SAP DATA ARCHIVING

A Guide to decision making

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................4
1.1. DOCUMENT OBJECTIVES....................................................................................................4
1.2. SCOPE..............................................................................................................................4
1.3. LIMITATIONS......................................................................................................................4
1.4. PRE-REQUISITES...............................................................................................................4
2. WHY DATA ARCHIVING.......................................................................................................4
2.1. IMPROVED SYSTEM PERFORMANCE....................................................................................4
2.2. INCREASED SYSTEM AVAILABILITY......................................................................................4
2.3. COMPLIANCE WITH RETENTION POLICIES............................................................................5
2.4. EFFICIENT USE OF RESOURCES........................................................................................5
2.5. EASIER DISASTER RECOVERY............................................................................................5
2.6. LEGAL COMPLIANCE..........................................................................................................5
2.7. UPGRADE COMPATIBILITY...................................................................................................5
2.8. MOST RELIABLE METHOD FOR DATA RETIREMENT................................................................5
3. CONSIDERATIONS IN ARCHIVING DATA..........................................................................6
3.1. DATABASE SIZE AND GROWTH............................................................................................6
3.2. CORPORATE DATA RETENTION POLICY...............................................................................6
3.3. DATA MANAGEMENT STRATEGY.........................................................................................6
3.4. MAINTENANCE ISSUES.......................................................................................................6
3.5. SUPPLEMENTARY SOLUTIONS.............................................................................................7
3.6. INTEGRITY OF DATA...........................................................................................................7
3.7. LEGAL AND TAX REQUIREMENTS........................................................................................7
3.8. PROJECT COST CONSIDERATIONS.....................................................................................8
4. THE RIGHT MOMENT...........................................................................................................8
4.1. EARLY ARCHIVING.............................................................................................................8
4.2. LATE ARCHIVING...............................................................................................................9
4.3. THE RIGHT MOMENT.........................................................................................................9
5. ARCHIVING PROJECT – WHAT DOES IT TAKE ?...........................................................10
5.1. BUILDING THE PROJECT TEAM..........................................................................................10
5.2. PROJECT TASKS AND TIME LINES....................................................................................11
5.3. RESOURCE REQUIREMENTS.............................................................................................12
5.4. IMPLEMENTATION COSTS.................................................................................................13
5.5. MAINTENANCE COSTS.....................................................................................................13
5.6. SAVINGS AND COST REDUCTION.......................................................................................13
6. CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS........................................................................................14
6.1. EXPERIENCED PROJECT TEAM.........................................................................................14

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 6.2. INVOLVING ALL EFFECTED PEOPLE....................................................................................14
6.3. COMMUNICATION AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT..................................................................14
6.4. TOP MANAGEMENT COMMITMENT.....................................................................................15
6.5. PROJECT MANAGEMENT EXPERTISE................................................................................15
6.6. RIGHT RESIDENCE AND RETENTION TIMES........................................................................15
6.7. CORRECT SEQUENCE OF OBJECTS...................................................................................15
7. LIMITATIONS OF DATA ARCHIVING................................................................................15
7.1. DATA ARCHIVING IS COMPONENT SPECIFIC.......................................................................15
7.2. NOT SUITABLE FOR REMOVING ORGANIZATIONAL UNITS.....................................................15
8. Glossary..............................................................................................................................16

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 1. Introduction
1.1. Document Objectives
The process of decision making involved in selecting the right Data archiving solution
can get complex with the multitude of variables effecting the decision as well as the
options available. This document is intended to assist in analyzing and evaluating
different issues involved in selecting an archiving solution for SAP R/3 Data. It is also
intended to assist in understanding Key challenges involved in Data Archiving projects.

1.2. Scope
This document discusses the main drivers in deciding to go for SAP data archiving. An
attempt is made to highlight various considerations for and against Data Archiving. It
also highlights the benefits of archiving on the one hand and the costs involved in
implementing it and the limitations of SAP data archiving.

1.3. Limitations
Every organization operates in a unique environment and hence the considerations
would also be different. It is not possible to set a standard cost benefit equation that
would be applicable to all situations. However, the issues discussed in the document
could help as a guideline to develop one.

Data Archiving in the context of SAP R/3 system is only addressed in this document.
Technical issues and solutions related SAP data archiving are not covered in the
document.

1.4. Pre-requisites
Basic understanding of SAP R/3 system, it’s functioning, components and architecture is
essential to understand the issues discussed in document. It would also be useful for the
reader to have awareness of the SAP Data Archiving.

2. Why Data Archiving

2.1. Improved system performance
By data archiving, you avoid the gradual impairment of system performance and poor
response times that comes with keeping too much data. One of the major reasons for
deterioration in system performance is the increase in database size. Data Archiving
helps to address this issue in a systematic way.

2.2. Increased System availability

There is an inverse relationship between the availability of system to users and the size
of the database i.e. the smaller the database, more the time it is available to users.

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 Reduced database size would make it easier to maintain the database. The stop and re-
start time would be less and the maintenance windows could be smaller.

This is mainly due to the operations that require the application system to be shut down,
or the need to deny end user access to certain areas temporarily. These delays could be
worse when upgrading to a newer software release or when recovering data after a
system crash.

2.3. Compliance with Retention policies

Data archiving helps to comply with the corporate retention policies regarding business
data. SAP data that has long retention time could be moved to external storage systems
or, if expired, could be purged using the archiving programs.

Certain data like Financial Accounting documents need to be retained for a long time to
comply with legal requirements. This could be easily achieved without effecting system
performance by archiving the data and storing it outside SAP system.

2.4. Efficient Use of Resources

Resources, such as hard drives, memory, CPU and networks are used more efficiently.
As an extra benefit, reduced data volume reduces administrative work, which keeps your
overall IT costs down

Less data would mean less programming, less testing and not having to worry about
getting every bit of computer horsepower working together to get it moved as fast as
possible.

2.5. Easier Disaster Recovery

Huge database carry higher risk of program terminations and system crashes compared
to smaller databases. A lien and healthy database ensures easy recovery in case of any
disasters. If the database is wiped out or corrupted for some reason, it takes longer time
to lay it down from tape with large databases.

2.6. Legal Compliance

SAP provided features like DART helps to comply with audits and legal requirements.
DART was developed by SAP in coordination with ASUG primarily for complying with the
IRS requirement for retention of financial accounting data.

2.7. Upgrade compatibility

Data archiving is “Future-proof”, that is independent of hardware and software release
levels. Metadata is saved in the archive file along with the actual application data so that
the archive file can be read long after it was created and even after the system is
upgraded.

2.8. Most reliable method for data retirement

Data archiving is the only method supported by SAP for removing data from SAP system
consistently. Functionality required for archiving SAP data is available in the standard

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 system and is supported by SAP. Standard SAP system consists of archiving objects to
remove data from almost every application area, especially those with high growth rates.
SAP also ensures integration of data retrieval with standard business transactions in
many cases. This helps to accomplish the goals with least or even no development
work.

3. Considerations in archiving
data
3.1. Database size and growth
System performance is seriously impacted by the growth in database size. The smaller
the database, the better the system performance. Larger database directly impacts
dialog transactions and reports resulting in longer wait time for users.

Inefficiencies in software code may not show up in smaller databases, but my cause
huge problems in large SAP databases, where you are trying to squeeze every
performance efficiency possible.

Performance issues and performance tuning activities take up significantly more time if
the database size is huge.

3.2. Corporate Data retention policy

More and more organizations are considering it important to have a clearly spelt out
Information Management and Retention policy. This policy needs to be drafted
considering all relevant aspects including the Audit, Legal, Tax and business
requirements.

One of the important considerations in implementation of Data archiving projects is the

corporate data retention policy. Data archiving helps organizations to ensure compliance
with the corporate data retention policies.

3.3. Data Management strategy

Given the importance of data in today’s workplace, more and more companies are
expanding the Data archiving project to become a total data management project.

The requirement for data may vary from management reporting to Legal requirement to
keep the data. Different options are available to suit these varying requirements like
Data warehouse, Near-line storage systems etc., and a comprehensive data
management strategy helps to address these in totality.

3.4. Maintenance issues

The more the data, the longer it takes to stop and restart the database. Consequently
the down time would increase in proportion to the growth in database size.

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 Large tables like COEP, BSIS are difficult to be reorganized because they cannot be
exported/imported in the allowed maintenance windows. This causes slower response
on the system because the tables cannot be reorganized.

There is more maintenance involved if the database volume is large. For example, you
may have to work with many disk packs instead of a few during any kind of file system
maintenance.

The volume of SAP data directly relates to the amount of time it takes to refresh
production test environments. Additionally, it takes much longer to apply new
functionality to the database.

Steady growth of database would require frequent upgrade in system resources like
servers, networks etc. It would be hard to move to a different hardware platform, since a
different hardware platform means you have to export the database and import it. Even
with faster hardware it would still take multiple days to move.

3.5. Supplementary solutions

Third party solutions are available for supporting the process of archiving, storage and
retrieval of SAP data.

Archiving functionality provided by SAP addresses the requirement in most cases.

Custom objects could be created for archiving custom tables, LIS structures etc.

Storing Archived data could be done using SAP Content Management Service (CMS),
HSM systems etc. Archive link interface facilitates storing of archived data in external
storage systems. Storage solutions provided by IBM’s Commonstore are highly
compatible with SAP, also satisfy the legal requirements for storing archived data.

Retrieval of archived data is another area where many supplementary solutions are
available. Solutions are available from vendors like PBS software, which highly integrate
the archived data with the SAP standard retrieval transactions. Other solutions like
CDART enhance the functionality provided by SAP, especially in data retrieval.

3.6. Integrity of data

SAP Data Archiving is highly integrated with application modules and automatically
ensures integrity of remaining data in the system. Archiving objects are designed taking
into account the technical dependency of data in R/3 tables for consistently removing
data from the database.

Using SAP Data Archiving, important business objects such as accounting documents
and material master records can be selectively removed from the database in such a
way that the user does not have to worry about the underlying physical table design.

3.7. Legal and Tax requirements

Another important consideration while deciding to archive data is the Legal , audit and
tax requirements for the data. A good archiving system must help to ensure that the

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 archived data complies with this multitude of requirements. DART was co-developed by
SAP in association with ASUG for supporting some important requirements specified by
IRS.

Generally auditing or controlling department helps to identify the legal requirements of

the archived data from the legal point of view. Country-specific considerations and
additional requirements for external audits must also be taken into account.

3.8. Project Cost Considerations

Another important consideration in evaluating an archiving project is the cost involved in
implementing it. Even though a cost benefit analysis is not always the deciding factor in
an Archiving project, it certainly plays an important role in the decision making process.

Each and every organization has unique dynamics, external and internal, and it is not
pragmatic to apply a common yardstick to all situations. Various components affecting
the cost of an Archiving project is explained in Point 5.

4. The right Moment

Data archiving should not be seen as the last resort to prevent system collapse after all
possible hardware upgrades have been implemented. Instead, data archiving should be
part of the regular maintenance procedures, such as backup or database reorganization.

Even before a system or a process is live, the cumulative data quantities should be
estimated for the future. Conversely, unnecessary problems and costs arise if archiving
is only carried out to resolve performance and administrative bottlenecks.

Generally two scenarios can be identified:

 Early implementation of the archiving project
 Late implementation of the archiving project

4.1. Early Archiving

In this scenario, the need to archive data is addressed in the early stage of a system or
process. The aim is to keep database volumes to a minimum, at an early stage, by
removing unnecessary data from the database.

Ideally, Data Archiving should be considered in the early stage of the SAP R/3
implementation during the sizing phase. Data Archiving is primarily a preventive tool for
keeping the database healthy and fit. It cannot be expected to return a database to high
performance state after all other resources are exhausted.

The employee responsible for the application or process knows the business processes
and is familiar with the data objects that are linked with those processes in R/3. In almost
all cases, it is possible to estimate the number of documents and quantity of
accompanying data. Together with knowledge of the existing system, the decision to
implement data archiving can therefore be made at an early stage and the necessary
steps implemented, such as setting up a plan for regular archiving.

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4.2. Late Archiving
In this scenario, the aim is to stabilize and reduce database volumes. This situation
occurs when performance or administration problems arise due to large data volumes. If
you are already experiencing system bottlenecks, you will experience the following
additional problems when archiving data:
 Longer runtimes for the archiving programs
 Additional system load caused by archiving

Data archiving requires more than just the physical removal of data from the database. It
is necessary to involve all of the groups involved in carrying out a joint analysis and
creating a requirements catalog.

In the first instance, this involves gathering information on the size and growth rate of database
tables. A second step involves identifying the archiving objects that are assigned to these tables.
Next, the data objects are then checked for archival status and to determine what requirements
are to be placed on the archived data.

Designing the archive involves incorporating the requirements that have been identified during
the analysis phase in a uniform archiving concept and setting up a concrete archiving plan.

During implementation phase, the data objects that are no longer required are removed from the
database according to the previously created implementation plan.

Issues Faced in Late Archiving

 It is highly essential to start archiving before exhausting all other resources

 Could be beneficial to monitor the growth for a while after implementation and start
archiving

 Project gets more complex as the database grows bigger

 Data archiving programs need more resources

 Longer recovery time in case of disaster

 Maintenance windows for “data hygiene tasks“ might become insufficient

 Increased down time for upgrade of software releases

 Slower system response time makes all online users less efficient

4.3. The Right Moment

Data Archiving is often thought to be worthwhile only after a system has reached a
certain size or has been in life for a certain period. However, this statement is not true for
two reasons.

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First, from a business point of view , there are many archiving objects that can be used
as soon as the initial implementation is completed e.g. WORKITEM, IDOC etc Second ,
application areas or tables can grow very quickly and reach a significant size in a very
short time, even if the database grows moderately.

It is usually the case that within 1-2 years from the time of R/3 system going live, the
data required online in the R/3 system nearly stagnates. This is primarily because most
of the data stored in the system on closed business transactions are not required to be
accessed except in exceptional circumstances.

The following Chart highlights the volume of data created by the R/3 system which is not
required to be maintained online. This is based on the assumption that:

 SAP R/3 was implemented in Year 1

 Annual Database growth 200 GB
 Online retention for data 18 Months

Within 3 years from going live about 50 % of the data is generally not required online
and by the sixth year 3 out of four records is found to be achievable. The equation might
vary based on addition of functionalities implemented, change in volume of business and
specific requirement for online access to data.

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 5. Critical Success Factors
5.1. Experienced Project Team
Archiving of business data is a highly critical and complex process and one of the major
factor in ensuring it’s success is the experience of the project team in implementing
Archiving projects.

Data Archiving team has to have the right combination of SAP application, technical and
data archiving knowledge in addition to the business functional knowledge.
Understanding of the multitude of issues involved becomes critical in understanding
dependencies of data, retention times, archive triggers and deciding implementation
plan.

5.2. Involving all effected people

Another key to successful implementation of Data Archiving projects is to turn the people
effected into people involved from the beginning of the project. It is important to take all
the stakeholders into confidence and involve them in different project phases. Stake
holders could valuable inputs in developing Business blueprint, designing and testing of
the system.

5.3. Communication and Change Management

Data Archiving projects effects almost every department in an organization, especially
with complex objects in CO like CO_COSTCTR. With far reaching implications, it is
important to give due priority to change management and communication aspects.

Deciding of retention times for data, introduction of new user interfaces to access
archived data are some areas where the change management and communication skill
of the project team would be put to test.

5.4. Top Management commitment

The importance of commitment from top management for any successful project cannot
be over emphasized, and more so in a Data Archiving project. Many times data archiving
effects the way middle and senior management does reporting from the SAP system ,
which adds to the importance of their commitment.

Another factor that adds importance to the commitment of top management is the fact
that, often, the stakeholders effected by an archiving project does not find anything in it
motivating them to give their commitment.

5.5. Project Management Expertise

Experience in managing complex information system projects is an important factor that
will contribute to the success of archiving projects. The project manager should have
expertise in managing SAP projects and preferably Data Archiving projects.

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5.6. Right residence and Retention times
To ensure the availability of data for internal and external requirements of an
organization, it is important to have the correct residence and retention time assigned to
it. This assumes enormous importance when we consider the fact that the data being
archived are business critical information, non availability of which could effect business
functioning.

5.7. Correct Sequence of objects

Dependency of business processes with each other also results in dependency of the
documents created by the processes. While archiving business data it is critical to take
this factor into account to ensure integrity and consistency of data.

6. Limitations of data archiving

6.1. Data Archiving is component specific
After archiving, the data remain linked to the corresponding component. Data cannot be
transferred or processed by other components. One business that involves several
application components cannot be archived as one over all process.

6.2. Not suitable for removing organizational units

Data archiving is not suitable for deleting organizational units from the system. This
operation could be requested if a plant or a company division is sold and the
corresponding data was no longer required to be maintained. Data archiving cannot
simply remove specific sub-areas from a system, because the archiving objects rarely
contain the exact data that needs to be removed.

7. Glossary
SAP Data Archiving
SAP Data Archiving is the process in which business objects such as accounting
documents and material master records are selectively removed from the database in
such a way that the user does not have to worry about the underlying physical table
design.
Archiving object
Set of interdependent business data that is periodically extracted from the current
system and archived according to individual criteria. E.g. FI_DOCUMNT (Financial
Accounting Document)

Optical archiving
Electronic storage and management of documents such as original documents, outgoing
documents, print lists in an external storage system that is usually based on optical
media (CDs, WORMS, and so on).

Reorganization

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Reorganization refers to the restructuring of database tables with the aim of using
memory space efficiently.

Residence period
Period that must elapse before application data can be archived. The residence period
can be based on various application-specific data, such as creation data, posting period,
goods issue date. The period can be specified in days, weeks, months or years.
Retention period
Total period of time that data is held in the database including in an Archive. Data that
pass the retention time is considered expired and hence destroyed.
Restore
Rewriting the backup copy to the database to recreate the original sate of the database
after a system termination.

SAP ArchiveLink
Data interface that is embedded in the Basis component and that controls
communication with an external storage system. Enables access to stored documents
from the SAP application.

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