SPM Extractors from SAP R/3

[Former Member]

Hi, I am quite new working with SPM and currently investigating options for data extraction activity from R/3 to SPM.

I could see there is an extraction wiki, were I found very useful information, and could see the main options are:

1. Use SAP provided ABAP extractors (as a starting kit probably)

2. Write our own ABAP programs

3. Using other ETL tool, like for example BOBJ IM (Business Objects Integration Manager)

My main concern is regarding performance, as I expect to have to deal with high volume of data. I'd like to hear some past experience on how SAP provided extractors work. Have any of you implemented these extractors or had the chance of seeing them running?. The delta capability works fine? Is it a delta just based on a document creation/change data? or other changes (in the master data for example, where we do not always have a change date) are also captured?. How much customizing should I considerate will be requested (of course I understand this depends on how much customizing do we have in our R/3).

Is it worth exploring these standard extractors?. Or should I better start considering other option like BOBJ-IM? I think I will have to use BOBJ-IM anyway for some non-SAP sources of data which I also have to include.

Any experience with these extractors is appretiated!.

Many thanks.

Regards,

Claudia.

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Claudia,

Below are some of my comments in regards to SPM extractors.

1. Using SPM extractors as a starter kit is a great idea. This will bring in all the necessary data from standard R/3 tables with the necessary logic to populate SPM.

2. Taking the route of writing you own ABAP program / extractors may be necessary only if you have quite a lot of customization in R/3 as your source for data.

3. Using BOBJ IM is necessary for extracting data from non-SAP data source.

As always loading initial could be a lengthy process. To speed up this process it is recommended to break it down to smaller manageable loads.

Delta is primarily based on create / change date for both master data and transaction data.

In terms of customizations, you are right depends on what you are looking for, you may end up adding new fields or writing some exit / code to add business logic to existing fields. Have seen customers do a combination of both.

Have seen quite a lot of customers take the route of delivered extractor which gives them a great start. Secondly looking at the extractors you can tell exactly what tables and fields are used to extract data, that way even if you are planning to build you own extractors you know exactly what fields are needed.

Regards,

Rohit

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Rohit,

Thanks for your response and information. So, when you say delivered extractors should be a great starting point, do you mean using them only for the analysis phase?. Did you have the chance of seeing these extractors working in any company?. I understand initil load process may be lengthy, but is delta process performance acceptable afterwards?. We are planning on periodically refreshing data with a periodicity of 1 month (or twice a month).

Many thanks,

Regards.

Claudia.

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Claudia,

Many customers use SPM extractor starter kit in their production environment. Few customers did use it for analysis as they want to use the data that already exists in their BW system where SPM is installed and hence do not want to re-extract the data. Yes delta loads perform just fine, once or twice a month is a perfectly fine option.

Rohit

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Claudio

I have updated the data extraction FAQ with your question and its answer (productive usage of the extractor starter kit). Your question on deltas was already answered in the FAQ.

http://wiki.sdn.sap.com/wiki/display/CPM/FAQ-DataExtractionforSpendPerformance+Management

Hope that answers.

Regards

Rajesh

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Thanks for all your answers!