Initial Data Migration Over, The Fun Has Just Begun

[TammyPowlas]

Where I work the SAP Utilities solution is the heart of our SAP system.  Therefore when it was decided to merge two more utility companies into our existing company, I have to thank our ASUG SAP point of contact ina.mutschelknauswho over 2 years ago helped arrange a data migration ASUG webcast for Utilities.

The great ginger.gatlingprovided the webcast.  Ginger has since moved on to cloud integration, but I am grateful to both Ina and Ginger for this webcast.  First I am not an expert in the SAP Utilities solution - it covers the gamut of device management, customer service, billing, FI-CA, and so much more.

SAP provides a rapid deployment solution for utilities using Data Services, and included in this migration solution are templates to use.   You don't necessarily have to use the Data Services tool to even use the templates provided.  The spreadsheet templates helped provide a framework of the data mapping needed/required to fit into the SAP structures.

It also helped to have a SAP Experts subscription, as I listed to a recorded session given by SAP's paul.medaille  - this session helped me find and locate the needed templates.

For Rapid Deployment Solutions, SAP recommends you obtain consulting to help with the solution.  We decided not to do this and do it ourselves.  We installed Data Services in-house, and then used the RDS templates to migrate the SAP Utilities objects such as PARTNER, ACCOUNT, DEVICE, etc.

In my mind, here are the basic steps of the migration:

Step 1: Download the SAP Mapping Templates

This helps provide the framework of the legacy data you have and what it should map to in SAP.  This helped me a great deal as I was not an expert in this SAP area.

Step 2: Get the Data Services RDS Solution for Utilities Up and Running

SAP provides RDS installation instructions.

Since I didn't have a background in Data Services, I also spent time in a 2 day SAP data migration class - I wrote about it here: Do you still need a live SAP Education Course?

I was very impressed by a co-worker who didn't attend any training and immediately understood how to use Data Services.

Step 3: Start Populating the Spreadsheets from Legacy to Feed to Data Services

This was the best part of the project, because you populate the spreadsheets by object and this services as a data source to Data Services.  Data Services then generates a file that can be read by SAP's migration tool EMIGALL.

Step 4: Use EMIGALL to Load SAP

Another co-worker spent time getting familiar with EMIGALL and it is a very handy tool to load data into SAP.  But to me, the Data Services solution did the heavy lifting for us non-SAP Utilities experts, to get the required, right data in a needed format.

I remember another ASUG customer presentation (Kellogg's) on data migration - the goal for data migration should be 0 defects.  Getting close...

If you want more details, links, information, please reply below - and I will try to find time to write more about this.