The benefits of migrating to SAP HANA have been well trodden by countless blogs, SAP promotional content, and a glut of industry think pieces. Amongst all the chatter, you could be forgiven for wondering how to actually go about migrating to SAP HANA. What are the tools you need for each step of a successful migration and what do they do?
Code Performance Analyzer
Before you even set out on your journey to HANA-Readiness, the first step is to analyze the performance of your ABAP code.
Few people realize how chaotic code can become over the course of a system lifecycle; developers come and go, exigencies dictate workarounds and ‘band-aid’ repairs, and parts of become obsolete with the passing of time.
As much as 60% of your ABAP code won’t be being used in the productiveenvironment, so addressing what’s essential and what isn’t before you migrate is a great place to start.
This is a where a Code Performance Analyzer tool is essential. Not only will using one help you to assess how well your ABAP code is performing, it can also:
- Inform whether your code adheres to SAP best practice
- Analyze whether database calls are being made efficiently
- Identify inefficient and unnecessary code issues
- Highlight ABAP code that can be safely decommissioned
- Recommend which ABAP code can be optimized for better performance
- Monitor newly written code to ensure continuous improvement
Using a code performance analyzer has two decisive advantages. Firstly, it provides you with a clear overview of what can be improved for optimum system performance. Secondly, this knowledge can help you substantially improve the efficiency of your legacy SAP systems, even if you’re not planning to migrate to SAP HANA right now.
Book a demo and discover how to substantially increase SAP performance.
ABAP Code Fixing Tool
While it is possible to fix all your ABAP code manually, it’s ill-advised. At Gekkobrain, we found out the hard way that fixing custom code manually is both highly impractical and time-consuming—in fact, our suffering was the inspiration for starting Gekkobrain in the first place.
But what’s the alternative?
The best option is to choose a HANA-readiness tool with the ability to automatically fix instances of problematic ABAP code.
Like the code performance analyzer tool mentioned above, HANA-readiness tools begin by scanning your ABAP code to flag any performance related issues or likely impediments to migration. Where the two differ is that tools like Gekkobrain take things a step further by filtering away any superfluous code, leaving only important and relevant issues, before automatically fixing most of what remains.
This includes most mandatory code issues (those likely to stop HANA from running) and the majority of performance related issues (those that stop HANA from running optimally). It’s difficult to quantify the time this saves over the course of a HANA-readiness project, but a conservative estimate would put the hours saved in coding, consulting, and testing in the thousands.
Project Management and Sprint Planning
An often-overlooked challenge of any HANA-readiness project is how difficult it can be to track both the various development tasks required and overall progress of migration. When you’ve got several developers fixing multiple tasks concurrently, keeping track of who’s fixing what and deciding what to prioritize next can prove a headache.
Having a project management and sprint planning tool to ease the burden can be the difference between a hair-rending migration and one that passes smoothly and on schedule. The best of these tools will automatically sort any remaining code issues into sprints, organized in order of priority, complexity, and likely impact on performance if left unresolved.
What’s more, the monitoring functionality of high-level tools can help you keep track of when you’re likely to be HANA-ready and identify bottlenecks as you go. Having a comprehensive view of the project not only gives a clear view of the end goal but also the ability to head off issues and delays before they become critical.
Employing the correct tools is crucial to a successful HANA migration. Without a helping hand from the technology available, you may find that your HANA-readiness project quickly turns into an all-consuming monster, chewing up resources, budget and time as the months drag on. At Gekkobrain we specialize in tools for helping you get HANA- ready quickly and without friction, what’s more, we offer our Code Performance Analyzer for free. To get started on improving your SAP performance and taking the first step to being HANA-ready, book a demo today.