Data-Migration in S/4HANA On-Premise – LSMW ?

SAP
RDM Content? Migration Cockpit ? SI Tools

Is LSMW available / valid in SAP S/4HANA On- Premise ?

I have received this particular QUESTION a number of times and hence an attempt to answer it thru
this blog.

Well First things first :

Q: What is LSMW & what’s it’s use ?

A: The Legacy System Migration Workbench (LSMW) is an SAP NetWeaver tool for data migration
that was first introduced with R/2 to R/3 migrations. It uses standard interfaces
like BAPIs,IDocs, Direct Input and Batch Input programs and recordings.

Q: Is LSMW available in S/4HANA ? Can it be used as Migration-Tool in s/4HANA On-Premise

(Version 1511, 1610 and above)?
A: The LSMW (Legacy System Migration Workbench) tool (transaction code LSMW) is still
availablewithin SAP S/4HANA on-premise but not considered as the migration tool.
LSMW might propose incorrect migration interfaces that cannot be used in SAP S/4HANA anymore.
As LSMW uses standard interfaces (BAPIs, iDOCs, Direct Input and Batch Input programs and
recordings), and Data-structures and screens have drastically changed / new in S/4HANA, the use
of LSMW is restricted for migrations to SAP S/4HANA
For restrictions on certain Batch Input or Direct Input programs that are used by LSMW, one needs
to check the application components directly.

Q: What about existing LSMW or if I still want to check possibility of using LSMW in S/4HANA
On-Premise ?
A : The Legacy System Migration Workbench (LSMW) should only be considered as a migration tool
for SAP S/4HANA for objetcs that do not have interfaces or content available after carefully
testing for each and every object. The use of LSMW for data load to SAP S/4HANA is not
recommended and at the customer’s own risk.
When using LSMW, you have to carefully test the process so that you can ensure that it is actually
working for you. It might not work for you and in any case.

Q: What kind of restrictions can be expected when/if using LSMW for migration in S/4HANA
On-Premise ?
A: Expect restrictions around transaction recording (as this is not possible with the new SAP Fiori
screens) and changed interfaces (for instance the Business Partner CVI). Standard Batch Input
programs may also no longer work as transactions may have changed functionality or may
be completely removed within some areas. For example, due to security reasons batch import
has been limited for RCCLBI02 program. Also, transactions for customer master data (FD*/XD*) and
vendor master data (FK*/XK*) cannot be used anymore due to the change to the Business Partner
data model in SAP S/4HANA.
Q: What other Options are available for Data Migration in S/4HANA On-Premise ?
A: Following Options are available for Data Migration in S/4HANA On-Premise
Option1 : Use SAP Rapid Data Migration with SAP Data Services.
Instead of LSMW, SAP S/4HANA data migration content called SAP Rapid Data
Migration based on SAP Data Services software is offered to migrate data into SAP S/4HANA (on
premise).
This content has been specifically built for the new SAP S/4HANA target system, its interfaces and
data structures. The content is free of charge and can be downloaded from SAP Service
marketplace.

“Restrictions / Important points about SAP Rapid Data Migration Content”

SAP Rapid Data Migration for SAP S/4HANA, on premise edition package is built on SAP Data
Services 4.2 platform with predefined business content for SAP S/4HANA.
As per SAP’s NOTE : This content has been tested on SAP Best Practices for SAP S/4HANA, but it
can also be used and easily extended for other countries and different deployments but some
modifications might be required.

 As per my analysis, the object list covers extremly basic objects master and transactional
objects.
 For Client specific requirements, most of these objects will require to be extended., unless
the S/4HANA project is vanila deployment of SAP S/4HANA best-practices and using
S/4HANA Best practice processess AS-IS.

Option 2: Using SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit and SAP S/4HANA Migration Object
Modeler
There is a new basic tool included in SAP S/4HANA (starting with SAP S/4HANA 1610) that is
called SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit. It helps you to transfer your master and transactional data
from SAP systems and non-SAP systems to SAP S/4HANA 1610. The cockpit is included in the SAP
S/4HANA license and embedded in the S/4HANA shipment.
For the data migration, the cockpit uses predefined migration content, i.e. standard migration
objects such as customers, suppliers or purchase orders to identify and transfer the relevant data.
Templates and mapping for each migration object facilitate the migration.
In addition, it allows you to integrate your custom data objects into the migration using the
inherent SAP S/4HANA Migration Object Modeler. For example, you can adjust the predefined
standard migration objects delivered with the cockpit by adding fields to them. As of Feature
Package Stack 02, you can also create your own custom-specific migration objects or SAP standard
objects that have not yet been included in the scope of the migration cockpit.
You can use the cockpit by calling transaction LTMC which gives you direct access to it. The role
required for the usage of the cockpit is called SAP_CA_DMC_MC_USER. To access the migration
object modeler you use transaction LTMOM. A prerequisite for using the modeler is that you have
created a migration project in the migration cockpit and that the role
SAP_CA_DMC_MC_DEVELOPER is assigned to the respective user.

“Current Restrictions of Using S/4HANA Migration cockpit” …

1. The pre-delivered data migration objects are built for SAP S/4HANA’s Best Practices content
. Therefore they do not (mentioned as ‘may not cover’ in SAP NOTE) the complete
functionality of SAP S/4HANA.
2. One can use basic migration objects as templates that can be enhanced using the SAP
S/4HANA Migration Object Modeler (transaction LTMOM) functionality according to needs,
However, The enhancement is limited by the capabilities of the migration object’s
underlying data load API and the version of Migration Object Modeler. To use Latest
 version of Migration Object Modeler, one will have to update the system to SAP S/4HANA
1610 FPS2 (or the point in time whenever you start the journey progress, which ever is latest
version & FP of S/4HANA On-Premise)
3. In case you need special interface types or need to make adoptions to existing objects that
are currently not supported by the migration object modeler, you might check alternatives,
such as: Rapid data migration for SAP S/4HANA on-premise (this takes us back to Option1
mentioned above)

Option 3: SI Partners like TCS and others, have S/4HANA certified tools for Data-Migration. One
can enquire about such Tools from SI Partners too.

Q: Projects/Clients who have or are currently in process of adopting S/4HANA OP thru New
Implementation Projects, which Option methods (out of four stated above) and tools are they
using and why ?
A: Associates working on S4HANA projects, I look forward to your comments to get this question

answered

———–Reference NOTES and Links for Further Reading ————-

2287723 – LSMW in SAP S/4HANA on-premise

2481235 – SAP S/4HANA Migration Cockpit (on-premise) – restrictions and extensibility of pre-
delivered migration objects

2239701 – SAP Rapid Data Migration for SAP S/4HANA, on premise edition
2208321 – FAQ for legacy data transfer in SAP_FIN 720 and subsequent releases

https://blogs.sap.com/2016/06/21/how-to-migrate-to-sap-s4hana/
https://support.sap.com/content/dam/SAAP/Sol_Pack/Library/FactSheets/BH5_S4HANA1611_EN_X
X.htm
https://support.sap.com/content/dam/SAAP/Sol_Pack/Library/FactSheets/BH4_S4HANA1611_EN_X
X.htm