Getting started in SAP PI support project

I am writing this document based on my experience in SAP PI AMS project. This document is mainly for readers who have just entered PI support project.

Initially, consultants who have worked only on implementation projects find it difficult to get adjusted to support environment and also freshers.

But of course, ITIL is a guide to IT infrastructure library and It contains the best practices to manage IT services for understanding the process.

This document is purely based on my experience on working in AMS and focuses briefly on the tasks and activities which will help in getting acquainted with the support activities.

1. Kinds of Support-

There are 3 to 4 support levels.

Level 1 – This involves raising ticket/incident for an issue. This is usually raised by user, customer or helpdesk team.

Level 2 – L2 support involves managing the ticket raised by the L1 team. The L2 needs to have some technical knowledge.

Level 3 & Level 4 – This team is the development team which addresses to all technical issues. This team will be involved in enhancements & post implementation support.

It is important to know what type of support you are into.

2. SLA – Service level agreement. It is the minimum level of service that a project/account will deliver to the customer as per the agreement. Every application has a pre-defined SLA’s based on the criticality of the application and priority of the ticket.  There are 2 kinds of SLA’s response and resolution and you cannot afford to miss these SLA’s.

So be clear with the SLA’s of your tickets.

3. Target to put the tickets on SLAHOLD(of course with proper analysis and solutions). In case you are unable to look into a particular ticket, always communicate it to the customer. Keeping a ticket on hold does not mean we don’t go back to check on the ticket. There is catch here, a ticket should not be kept on hold for a longer period (this is called aging of the ticket) may be for more than a week or so(depends on the projects how it has been agreed on ticket SLA).

4.Communication. As PI consultants, we are always working with cross applications and hence communicating in the tickets , emails , calls become more important. Though, this is important everywhere. But I feel AMS requires more of it, from the team member to the lead to the manager. There has to be clear communication about the tickets, status everything.

5. Lastly, know your PI landscape.

Below are few activities part of daily support.

1. Production system monitoring.

2. Specific adapters also needs frequent monitoring such as FTP, JMS, web services to name a few. In case you have interfaces configured with these channels, better to make a list and monitor them regularly.

3. Daily check on your tickets. Keep a track of SLA’s and ageing of your Incidents/SR’s .

Below are the minimum checks done daily during manual production monitoring.

For PI dual stack.

Integration Engine:

1. Message monitoring – SXMB_MONI
2. Queues/TRFC  monitoring – SMQ2, SMQ1, SM58.
3. TCP/IP connection – SM59 – JCO connection checks.
4. BPM monitoring – SXMB_MONI_BPE

Adapter engine:

Message Monitoring – with all status check. Mainly, To be delivered, delivering, waiting, errors.

Communication Monitoring – Channels with errors, Availability time planning(ATP) channels if it has been set.

Adapter Engine Status – Gives an overview of message status for respective components.

Checking Java Locks .

For PI single stack.

Message Monitoring – with all status check. Mainly, To be delivered, delivering, waiting, errors.

Communication Monitoring – Channels with errors, Availability time planning(ATP) channels if it has been set.

Adapter Engine Status – Gives an overview of message status for respective components.

Check Java Locks for any stuck interface.

Check Log viewer for any fatal or error messages.

I know there is more into support/maintenance of the system and I have mentioned only few.

Kindly leave your comments below in case you feel more needs to be added to this document.

Thanks for reading!

Shreya