Development accelerator

Due to the known peculiarities of SAP systems, it is simply too complicated, too risky, too expensive or too time-consuming to copy tens of terabytes of data from a production system and transfer it to one or more development environments or to a test system.

Instead, only parts data sets are usually used - to the detriment of development quality, because these do not represent the real production data. In addition, developers face another problem:

Data loaded into an SAP development environment is assigned a "transport". With repeated use and shifting, as well as testing, the data becomes distorted and unusable.

This makes a data refresh necessary, which takes days, if not weeks, and is usually accompanied by further post-copy processes such as BDLS reporting. If the process is repeated several times during a development cycle, a typical application project is extended by several months.

Many companies are thus caught in a dilemma: Either they forego the use of real data when developing new digital offerings. Or they accept that it will be expensive and may take several days or even weeks until large data sets are available for experts.

DataOps - what it brings

From the complexity of providing data and the negative impact on data quality, it is not uncommon for tensions to arise between SAP administrators and developers.

The administrators strive to make the data available and are concerned with security and system stability (data operators). Opposite them are the developers and testers, who act as data consumers and are dependent on data quality and fast availability.

Most approaches that attempt to resolve the conflicting goals only end up complicating an already very lengthy and costly process.

But what if the impossible were possible? Let's imagine that SAP administrators could make complete production data sets available in test environments in a timely manner and simplify cost-intensive processes.

A new approach called "DataOps" does just that. While administrators get more control over security and stability, the developer gets the ability to generate faster and higher quality solutions and tests.

Platforms such as Delphix's Dynamic Data Platform embrace this: Once installed on a virtual environment such as Oracle, AWS, DB2 or Azure, the SAP administrator can manage the platform to deliver production data.

The trick: A virtual copy of the productive data is created. This copy then serves as the basis for making the data available in different development and test environments.

Data contamination can be prevented by allowing the platform to use bookmarks and make the original data available again at any time - across multiple environments. This eliminates the problem with distortion due to transports.

As a consequence, development environments can be solidly used for testing over longer periods of time. Time previously wasted on deployment can now be spent on actual development and testing.

DevOps for SAP

In the end, thanks to DataOps, administrators and developers can work together smoothly and significantly accelerate software development cycles. This is very reminiscent of "DevOps" and in fact both terms have a lot in common:

Both approaches aim to remove barriers and use a combination of people, processes and the right tools to help companies move faster.

Handling data is and remains the challenge in SAP. If it is mastered, companies can usually cut their project duration in half. HPE is a good example of this:

Using the Delphix Dynamic Data Platform, the company was able to test more than 2,500 SAP applications in nine and a half months - with only two hours of downtime.

Change is always viewed with suspicion, even if the promise of unadulterated data beckons at the end. But instead of fearing change, think of the efficiencies that come with smooth collaboration between developers and administrators.

Companies using SAP systems can thus accelerate their application development enormously and catch up with the non-SAP world in terms of agility.