Question:
Hi, experts.
My manager told me that she is considering either purchasing the mySAP ERP or mySAP Financial. She is leaning towards the mySAP ERP. So far, we are only running on the R/3 620 environment with FI, SD, etc. We want to add BW and SEM even though mySAP ERP/Financial come with a bunch of other modules.
So my questions are:
1) I understand BW is a different instance. Can we install SEM on top of the existing R/3 lansacpe and share the same database? How about mySAP ERP itself? Is it something like an add-on? Does mySAP ERP put BW on the same server as the normal R/3 instances?
2) How many extra servers do we need to buy for this implementation.
I have been digging through the various documentations and am getting more and more confused.
Thx.
Answer:
Let's start from the beggining.
MySAP Financials is a solution from SAP for Financial Institutions (e.g.: Banks). MySAP All_In_One is the complete solution from SAP that includes multiple functionality (I'm not sure SEM is alrady included - check with your sales rep). And the license fees are completely different.
Now going to your questions:
1) SEM should be in a different instance (SAP says it is possible but their own demo system is in a different instance). So I would not recommend installing in the same. BW and SEM can share depending again on the volume/size/performance you have or is looking for.
2) How many servers you are going to need depends on what you are planning to have and the sizing that you should execute to understand data volumes and other important technical aspects. Basically you should look for the best performance/cost benefit you can pay for.
Bottom line the most important part at this stage is the sizing of your needs (SEM, BW, functionality needed, etc). Your consulting partner (SAP or other consulting business) should be able to help you in this process.
_________________
ZZ
Answer:
Hi, ZZ.
Thanks for answering my question. My head was spinning when opening my last thread after reading those crystal clear OSS notes for the whole day.
We need to decide how many servers we are purchasing and where to put things on. The consultants will only show up for implementation. I know that we would only have 2 BW servers, PRD and DEV. We don't plan to have QAS because of really tight budget.
But the question is where to put SEM. According to the OSS note, it seems like we should install SEM as an add-on to the SAP R/3 instance. But when looking at the forum, I should put it together with BW. I couldn't find any good SEM documentation so far. So does that mean we can put SEM on either BW or R3? But for performance reason, you would recommend putting it on BW instead?
By the way, would you know if there is any difference between the BW packaged with mySAP Financial and the BW version purchased by itself.
Please advise.
Regards,
Johnny
Answer:
Johnny,
Your understanding is correct. You can put SEM either instance (R/3 or BW). We usually suggest to install with BW for the simple reason that SEM runs all its information/reporting from BW. So if you are looking for performance that would be my suggestion to you.
Now, on your second question is very simple to understand. BW alone is the complete feature that allows you to setup any other add-ons to it and does not have any real pre-defined cubes (yes, there are some but usually you get rid of them).
The version tied with MySAP Financials is based on the financial industry needs and therefore some reports and cubes and custom transactions are delivered for that specific industry. It does not mean that you may have to create new ones.
_________________
ZZ
Answer:
Hi, ZZ.
Thanks for the really informative reply. Do you mean that the mySAP Financial version of BW gives even more standard cubes than the standard BW? We are planning to use BW for not just FI, but other modules like SD, MM, etc. Does the mySAP BW version covers the other modules?
Thx, Johnny.
Answer:
It gives some pre-defined special infocubes for the Financial Services Industry.
MySAP BW comes with some pre-defined for all areas but no special features.
In both cases, most times (99.99%), you will not use the pre-defined or you will change them. If you are not in the Financial Industry area I don't see any benefits to go that path.
_________________
ZZ
Answer:
Thanks so much.
Johnny.
Answer:
You might want to keep in mind... if you purchased your current R/3 software under a mySAP Business Suite license, you may already be licensed for BW and SEM. Go to the http://service.sap.com/swdc and expand Installations. Look for My Application Components. Anything on the resulting list that contains installation CDs, you are already licensed for it.