Alternate interface (other than SAP-BW) for APO-DP

[Former Member]

hi,

Can APO-DP be alternatively fed by another source other than SAP-BW? What are the recommended SAP ERP - SCM architectures? what are the pros/cons for going ahead with SAP-BW vs some different interface for APO-DP.

Thanks,

Sudeep

Edited by: Sudeep Paranjape on Mar 25, 2010 1:42 PM

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Sudeep,

APO DP can be fed throgh a BW, R/3, External system or from a flat file itself. APO BW is primararily used to input the data to APO DP planning area and can be fed through any of the above said options.

APO BW is also used for Defining of Info objects , Infosources , Update rules and cubes for APO applications as APO DP and SNP. Also the back up loads are maintained in APO BW for the restoration purposes in case of any changes to Planning area or data loads failure.

As a general practice , it is fed through SAP BW as SAP BW is anyways there in most implementations due to reporting requirements and Seamless transfer due to replica cube structure at both sides.

The Pros of using SAP BW is seamless transfer of data due to similar structure, lesser maintainence and easy replication of changes.

The Cons of using flat file or external system is high amount of data load issues due to format structures, build of custom extractors and higher mainatinence.

Integration with ECC should be smooth as Standard extractors are there but it needs to be checked that those are applicable to APO BW also other than SAP BW. Though SAP says that they are applicable but havent seen in many of the implementations,.

Let me know if it helps

Regards

Gaurav