Implantes quirúrgicos

The SAP release and maintenance strategy determines the availability of new SAP software releases (including releases or enhancement packages of SAP Business Suite, SAP NetWeaver, and the SAP BusinessObjects portfolio), the length and conditions of their maintenance, and the dependencies between individual releases.

Shipments of SAP releases and corresponding enhancement packages are generally introduced into the market in two (or three) shipment phases: (beta), restricted and unrestricted.

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Figure 10: Phases of Software Delivery by SAP

Beta Shipment Phase

In some cases, a beta shipment may be offered prior to the restricted shipment phase (before the release-to-customer date). Beta shipments may be used for testing purposes only. They are not available for productive use.

Restricted Shipment Phase

New software releases are only available to a restricted number of customers whose increase is controlled. The Release to Customer date marks the start of the restricted shipment phase.

TADM10_1 Lesson: SAP Release Strategy

During the restricted shipment phase, the new software release passes through a standardized process, the Ramp-Up. Characteristics of the ramp-up process are:

• Ramp-up is the name for the market introduction process of new products or new releases of SAP software.

• The software can be used for a productive implementation.

• During the ramp-up, the software is only available for a limited circle of customers, customers “apply” to SAP to participate in a ramp-up.

• The ramp-up serves to take customer wishes into consideration before the respective SAP software is generally available.

• Participants in the ramp-up are given direct contact to the SAP development and are provided with wide support in implementing the SAP software.

• A ramp-up usually takes about 6 months.

Note: For more information about the ramp-up, see SAP Service Marketplace, Quick Link /rampup.

Unrestricted Shipment Phase

With the successful conclusion of the SAP Ramp-Up program, the unrestricted shipment phase of an SAP release begins on the default release date. After the default release date all customers can request the new software without restrictions.

The respective latest, generally available version of SAP software is called Default Release. When SAP customers order software from SAP, they are usually given the current default release.

Maintenance

Your maintenance contract includes Support Packages, which are provided by SAP via the SAP Service Marketplace. Support Packages solve (component-dependent) problems that can result when using the SAP software. SAP provides these Support Packages at certain intervals.

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The SAP Maintenance Strategy

Figure 11: SAP Maintenance Strategy

Hint: The duration of “mainstream maintenance” might be different for selected software products from SAP. For example, some core applications of SAP Business Suite have a significantly increased duration of mainstream maintenance.

A 5–1–2 maintenance strategy was introduced in 2004. It supported aligned

maintenance phases between SAP releases. In continuing to provide a strong, reliable support structure for some of the industry’s leading solutions, SAP extended its 5–1–2 strategy to 7–-2: seven years of mainstream maintenance, with an additional option for two years of extended maintenance.

We distinguish the following three phases of maintenance:

Mainstream maintenance

Mainstream maintenance starts from the "release to customer" date and generally ends after 7 years (covering the restricted and unrestricted shipment phases).

TADM10_1 Lesson: SAP Release Strategy

Extended maintenance

Customers can extend the support period (in which corrections or legal changes are taken into account) for an increased maintenance fee.

The scope of support for the entire extended maintenance period is similar to the scope of support provided during mainstream maintenance. SAP publishes information on the availability and scope of extended maintenance in advance.

Customer-specific maintenance

From a certain point in time during the lifecycle of a release, this release is no longer adjusted to meet external requirements. Such requirements are, for example, the implementation of legal changes or the support of new

technologies. The time in question is marked by the end of extended maintenance or the end of mainstream maintenance, if no extended maintenance is offered.

Customer-specific maintenance starts at this point in time.

A release enters into customer-specific maintenance automatically. There is no need to apply for an additional contract. During this phase, customers receive support services similar to those offered in the mainstream maintenance phase, with some restrictions. For example, SAP does not deliver new support packages or updates to cover legal changes, and technology updates are limited. Problem resolution is customer specific, which means customers are charged for solving problems not yet known to SAP.

Note: See SAP Service Marketplace, Quick Link /maintenance for additional information on the maintenance strategy. SAP Note 52505 deals specifically with the particularities of customer-specific maintenance.

Upgrade

SAP provides upgrade paths for SAP releases and the corresponding content releases and provides access to upgrade procedures to the current release. Usually customers can upgrade directly from one release to any other subsequent SAP release as long as the releases are in the mainstream maintenance phase. Depending on technological constraints, an upgrade to a release that is several releases removed from a customer’s current release may have to be performed in more than one step.

To facilitate smooth upgrades, SAP provides a sufficient overlap of two successive releases to make sure that the time in which customers may upgrade from one release to the next is at least one year for SAP releases. For content releases, the overlap is at least six months. This helps ensure that the window customers have to upgrade from one release to the next is sufficient.

Note: For more information on upgrade, see SAP Service Marketplace, Quick Link /upgrade.

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