Migrating Data to SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition

When setting up SAP S/4HANA Cloud for a customer, an important task is migrating all required business data from their legacy (old) database(s) to the target database (SAP HANA). The SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit is a tool that provides multiple methods of migrating data from as many legacy systems, SAP or non-SAP, as needed. You open the Migration Cockpit from an app called Migrate Your Data on the Fiori launchpad, as long as you have the permission assigned to access the application (see here). This same app is available in all deployments of SAP S/4HANA - on premise, private cloud, and public cloud - although the functionality and migration object template availability may be slightly different by deployment.

The SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit is an embedded tool - there is no additional cost to use it. The tool has a comprehensive library of migration object templates with the necessary fields already defined to help you migrate data to the HANA database. It automatically maps source data from the templates to the SAP S/4HANA target system and guides you through a series of step-by-step activities to confirm the mappings and finalize migration, with validation checks occurring in the background. The SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit is designed to be used during a period of time when large volumes of data need to be moved from another system to the target system. This always is necessary during implementation of SAP S/4HANA Cloud, but could also be relevant if a customer who has already gone live with SAP S/4HANA Cloud acquires a subsidiary organization and needs to move data from the subsidiary's database(s) to the parent company's HANA database.

In addition to having permission to access the Migrate Your Data app, you need permission to migrate each type of data. This is because the Migration Cockpit tool uses the same APIs and technical checks that would be done if you were to create a new data value through the respective application. For example, if I need to create a new bank record in my system, I would use the application, Manage Banks. The app would present me with several fields capturing information about the new bank to create the record in my system.

Now if I need to create 1,000 banks, it wouldn't be feasible to create each through the Manage Banks app one-by-one. Instead, I would use the Migrate Your Data app to facilitate creating all 1,000 bank records at one time. After migrating all bank records, I would check the Manage Banks app to verify the banks I've migrated are now available. Therefore when we migrate data, we need permission to access both the Migrate Your Data app, and the app we'd use to create that data as a one-off. All available migration objects are documented in the SAP Help Portal. Each migration object lists the app required to validate your data in the system in the Post-Processing section. When you click the link of this app, you are brought to the app information in the SAP Fiori Apps Reference Library, where the business role required to access the app is listed.

The SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit facilitates moving data to SAP S/4HANA Cloud through two different methods:

• Migrate Data Using Staging Tables: A migration object template is filled and the data from the template is transferred first to a "staging table" (temporary table), then moved to the target HANA database connected to the SAP S/4HANA Cloud system. Migration object templates can be filled through two different approaches:
  • Local SAP S/4HANA Database Schema: You download the template in XML or CSV format (both can be opened in Microsoft Excel) and copy-paste or manually type data into each field. This is the most commonly used method, however it can be time consuming with large volumes of data.
  • Remote SAP HANA Database Schema: A separate SAP HANA database is deployed and used as the "middle-man" between the customer's legacy database(s) and the target SAP S/4HANA Cloud system. An integration must be set up to connect the remote HANA database to the target SAP S/4HANA Cloud system, and the customer is responsible for designing their own ETL (extract, transform, load) code or using SAP Data Services to move data from their legacy database(s) to the remote HANA database. This method requires more time to initially set up, but can be more efficient for large volumes of data.
  • Note

    Both approaches are documented in SAP Process Navigator: Data Migration to SAP S/4HANA from Staging (2Q2).
• Migrate Data Directly from SAP System: An RFC connection is set up between an SAP ERP system on a compatible release and the target SAP S/4HANA Cloud system. Through the RFC connection, the source data is automatically converted to the SAP S/4HANA data model when loading data to the SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit. Detailed instructions are documented in the SAP Help Portal.

To migrate data, you first create a migration project and assign one or more migration objects. The SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit then generates a staging table (temporary table) within SAP S/4HANA Cloud for each migration object. When the table for an object has been filled and you finalize the migration project, the data from the staging table is moved to the database of the SAP S/4HANA Cloud system.

You may choose to assign each migration object to its own separate project, or group several related migration objects together within a project. What's most important is that you have the necessary permission assigned and the requirements of migrating data for any predecessor objects have been satisfied. Consultants may choose the split up the migration tasks by focusing on migration objects relevant to their line of business area, or simply divide the migration objects equally among the team.

Watch this video on how to migrate data using staging tables with the SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit.

To migrate data you have to carry out several consecutive steps.

The steps to migrate data are:

1. Create Migration Project
2. Select Migration Object(s)

   Check migration object documentation (post-processing section) to see which app is required to validate data has been successfully migrated, and you have assigned yourself the business role to access this app.

3. Download migration object template in XML or CSV format and open in Microsoft Excel
   • The Migration Cockpit will only accept a maximum size of 100MB for a single file or .zip compressed file. You can typically compress a 160MB excel spreadsheet down to 100MB.
   • If you have not used the Migration Cockpit before, download the template in XML format and review the first two tabs of the spreadsheet, which include helpful information about how to avoid common errors and issues new consultants may experience.
   • If you are experienced with the Migration Cockpit and prefer working with CSV files, download the template in CSV format. This version does not include the informational tabs of the spreadsheet which allows you to enter more data before reaching the 100MB maximum. A video explaining how to work with CSV files in the Migration Cockpit is available in the SAP Help Portal.
4. Fill data in the template(s)
   Note

   When copy-pasting, always paste VALUES ONLY or TEXT to make sure all formatting has been stripped. If there is any formatting copied into the migration object template from somewhere else, it will corrupt the file and the Migration Cockpit will not accept it.
5. Upload the completed template(s) to the SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit in your SAP S/4HANA Cloud system.
6. Prepare the staging tables

   The staging tables are generated for each migration object so they can be used to transfer data to SAP S/4HANA Cloud.

7. Process mapping tasks

   Depending on the migration object, you may need to confirm mapping tasks. Value mapping tasks are where you specify target values (in the SAP HANA database) for the corresponding values (from the source file). Fixed value tasks are where you set default values for target fields (in the SAP HANA database).

8. Optional: Simulate the migration
   Note

   You can cancel the migration in both the Simulate and Migrate steps.
9. Migrate the data
   • The default number of migration jobs allowed is set to 8 to ensure data migration activities do not affect other users working in the system. You may choose to increase or decrease this number in the Job Management area, if necessary.
   • After data is migrated, you can check the Migration Results through the link that is displayed. The results links open the relevant app where you can access the data record.
10. Optional: Create a correction file

    This may be necessary if errors have been identified in the Simulate or Migrate steps and you need to edit the file and re-upload to correct them.

11. Close the project

    If you have migrated all necessary data for the object, you can now close the migration project. At this time, you also have the option to set a data retention period for the data that was migrated.

Walk through the steps of migrating data in an SAP S/4HANA Cloud system with the SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit in this tutorial.

For this approach, instead of generating the staging tables directly in the SAP S/4HANA Cloud system, the migration cockpit generates the staging tables that need to be filled in a separate (remote) SAP HANA database.

The customer IT Contact is responsible for subscribing to the SAP HANA Cloud service, provisioning the system and assigning the relevant permissions for access. The SAP HANA Cloud is a Database as a Service (DBaaS), which is free for up to 32 gigabytes of data. After this volume has been reached, there will be a cost for using the service.

A member of the consulting team is responsible for setting up the integration between the remote SAP HANA database and the target SAP S/4HANA Cloud system, which is documented in the test script in Process Navigator: Data Migration to SAP S/4HANA from Staging (2Q2). After the integration is set up, consultants create migration projects and assign relevant migration object(s). The SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit generates the staging tables for these objects in the remote SAP HANA database through the integration.

On the customer side, someone with developer skills and access to the database tables that need to be migrated is responsible for extracting data from their legacy system(s) and loading into the remote SAP HANA database to fill the staging tables. Customers may choose to use SAP Data Services to support this task, or develop their own ETL (extract, transform, load) code. After the staging tables in the remote SAP HANA database are filled, the data is replicated to the target SAP S/4HANA Cloud system through the integration that has already been set up.

The Migrate Data Directly from SAP System method available to migrate data from an existing SAP system to the SAP S/4HANA Cloud target system.

From a technical perspective, the SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit uses RFC (Remote Function Call) to establish connections between the source SAP ERP (ECC 6.0) system and the target SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Private Edition system. The RFC connection contains a remote user that access the data in the source system and selects data using specific criteria. The available scenario selects data using company codes, which an implementation consultant would specify when initially creating the migration project.

The Data Migration Status app provides a summary of the status of all migration objects. This app uses Situation Handling, which automatically informs a responsible user to a task that requires their attention. This is beneficial when working with large volumes of data because you may not want to watch the screen and wait while simulating the migration of a 100MB migration object template. You can work on other tasks in the SAP S/4HANA Cloud system and wait for the notification to appear in the top right corner letting you know a migration object has completed the Simulation or Migration steps of the guided migration process. Selecting the link in the notification menu brings you to the Data Migration Status app to view more details.

Watch this video to learn more about the Data Migration Status app.

Within the Data Migration Status app, additional details about migrated data is captured in Extended Statistics. Information like source values, target values after mapping, and target IDs can be used to validate or audit your migrated data. For example if you select the Statistics link for the CO - Cost Center migration object, you can further drill down into the Company Code or Cost Center Category. Selecting Company Code tells me 2,000 records were imported for this migration object in Company Code 1010 (the SAP standard company code for Germany). I can further display the actual records and export this data in Microsoft Excel format, or share via email or by creating a tile to display on my Fiori launchpad. The Extended Statistics feature is activated by default, however you can change the settings for each individual migration object of whether to capture, or not capture extended statistics data.

Through the extensibility framework, some migration objects support custom fields created in the Custom Fields app. As long as the custom field has been made available to be used for other applications or APIs within the applicable business context, the Migration Cockpit will automatically add it to the source structure of the relevant migration object to allow data to be entered for the field.

Alternatively, the app, Model Your Migration Objects - Migration Object Modeler enables you to customize existing migration objects for a small set of released migration objects. For example, if you need to add a field to the Customer migration object template to capture additional data, you would use the Migration Object Modeler to add this additional field. Depending on what each migration object allows, you may be able to change the following:

• Source Structures
• Target Structures
• Structure Mapping
• Field Mapping

You cannot change this type of information in a migration object template directly (when working with a template in Excel), because changing headers or adding/removing columns would corrupt the file and not allow you to import the template to the SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit. The Migration Object Modeler facilitates you making these changes to the structure or mapping of a staging table and updates the corresponding migration object template, so you can migrate data to the adjusted structure. Because this is an SAP GUI for HTML app, the documentation is not in the SAP Help Portal, but accessed within the app in an SAP S/4HANA Cloud system by selecting the Information button.

Find detailed information about how to migrate data in the SAP Help Portal and SAP Community https://community.sap.com/topics/s4hana-migration-cockpit

In addition, the SAP Value Assurance program has a Data Migration Design Support service for an additional cost. The Data Migration Design Support service is targeted to customers and partners that need to build or review their data migration concept for transitioning from SAP on premise software to SAP cloud software. SAP experts assess data migration requirements, perform a technical analysis in the customer's SAP system, and lead the customer through discussions to identify prerequisites, scope, responsibilities, objects, tools, processes, and timelines. Learn more about the SAP Value Assurance Data Migration Design Support.