1. SAP Integrated Business Planning
Upgrade Planning and Notification Process
David Kahn |
SAP Solution Management
Updated June 2017

2. Plans are subject to change without notice by SAP.
Why Upgrade?
Contract: Software Changes
SAP will proactively apply software updates and patches during the defined maintenance windows. In case a patch needs to be applied outside a maintenance window, SAP will notify Customer in advance.
Upgrade Types
Major Releases: 4 times per year
Patches/Regular Maintenance: Every 2-3 weeks
Plans are subject to change without notice by SAP.

3. Cloud and IBP SLA’s
Customers should plan for systems not to be accessible during maintenance and major upgrade windows.

4. Upgrade Communications Where to find information?
Customer Notification
Important Notes, & Date confirmation
What’s New & Release Notes
Help.sap.com/ibp
We asked to confirm the contacts and timing.
SAP Upgrade Planning wiki
Prior to Upgrade
SCN Link to IBP Upgrade Communication Process PPT: IBP Upgrade Planning
For patch releases of the software, SAP produces Release notes and to communicate the updates and impact.

5. Upgrade Communications Where to find information?
SAP Upgrade Planning wiki
Upgrade Maintenance Window
Planning Area Activation Help
Upcoming Planned Release Dates
Excel Add-in update guidelines
We asked to confirm the contacts and timing.
Upgrade Policy and Communication Guidelines
Scheduling Questions

6. SAP Integrated Business Planning applications Upgrade Process Major Release
SAP will customers and communicate a date for the Test and Production upgrades
SAP will send an notification approximately 2 weeks prior to the upgrade of the Test system
Test system will be upgraded within the contractual window per planned date
SAP will send an notification that Test system has been upgraded
Testing period will run for approximately 2 weeks following the upgrade of the Test system
Production system will be upgraded at the end of the testing period per planned communicated date
Production system will be upgraded within the contractual window per planned date
SAP will send an notification that the Production system has been upgraded
Note: For multi-tier landscapes, SAP will incorporate the customer's upgrade strategy into the upgrade plan.

7. Deadline to report incidents no system availability
SAP Integrated Business Planning applications Upgrade Approach Major Release
Test Tenant(s)
Productive Tenant(s)
Current Release
New Release
Productive Upgrade
Monday 3am
EST/CET/CST
Wednesday 11pm user’s local time
Friday 10pm EST/CET/CST
Friday 10pm EST/CET/CST
10 working days
Customer Test Period
Test Upgrade
Customer Notification Mails
Deadline to report incidents
~ 2 weeks
Wednesday
no system availability
Mail 2/ 4
Mail 1 / 4
Mail 4 / 4
Mail 3 / 4
Note: For multi-tier landscapes, SAP will incorporate the customer's upgrade strategy into the upgrade plan.

8. Upgrade Notification Communication
Example
Sent out within a few days of Release Date
s are sent from:
Tip: make sure your software doesn’t block this address to avoid it going to your SPAM/Junk Mail .
s are sent to System Notification contacts.
Any SAP IBP contact adjustments should be sent to
We communicated that we would activate the planning areas and run a basic smoke test of your IBP instance.
We also provided guidance on the Excel Add-in. Especially, how to get the New Add-in and how to work with both Add-Ins while working across both a production and test environment.
We also communicated that you should test the system prior to the upgrade to production.
We provided guidance on the new Process Visualization capabilities.
.. And finally we emphasized that the URL would change.

9. Appendix

10. 3-Tier Upgrade Process
SAP customers have different 3-Tier upgrade scenarios:
Dev à Test &  Prod
Dev & Test à Prod
Dev à Test à Prod
System Definitions
Dev
Reflect Prod configuration; QA of new configuration; performance testing
Test
Initial Testing (new configuration, upgrade testing)
PROD
Used for production
We asked to confirm the contacts and timing.
Note: For 3-tier landscapes, SAP will incorporate the customer's upgrade strategy into the upgrade plan.
SAP has a recommended process for transporting configuration from one landscape to the next level. This is documented in the help documentation:
(section 14)