11.2 System Landscapes, System Provisioning, and Release Upgrades

System Landscapes, System Provisioning, and Release Upgrades

Before anyone configures a sales document type, the right systems must exist and the right people must be able to log on. The S4C03 units Defining System Landscapes and Setting Up Systems for Implementation describe these systems, how they are provisioned, and how they are kept current.

The Implementation Landscape

Trial and Sandbox Systems from SAP Cloud Appliance Library

CAL deploys a fully configured SAP S/4HANA system in about two to three hours with a hosting partner (Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, or Amazon Web Services). The software of the SAP S/4HANA Fully-Activated Appliance is free for 30 days; the hosting provider charges for the infrastructure (the course quotes about EUR 3 per hour), and after 30 days SAP also charges for the software. Because Private Edition runs the on-premise software in SAP's cloud, appliances titled "SAP S/4HANA" can be used for Private Edition projects. An appliance is a compressed system image that keeps everything that was configured when it was built. Relevant appliances:

• SAP S/4HANA Fully-Activated Appliance: SAP Best Practices for Private Edition activated for core functions, plus scenarios such as Service, Master Data Governance, Transportation Management, Portfolio Management, and Analytics, with prebuilt demo scripts. It is the usual system for fit-to-standard workshops.
• Enterprise Management Layer for SAP S/4HANA: a preconfigured template for international companies with 43 local versions and 25 languages, a group ledger as the leading ledger, and four predefined parallel ledgers per country.
• System Conversion to SAP S/4HANA, Parts 1-3: preparation, technical conversion, and post-conversion activities.

For a new implementation, the sandbox is a CAL system used to demonstrate processes; it can expire once the customer's own systems exist. For a system conversion, the customer's existing sandbox is converted with SUM; the focus is on existing processes, simplification items, and whether custom WRICEF objects (workflows, reports, interfaces, conversions, enhancements, forms) can be replaced by standard processes. A CAL system is often added to show compatibility-scope processes and new functions.

The Development System and Its Two Clients

For a new implementation, the development system is delivered with SAP Best Practices content or blank, with configuration done through the IMG. Transports move the configuration from development to quality and then to production; administrators release them with the Transport Organizer (SE09). In a conversion, each existing system is converted in turn, using the approach proven in the sandbox.

SAP for Me, SAP Cloud Identity Services, SAP Cloud ALM, and SAP BTP

• SAP for Me is the one-stop portal for customers and partners. Its dashboards include Systems & Provisioning (provision purchased cloud solutions, track systems, remote connections, and license and migration keys), Services & Support (support cases, SAP Notes and knowledge base articles, and lifecycle tools; it replaced the decommissioned SAP ONE Support Launchpad), Users & Contacts (find your company's SAP administrators), Products & Portfolio, and Finance & Legal.
• SAP Cloud Identity Services run on SAP BTP and consist of the Identity Authentication Service (IAS) and the Identity Provisioning Service (IPS), which provide single sign-on across SAP systems. They are provisioned automatically with the first SAP cloud solution. The IT Contact uses IAS to create users for the project team; IPS jobs create the users and permissions in the connected systems.
• SAP Cloud ALM runs on SAP BTP and is included in SAP Enterprise Support for cloud editions. Its areas: SAP Business Transformation Center (selective data transitions), SAP Cloud ALM for Implementation (SAP Activate tasks, scope, requirements, and tests), SAP Cloud ALM for Operations (monitoring, section 11.7), and SAP Cloud ALM for Service.
• SAP BTP hosts SAP Cloud ALM, the identity services, SAP's standard integrations, and the SAP Build tools (Build Apps, Build Process Automation, and Build Work Zone) included in the RISE with SAP enablement package. It offers around 90 services, described in the SAP Discovery Center.

Onboarding and Provisioning Sequence

1. After signing, the contract signer receives a purchase confirmation and, on the contract start date, a one-time welcome email; the same information is kept in the Customer Onboarding Resource Center. A separate SAP BTP welcome email follows.
2. There is only one IT Contact, although several communication contacts are possible. If the wrong person holds the role, a support case in SAP for Me (component XX-S4C-OPR-SRV) changes it.
3. The IT Contact provisions SAP Cloud ALM in SAP for Me → Systems & Provisioning, choosing an existing SAP Cloud Identity tenant or letting a new one be created in the chosen region.
4. Several notification emails arrive; IAS must be activated first, and the users for SAP Cloud ALM are then created there.
5. SAP Signavio Process Manager, SAP Signavio Process Collaboration Hub, and SAP BTP are provisioned automatically.
6. For a new implementation, the Private Edition systems are provisioned later. For a conversion, no new systems are provisioned, because SUM converts the existing ones.

Release Upgrades

• After the 2023 release, SAP S/4HANA moved to a two-year release cycle, and mainstream maintenance was extended from five to seven years.
• For the latest base release, Feature Pack Stacks (FPS) with non-disruptive new features follow every six months. The previous release receives Support Pack Stacks (SPS) with corrections only until its mainstream maintenance ends.
• Private Edition customers must install at least one upgrade every seven years. With the RISE with SAP services they can request one upgrade per year: SAP performs the technical upgrade, while planning, preparation, and testing remain with the customer or the partner. After go-live, the upgrade tasks are managed in SAP Cloud ALM with the roadmap RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition - Upgrade (section 11.3).
• Sources of information: the notification banner and the megaphone icon (What's New) in the system, the What's New Viewer in the SAP Help Portal, the SAP Road Map Explorer for planned enhancements, and the Customer Influence & Adoption site for improvement requests and early adopter programs.