Since the last months customers raised a lot of questions regarding the implementation of SAP Enhancement Packages. I would like to take the chance to give some insights into the different implementation scenarios and implementation tools. Besides the three generations of SAP ERP Enhancement Packages already shipped for SAP ERP 6.0, there will be SAP NetWeaver Enhancement Packages available soon, too.  

For those of you who are not yet that much familiar with this topic let me start with some Quick Facts regarding SAP ERP 6.0.

SAP ERP 6.0

• launched in June 2006
• built on SAP NetWeaver 7.0
• more than 7,900 productive customers
  (as of September 2008)
• platform upon SAP will deliver future software innovations via ‘SAP enhancement packages’
• SAP enhancement package 3 for SAP ERP 6.0 is generally available since June 2008
• high number of productive SAP enhancement package customers (750+)

In former times it was necessary to perform upgrades as a major business activity every 5-6 years to decrease functional gaps. These days with the Enhancement Package concept new functionality can be implemented in digestible portions.

That means the traditional SAP Application Innovation Lifecycle, where we had release upgrades and general system maintenance via Support Packages, is replaced with the new SAP Application Innovation Lifecycle, where you can implement new functionality via SAP Enhancement Packages combined with Support Package Stacks as a regular maintenance activity.

Regarding this new SAP Application Innovation Lifecycle you should keep two important facts in mind:   1. Since we have Enhancement Packages available, Support Package Stacks include only legal/tax changes and corrections. In other words ; Support Packages will be feature-free. 2. With the new SAP Application Innovation Lifecycle it is recommended to install Enhancement Packages combined with Support Package Stacks as a regular maintenance activity with only minor additional effort.

So far the recap of the facts you might have known already. Now what’s new?

What’s new regarding SAP Enhancement Packages?

Besides SAP ERP Enhancement Packages also SAP NetWeaver Enhancement Packages will be available in Q4/2008:

For SAP NetWeaver Releases 7.0 (like Portal, Business Intelligence, …) and 7.1 (like Process Integration, Mobile, …) For the SAP Business Suite, starting with SAP ERP 6.0 which bases on SAP NetWeaver 7.0 Platform. Here the SAP ERP Enhancement Package 4 is bundled with parts of SAP NetWeaver Enhancement Package 1. Important here is that the implementation and usage of enhanced SAP NetWeaver functionality is only necessary and possible if you have the need to implement SAP ERP Enhancement Package 4!!!

You may now ask yourself:

What does that mean for me? And what’s in for me?

In case, you:

• are completely new in this topic and you plan to install your first SAP ERP 6.0 or SAP NetWeaver 7.0 or 7.1 landscape.
• are in the planning phase for an Upgrade to SAP ERP 6.0 or to an SAP NetWeaver 7.0 or 7.1 landscape.
• performed already an Upgrade to SAP ERP 6.0 or to SAP NetWeaver 7.0 or 7.1 systems.

Different Implementation Scenarios and Tools

1. New Installation

Let’s start with the first scenario for a New Installation:

For SAP Netweaver: With the installation tool SAPInst it is possible to install pure SAP NetWeaver systems like SAP NetWeaver 7.0 or 7.1 already with SAP NetWeaver Enhancement Package 1. For SAP ERP 6.0: First you have to install your SAP ERP 6.0 system using SAPInst. After you have finished your ERP 6.0 installation, you have the possibility to install Enhancement Packages, e.g. Enhancement Package 3 using transaction SAINT for ABAP and using JSPM (Java Support Package Manager) for Java applications. For SAP ERP 6.0, the installation process for Enhancement Packages is similar to the installation process of Support Packages and Patches. As soon as SAP ERP Enhancement Package 4 is available, there will be a new tool for the implementation of SAP Enhancement Packages available which is called SAP Enhancement Package Installer.

2. Upgrade of an Existing System

The next possible implementation scenario is the Upgrade of an already existing landscape.

If you are currently in the planning phase of an upgrade to SAP NetWeaver 7.0 or 7.1 on pure SAP NetWeaver systems or to SAP ERP 6.0 SR3 (Support Release 3), than you are in the excellent situation that it is possible to include SAP NetWeaver Enhancement Package in your Netweaver Upgrade respectively SAP ERP Enhancement Packages into your ERP Upgrade procedure. We highly recommend to bind SAP Enhancement Packages, Support Packages or even Add-ons into your Upgrade. This is possible because of the System Switch Upgrade technology, where we temporarily build up a so called shadow system and a shadow repository in your system. Your big advantage here is that you can include Enhancement Packages, Support Packages and Add-ons without a significant impact on the technical downtime of your system. The common tools to perform upgrades are SAPup for ABAP and SAPJup for Java.

3. Enhancement Package Installation

The third and last implementation scenario is the pure Enhancement Package Installation.

In general, we separate between pure SAP NetWeaver systems 7.0 or 7.1 and SAP ERP 6.0 systems which have SAP NetWeaver as basis. In general, you should keep in mind that the tool to install Enhancement Packages on pure SAP NetWeaver systems is the Enhancement Package Installer. For SAP ERP 6.0 systems on which you would like to implement SAP ERP Enhancement Package 3, you have to use transaction SAINT for ABAP and JSPM for Java applications. But as soon as SAP ERP Enhancement Package 4 (which is bundled with parts of SAP NetWeaver Enhancement Package 1) is available, you have to use even for SAP ERP Enhancement Packages the Enhancement Package Installer.

SAP Enhancement Package Installer and important prerequisites

Last but not least, I would like to give you some important hints regarding the new SAP Enhancement Package Installer tool, its prerequisites, and the availability status:

The Enhancement Package Installer tool

• uses the System Switch Technology which is proven since SAP basis 6.10 as ABAP upgrade technology
• follows an intuitive guided procedure
• is characterized by a streamlined installation process

The big difference here is that the created shadow repository during the installation is a copy of the existing repository instead of a new build repository like in the upgrade procedure. Using this technology it is possible to reduce your risk as well as your downtime significantly during the Enhancement Package installation.

That means:

• you can still use your system in productive mode until the point where the Enhancement Package Installer switches between your original repository and your shadow repository.
• you have the possibility to reset your system at any point of time before this repository switch take place.
• SAP internal tests have shown that the Enhancement Package installation via Enhancement Package Installer compared with the transaction SAINT saves 60-80% of the technical downtime and the point of no return is reached significantly later.

The prerequisites

• You require an up-to date SAP Solution Manager 7.0 (formerly known as 4.0) SPS 13 or higher. Besides that, it is necessary that you have maintained your system landscapes via transaction SMSY in your SAP Solution Manager.
• The SAP Solution Manager Maintenance Optimizer (MOPZ) is the tool with the knowledge to generate the right import queue as well as the Stack XML file which is needed to install the packages in the right order. We recommend to use the MOPZ for the queue generation and to create the Stack XML file for the installation. Reason therefore is that it is not that easy to select manually the technical usages of the Enhancement Package together with all the dependent Support Packages and implement them in the right order.
• SAP Enhancement Package Installer is only available on 64-bit platforms.

The availability status

Here I would like to provide you an overview about the availability of the Enhancement Package Installer.

As you can see the Enhancement Package Installer is the standard installation tool to implement SAP NetWeaver Enhancement Packages on pure SAP NetWeaver systems and for SAP ERP 6.0 Systems starting with SAP Enhancement Package 4. Currently we are also working on an Enhancement Package Installer version for ERP Enhancement Package 3 to reduce the technical downtime. Therefore we are currently running a pilot phase with a limited number of pilot customers. For more information about the Pilot Customer Program, see SAP Enhancement Package Installer for SAP ERP Enhancement Package 3 - Do you want to join the pilot customer program?

For more information have a look to the newest Blog of Chrisitan Oehler about What you must know about implementing SAP Enhancement Packages for SAP ERP. For more information about the SAP Enhancement Package Installation, see the SDN Quicklink: /softwarelogistics. If you plan to install SAP enhancement package for SAP ERP, see SAP Service Marketplace Quicklink: /erp-inst, there you will also find the Installation Guides and the SAPehpi executable. For more information about SAP ERP Enhancement Packages, see the Enhancement Package Infocenter at SAP Service Marketplace via Quicklink: /erp-ehp.