License Analysis and Management with XAMS

Introduction:

The topic of user licenses in SAP S/4HANA is more relevant than ever today, and many SAP customers are faced with the challenge of dealing with the current changes and innovations in license management, especially in the context of S/4HANA migrations. In this blog, I take a detailed look at these developments and show how the use of XAMS enables a profound understanding and effective analysis of your license inventory and usage rights in the context of product conversions and contract conversions.

The principles of minimal permissions and demand-driven role assignment have long been standard in the world of SAP license management. With the transition from usage-based to permission-based license measurements in S/4HANA and the introduction of new user licenses, the careful application of these principles in your license model becomes more important than ever before. This is key to effectively avoiding over-licensing. However, the effort associated with these changes is difficult for many companies to estimate, especially in the context of product conversion and license management during S/4HANA migration.

In this blog, I explain why it is so important to implement these changes accurately and how you can master the associated challenges in license management and S/4HANA migration. You gain insights into both the risks and opportunities that arise from an optimal adjustment of your license concept. Furthermore, government regulations play a significant role in shaping licensing requirements and procedures. Continuing education and training are essential components to ensure compliance with these regulations and to stay updated on the latest developments in license management. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) provide valuable guidance on common queries related to licensing exams, applicator license applications, and connectivity requirements. These resources help streamline the licensing process and ensure that license holders meet all necessary criteria. Overall, navigating the landscape of licensing requirements, exams, and regulations requires careful consideration and adherence to best practices. By leveraging tools like XAMS and staying informed about industry standards and government regulations, organizations can effectively manage their license inventory and ensure compliance with all relevant requirements.

Changed License Measurement:

The S/4HANA world not only brings technological innovations but also significant changes in license management. In the past, user licensing was based on actual transactions executed. Nowadays, licensing is based on permissions assigned to a user. This profound change has far-reaching consequences. Companies today face the challenge of consistently following the minimal principle and creating demand-driven roles. In SAP S/4HANA, a high-quality license concept is essential. The main goal is to prevent over-licensing to protect your SAP systems and avoid the use of more expensive licens types.

New User Licenses and Their Challenges

You may be wondering how this transition affects your existing user licenses. The switch from familiar ECC licenses to the new S/4HANA user licenses brings additional complexity. Instead of a variety of ECC license types, you now have only three new main types available: Professional Use, Functional Use, and Productivity Use. Due to the lack of a 1:1 replacement of the old licenses by the new ones, the challenge arises: Which licenses do you need now? In the context of Product Conversion and Contract Conversion, it is crucial to review the current license inventory and adjust the usage rights accordingly to meet the requirements of the new S/4HANA environment.

Structure of the License Framework:

With the new permission-based surveying method, permission objects are brought more into focus. SAP’s licensing framework is based on permission objects, field names, and field values. Let’s take an example: In Figure 3, it is evident that for the permission object F_BKPF_BUK with activity 22, the Professional Use license type is required. If a user has additional permissions falling into the categories of Productivity Use (for example, F_BKPF_BUK with activity 03) or Functional Use (for example, F_BKPF_BUK with activity 06), the highest license type always prevails. In this case, the required license type would be Professional Use.

This fact not only increases complexity but also clearly shows the impact of an incorrect field value in authorizations on your license concept. This requires a profound analysis of existing roles and authorizations to avoid over- or under-licensing. Companies must critically question their current authorization concepts and, if necessary, adjust them to ensure that each license meets the requirements and is used efficiently.

Overcoming License Challenges:

As I have just demonstrated, permissions play a crucial role. It is therefore all the more crucial that you have a clean authorization concept. S/4HANA licenses are now an additional criterion that you must consider when creating your authorization concept.

Optimizing license assignment in S/4HANA requires a holistic view of your authorization concept. An optimization that focuses solely on licenses may bring short-term savings but can also lead to negative side effects in terms of other quality criteria. This is not only associated with high expenses but can ultimately lead to a fragmented and technically difficult-to-maintain authorization structure.

In addition to license measurement, your concept must also include compliance requirements such as segregation of duties (SoD), technical standards such as correct SU24 configuration, and design considerations, including differentiation between reading, writing, or managing master data.

A comprehensive and well-thought-out authorization concept ensures the future viability and maintainability of your system and enables your company to work efficiently.

Complexity of SAP License Determination

The complexity of SAP license determination and management is further amplified by aspects such as metrics, usage licenses, and digitization. Determining the necessary licenses in the SAP standard is complex. While SAP improves transparency with a provided rule set, there’s a lack of a simple, system-integrated way for companies to independently and instantly analyze users and roles. The rule set is delivered as an Excel file, making spontaneous analyses difficult and hindering quick and seamless verification. This is particularly problematic because SAP authorization concepts are dynamic. How can you ensure that after a change in roles, the license types remain unchanged? Even minimal adjustments can alter the license type of one or more users. It’s therefore essential to continuously monitor the effects of changes in the authorization concept to prevent unintended cost increases.

How do you ensure that your company successfully overcomes these challenges? An effective solution requires a strategic approach, where XAMS comes to your aid. This helps you maintain an overview of your licenses and authorization concept at all times. Below, I’ll demonstrate the specific advantages of XAMS.

Simplified License Analysis with XAMS

Within the license analysis using XAMS, two modules are particularly emphasized: the Role Profiler and the Role Designer. By integrating a rule framework according to SAP guidelines into our ERP system, license determination becomes more transparent. This enables more effective monitoring of the effects of role assignments or changes.

The Role Profiler allows you to gain a detailed overview of the current status of user licenses as well as the impacts of individual roles.

The Role Designer goes a step further by providing you with a virtual environment where you can conduct a license simulation. This allows you to consider the aspect of user licensing during the role creation process, thereby implementing a holistic authorization concept.

The importance of keeping the license framework up to date in CRAF

Regular review and updating of the SAP license framework in XAMS are crucial for the proper management of SAP licenses. SAP as a manufacturer may make further adjustments in the future that affect licensing. The rule framework delivered by Xiting is based on the SAP license framework provided at the time of rollout, which is made available via Note 3113382. Changes to the SAP license framework may occur between the Support Package Release cycles of XAMS. Therefore, to ensure that roles and users are always checked against the current license framework, the status of SAP licenses in XAMS must be regularly reviewed and updated as needed.

If you would like to know how to ensure the currency of SAP licenses, please feel free to contact us.

License Calculation with the Role Profiler

The Role Profiler offers you the opportunity to effortlessly analyze roles and users at any time. This module allows you to take stock of the impact of changes in SAP S/4HANA on your current roles and users. Furthermore, the Role Profiler provides the option to mass transfer the determined license types for users into SU01 and for roles into PFCG. The Role Profiler can also be used as a monitoring tool. If you make changes to roles and the Role Profiler subsequently indicates a more expensive license type, it means that you have added permissions that increase the license type of the role and thus of the end users.

Ad-hoc analyses within the system are not only necessary for uncovering optimization potentials but also for keeping track of the timeliness of roles and users. Our next module, the Role Designer, bridges the gap between initial analysis and monitoring. It allows you to model your authorization concept in a virtual environment, considering all relevant aspects, including S/4HANA licenses (see Chapter Overcoming License Challenges).

License simulation with the Role Designer

Our integrated license rule framework, combined with the Role Designer, offers significant advantages. The Role Designer allows the creation of authorization concepts in a virtual environment without impacting your SAP system. The license rule framework assists you during role modeling by analyzing license types for roles and users based on SU24 proposal values. Through various reports in the Role Designer, you can analyze license types and make changes to users and roles. With the ability to add or remove transactions from roles, you receive immediate feedback on how these changes affect the required license types.

You also have the option to compare the appropriate license types based on SAP user usage data with the required permission-based license types, thereby uncovering optimization potentials.

The Role Designer can be used as a project tool to design virtual roles and assign them to users. This allows you to find an optimal role design that fully covers authorization requirements and quality criteria at all levels, including license types.

Conclusion

Your authorization concept is of central importance when using SAP S/4HANA user licenses. With the transition to permission-based license measurement and the introduction of new S/4HANA licenses, you are faced with the task of carefully reconsidering and adjusting roles. This challenge is also an opportunity to improve efficiency and compliance through targeted analysis and optimization of your authorization concept and to optimize the assignment of user licenses.

This is where XAMS comes into play, providing you with the perfect tools. Thanks to the Role Profiler and Role Designer, you gain deep insights and can simulate your license situation in a targeted manner. An integrated rule framework according to SAP specifications ensures transparency and supports you in precisely monitoring and adjusting role assignments. With XAMS, you are choosing a clear strategy to optimize your SAP user and license management. Moreover, in sectors like structural pest control, it is ‘s essential to consider factors such as study materials and exam fees when preparing for licensing exams. A bachelor’s degree might also be a requirement for certain licensing requirements. Additionally, ensuring accuracy in company names is crucial for licensing and regulatory compliance.

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