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Jensen
Employee
Employee
Hello!

My name is Heike Jensen and I am a member of SAP’s SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit Product Management team.

Since the beginning of SAP S/4HANA, the SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit offers the so-called file approach (upload data by file). Later, the staging approach was added. Since 1909 there is an additional approach available: transfer data directly from an SAP system (MC DT). It uses an RFC connection to connect source and target system. Currently (release 2021), MC DT can only be used to migrate data to SAP S/4HANA (OnPrem) and SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition.

Full Migration Cockpit slide deck (all approaches incl. roadmap): http://help.sap.com/disclaimer?site=https://www.sap.com/documents/2017/07/26113ac0-c47c-0010-82c7-ed...

Modelling deep dive MC DT: http://help.sap.com/disclaimer?site=https://www.sap.com/documents/2020/10/62dc808c-b87d-0010-87a3-c3...

I want to share here the top 5 frequently asked questions (as of Feb 2022) – and the answers 😊.

 

Question 1: Can the Cockpit transfer historical data?

Answer: no.

The SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit is designed for a new implementation of an SAP S/4HANA system. So only the necessary data (such as master data, balances, open items, …) is migrated.

To do this, it uses SAP standard APIs. They ensure that the data is in sync and consistent with the settings of the S/4HANA system.

Transferring historical data would mean, to repost old processes or even recreate complete process chains.

The only exception is the object “FI – historical balance” in the file/staging approach.

Check out the migration objects delivered by SAP: Available Migration Objects - SAP Help Portal . Check the release in the header!

 

Question 2: Can the Cockpit update already transferred data?

Answer: no. The requirement is known but currently not on the roadmap.

The SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit is designed for a new implementation of an SAP S/4HANA system. So the data records can only be migrated once.

It is not designed to keep systems in sync.

If you have large volumes, check this tips & tricks note: 3056885 and have a look for mass update standard functions of the respective application in S/4HANA.

 

Question 3: Can the Cockpit delete transferred data?

Answer: no.

There is no deletion function in the cockpit.

In order to execute several test migration cycles, you can either use different target clients or refresh the target system as a whole.

If you want to just delete some records, you can look for deletion functions in the respective application. You can use the report mentioned in this SAP note to delete records from the Migration Cockpit (direct transfer). In productive systems, it is not allowed to delete already migrated records from the Migration Cockpit because of auditing reasons.

Background information: deleting data is a very complex topic. Even in the “old ERP days” there was no function such as “reset” this application. Some applications offered some functions, but this was only for dedicated areas.

 

Question 4: Can I download the selected records?

Answer: yes, starting with 2021 FPS1.

Go to the migration object instance list. Click on the “migration results” view. Here you can choose the action/status “selected” (and other criteria) and use the download button. The download button will later also be available in the “standard” view.


 

Question 5: Can I debug the selection?

Answer: no. The requirement to provide more capabilities to analyse the selection outcome is known.

The selection cannot be debugged as it is executed in batch.

The MC DT selection consists of several steps. First, the relevant organizational units are derived (in the ERP case from the given company code(s)). Then, other criteria as mentioned in the object documentation are taken into consideration.

So if you want to analyse why the selection result is perhaps not as you expected it, first have a look into the migration object documentation. If you are familiar with the modelling environment, you can have a look into the LTMOM definition of the respective object.

We recently published the following KBA 3249988: Details on selection process - SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit - Direct Transfer. The PDF attached explains in very technical details how the selection works. This document might help to find the root cause in case you get selection results you did not expect.

We had some cases where records in the source system had a blank in the field for the organizational unit (e.g. plant).
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