SAP and non-SAP system copying

With the selected BlueCopy solution, both SAP system and non-SAP system copies are realized automatically at the SAP existing customer Spitz. The Spitz Group is one of the largest food producers in Austria with nearly 1200 manufactured products that are consumed far beyond the country's borders.

The company develops, produces, markets and refines premium quality food and beverages. The company, which is headquartered in Attnang-Puchheim and employs around 700 people company-wide, is active both in the branded goods business and in the private label and co-packaging sectors and most recently achieved sales of 251 million euros.

SAP ERP/ECC 6.0 with the Food and Beverage industry solution in conjunction with an SAP Sybase database has been used throughout the group since 2017. Newly added companies, such as a mineral water producer or a honey producer, also use SAP in accordance with Spitz specifications, or Spitz processes are implemented and supported with SAP as required.

There are currently around 400 SAP users in the group. Several third-party systems are connected to SAP, for example a Manufacturing Execution System (MES) from Siemens or Open Text, used in particular for archiving.

As Bernhard Hutterer, Head of IT at the Spitz Group, explains, "We had been looking at reorganizing the topic or work area 'Creation of SAP system copies' for some time. The manual creation of system copies in accordance with the SAP guidelines took between two and three weeks.

In addition, concrete daily rates were incurred in each case, as we had outsourced this doing to an IT service provider. We wanted to create a sophisticated tool for creating SAP system copies that would enable us to perform SAP system copying ourselves, and also significantly reduce the time and effort involved.

Clarity through PoC

Several suppliers from the subject area of SAP system copies were selected. Empirius from Munich was among them with its BlueCopy solution.

"In discussions with Empirius, the vendor suggested that BlueCopy could create an SAP system copy in about a day, which we didn't believe, but wanted to know more about. And we extended an invitation to Empirius to show or demonstrate this on our premises as part of a PoC."

reports IT manager Hutterer.

During the on-site meeting at Spitz, a BlueCopy server was set up, the system was installed and connected to the SAP environment. It was agreed to create a copy of a selected and isolated SAP system. Pre-settings or specific system conditions of Spitz also took place in BlueCopy. And, as promised, an SAP system copy was created in a period of about one day.

As IT expert Hutterer says, "this triggered a certain aha effect for us, which we had not expected in this way. Except for a few adjustments after the SAP system copy, everything went through without a hitch. Virtually on the same day, we decided to go with the Empirius solution."

Since the outlined PoC at the beginning of October last year, the Spitz Group has been using the software-supported SAP system copy creation. If you will, the PoC represented the system introduction. Specifically, four employees of the Spitz IT team, which has a total of around 15 members, are currently performing system copying with BlueCopy.

Not only SAP copies

When one speaks of system copying at Spitz, this primarily means the creation of SAP system copies. Nevertheless, it means more here. Because in parallel with an SAP system copy, a system copy of the Siemens MES used is also carried out. According to the company, the reason for this is that the MES inventory management of SAP data must always match the SAP system.

In simple terms, the MES system (linked to PLC systems) collects the data for SAP, namely detailed consumption or quality assurance data. Being able to create both an SAP system copy and an MES system copy with a system copying solution is "a not inconsiderable advantage" for Spitz, they emphasize emphatically.

As Head of IT Hutterer explains, "the switch to an automation tool for SAP system copy creation has paid off for us in many ways. The benefits of using BlueCopy are demonstrably clear."

As Hutterer points out, "There are clear business benefits. The fact that we now create the system copies ourselves means that we no longer have to pay daily rates to an IT service provider for this. As a result, the investment costs for automated system copying are amortized in a very short time. Our own expenses, i.e. the provision of resources or capacities, are also relatively low.

Another benefit is almost more important for Spitz: namely, the fact that BlueCopy can be used to create SAP system copies entirely on demand. Daily or weekly, if you want.

"And we did it in just a few hours. Before, this was a huge effort and took too long."

as they say.

In general, Spitz sees an increased demand for SAP system copies, which can now be met. For example, when it comes to creating test systems in a short time and making them available to the departments. Or after a quarterly closing, in order to have an SAP system copy ready in a timely manner.

Future-compatible

As mentioned, four employees now create SAP system copies (and Siemens MES copies) at Spitz IT. According to Spitz's experience, using BlueCopy is simple and efficient thanks to the intuitive interface provided. After a short training session, they were able to create an SAP copy independently and without any problems.

In principle, all employees at Spitz who deal with SAP, SAP basic topics and SAP module topics should be able to create system copies independently. According to the company, the Empirius solution offers a high level of functionality despite its ease of use - right up to the option of being able to perform a simulation run, including checks, before actually creating an SAP system copy.

Future compatibility was also an issue when deciding on BlueCopy. Because sooner or later, the Spitz Group will switch to the business suite successor S/4 Hana, possibly with an intermediate step first to Suite on Hana (SoH).

That's why the question arose at the time as to whether the Empirius solution would also support Hana or S/4. After Empirius was able to demonstrate that BlueCopy is used together with Hana at a number of SAP user companies, the issue of future compatibility was off the table.

BlueCopy V. 10 and Cloud

The Empirius solution BlueCopy (formerly BlueSystemCopy), which is used by numerous SAP users, is currently available in version 9.4.8. New features here: an extensive LDAP integration, Hana password security features and improved Hana Connects with a flexible auto-discovery of the connection parameters.

According to Empirius, a new major release is planned for 2020, namely version 10.0, with a granular role concept and BlueCopy Plus. BlueCopy Plus represents a combination of BlueCopy and BlueClone (for the creation of sandboxes).

Can be used, for example, to update the SAP kernel on the target system or to take over the database installation from the source. Also integrated in V10.0: a copy engine that can copy the SAP kernel or database binaries using templates (and more). The templates can be adapted to individual customer requirements.

Likewise, a standardization and extension of the user exits is aimed at (OS and SAP user exits in one tab, additionally with the innovations Check Points, Transports and SQL Sets). SAP user exits can then no longer only start preconfigured variants, but report parameters can be maintained directly in the GUI.

According to Empirius, another focus in 2020 will be the further development of BlueCopy in the direction of the cloud. According to the information, the company is working closely with Microsoft on this and plans to make BlueCopy "Azure-ready". Further information on Empirius' innovations will be provided as part of the DSAG Technology Days 2020.