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Author's profile photo Martin Herrmann

Zero Downtime Option of SUM (ZDO) is “available on request”

In this blog I describe the Zero Downtime Option approach which is part of Software Update Manager 2.0

Abstract: The motivation of ZDO is to perform maintenance events (i.e. applying support packages) of the ABAP applications without technical downtime and almost no business downtime. In this blog you learn how to get Zero Downtime Option of SUM.

 

With the new downtime-minimized upgrade procedure “Zero Downtime Option of SUM (ZDO)”, you can expect a downtime reduced to only one restart. Additionally, the ZDO procedure decreases the cool down duration.

After one year of performing ZDO upgrades in several customer pilot projects we are making the next step: With SUM 1.0 SP16 or higher, we are shipping ZDO of SUM on request (“available on request”).

 

How does “available on request work”?

The ZDO procedure is validated and in principle available with the latest SUM version. However, we still want to be in close contact with our customers to get feedback and also to see further improvements.

You can find the all the relevant information in SAP Note 2163060 “Prerequisites and Restrictions of Zero Downtime Option of SUM”. This SAP Note contains all prerequisites regarding start release, target release, minimum and DB release in order to verify whether ZDO is usable for your upgrade project or not.

This slide explains the high-level ZDO focus (status: January 2018):

 

Maybe you don’t use the enabled database or your product is not officially available for request, such as SAP Banking Services 9.0. In this case, you can still think about going with a pilot (project basis). With the pilot release you have a service and the SAP consultants / CoE support you to get the upgrade successfully done and that you are well prepared also for the next updates with ZDO. For further questions, please get in contact with your service contact or with me.

However, the most common products and databases are already “available on request”.

And after you have read SAP Note 2163060 “Prerequisites and Restrictions of Zero Downtime Option of SUM” and verified that your product, release, and DB is enabled for ZDO, you just start the quick procedure to get ZDO incl. support from SAP development.

Additional service support either from SAP Consulting or Premium Engagement is highly recommended for knowledge transfer, cookbook optimization, and support for productive upgrade.

 

Request to use Zero Downtime Option of SUM

For this, please follow the process described in SAP Note 2163060.

 

Conference call for final clarification

After first contact via the registration ticket, a conference call is helpful to share further details about the ZDO procedure or to answer your open questions.

Finally, you will get access to another SAP Note including all information about how to activate ZDO. It also contains the ZDO guide.

If you want to get additional support from SAP to speed up the learning curve or improve the cookbook steps, we will involve our experienced colleagues from SAP Consulting or Premium Engagement.

 

Preparation of ZDO Upgrade / Update / Customer Release

You can use ZDO of SUM for the following activities:

  • Update / Upgrade (SP, EHP) of SAP
  • Combined Upgrade / Update of SAP with customer transport requests
  • Customer release only

 

In all cases you start with a sandbox test (copy of production system) to ramp up your knowledge, get first key indicator of the upcoming maintenance activity and finally analyse that ZDO does not harm your business.

When you start your project, you might still need support from SAP in case of issues. For related ZDO issues you can use the existing request message or create a new one and inform us. Because of “available on request” you get a special support.

After pre-clarified milestones, e.g. after Sandbox test, upgrade of quality system and production upgrade we will have a call. In this call we clarify open issues and also get feedback from you.

This overall way of cooperation has been proven with several other procedures and functions of SUM. And also for ZDO we think it is the logical next step and a win-win for you our customers and for the development department as well.

 

Do you want a deeper insight?

If you want to get further information about how ZDO works in detail and would like to be one of the pilot project participants in the next months, feel free to get in touch with me: Jens Fieger (Product Manager Downtime Minimization of Cloud & Lifecycle Management).

 

Additional information

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      15 Comments
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      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member

      Hi Martin and Jens,

      I checked the note 216306 but S/4 HANA is not listed. It means ZDO cannot be used in the upgrade process from ECC6.0 to S/4 HANA?

      If my understand Is correct,  is there any roadmap to support S/4 HANA in the future?

      Best regards,

      Kazuma

      Author's profile photo Jens Fieger
      Jens Fieger

      Hello Kazuma,

      the procedure from ECC 6.0 to S/4HANA is called system conversion as there is no upgrade path. ZDO is not an option for the system conversion from ECC 6.0 to S/4HANA. You may check also the reply from Boris

      For the future we do have a roadmap to support applying support packages in S/4HANA.

      Best regards,

      Jens

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member

      Hello Jens,

      OK, I understand the scope of ZDO correctly.

      I also checked the link you attached.

      To tell the truth, Tarmizee who wrote the message is my collegue and, after I ask him this question, he wrote the message.

      By the way, will you attend Tech ED Las Vegas?

      If so It would be so nice If I could meet you.

      Best Regards,

      Kazuma

      Author's profile photo Jens Fieger
      Jens Fieger

      Hello Kazuma,

      I will not attend TechEd in Las Vegas. Feel free to register for the ZDO session ITM207 which is presented by Martin and Steffen.

      Best regards,

      Jens

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member

      Hello Jens,

      OK I will attend the session and try to contact to Martin and Steffen.

      Best regards,

      Kazuma

      Author's profile photo Martin Herrmann
      Martin Herrmann
      Blog Post Author

      Hi Kazuma,

      I am looking forward to meet you nperson.

      we can also arrange a meeting e.g. after the session.Just get in contact with me.e.g. via email (martin.herrmann@sap.com)

      Best regards,

      Martin

      Author's profile photo Nicholas Chang
      Nicholas Chang

      Hi @Martin Herrmann,

       

      I would like to clear the confusion on "available on request". Does this mean we get below support from SAP free of charge? I was told that we still need to pay a fees to SAP, eg: Downtime Optimized for DMO, even the services are "available on request" as there would be some involvement from SAP? Please correct me if i'm wrong.

      With “available on request” the SAP Software Lifecycle department is still in close cooperation with you:

      • Answer your request to use ZDO
      • Telco to verify scope, functionality, schedule and open questions
        • Productive support on request

      Thanks,

      Nicholas

      Author's profile photo Former Member
      Former Member

      Hi Jens,

      ZDO was good experience . Down Time was only 10-15 Minutes.

      Thanks for support .

      Regards,

      Jithin Kuriakose

      Author's profile photo Rhishabh Vyas
      Rhishabh Vyas

      Hello Martin/Jithin,

      Is there any Cost involvement in ZDO? or Please let me know in which situation we need to pay fee.

      Waiting for your response.

      Thanks & Regards

      Rhishabh

       

      Author's profile photo Jens Fieger
      Jens Fieger

      Hi Rhishabh,

       

      apparently I've overseen your question. I apologize!

      ZDO is part of the standard tool Software Update Manager. There's no additional costs for the approach. If either Premium Engagement or SAP Consulting is involved the service will be charged.

       

      Best regards,

      Jens

      Product Management

       

      Author's profile photo Aaron miller
      Aaron miller

      Hi

       

      Is ZDO available yet for S4 HANA patching (Support Packs)?

       

      Cheers

      Aaron

      Author's profile photo Jens Fieger
      Jens Fieger

      Hi Aaron,

       

      sorry for the late reply. We do have patching for SAP S/4HANA system on our roadmap. As soon as it's available I'll write a blog post and update the SAP Note 2163060. Stay tuned!

       

      Best regards,

      Jens

      Product Management

      Author's profile photo Aaron miller
      Aaron miller

      OK thanks

       

      Cheers

      Aaron

      Author's profile photo Jens Fieger
      Jens Fieger

      Hi Aaron,

       

      a quick update on this: with TechEd 2018 I've talked about ZDO for SAP S/4HANA. We plan a pilot program for the scope SAP S/4HANA 1709 FPS 02 to SPS 03. For details, please check the recording and the slides published here.

       

      Best regards,

      Jens

      Product Management

      Author's profile photo Jens Fieger
      Jens Fieger

      Hi Aaron,

      I'd like to share a quick update regarding ZDO for SAP S/4HANA. You can find more details about the pilot program in my recently published blog: Leveraging Zero Downtime Option of SUM for SAP S/4HANA Support Package Stack updates

       

      Best regards,

      Jens

      Product Management