migrated, the message Data Successfully Transferred to Staging Tables, will display.
6. Verify Data in Relevant App

Note

When you set the migration project to Finished, you can specify a retention period for the data.

When preparing to migrate data, you must have the data migration expert business role assigned to your user (SAP_BR_CONFIG_EXPERT_DATA_MIG) and the business role that corresponds with the migration object(s) for which you are migrating data. For example, to migrate data for the Bank object, you need the Cash Manager business role. This information is available in the migration object documentation in the SAP Help Portal.

Note

Access the SAP S/4HANA Cloud Data Migration landing page in the SAP Help Portal

In the menu of options on the Data Migration help portal page, select Migration Objects for SAP S/4HANA Cloud. Then, click the link of a migration object to find detailed information about the object. Scroll down to the Post Processing section to find information about validating your data in the system. This will show you the business role required to migrate the data for that particular object, and the name of an application to validate data has been successfully migrated.

You can cancel the migration in the Simulate and Migrate steps. This feature allows you to cancel the migration in a controlled way that does not arbitrarily kill the job. In the Migration Project view screen, select Monitoring, then select the Cancel button.

After data is migrated, you can check the migration results. The results links open the relevant app where you can access the data record. In the Migration Project view screen, select migration object(s) and choose the Migration Results button.

With the Data Migration Status app, you can check the status of your migration objects and projects after you've started migrating data to your SAP S/4HANA Cloud system for at least one migration object.

Note

Learn more in SAP Note 2681413: FAQ for SAP S/4HANA Data Migration Status App

Extended statistics provide details about migrated data, such as source values, target values after mapping, and target IDs. This information can then be used to validate or audit your migrated data.

In the Data Migration Status app, the extended statistics column provides the record counts of all structures of a migrated object. You can download a complete spreadsheet with all the extended statistics data. The extended statistics feature is activated by default, but you can change the settings per migration object. If you want to turn off logging of extended statistics, you can toggle the switches off. Please note that switching off extended statistics not only stops logging of new data, but it also deletes previously logged data. you can stop logging extended statistics data by changing your logging preferences. Please note, if you toggle off an extended statistics data point, the system will stop logging that data in the future but also delete past logged data.

In the Extended Statistics column in the Migration Objects overview table, three different statuses can be displayed for a migration object:

• Statistics: This means logging of extended statistics is activated, and data is available. When you click the Statistics link, you see an overview of all logged statistics for a specific migration object in all available projects.
• No Data: This means logging of extended statistics is activated, and data will be available after the next migration run.
• Turned off: This means logging of extended statistics was manually deactivated for the migration object.

Before go-live, you may want to transfer open balances and open postings from a legacy system to your SAP S/4HANA Cloud system. To enable the migration cockpit to properly transfer your legacy data, you must first enter the dates on which you want to complete all preparatory activities for each company code in the Define Settings for Legacy Transfer app BEFORE the actual data transfer using the relevant migration objects in the Migrate Your Data app.

The date must allow for you to complete the following actions:

• Complete all postings available up to this date in full in the source system
• Reconcile and close the journals in the source system for the period
• Extract source data and enter it into migration templates
• Clean and convert data as needed
• Validate the imported data against your legacy system

The date chosen is usually the end of a period (month, quarter, year) since this will fit into the normal reconciliation cycle. Please note that the migration key date is also used as the posting date when the legacy data is actually transferred to your SAP S/4HANA system.

Data migration uses Situation Handling to automatically display a situation message when the data migration is completed and results are available. As of SAP S/4HANA Cloud 2111, Situation Handling delivers an automatically enabled situation type for the Situation Template: Data Migration Complete (CA_DATA_MIGRATION_STEP_COMPLETED).

Note

Learn more about working with situation templates and types in the SAP Help Portal

The SAP S/4HANA migration object modeler is an application that can be used to enhance the migration objects that are used in the SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit. It is only possible to enhance certain migration objects that are released by SAP. There is an SAP Note for each migration object that details the structures and fields that can be enhanced for that specific migration object. These SAP Notes can be accessed from the collective SAP Note 2999428.

Check out the SAP Blog: Changing Your Language Settings in SAP S/4HANA Cloud, to learn how to change the language within the settings for different browsers, or by adding the language to the URL in SAP S/4HANA Cloud (fastest method). This helps you with data migration if you need to download migration object templates in several different languages.