AND SAP^® ILM

Optimize SAP performance with data archiving

Your SAP database has been growing steadily since the day you started using SAP applications. Typically only around 20 per cent of this data is current and used regularly. The other 80 per cent is historical data that could be needed for customer service or regulatory compliance.

Retaining all this rarely accessed data in your live SAP database has a significant impact on system performance. Reporting, backups, restores and upgrades all take longer, which increases the risk of lengthy system downtime, and you will likely have spent money on extra storage over the years.

We can help you reduce database growth through regular archiving of your SAP data, as recommended by SAP AG. Through our long experience of working with SAP customers we have developed a highly effective process for identifying and then carefully removing the huge volume of older SAP data that slows down system performance.

The data is first compressed and then - to ensure convenient, long term access - it is archived on a secure content server, residing on low-cost online storage media. Once the data is removed from the live database you will benefit from an immediate and significant improvement in system performance. SAP-certified integration ensures that the data can be accessed directly from your SAP applications whenever you need it, for customer service, legal discovery and audit.

Try our free Database Health Check for SAP customers to help you assess how much database capacity you could release through archiving.

Increase process efficiency with document archiving

SAP-generated documents can also be moved into the archive to release additional database space. An exact replica of the original document is stored, to fulfill audit and compliance requirements. Archiving also provides a convenient way of accessing documents such as printlists once they have been removed from the SAP spool and avoids the performance impact of regenerating documents on the live system.

Similarly, scanned paper documents such as supplier invoices and HR documentation can be archived and integrated with SAP business workflow to increase the efficiency of your key business processes.

Future proof your data with SAP NetWeaver Information Lifecycle Management (ILM)

For organizations seeking additional control over archived information, including the management of detailed retention policies and compliant destruction of data and documents at end of life, Macro 4's archiving solutions support SAP NetWeaver ILM.

To address the issue of rising business litigation, ILM also provides automated e-discovery and legal hold functionality to help you identify and protect information required as part of legal case management.

As Macro 4's expertise and SAP software certifications cover archiving using the ArchiveLink interface and also SAP NetWeaver ILM, you can future proof your archiving strategy and transition seamlessly from 'traditional' archiving to ILM archiving at any time.

In summary, the benefits of archiving are:

•  Faster SAP upgrades, with less risk
•  More efficient business processes due to improved system performance
•  Shorter response times for interactive users and faster batch processes
•  Shorter backup times and reduced data vulnerability
•  Easier, more cost-effective database administration
•  Reduced hardware requirements and fewer upgrades
•  Lower online data storage costs
•  Assured regulatory compliance for your key historical data
•  The avoidance of mistakes and delays caused by manual paper handling and data entry
•  Increased flexibility to handle workload peaks as scanned documents can be processed at any location