This white paper provides an overview of SAP support packs, associated challenges faced by companies of all sizes and an easy to use application that automates most of the analysis that needs to take place prior to application in the Production environment.
S O L U T I O N S F O R M A N A G I N G S A P S U P P O R T P A C K S 4A S S E S S O R
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Overview of Support Packs >> 2 Support Pack Implementation Tips >> 3 Testing >> 4 TIntelliCorp's Assessor for SAP-Support Pack Edition >> 4 Assessor for Support Packs: Key Business Bene?ts >> 5
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After making extensive investments to create a stable, functioning SAP environment, most companies are understandably reluctant to introduce changes, even necessary support packs,because of many associated risks. Documentation is often sparse and testing guidance negligible.Different support packs can be invalidated by improper sequencing, custom changes and othermodifications. The availability of skilled personnel to properly perform rigorous regression testingis often limited. Installing periodic support and legal change packs from SAP can destabilize critical production systems. Companies recognize these risks and it's no wonder that many have a backlog of uninstalled support packs. However, support packs must be installed in order to ensure future performanceand serviceability of an SAP environment. This white paper provides an overview of SAP support packs, associated challenges faced by companies of all sizes and an easy to use application that automates most of the analysis thatneeds to take place prior to application in the Production environment.
Overview of Support Packs SAP encourages customers to 4.7 APPL 4.7 BASIS 4.6C APPLregularly implement support 20packs to alleviate problems andimprove their SAP landscape. 18Many companies choose not to 16apply support packs until they 14encounter issues that require a speci?c feature found in a 12particular support pack. Others 10apply them at de?ned intervals(monthly, quarterly, yearly), while 8some never keep current. 6Diagram One shows the 4number of support packs that have been released since 22001. Since 2002, an average 0 2001 2002 2003 2004of 26 support packs have beenreleased each year. While the Diagram 1: Support Packs Released Since 2001 number and size of SAP support packs issued is steadily growing, there are two primary categories: ABAP and Java. SAP has taken steps to reduce the impact of Production system downtime by introducing and enhancing a number of tools, such as the Add-On Installation Tool (SAINT ), and Support Package Manager (SPAM).
ABAP Support Packs ABAP support packs provide patches and updates for the ABAP components of SAP. Each updateis designed to be sequentially installed. If you apply support pack 12 without applying all thoseprior, it will not work. ABAP support packs address a variety of SAP modules, including HR (previously known as legal change patches), Components (BW, APO, etc.) and Add-Ons (plug-insand third party solutions). In addition, there are ABAP support packs for conflict resolution transports, which are applied when an add-on modi?es an object within SAP and causes a con?ictwith other core objects. Finally, there are ABAP support packs that provide updates to SPAM.
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JAVA Support Packs Java support packs contain corrections and updates to Java components. They are delivered in the form of Software Component Archives (SCA). Unlike ABAP packs, Java support packsalways contain the complete version of the development components for the application and are independent of other support packs. Meaning, only the latest version needs to be applied.Java support packs are applied using the Software Delivery Manager (SDM). Customers apply a combination of support packs and individual patches when updating the SAPlandscape, which can cause con?ict if they are not installed in correct sequence. To encourage theconcept of timely installations, in 2003 SAP introduced quarterly support pack stacks, which aim tohelp overcome some of the challenges and risks associated with applying multiple updates. A support pack stack is a single package of packs and patches that is applied as a single update. Problems within a su... [download for more]
