Will EMC follow up SAP BC-ILM 3.0?

I would be really surprised to see EMC drop SAP feature support.  I can't speak to SAP ILM specificially - instead I can speak to my organization's involvement in the SAP space:  We're focused almost entirely on four application stacks:  Microsoft (including Sharepoint, Exchange, and SQLServer), Oracle, VMware, and SAP.  We're working on developing best practices and resources to ensure success for our customers in each of these spaces.

A couple of ways we're doing that:

1.  Sizing - One of the most common questions is what do I need to run my environment.  We can answer that for you.

2.  Solution Reviews - Got an idea?  Want a second pair of eyes on a nifty idea, concept, or solution to a business problem?  We can take a look at what you're thinking and give you some feedback, next steps, risk analysis.

Rob Tacey

Solution Design Center

Hi Rob,

Thanks a lot for the clarifications. However, I recently worked with a couple of customers and implemented a large scale SAP data archiving system using Documentum Archive Services for SAP and Centera plus PBS for retrieval. Due to lack of end-to-end retention policy management functionality (from SAP to Storage), customer wants to implement SAP ILM (BC-ILM 3.0) solutions. SAP consulting team also gave an ILM demo, but using MaxDB as content server. Therefore, customer officially communicated with Documentum to confirm if EMC will submit WebDAV Services for SAP BC-ILM 3.0 certification. The official answer is NO, EMC will not pursue BC-ILM 3.0 certification for WebDAV Services. Now, the customer starts looking for alternative solutions. That’s why I posted this message here and try to get official confirmation.

Thanks,

Brian

We haven't forgotten about you!  We're still running down a canonical answer for you.

*sigh...  I'm still waiting on a response on this one...  Really!  I've got your back, sir.

I did not get any update at all from EMC. Instead, OpenText and PBS sent me messages that they are in process of the BC-ILM 3.0 certification.

We are also watching with interest. Do you have any updates?

Brian,

Sorry for the delay in a responce.  I am just joining the community.  I actually spoke with our SAP documentum person back in July to understand where we stand on exactly this issue.  SAP does have a certification process and it is not free.  That said, from what I understand, EMC will continue to support the certification we have and not pursue the ILM 3 certification at that time anyway. 

Documentum already has an extensive offer that meets regulatory compliance and still a great offer.  It does that by its own console and SAP API's.  You should definately talk to an EMC Sales Rep if ILM 3.0 is not a requirement and compliance is.

I would ask if you see the ILM 3.0 market being more then a few customers.  Any input to move the Documentum folks would be very helpful as I think they feel they have a great offer already. 

Allan Stone

SAP Solutions Architect

Hi Allan,

I was told officially by EMC that EMC will continue the SAP BC-ILM 3.0 certification for the Documentum WebDAV Services which is the key component to implement full SAP ILM applications for data archiving and other fields using Documentum product suite.

Thanks,

Brian Yue

Documentum Architect & SAP Data Archiving Specialist

Brian,

You are absolutely correct.  EMC is working with SAP to finalize the date for this certification. 

Thanks

Allan Stone

SAP Solutions Architect

SAP BC-ILM 3.0 Certification Update: I got status update from EMC today that the Documentum certification for SAP BC-ILM 3.0 (WebDAV Storage Interface for SAP NetWeaver ILM Certification) will be complete between June and Dec 2012.

So far, one US company and 5 Germany companies passed BC-ILM 3.0 certifications last December. But none of the three big players (EMC, IBM, and Open Text) passes BC-ILM 3.0 yet.

Hi Team..

What are the preferred archiving solutions for SAP ?

Is it Informatica or Documentum or some combination of both for different levels of archiving ?

And is there a presentation or whitepaper that talks about this ?

This is for a customer discussion

Thanks

-Saty

Depending upon the specific situation, for traditional SAP data archiving (ABAP ADK approach), both Informatica and Documentum can do the job. However, for SAP ILM data archiving, Informatica does not work because Informatica did not submit for SAP BC-ILM 3.0 certification.

Thanks Brian..

When did this happen ? I.e. when did the SAP BC-ILM 3.0 certification requirements go into effect ? January this year or sometime last year..

And are there presentations that talk about using Documentum for traditional SAP data archiving ?

Thanks

-Saty

Hi Saty,

The SAP BC-ILM 3.0 was available for certification on April 14, 2011. Here is the white paper (http://www.emc.com/collateral/software/white-papers/h3407-sap-archive-wp.pdf). If you have specific SAP archiving scenario, you can post here to discuss publicly or send email to me to discuss privately.

Brian