SPAM and JSPM vs. SUM for NW 7.0 support stacks

[dan_pfingsten2]

Any feedback regarding recommendation on whether to use SPAM (Abap)  and JSPM (standalone java stack) vs. SUM when applying support stacks would be appreciated. 

The current system being looked at is NetWeaver 7.0, both standalone ABAP and Java support stacks.  Note this is sps only, not an upgrade or EHP. 

SAP Tech Ed 2012 had a session specifically focusing on this topic, "ALM215 Software Update Manager – The Tool for System Maintenance", with description "Special focus is given to the question of whether to use SPAM or SUM for applying SPs."   Any insight from that session would be great!

In looking at SUM for sps only, there's a debate as to whether the additional complexity layer of the tool warrants the benefits.

For example, for Abap, is the preprocessing phase (building the shadow instance) really beneficial when in the case of this particular system downtime is not really a concern.

I have seen the OSS notes stating SUM being supported for NW 7.0 and onward, that's not the question here.

Thanks for any recommendation or feedback.

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi,

     My point of view is that , you can use SPAM and JSPM to just update the Support packs .

If you are looking for upgrading your netweaver stacks, then you can go for SUM.

As well as to my understanding, SUM and SPAM are  to be used correctly. Meaning just use SPAM for Support pack update and use SUM for version upgrade . Like  we need to use SUM to upgrade from  Netweaver 7.0 to Netweaver 7.3 ....

I hope it helps.

Thanks and Regards,

Vimal

[nicholas_chang · Accepted solution]

Hi,

If you are looking at NW7, for me personally, i would still stick to SPAM and JSPM and this is pretty straightfoward as compare to SUM, no download of SUM, no extra space and etc needed. However, we just need to ensure latest version of SPAM and JSPM is updated before the patching.

As for NW7.3 and above, i would use SUM for its stability and compatibility of technology.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Cheers,

Nicholas Chang

[Former Member]

Hi Dan,

I've used both recently, but as SUM is the new tool one ought to be moving across to it over time.  For a small patch, then use JSPM/SPAM as approriate; for a support stack I'd be inclined to use SUM as the prep work tends to shorten the ultimate downtime as the patches are applied.  For production, reducing risk through the prep work and keeping downtime to a minium is really where the value lies for the customer.

Ultimately, though, SUM is really only a frontend to both JSPM/SPAM, but one which will especially help with more complex patching - EHPs, for example.

Hope this helps,

Graham

Graham Slater