SAP Release Management SAP Release Management

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2. SAP Release
Management for
SAP S/4HANA
Fabian Dias
Enterprise Architect -SAP SE
Nov. 7
th
, 2023

3. Key Outcomes/Objectives​
•Understand SAP S/4HANA Release Strategy​
•Understand the nuances of an upgrade strategy due to
maintenance of a software release version on S/4HANA
•As we prepare to absorb an S/4HANA software release, where
does the ‘clean core’ concept fit in

4. Question 1
What are the Cloud ERP
offerings from SAP?

5. SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition
With SAP S/4HANA Cloud,public and privateedition, we have two
market leading Cloud ERP products targeting two distinct markets
New User
Experience
Lowest SaaS based
TCO
Continuous
Feature Delivery
Ready-to-run cloud ERP that delivers the latest industry best practices
and continuous innovation
Tailored-to-fit cloud ERP that adapts to your organization’s
uniquetransformation
Specifically targets Net New Names and Greenfield customers as well as two
tier scenarios in our installed base
Specifically targets our complex installed base
Market-Leading
Localization
Pre-configured best
practices to realize results
right away
Unmatched Time-to-
Value to deliver on
business priorities
Run on your own
standard &
keep control.
Rapidly run
on the
industry standard
& keep
innovation
moving
Regular
consumption of
innovation via bi-
annual Feature
Packages &
majorReleases
every other year
Optional
best practices to realize
results right away
Allows an evolutionary
journey to the cloud with
max flexibility
Customization &
localization capabilities
for complex scenarios
Seamless
migrations from
SAP ERP without requiring a
new implementation

6. Question 2
What is the release
strategy for SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Private Edition and
SAP S/4HANA?

7. SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Private Edition, and
SAP S/4HANA
Release strategy for 2023 →2025 and definition of deliveries
FPS01* FPS02*
Feature Package Stack
(technically SPS01 / SPS02)
FPS03*
Feature Package Stack
(technically SPS03)
SPSxx*
Support Package Stack
(technically SPSxx)
SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Private Edition,
and SAP S/4HANA | 2023
Q4 Q1 Q2 Q4Q3
SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Private Edition,
and SAP S/4HANA | 2025*
New release incl. new
technology stack
Mainstream maintenance until Dec.
2030*
2026
Important Links
Restrictions and recommendations regarding
specific revisions of the SAP HANA database
for use in SAP S/4HANA
Release and maintenance strategy for
SAP S/4HANA
3348949 – Restriction Note
3307222 –Release Information Note
2023 2024
Q4 Q1 Q4 Q1 Q4
* This is the current state of planning and may be changed by SAP at any time without notice.
2025

8. Question 3
What is the SAP S/4HANA
Compatibility scope?

9. •Functionalities originally created for SAP ERP still available in SAP S/4HANA
•Customers are authorized to use these functionalities in SAP S/4HANA for a
limited time (typically until the end of 2025, with a few exceptions that will
be available until 2030)
What is the SAP S/4HANA Compatibility scope?
SAP Note2269324 – Compatibility Scope Matrix for SAP S/4HANA.
What is it?
Why it exists?
What to
expect?
•Compatibility pack IDs give customers additional time to move to the newer
recommended SAP S/4HANA solutions.
• The SAP ERP legacy solutions are not optimized for use in SAP S/4HANA and in many
cases, much better solutions have been made available to replace them.
•The legacy solutions from SAP ERP will be treated in maintenance mode when used in
SAP S/4HANA → SAP will not deliver any new innovations for that functionality
•SAP expects customers to move to a recommended long-term strategic SAP S/4HANA
solution before the compatibility usage rights expire.

10. Question 4
Compatibility scope -
What will happen after
2025/2030?

11. •SAP is neither currently planning to use programmed dumps or blocks nor to delete
code or transactions on short notice; however, SAP strongly recommends that
customers check their Compatibility Scope usage well in advance to start their
transition on time and to plan accordingly.
Compatibility scope -What will happen after 2025/2030?
Current Plans
Possible
impact
For more detail about this topic, please check out the blog post: Compatibility Scope: What Happens
after 2025/2030

•All support and maintenance (e.g., patches, legal changes) for Compatibility
Scope will end with the expiration of the usage rights. It means SAP will not
provide product support to those features.

12. Compatibility scope -What will happen after 2025/2030?
The Future of Compatibility Packs in SAP S/4HANA
Example of a good answer about the rights to use Compatibility scope IDs after the expiration date:

13. Compatibility scope -What will happen after 2025/2030?
YouTube recording Sept. 2023:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muPrV5J7ffM
To clarify any other inquiry, please listen to the recording on Compatibility Packs webinar for S/4HANA customers

14. Question 5
Moving from SAP
S/4HANA On-Premise
to Private cloud – What
about the compatibility
scope?

15. Moving from SAP S/4HANA On-Premise to Private cloud –What about the
compatibility scope?
Are all the compatibility scopes IDs
available in SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private
edition?
What to review if a customer is planning
to move from SAP S/4HANA On-premise
to SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private cloud?
No, for strategic reasons, some features currently available
in SAP S/4HANA On-Premise were not included for use with
SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition.
Identify the compatibility scope IDs currently used that are
not part of the the scope of SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private
edition.
Plan the transition considering moving those business needs
to the SAP strategic solution, for instance SAP
SuccessFactors.
To learn how to identify those simplification items IDs, please review the blog post: Functional
differences between SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition and SAP S/4HANA On-premise

16. Question 6
Is it mandatory to upgrade
the system before the end of
maintenance?

17. SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Private Edition, and
SAP S/4HANA
Release strategy for 2023 →2025 and definition of deliveries
FPS01* FPS02*
Feature Package Stack
(technically SPS01 / SPS02)
FPS03*
Feature Package Stack
(technically SPS03)
SPSxx*
Support Package Stack
(technically SPSxx)
SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Private Edition,
and SAP S/4HANA | 2023
Support Package Stack for SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Private Edition, and
SAP S/4HANA *
After the general availability of SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Private Edition, and
SAP S/4HANA , Feature Package Stacks (FPS) and Support Package Stacks (SPS) contain
stabilizations bundled with corrections and legal changes. Customers benefit from this
functionality as part of their maintenance fee. The first SPS of a new release can contain
selected features and is labeled Feature Package Stack (FPS) accordingly. Support Package
Stacks are compiled periodically and made available in the
SAP Service Marketplace
Q4 Q1 Q2 Q4Q3
SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Private Edition,
and SAP S/4HANA | 2025*
New release incl. new
technology stack
Mainstream maintenance until Dec.
2030*
2026
Important Links
Restrictions and recommendations regarding
specific revisions of the SAP HANA database
for use in SAP S/4HANA
Release and maintenance strategy for
SAP S/4HANA
New release incl. new Technology Stack
(ABAP Platform 2023 and SAP HANA 2.0 SP07* will be
defined as minimal version for customers)
3348949 – Restriction Note
3307222 –Release Information Note
2023 2024
Q4 Q1 Q4 Q1 Q4
* This is the current state of planning and may be changed by SAP at any time without notice.
2025

18. 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 … 2040
SAP S/4HANA: Release Maintenance Strategy 2023
New SAP S/4HANA Release & Maintenance Strategy | SAP News
Maintenance
phases:
Innovation Line
Delivery of new features via FPS
Maintenance Line
Delivery of changes via SPS
Extended
Maintenance
1709
1809
1909
2020
2022
Ext. Maintenance
Ext. M.
2023
... series of SAP S/4HANA releases until at least 2040
Extended Maintenance
2021
2025
Release 2023: Completeness on Compatibility Scope
alternatives and concluding major overhauls
Executive Summary
[1] SAP S/4HANA 2022 with RTC on October 12
th
, 2022, stays with the current Release Strategy 1+4 (1 year innovation line, 4 years standard maintenance line)
[2] Starting with SAP S/4HANA 2023 (released Oct. 2023), the innovation line will be extended to 2 years with an additional maintenance line of 5 years (2+5)
[3] For the 3 releases 1709, 1809, 1909 the extended Maintenance will end in 2025
[4] During the innovations line, SAP will continue to deliver innovations in 3 Feature Package Stacks (FPS) in 2 years
[5] Release Naming convention: [YYYY] (e.g., 2022) for SAP S/4HANA and SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private edition and [YYMM] (e.g., 2208) for SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition
[6] SAP will continue to support SAP S/4HANA until 2040
=> all customers can adopt SAP S/4HANA Innovations at their own pace (no customer has a disadvantage compared to the previous [1+4] strategy)
Feature Package
Stack (FPS0x)
Extended Maintenance and customer specific Maintenance is not the same.
SAP Note 52505 - Support after end of mainstream maintenance or extended maintenance
Customers who have implemented SAP S/4HANA cloud, private edition are not entitled to Customer specific maintenance
SAP Note3016524 - RISE with SAP S/4HANA, private cloud edition: Information about the release and maintenance strategy

19. Is it mandatory to upgrade the SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private cloud edition system
before the end of maintenance?
Is it mandatory to have the
system updated?
Will SAP provide product support
to customers running out of
maintenance?
•Yes, it is mandatory to keep the system updated!
•Contractually customers running in SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private
edition arenot allowed to have their release run out of
mainstream or extended maintenance
•SAP will keep providing product support; however, it will be
considering the “customer-specific maintenance” restrictions.
Additionally,customers running out of maintenance cannot expect
the full SAP SLA.
•It is important to highlight that SAP will not renew the subscription
unless those customers upgrade their system to be in standard
support.

20. Question 7
Do I have to get rid of all of
my custom code moving to
SAP S/4HANA Cloud, private
edition?

21. Can I still use my custom
code in S/4HANA Cloud,
private edition?
What is a “clean core”?
•Yes, you can still use your custom code in the same way that you can
use it in S/4HANA on-premise
•However, SAP’s recommendation is to follow a cloud mindset for your
S/4HANA implementation to keep your system as close to standard as
possible (a “clean core” concept)
•The clean core concept is a mindset and philosophy supported with
governance and guiding principles that lay the foundation
•A clean core describes a system or a landscape of systems that is as
close to standard as possible (with minimal customizations), while
running cloud-compliant extensions and integrations.
Do I have to get rid of all of my custom code after moving to SAP S/4HANA
Cloud, private edition?

22. Do I need to remove all my
custom code to get to a
“clean core”?
•Customers do not need to remove all custom code
•Goal of the clean core program is to help customers stay on the most
current release to take advantage of new innovations and to avoid
technical debt
•When customers consume regular updates while still having a small
number of well-managed customizations, that is a success
Do I have to get rid of all of my custom code after moving to S/4HANA Cloud,
private edition?

23. Clean Core is a Journey
Establish a mindset and governance model that fosters clean core principles.
•Unique opportunity.
•Follow clean core principles right from the beginning.
•Establish strong governance.
•Establish clean core principles for every new deployment.
•Plan your journey towards a clean core and follow an iterative step-
by-step approach.
•Clean Core does not happen over night.
Greenfield Brownfield

24. Clean Core – High Level Guiding Principles
Clean
Core
Avoid
Be
Aware
Cloud
Ready
Decouple
Avoid extensions where not
necessary
Stay as close as possible to SAP
standard
Know your technical debts and
evaluate them on a regular basis
Establish a binding governance
framework
Extend and Integrate in a stable and
transparent manner
Apply a zero-modification policy
Leverage BTP as a platform to innovate for
additional differentiation
Automate with standard APIs and Events

25. 3-tier extensibility model for SAP S/4HANA
private cloud edition and on-premise
TIER 1 – Cloud extensibility model
Cloud-ready and upgrade-stable development of new applications and
extensions. ABAP Cloud is mandatory –
no classic ABAP in tier 1.
Same extensibility model as used in SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public
edition
Default for new extensions and custom apps
SAP Business Technology PlatformSAP S/4HANA
TIER 1 SIDE-BY-SIDE
Cloud development
(Java / Node.js / ABAP Cloud)
ON-STACK - tightly coupled SIDE-BY-SIDE - loosely coupled
TIER 2 – Cloud API enablement
Extends and enables tier 1 for private cloud and on-premise
Mitigates missing public SAP APIs or extension points:
•Develop custom wrapper objects for not released SAP objects to be
used in tier 1
•Retire wrapper once a released SAP API is available
TIER 2
Cloud API enablement
TIER 3 – Classic ABAP extensions
Legacy/existing custom ABAP code or new on-stack extensions code
that cannot follow the rules of tier 1 and 2
Avoid and reduce the content in tier 3
TIER 3
Classical ABAP development
RETIRE
This presentation and SAP‘s strategy and possible future developments are subject to change and may be
changed by SAP at any time for any reason without notice.
ADAPT
RENOVATE OR
INNOVATE
TIER 1 ON-STACK
ABAP Cloud

26. Additional Info

27. Feel free to ask your questions here:
SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Private Edition –Community

28. Learn
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
Enablement
Join us to learn, share, and exchange on the intelligent, next-generation
Cloud ERP business suite.
•Microlearnings
•Learning Journeys
•Digital learning opportunities
Engage
SAP S/4HANA Community
SAP S/4HANACloud
Community
Ask questions, share experiences, and build your knowledge of our next
generation business suite
•SAP Help Portal: SAP S/4HANAand SAP S/4HANA Cloud
•Podcast “Inside SAP S/4HANA”
Implement
SAP Best Practices
Explorer
Benefit from predefined business processes & search, browse and
consume SAP Best Practices
•Roadmap Viewer
•Rise with SAP S/4HANA Cloud
•Upgrade schedule
INTERNAL – SAP and Partners only

29. Questions?
For questions after this session, contact us
at [email] and [email].​

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