Remote Conversion vs Shell Conversion for SAP BW/4HANA Migration: How to Choose the Right Option

SAP BW/4HANA is SAP’s next generation data warehouse solution that is entirely built on SAP HANA database. It offers many benefits such as simplified data models, faster performance, advanced analytics and cloud readiness. If you are an existing SAP BW customer, you might be wondering how to migrate your current system to SAP BW/4HANA and what are the best practices and tools to do so.

There are different migration options for SAP BW/4HANA, such as in-place conversion, remote conversion and shell conversion. Each option has its own advantages and disadvantages, depending on your current SAP BW system and your business needs. In this blog post, we will focus on the remote conversion and the shell conversion options, and compare them in terms of their features, benefits, challenges and use cases.

What is Remote Conversion?

Remote conversion is a migration option that involves the installation of a new BW/4HANA system and the transfer of entire data flows or selected data flows along with the data from your old BW system. The objects and data are converted to BW/4HANA supported objects and formats during the transfer. This option is suitable for customers who want to migrate from SAP BW 7.4 or lower system, regardless of the database.

What is Shell Conversion?

Shell conversion is a migration option that involves the installation of a new BW/4HANA system and the selective transfer of certain objects from the old BW system. These objects will be converted to BW/4HANA supported objects during the import into the new system. This option is suitable for customers who want a fresh start with a new system ID (SID) and a clean slate for their data warehouse.

How to Compare Remote Conversion and Shell Conversion?

To compare remote conversion and shell conversion, we can look at the following aspects:

Prerequisites and requirements
Tools and steps
Advantages and disadvantages
Use cases and scenarios

Prerequisites and Requirements

Before you start the remote conversion or the shell conversion, you need to make sure that your current SAP BW system and your target SAP BW/4HANA system meet some prerequisites and requirements.

For remote conversion, you need:

Your current SAP BW system can be on any release from 7.0 onwards, regardless of the database.
Your target SAP BW/4HANA system must be on release 2.0 SP04 or higher.
Your current SAP BW system and your target SAP BW/4HANA system must have a valid maintenance contract and license for SAP BW/4HANA.
Your current SAP BW system and your target SAP BW/4HANA system must have compatible source systems and operational data provisioning (ODP) scenarios.
Your current SAP BW system must have the Remote Conversion Add-on installed. This add-on provides the tools and functionalities for the remote conversion.

For shell conversion, you need:

Your current SAP BW system can be on any release from 7.x onwards, regardless of the database.
Your target SAP BW/4HANA system must be on release 2.0 SP04 or higher.
Your current SAP BW system and your target SAP BW/4HANA system must have a valid maintenance contract and license for SAP BW/4HANA.
Your current SAP BW system and your target SAP BW/4HANA system must have the same transport directory and transport group.
Your current SAP BW system and your target SAP BW/4HANA system must have compatible source systems and ODP scenarios.

Tools and Steps

The remote conversion and the shell conversion processes consist of two main phases: the export phase and the import phase. The export phase involves selecting and exporting the data flows or objects that you want to transfer from your current SAP BW system. The import phase involves importing and converting the data flows or objects in your target SAP BW/4HANA system.

The tools and steps involved in each phase are similar for both options, except for some differences in the selection criteria and the conversion scope.

For remote conversion, you use:

Remote Conversion Cockpit to select data flows using filters or manual selection
Remote Conversion Cockpit to export data flows to a transport request using guided procedures
Remote Conversion Cockpit to import data flows into your target SAP BW/4HANA system using guided procedures
Remote Conversion Cockpit to convert data flows to BW/4HANA supported objects and formats using guided procedures

For shell conversion, you use:

Shell Conversion Cockpit to select objects using filters or manual selection
Shell Conversion Cockpit to export objects to a transport request using guided procedures
Shell Conversion Cockpit to import objects into your target SAP BW/4HANA system using guided procedures
Shell Conversion Cockpit to activate objects in your target SAP BW/4HANA system using guided procedures

Advantages and Disadvantages

The remote conversion and the shell conversion have some advantages and disadvantages compared to each other and to other migration options for SAP BW/4HANA. Here are some of them:

Advantages of remote conversion:

You can migrate from any release of SAP BW 7.x or lower, regardless of the database
You can choose which data flows you want to transfer from your old system
You can leverage your existing knowledge and experience with SAP BW
You can use standard tools provided by SAP for the conversion

Disadvantages of remote conversion:

You need to install a new SAP BW/4HANA system before starting the conversion
You need to install the Remote Conversion Add-on which might introduce some changes or restrictions to your current system
You need to handle the delta records and missing records during the data transfer
You need to have a significant downtime for your production system during the conversion

Advantages of shell conversion:

You can start with a new SID, hostname, IP address, etc.
You can choose which objects you want to transfer from your old system
You can optimize your data models and flows during the conversion
You can avoid data migration or replication from one system to another
You can have minimal downtime for your production system during the conversion

Disadvantages of shell conversion:

You need to install a new SAP BW/4HANA system before starting the conversion
You need to reload your data from your original source systems after the conversion
You need to adjust your source systems, ODP scenarios, authorizations, etc. after the conversion
You need to perform additional testing and validation after the conversion

Use Cases and Scenarios

The remote conversion and the shell conversion are suitable for different use cases and scenarios, depending on your current SAP BW system and your business needs.

Some examples of use cases and scenarios for remote conversion are:

You want to migrate from SAP BW 7.3 or lower system, regardless of the database
You want to transfer entire data flows or selected data flows along with the data from your old system
You want to leverage your existing knowledge and experience with SAP BW
You have compatible source systems and ODP scenarios in your current and target systems

Some examples of use cases and scenarios for shell conversion are:

You want a fresh start with a new SID, hostname, IP address, etc.
You want to transfer certain objects from your old system without data migration or replication
You want to optimize your data models and flows during the conversion
You have the same transport directory and transport group in your current and target systems

Conclusion

Remote conversion and shell conversion are two migration options for SAP BW/4HANA that offer different features, benefits, challenges and use cases. Depending on your current SAP BW system and your business needs, you can choose the right option for your migration project. To ensure a smooth and successful migration, you should follow the best practices and recommendations provided by SAP in the documentation and guides.

Disclaimer: This content is generated by AI.