Installations using SAP/R3 must have a comprehensive data archiving strategy included in the overall enterprise resource planning (ERP) planning. Without this companies risk operational disruptions with attendant financial loss. Werner Kruger, archiving consultant at the company, Supported Software, says, "Most companies wait until operations are impacted, sometimes severely, before they re-examine their archiving methods. There is no doubt that the lack of comprehensive investigation and planning for archiving activities causes an overburdened or unreliable system at some point. Manual methods are usually used and developers fail to recognise that SAP/R3 offers the ability to integrate with automated archiving solutions too."
Kruger points out that companies with SAP/R3 usually generate high volumes of transactions. "As transactions age they are no longer needed for operational purposes. They become a reference source, because of legal requirements or potential future use. The data is not needed in the operational real-time environment and can be safely stored on an off-line medium."
If this is not done, the risks gradually increase as transaction volumes accumulate. The ERP database extends further and this involves additional hardware such as discs and servers. The risks of manual data archiving and high transaction volumes can result in:
- Longer time needed for offline backup. This window is usually limited by the installations business hours, e.g. a 12 to 18 hour manufacturing environment. ERP systems are the backbone of company processes and a delay in start of business caused by backups overrunning their scheduled times has productivity, service and cost implications.
- A high volume of transactions is accompanied by increased read/write activity on the database. Kruger does not hold by the theory that one should be able to add as much disc as is needed without degradation in performance. "An increase in the physical storage area has consequences for time to read or update database records. Also more resources are used by the system to sort information to optimise data access."
- Increased recovery times resulting in delays in operations. The maintenance and recovery of large and ever increasing volumes of data on the operational system takes longer. This can be critical, and compounds a situation where data failure has already impacted the smooth running of the business.
- Loss of data. The consequences vary from minor embarrassment to major loss. Loss of data required for statutory purposes or for business purposes can be potentially damaging. The overwriting of the wrong disks or tapes or the inability to identify the correct volume means that archiving management has failed.
"Limit online database growth," advises Kruger. "The ideal situation is to start with an automated archiving solution. This does not mean however that the situation can`t be corrected further down the line, after SAP/R3 is operational. The cost associated with the risks of lack of archiving or archiving failure more than justify the automated approach."
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