Services

SAP BasisOperations, upgrades, migration and troubleshooting

I take on technical SAP Basis work – from upgrades and system copies to OS/DB migrations – and analyse errors and performance problems where they originate: in SAP, in the database or in the operating system.

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Typical situations

When SAP Basis support makes sense

  • An upgrade or enhancement package is due

    Release upgrades, EHP implementation and support packages have to be planned and rolled out across several systems.

  • Test and QA systems need to be rebuilt

    Homogeneous and heterogeneous system copies and refreshes from the production system.

  • Hardware, operating system or database need to change

    OS/DB migration, a move to new hardware or to a new data centre – with Unicode conversion where required.

  • The system is slow and the cause is unclear

    Workload and performance analysis covering buffers, memory, CPU, I/O, network and SQL traces.

  • An error your team cannot isolate

    3rd-level troubleshooting across SAP, database and operating system.

  • High availability and recovery need to be dependable

    Cluster solutions, backup and restore, point-in-time recovery and disaster recovery tests.

  • A system landscape is being built or extended

    Installation of SAP systems, System Landscape Directory (SLD) and transport management.

  • Monitoring and routine tasks should become more reliable

    Monitoring with Solution Manager, EarlyWatch Alert and script-based health checks.

Scope

What I take on

I work independently or together with your team – from planning to implementation in development, test and production systems.

  • Setup and configuration

    New systems and components, properly integrated into the landscape.

    • Installation of SAP Business Suite, S/4HANA and NetWeaver components
    • SLD concept and transport management (CTS, CTS+)
    • Solution Manager setup, including EarlyWatch Alert and monitoring
    • SSL and SSO setup, user and authorisation management

  • Upgrades and maintenance

    Technical changes, planned and implemented in a traceable way.

    • Release upgrades and enhancement packages
    • Support packages and patches for SAP, database and operating system
    • Database upgrades, for example Oracle and Informix

  • System copies and migrations

    Moving entire systems to a new platform or environment.

    • Homogeneous and heterogeneous system copies, system refreshes
    • OS/DB migrations and Unicode conversion
    • Moves to new hardware or a new data centre

  • Operations, performance and troubleshooting

    Finding root causes and keeping day-to-day operations secure.

    • Workload and performance analysis, tuning
    • 3rd-level support and troubleshooting
    • Backup, restore and point-in-time recovery, high availability
    • Automation of health checks and routine tasks

Technical depth

Across SAP, database and operating system

Many Basis problems show up in the SAP application but originate in the database, the operating system or the communication between them. Since 1996 I have worked on all of these layers – in installation and operations as well as in migration and 3rd-level support.

This includes multi-terabyte databases and backup and recovery strategies.

SAP systems
SAP ERP/ECC and S/4HANA, CRM, SRM, BW, PI/XI, Enterprise Portal, Solution Manager and APO – ABAP and Java stack.
Databases
SAP HANA, Oracle, DB2 (including DB2/400), Informix and MaxDB; reorganisation, partitioning, backup and recovery.
Operating systems
Mainly AIX, as well as Linux (SUSE, Red Hat), Solaris, HP-UX, OS/400 and Windows Server.
High availability and virtualisation
PowerHA, Veritas Cluster Server, Libelle for disaster recovery; VMware environments.
Network and security
Setting up connections and analysing communication errors; SSL, SSO and encryption.
Automation and development
Shell, AWK, Perl and Python for monitoring and routine tasks; ABAP, C and Java via RFC and BAPI interfaces.

Project experience

Selected projects

Anonymised examples from my SAP Basis work.

  • Pharmaceutical company

    Moving SAP landscapes to a new data centre

    Situation
    A pharmaceutical company’s SAP landscapes are relocated to a new data centre.
    Task
    Technical delivery as an engineer in the migration project.
    My contribution
    Migration of the PI landscapes, installation of BW, PI and Solution Manager, transport management with CTS+, high availability with PowerHA, disaster recovery and SSL encryption.

  • IT service provider

    EHP upgrade and platform change for ERP landscapes

    Situation
    Several ERP landscapes are to be upgraded to a new enhancement package and migrated to a newer Windows Server version.
    Task
    Planning and execution of the upgrade and migration, and setup of central Basis services.
    My contribution
    Upgrade from EHP4 to EHP6 in eleven system landscapes, migration from Windows 2003 to 2008, a central SLD concept, Solution Manager setup with EarlyWatch Alert, SSO and SSL.

  • IT outsourcing provider

    3rd-level support for a heterogeneous SAP landscape

    Situation
    An outsourcing provider runs SAP systems for a range of products – including APO, BW and CRM – on AIX with Oracle and DB2.
    Task
    3rd-level support, plus installation, upgrades and optimisation of SAP systems and databases.
    My contribution
    Error and workload analysis, Oracle and DB2 optimisation, point-in-time recovery and DR tests, an APO upgrade with Unicode migration, and a script-based Oracle upgrade.
More project experience

Scope and connections

Three services, clearly defined

  • SAP BasisThis page

    Operating, changing and migrating entire SAP systems – regardless of the underlying database.

  • SAP HANA

    If your SAP system runs on SAP HANA, memory analysis, HANA upgrades, system replication and the migration to HANA come into play.

  • Data Migration & Transformation

    System copies and OS/DB migrations move entire systems. Transferring business data into new structures is data migration.

Contact

Let’s talk about your SAP Basis task.

Whether it is an upcoming upgrade, a planned migration or an error that cannot be isolated: a short description of the situation is enough for an initial conversation.

Discuss your project