Compatibility of SAP BW 7.4 and SCM 4.1

[Former Member]

Hey folks,

at a customer of mine we employ the old SCM 4.1, which is in customer-specific maintenance. It is very closely related to the BW application in terms of automation and business processes.

Now, the BW team is investigating an upgrade to BW 7.4 (maybe also on BW on HANA). Therefore the question arised, if it will be possible to run an old SAP SCM 4.1 in conjunction with a SAP BW 7.4.

The SAP SCM 4.1 system incorporates a BW 3.5 system. Can you please confirm, if this setup will work? Do you have any references/ documents/ experiences?

Well, there is the statement that 3.5 BEx frontends will be not supported anymore, but to my conscience 3.5 dataflows/ models should still work?

There is no more PAM available for this setup.

Thank you very much.

BR + Thanks,

Marcus

[sander_vanwilligen · Accepted solution]

Hi Marcus,

It is not completely clear to me which system will be upgraded: the "old" SCM 4.1 system or a connected BW system?

The first scenario does not seem an option since you will have to upgrade SCM 4.1 (and other components) too.

The second scenario should be possible. 3.x Data flows are still allowed in release 7.4. BEx 3.x will not be supported anymore as front-end. The queries will continue to run but cannot be modified in 3.x anymore.

3.x Data staging technology is still supported in BW 7.4. However, it is highly recommended to migrate a.s.a.p. to take full advantage of the superior features of 7.x Data staging technology.

BEx 3.5 is not available anymore in BW 7.4. However, the Analytic Engine is able to execute the queries created with BEx Query Designer 3.5. Be aware that some features are not supported anymore. You can run a check tool prior to the upgrade to support an impact analysis. Report SAP_QUERY_CHECKER_740 is available for that.

Workbooks created with BEx Analyzer must be converted. The same applies to Web Templates.

Please find more information in the following SAP Notes and SAP Help:

• SAP Note 1410878 - Maintenance for BW 3.5 front-end add-ons;
• SAP Note 1807522 - BEx 3.5 Objects Migration to BEx 7.0;
• SAP Note 1911469 - Check report for discontinued query features in 7.40;
• SAP Help - BEx Runtime and BEx Tools from SAP BW 3.5 (deleted).

You can also check using the Upgrade Dependency Analyzer. However in case of any doubt, please contact SAP.

Best regards,

Sander

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hey Sander,

thank you for your reply.

As you assumed correctly I want to upgrade the BW 7.0 to version 7.4. I was wondering about the old BW 3.5 componentes which are incorporated in SAP SCM 4.1 (we know, that it`s really old and are discussing the roadmap with respect to S/4: http://scn.sap.com/community/scm/apo/blog/2015/05/18/whats-next-for-sap-apo) and if they are still working. The BW parts of the APO system have the look and feel of an old administrators workbench (transaction code: rsa1_old).

I am aware of the above posted notes and the fact, that 3.5 BEx will not work under BW 7.4. But anyway - thank`s for reassuring.

I also used the upgrade dependancy analyzer, which says that there are no known dependancies. But the disclaimer states that the UDA is only a  high level planing tool which does not guarantee cast-iron statements.

I guess, a 100% proof can only be derived from an upgraded sandbox and tests with the real environment since it is rather specific?

In addition, I have contacted SAP on this issue and I am curious for their reply.

Thank you so much and best regards from Germany,

Marcus