For an SAP customer who is using SAP BW as their primary tool for analytics and reporting, SAP BW/4HANA is the next recommended and logical upgrade in their journey for building an EDW platform.

There are many questions that customers are curious about before they embark on the upgrade journey to BW/4HANA.

In this blog, we present few of those questions and answers to enable customers to make the right decision for their upgrade path,

Question: I have BW 7.00 running on DB6, is it possible to migrate to BW/4HANA directly?

Answer: Yes, absolutely!

In this case, Shell conversion can be used. For that, the Green Field installation of BW/4HANA is required and Transfer Cockpit can be used to transport models without data (Meta Data Only) into the BW/4HANA system.

SAP has provided different migration options for BW4/HANA, you can find more details on this note 2383530-Conversion from SAP BW to BW/4HANA

Question: Is there any pre-check to install the Transfer cockpit?

Answer: It is recommended to be at the recommended support package level (refer to the table below) to avoid the implementation of a large number of OSS notes.

Question: Is there a way to do compatibility checks for my BW Objects?

Answer: Yesss!!

Not just BW objects you can also check Compatibility of your Add-Ons, Relevant Simplification Items and HANA DB Sizing details as well using SAP Readiness check tool 2575059 – SAP Readiness check for BW/4HANA

Question: So, all my models are converted into HANA Optimized objects automatically through the transfer cockpit?

Answer: Not all objects but Most of them are converted into their equivalent in BW/4HANA (HANA Optimized).

Below table shows equivalent objects in BW/4HANA for each 7.x Objects

Question: APDs are used heavily in our system, will they still work in BW/4HANA?

Answer: Big Nooo!!

APDs are not supported in BW/4HANA. Along with the Transfer cockpit, SAP provides an additional tool for migrating the APDs (to process chains in the BW/4HANA system). Additional details on how to use the tool can be found in the conversion guide, which is made available to the customer when they install the transfer cockpit. If you prefer to redesign your APD solution with the new options available in BW/4HANA, please refer to the blog from the below link, which provides various options for redesigning APDs in BW/4HANA.

How to migrate APDs to BW/4HANA This blog explains different options for migrating APDs to BW/4HANA

Question: We have multiple planning applications on our BW system using BW-IP, will these planning applications work in BW/4HANA?

Answer: Yes Of course!!

In BW/4HANA, Integrated Planning is now called as BPC Embedded. After the migration of planning objects and the dependent BW model, the planning applications will work as-is. But Planning applications based on BPS are not supported in BW/4HANA, it should be converted manually/redesigned to use BPC Embedded in BW/4HANA.

Question: We have used many customer exits (CMOD) for enhancements, is it still supported in BW/4HANA?

Answer: Nope!!

Function Module EXIT_SAPLRRS0_001 is no longer supported in BW/4HANA so all CMOD exit must be converted to Enhancement Spot (BAdi)

Check here for more information about the conversion of CMOD Exit to Enhancement Spot.

Question: Is 3x flows supported in BW4HANA?

Answer: Nooo

3x data flows aren’t supported in BW/4HANA so it must be converted into 7x flow before migration. From BW 7.3, SAP Delivered a tool(RSMIGRATE) to migrate 3x flows to 7x, this can be used to migrate multiple flows at one go.

SAP has provided different migration options for BW4/HANA, you can find more details on this note 2383530-Conversion from SAP BW to BW/4HANA

Watch out this space, my next blog shares in-depth details on the BPC Embedded functionality in BW/4HANA.