You might have read the news: SAP’s own CRM system now runs productively on the SAP HANA platform and the earlier blogs SAP Runs SAP CRM on HANA & How to Migrate a Productive CRM System to the SAP HANA™ Platform. In this blog, you will learn how SAP’s IT organization managed to plan & execute Performance Testing for one of the world’s largest CRM systems to the SAP HANA platform in only 2.5 months.
So, how were the different Test activities planned and executed? What are the lessons learned?
General Information
SAP IT Team planned different Test activities before moving to CRM on HANA to make sure that the several thousands of concurrent users (7,000+ average concurrent users) can perform different business activities as a part of their regular work in the internal CRM system.
We were doing a Feasibility study for CRM on HANA in a Test system to check the Functional Correctness of different Applications. We have done this to make sure that all of CRM Applications in Sales, Marketing, Service, etc. are working fine along with the different custom Business Applications like APM, RMS, GAF.
The internal CRM system has Custom Developments, Enhancements and some Modifications to tailor the needs of SAP’s Internal Business Processes. We have many custom Frameworks like LADY Framework, TIF Framework, Middleware Framework, Staging Engine Framework, Notification Framework along with the CRM standard Frameworks like One Order,CGPL, Reporting Framework, LORD Framework, BRF Framework. We have adapted the custom code to utilize the HANA capabilities for selected high value use cases.We have done performance comparison for high value use cases with AnyDB and HANA for our internal reference.
Prerequisites and Preparation
We have completed some analysis in the CRM production system to find the user Statistics for usage of various Applications. We have done this to identify the High value use cases in our system. We have also performed Technical analysis such as the following:
- Queries executed in the CRM Database per Hour.
- Average Concurrent users per day
- Workload Overview with the load distribution of RFC, HTTPS and DIALOG etc.
- User Statistics for various CRM Applications
- Maximum number of RFCs per hour
- DB Size – Growth Statistics
- Largest and Fastest Growing Tables
- Highly populated Inbound & outbound Middleware Queue’s
Based on the results of the above analysis, we have planned for the below test activities for CRM on HANA Migration.
- Single user performance Tests
- Load Testing for 1000 Concurrent users for highly used scenarios
- Middleware Tests
- Mass upload Tests
- Trigger Tests
- Functional Tests
Performance Test Execution
We have completed the different test activities in the Test system with proper data volume. All the below tests were executed in the same system to simulate the real time production scenario. Based on the Performance Test Results, we have optimized the Custom developed code as necessary for CRM on HANA.
Single user performance Tests were also completed for 150+ highly used scenarios using SAP standard Transactions like STAD and SAT.
The Load Testing uses Load Runner and Performance Center by simulating 1000 concurrent users for highly used scenarios in the Test system. The Load scripts are developed using Load Runner. We have executed the Load testing scenarios individually and combing multiple scenarios with the appropriate “Think Time”. We have monitored Transaction Response Times, DB time and performance, hits per second, and more using the Performance Center Application. The below system parameters were adjusted accordingly also for Load Testing:-
- Number of Work processes
- Heap Size
- Extended Memory Size
- ICM parameters settings like min_threads, max_threads, spare_threads, max_connection
The Middleware Tests are performed using the custom ABAP reports which generate millions of BDOCS in the Middleware queues. This test checks the data replication to ERP and BI systems.
The Mass upload Tests are performed using custom Webdynpro Applications which create mass data like Business Partners, Leads, Activities, and Opportunities in the system. The data is prepared in Excel and imported into the Database Tables using this Application.
The Trigger Tests are executed by setting triggers on HANA Tables and testing the data replication to other system based on Table events like Insert, Update, and Delete.
The Functional Tests are performed to ensure all the business processes work as expected in the CRM on HANA system and the follow-up processes are trigged accordingly in the other dependent systems like ERP and HR.
Lessons Learned
Based on the analysis of the Production system, plan your Test Strategy and activities as early as possible for the HANA Migration. Proper planning and test strategy help in faster HANA Migration and is the key for the project success.
The entire CRM on HANA Migration took just 2.5 months. Performance Testing is the key for the success of HANA Migration. In closing, remember to start early with different testing activities to optimize the performance and identify the areas which should be optimized for the SAP HANA platform based on your application usage.
References and Further Information
- SAP Business Suite on SAP HANA http://help.sap.com/soh
- SAP CRM on SAP HANA http://help.sap.com/crm_hana
- SAP CRM on SAP HANA Cookbook https://cookbook.experiencesaphana.com/crm/
- 1771591 - SAP HANA Appliance Software SPS 05 Release Note
- 1730098 - EHP2 FOR SAP CRM 7.0 ON HANA - Release Information Note
