A brief synopsis of SAP ILM
Automation has spread across multiple industries, simplifying and enhancing corporate processes. One prominent solution that assists in automating data management is SAP information lifecycle management, or SAP ILM. Before jumping into the details of the ILM store, it is important to understand the nuances of SAP Information Lifecycle Management.
In short, SAP information lifecycle management, or SAP ILM, is a comprehensive technique for automating data management with, rules governing every step of the data lifecycle, from creation and storage, to decommissioning and destruction, methodically. With it, organisations can avoid legal compliance risks, streamline data flows, and save money on IT system expenses.
At its core, ILM addresses the rising volumes of data, manages increasingly complicated system environments, and assures adherence to regulatory requirements- such as the ILM GDPR.
Key functionalities of SAP ILM
SAP ILM includes some key functionalities, including
- Data archiving: It improves system efficiency and frees up space in the production database by enabling organisations to transfer historical data from active database tables to storage media with shorter access times.
- Retention management: This feature ensures that data is retained for the necessary time and is appropriately disposed of when it is no longer needed, by helping to set and enforce data retention rules and policies.
- Retention Warehouse: The third aspect consists of various technologies for decommissioning a legacy system, even after the original system has been shut down, so that archived data may be recovered for reporting or audit purposes. ILM can archive the data and shut down a legacy SAP system when it is no longer in use, but if necessary, it can still access the data.
An overview of the SAP ILM store
To put it in simple terms, the ILM store helps users leverage the benefits of SAP’s own store for the data retention process, from archiving to storing of the files. . The SAP ILM store is a component of the SAP Information Lifecycle Management (SAP ILM), which supports BC-ILM 3.1’s requirements for compliant storage systems. Users can save archived files in this store and utilise WebDAV interface specifications to index them in a database.
Additionally, if organisations prefer to stay within the SAP environment in S/4HANA, they can use retention management for ILM to keep the files in a database like SAP IQ or SAP HANA. This actually lowers the cost of procuring and maintaining external WebDAV connections and storage media while also optimising IT infrastructure.
Moreover, organisations can manage the whole data lifecycle using this store, supporting the entire process within the SAP environment without the need for external connections. Users can choose to use the ILM Store in addition to ILM as a more advanced and safer substitute for the third-party WebDAV stores that are currently available. In addition to that, users can also connect numerous application servers as WebDAV servers to the ILM store. Furthermore, the ILM store is an excellent source for decommissioning the systems.
Types of origins in the SAP ILM store
The origin is the primary component of the SAP ILM store configuration that helps the store identify its data source or origin. The data source is determined by all systems that make use of the ILM Store in relation to an origin. Anything can serve as the origin, whether it is an ILM object, a single system, or a sizable collection of systems. It includes the keys to all of the combined data in the origin, as well as a data source for customisation.
The ILM Store has two primary origin types –
Administrative origin
The administrative origin is used to define the settings that allow data processing in the SAP ILM store. A separate origin is allocated to each client. This origin is typically a type of grouping for several active origins. However, users cannot keep or handle data within the administrative origin. Nevertheless, users can utilise this origin’s customising settings as the default values for the operational origins that have been allocated.
However, users can create extra customisations with the administrative origin which cannot be possible with standard customisation. Users may also customise the parameters for allocated operational origins using the administrative one.
Operational origin
Data processing operations such as file storage, property assignment, property modification or deletion, and more are carried out using the operational origin. Since each processing request is carried out within the framework of an operational origin, each origin can only have one administrative origin attached to it.
Requirements for using the ILM Store
Like other new systems and technologies, the SAP ILM store also has requirements that users must comply with. Users must meet a few requirements in order to utilise the ILM store.
- The first requirement is to select an option regarding the database to utilise. Users have a variety of databases to choose from, including:
- Database for the enterprise edition of SAP IQ (Version 15.4.)
- SAP HANA database
- Hadoop File System (HDFS)
- Azure Blog Storage
- Next, users must activate the ILM store (ILM_STO) business function after selecting the database.
- Additionally, setting up the database connection and configuring the necessary parameters for the SAP ILM store is important.
- Finally, users need to utilise Retention Management within ILM.
Integrating the SAP ILM store in the data archiving process
One way to ensure that SAP’s data retention procedure occurs within an SAP system landscape is to incorporate the SAP ILM store. The entire process of utilising SAP ILM retention management for data archiving, retention, and storage is considered. Therefore, it is feasible to consider the data retention process as an SAP-integrated process that can be controlled independently from all third-party repositories.
Users can utilise SAP CMS and the ArchiveLink connection to archive data. Nonetheless, in order to manage any procedure related to the ILM store, users must have the SRS of the information retention manager.
Conclusion
The SAP ILM store was previously known as the SAP ILM database store. However, not everyone in the SAP community appears to fully understand its potential, which is largely why it is an underappreciated asset. Nevertheless, users must be well-versed with the ILM concept in order to utilise the ILM store.
With the ILM store, it becomes easier to manage the complete data lifecycle more successfully and support the workflow within the SAP environment without the need for external connections.