This post was originally posted here.
This is call to all SAP Basis admins!
I’ll keep this short and simple, the Pure way. We at Pure Storage just launched a new tool for our SAP customers. It is called CAT, or Copy Automation Tool. The tool is quite modest. Yet the time, effort, and cost it saves are incredibly big.
Having been an SAP Basis Admin 15 years ago, I know first-hand the nightmares that are SAP system-copies. Back then, you start by crossing your fingers hoping you have a good production backup for when your business folks are commanding you to restore your test system to. You fill your coffee mug and start your pre-copy steps on both your QAS and PRD. That includes exporting tables you will need later, prepping license files or simply taking screenshots of everything you can think of in your QAS system like a fanatic. Next you announce the shutdown and commit system availability in three, four or five days. Then you load a fresh batch of coffee and look busy until your tape restore is complete. Once that is complete, the real heavy and sensitive work begins…And you’ve drunk all the coffee!
Few years later, snapshots came along. All Basis folks across the planet thanked the storage gods. Nevertheless, all pre and post steps were still there. Human errors were still happening. Deleting the wrong SM59 entry, adding the wrong client name, importing the wrong license. Heck, I remember misconfiguring STMS and having the BW team stare at me with a death look for weeks as they had to re-load everything from scratch. It was miserable. I still have nightmares with messages such as this one below!!
Thankfully, these ordeals are no more. With Pure’s CAT, almost all of the pre and post steps are included with our fast snapshot technology. For me, cutting downtime, effort and cost are not the most important savings here. The best part of this tool is cutting down the chances of human error. These days, your neighbor lectures you about digital transformation, but to actually get a free, built-in tool that will do what CAT does, is unheard of. Especially in the SAP world.
We launched the tool just this month and customer interest has been incredible. It is my joy to speak with fellow Basis admins, explain the tool, and make their lives much easier. Check out CAT’s site and get in touch to hear more..
@samerkamal.
