Implementing a release upgrade may not only lead to problems in technical terms; the business aspect also requires that a range of items be considered.

What precisely needs to be tested? The software supplier tests standard processes and functions prior to distribution, but SAP cannot take into account every aspect of user and consultant creativity in their quality assurance process, and so modifi-cations are made in addition to standard processes.

For a release upgrade, processes, master data, customizing and organizational units for the standard functions must be analyzed. RBE Plus analyses help you determine the extent to which the available elements are even being used. Based on this infor-mation, it is simple to ascertain what needs to be (or doesn’t need to be) tested after the upgrade.

In the case of customer enhancements and modifications, it is also essential to es-tablish whether user-specific programs and transactions, for example, are still used. One of these functionalities may be obsolete, as SAP offers new standard function-ality for this purpose.

Furthermore, the number of transactions illustrates the usage scope, focal points and weak points in usage. By comparing customizing settings with master and trans-action data, it’s easy to weed out items not relevant for the upgrade.