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SAP Analytics
Thought Leadership

Performance Tuning for SAP BPC 10.0 for NetWeaver

Posted by
Vishal Goradia
Vishal Goradia
on Wed, Jan 21, 2015 @ 16:01 PM

mechanicPerformance of a system is crucial to every implementation. System monitoring and administration help towards efficiently running a SAP system. Performing some proactive monitoring and configuration can help in avoiding SAP system issues. Let’s talk about a few approaches to troubleshoot performance issues while working on SAP BPC 10.0 for NetWeaver system.

1. Technical Configuration – SAP BPC is an Add-On component installed on the SAP BW system. To gauge the performance of BPC, we have to analyze the SAP BW system, as well as the technical settings for the BPC component.

2. Functional Configuration – There are some important functional considerations to take while designing the BPC system in order to process queries/reports faster, and also update large amounts of data. By following the best functional practices, a lot of performance issues can be avoided.


The Technical Configuration can further be divided into these sub categories: SAP BW Application Server Hardware and Configuration, SAP BW Database Server Hardware and Configuration, SAP BPC for NetWeaver Configuration, and SAP Front-End Access. These are discussed in more detail below:

1. SAP BW Application Server Hardware and Configuration

We have seen at times that clients do a random sizing for their BW systems and expect the system to work. Sizing the hardware is the 1st step towards a successful implementation. The requirements such as number of concurrent users, complex logic, number of dimensions, number of initial and delta records maintained, data extraction and export, connectivity from sites, etc. are extremely crucial for sizing the servers. Besides these, there are more factors which have to be taken into consideration for sizing. After the install, there is lot of technical configuration that goes into configuring the SAP BW instance before releasing to functional folks. This involves setting the correct buffer sizes, logging, RFC connections, activating BW info objects, profile parameter maintenance, creating source connections, user roles and authorizations, etc. Some of these factors will need to be continuously monitored and changed, depending on the system usage. It has been found in many instances that the systems are running on initial/default setting of buffers/parameters and they have never been changed. This can surely affect the system performance, as the system configuration should change accordingly with the system usage. Running SAP housekeeping jobs, using Solution Manager to monitor system activities, using 3rd party tools, etc. can definitely help in better monitoring and administration of the system. You can also check for any long running jobs (scheduled or running in dialog) which can impact the system performance.

2. SAP BW Database Server Hardware and Configuration

Similar to the Application Server, the Database Server sizing is also crucial to the project. All the sort, read, write, and update transactions are working on the database layer. It is very important to have a good hit ratio while performing any activity on the database. Factors such as amount of space allocated, frequency and type of backups, indexing, running statistics on objects, database parameters, database patches, etc. can affect the performance of the BW/BPC system. Another factor to be considered is the network connectivity, as this plays a major role in sending the results back to the application instance.

3. SAP BPC for NetWeaver Configuration

SAP BPC for NetWeaver is an Add-On component installed on the SAP BW system. After the install, there is certain configuration activity in order to enable and activate SAP BPC instance. There are certain parameters for buffers, logging, audit, BW info objects, RFC connections, user roles, etc. that need to be monitored and changed accordingly as the system usage changes.

4. SAP Front-End Access 

SAP BW is accessed using the SAP GUI. SAP BPC is accessed using the Excel EPM Add-in or through the browser (mainly for Admin activities). It is very important that the user systems accessing BW/BPC have enough memory and CPU resources to run the Excel EPM Add-in. In addition to this, the connectivity from the user machine site to the BW/BPC server should be tested and compared with running from other locations.


 Besides the different categories mentioned above, there may be other contributing factors such as user authentication methods, version of Microsoft Office (2003,2007, 2010), patch level of EPM Add-in, internal or external interface for BPC, load balancing, High Availability, etc. that can also affect the BW/BPC access. These do not directly point to the BW/BPC system itself showing any performance issues, but the user may experience slowness in accessing the SAP system based on these different factors.

Here are some of the SAP GUI Technical transactions that can be used to monitor the system health and also perform configuration: ST22, SM21, SM59, ST03/N, UJSTAT, SLG1, RZ10, ST02.

Some other functional considerations to keep in mind while analyzing the system performance:

  1. Data volume being processed per query/transaction
  2. Complexity of logic involved for calculations
  3. Design of reports
  4. Frequency of running optimization
  5. MDX query performance
  6. Number of dimension and dimension members
  7. Number of workbooks being processed/updated during refresh
  8. Deletion and reinsertion of number of records

Proactive monitoring of the system and functional design of BPC can help in avoiding performance issues and make the system run more efficiently.

Webcast: BPC Performance Issues - Customer Roundtable

Sometimes finding an answer to your BPC performance question can be like hunting for a needle in a haystack – time consuming and often frustrating. Column5’s Technical Services team will be hosting an open forum to get all of your BPC performance questions answered. This session will be an open dialog among customers exchanging ideas about their BPC Performance issues.  Though mediated by Column5 experts, this session will be driven by customer questions, answers and contributions.

view webcast

Related Articles: 

Service Pack 9 for BPC v10 NetWeaver

BPC NetWeaver Change Management

5 Things to Get the Best Performance from Your BPC Microsoft 10.x Server Environment - Part 2

What's New for EPM - A Look at the Latest EPM Roadmap from SAP

 

 

Topics: Best Practices, Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), NetWeaver, Performance, BPC (Business Planning & Consolidation)

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