BW4 Migration Tool Vs Parallel BW4 Data flow
A common question that is asked by our SAP BW clients is if manually building a new BW4 dataflow with an ODP, ADSO, composite provider etc that replicates an existing 7.x dataflow (7.x datasource, DSO, Infocube, multiprovider etc) is more beneficial than migrating the existing 7.x dataflow using the BW4 migration tool in the same BW system.
The answer is a simple no.
The following are the benefits of using the BW4 migration tool:
Data Dependencies: As with any BW solution, dataflows will feed data into other dataflows, have looks on DSO active table datasets etc. If the BW4 dataflow is built manually then all these dependencies will have to be taken into consideration during the design & build. This is a complex task which potentially will lead to missing dependencies. The BW4 migration tool takes care of all data flow and look up dependencies.
Datasource Delta Cloning: The BW4 migration tool takes care of the cloning of both the technical 7.x datasource from the RSA7 queue along with the delta dataset in the queue at migration time. It creates a new entry in the ODQ queue along with transferring the delta dataset over from the RSA7 queue. This functionality is not available if the BW4 dataflow is built manually.
Decommissioning: The BW4 migration tool not only migrates the 7.x object type to an BW4 object type, but it also removes the migrated 7.x object type from the BW system. This means that no decommissioning of migrated object types is required. Also, the migrated object will keep the technical name of the 7.x. object type, for example a DSO ZDSO is migrated to ADSO. The newly migrated ADSO will have the technical name ZDSO and the old 7.x DSO (ZDSO) will not exist on the BW system. If the BW4 dataflow is built manually the 7.x objects will have to be decommissioned.
Data Migration: The BW4 migration tool not only keeps the same technical name of the 7.x object type, but it also transfers the data from either the DSO or infocube to the newly generated ADSO. If the BW4 dataflow is built manually the newly created objects will have to be loaded with the historical data.
BW Query: The BW4 migration tool repoints any impacted BW queries based off Multiproviders in a migration task to the newly created composite provider without any manual intervention. If the BW4 dataflow is built manually then the new BW queries will have to be created and the old BW queries decommissioned once the 7.x data loads are switched off.
Duplicate Parallel Loading: For a specific period of time, parallel data loads will have to be executed before the old 7.x dataflow can be switched off and then decommissioned. This will bring additional data loading on to the BW system which in turn could potentially have an impact on system performance.
If you or your colleagues have further questions or queries, please do not hesitate to contact us at services@seaparkconsultancy.com .
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