SAP COMMUNITY NETWORK SDN - sdn.sap.com | BPX - bpx.sap.com | BOC - boc.sap.com | UAC - uac.sap.

com
2010 SAP AG 1
Data Loading Mechanisms for
Spend Performance Management
(SPM)
Applies to:
SAP Spend Performance Management 2.1, Implementation Partners,SAP BW, SAP SRM, Analytics, SAP
eSourcing, Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Operational Performance Management (OPM). For
more information, visit the Enterprise Performance Management homepage.

Summary
This paper provides detailed options for loading enriched data into Spend Performance Management.

Author: Rajesh Prabhu
Company: SAP
Created on: 27 Dec 2010


Author Bio
Rajesh Prabhu is a Development Architect for Enterprise Performance Management applications
with a focus on Spend Performance Management

Data Loading Mechanisms for Spend Performance Management (SPM)
SAP COMMUNITY NETWORK SDN - sdn.sap.com | BPX - bpx.sap.com | BOC - boc.sap.com | UAC - uac.sap.com
2010 SAP AG 2
Table of Contents
Applies to: ........................................................................................................................................................... 1
Summary............................................................................................................................................................. 1
Author Bio ........................................................................................................................................................... 1
Introduction ......................................................................................................................................................... 3
1) SPM Data Mgmt. tool Best Practice Recommendation ............................................................................... 4
2) BI to BI data transfer ....................................................................................................................................... 5
3) Creating custom transformation in BW ........................................................................................................... 6
4) Using the Data Services tool .......................................................................................................................... 6
Related Content .................................................................................................................................................. 7
Copyright............................................................................................................................................................. 8


Data Loading Mechanisms for Spend Performance Management (SPM)
SAP COMMUNITY NETWORK SDN - sdn.sap.com | BPX - bpx.sap.com | BOC - boc.sap.com | UAC - uac.sap.com
2010 SAP AG 3
Introduction
In the article Options for loading Data in SPM, I had discussed the various conceptual data flows that are
applicable for loading data into SPM, along with the best practice recommendation.
In this article we will talk about the actual mechanisms for loading data into SPM. There are four primary
mechanisms with a possibility to mix and match if there is a need to do so.
In all of the four mechanisms, the things to consider would be:
1) Is the data enrichment (normalization, classification and cleansing) service part of the
implementation

The four mechanisms of loading data into SPM are:
Using SPM Data Management tool Best Practice Recommendation
BI to BI data transfer
Creating custom transformations for data sources and flat files
Using SAP Business Objects Data Services (formerly known as Data Integrator)

Here is the SPM Data Model:


Data Loading Mechanisms for Spend Performance Management (SPM)
SAP COMMUNITY NETWORK SDN - sdn.sap.com | BPX - bpx.sap.com | BOC - boc.sap.com | UAC - uac.sap.com
2010 SAP AG 4

1) SPM Data Mgmt. tool Best Practice Recommendation

SPM data management tool is a great mechanism of loading data into SPM in exactly the format that is
necessary by SPM. The data management tool does the following three things:
1. Reading Data:
Flat Files: Data is read in from specified folders and then it is split from a .csv format to a
structured format
Data Sources: Data Load is triggered from info package (which does a pull from the source
system) and then the data is read from PSA, package by package
2. Processing Data:
Validation rules: Format check, FK dependency, Null Key check, Primary Key check..
Field Concatenations: Source System and others (specified in OPMDM_TYPES and
OPMDM_TYPES_KEY)
Currency and Unit Conversions: For Global Currency and Global Unit (per product)
Raw, Classified data processing: Uploading specific columns based on whether it is raw
load or enriched load
3. Writing Data:
Write Mechanism: BW APIs to write into DSOs or Masterdata infoobjects
Data Targets: Based on the type of upload (OPMDM_TYPES), the tool writes the data into
either the raw or the cleansed data targets
This tool is built right into the SPM application and is governed by the SPM administrators thru the same
Adobe Flex based UI.



In addition to the above mentioned list of things, the SPM data mgmt. tool also additionally allows for import
and export of data to and from data classification services.
Here are some primary advantages of using the SPM data mgmt. tool are:
The basic conversions on data for Global Currency and Unit of Measures and the key
concatenations are performed out of the box along with validation rule checks
Data Loading Mechanisms for Spend Performance Management (SPM)
SAP COMMUNITY NETWORK SDN - sdn.sap.com | BPX - bpx.sap.com | BOC - boc.sap.com | UAC - uac.sap.com
2010 SAP AG 5
It is built right into the SPM UI s there is no need to access the BW GUI
The import and export for data enrichment is managed for you by the tool (so you dont have to worry
about what fields need to be over written and what fields should not be over written during the data
enrichment process)
It provides a unified interface for loading data from both flat files and BW data sources and it has a
simplified template feature built into it so that column name mismatches can be ignored
Built in support for Delta management
No custom effort is required for loading data
Even though this tool is a programmatic in nature, once it writes the data into the inbound layer, the
process is same as any other BW data load and can be traced by looking at the respective process
chains (defined in OPMDM_TYPES table)
2) BI to BI data transfer
Often times it is the case that customers already have all the necessary data brought into their central BW
instance/central warehouse. It might be because they have other standard BW content activated and being
actively used or it might be because the customers used to have a home grown Spend Management solution
that they are now replacing with SPM or it might be because there are a plethora of SAP and non SAP
source systems already feeding data into this central BW instance. Regardless of the reason, all necessary
data already exists in this central BW landscape along with the ability to bring in delta changes to the data on
the source side. So in this case, it might be desirable to load data from this already centralized location.
Since the SPM Data Mgmt. tool programmatically writes into the inbound layer using standard BW APIs, the
inbound DSOs are all Direct Update enabled. This means that you cannot create transformations or DTPs
under those DSOs. So you need to disable the direct update (has to be done with no data in DSOs) and
make them standard DSOs.
Another alternative is to ignore the inbound DSOs completely and move the data from the existing BW data
marts to the detail layer of the SPM data model. In this case all the business logic between the inbound layer
and the detail layer, which is encapsulated in the various transformations, needs to be recaptured in the
custom solution.
Advantages of this approach:
No individualized extractions necessary from each and every source system
Data format is already verified by BW (since it comes from some other data marts in BW itself)
The data load process can be made part of the overall ETL and synchronized with the rest of the
data loads so no SPM specific data load activity necessary
Disadvantages of this approach compared to option 1:
Custom work to do the data plumbing is involved and is not supported out of the box
All of the data validations, key concatenations and global currency / Unit of Measure conversions
would need to be done as part of the transformations
You would need to figure out the best way to export and import data if data enrichment services are
involved (maybe using open hub?)
There is no support for this mechanism in the SPM UI
The changes made to the DSOs will get overwritten if the subsequent SPs are not applied
appropriately (do not re-activate the SAP content again)
Some of the pain from the custom work can be alleviated by going a hybrid route. From the existing BW data
marts, you could generate export data sources and load data from these export data sources into SPM using
the SPM data mgmt. tool by configuring these data sources in the OPM_SOURCES table, documentation for
configuring the datasources in SPM is part of the note 1239883, Direct_Update_datasource_config.zip.

Data Loading Mechanisms for Spend Performance Management (SPM)
SAP COMMUNITY NETWORK SDN - sdn.sap.com | BPX - bpx.sap.com | BOC - boc.sap.com | UAC - uac.sap.com
2010 SAP AG 6
3) Creating custom transformation in BW
You could also make use of the standard mechanism of loading data into SPM. Using the replicated data
sources, create custom transformations for loading the data into the SPM data model.
As explained in the previous option 2, since the SPM Data Mgmt. tool programmatically writes into the
inbound layer using standard BW APIs, the inbound DSOs are all Direct Update enabled. This means that
you cannot create transformations or DTPs under those DSOs. So you need to disable the direct update
(has to be done with no data in DSOs) and make them standard DSOs.
And as mentioned in option 2, if the inbound DSOs are ignored and the data is moved from the existing BW
data marts to the detail layer of the SPM data model, all the business logic between the inbound layer and
the detail layer, which is encapsulated in the various transformations, needs to be brought into the custom
transformations.

Advantages of this approach:
Standard BW data loading process is used
Knowledge for tracing the data from source systems all the way to the cubes already exists
Disadvantages of this approach compared to option 1:
Custom work to do the data plumbing is involved and is not supported out of the box
All of the data validations, key concatenations and global currency / Unit of Measure conversions
would need to be done as part of the transformations
You would need to figure out the best way to export and import data if data enrichment services are
involved (maybe using open hub?)
There is no support for this mechanism in the SPM UI
The changes made to the DSOs will get overwritten if the subsequent SPs are not applied
appropriately (do not re-activate the SAP content again)
As you can see, the disadvantages of this option are similar to that of option 2.
4) Using the Data Services tool
SPM 2.1 customers get access to a limited use SAP BusinessObjects Data Services tool. The limited license
limits the usage of the tool for SPM purposes only. The tool, as of now, does not come with any prebuilt
content for SPM. So the content needs to be generated as part of the implementation.
Advantages of this approach:
Extracting, Transforming and Loading data all the way from the source systems to the SPM cubes
Management of extraction of Data from multiple source systems (SAP and non SAP) can be
managed from a central point
Disadvantages of this approach compared to option 1:
Custom work to build the content is necessary
All of the data validations, key concatenations and global currency / Unit of Measure conversions
would need to be done as part of the transformations
You would need to figure out the best way to export and import data if data enrichment services are
involved. The tool itself will provide the import and export mechanism.
There is no support for this mechanism in the SPM UI
Data Loading Mechanisms for Spend Performance Management (SPM)
SAP COMMUNITY NETWORK SDN - sdn.sap.com | BPX - bpx.sap.com | BOC - boc.sap.com | UAC - uac.sap.com
2010 SAP AG 7
Related Content

SPM Topic area in BPx:
http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/bpx/spend
SPM Forum:
http://forums.sdn.sap.com/forum.jspa?forumID=411
Customizing options in Spend Performance Management Data Management:
http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/bpx/go/portal/prtroot/docs/library/uuid/d0eaafcb-7c74-2d10-1097-cfb9f9b6d77d
Data Standardization and Enrichment an integral part of Spend Performance Management:
http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/weblogs?blog=/pub/wlg/20553
Options for loading data in SPM:
http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/bpx/spend?rid=/library/uuid/70b74dc0-33b4-2d10-5692-d8a60558b982
Upload Types in SPM:
http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/weblogs?blog=/pub/wlg/22800
For more information, visit the Enterprise Performance Management homepage.
Data Loading Mechanisms for Spend Performance Management (SPM)
SAP COMMUNITY NETWORK SDN - sdn.sap.com | BPX - bpx.sap.com | BOC - boc.sap.com | UAC - uac.sap.com
2010 SAP AG 8
Copyright
Copyright 2010 SAP AG. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or for any purpose without the express permission of SAP AG.
The information contained herein may be changed without prior notice.
Some software products marketed by SAP AG and its distributors contain proprietary software components of other software vendors.
Microsoft, Windows, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
IBM, DB2, DB2 Universal Database, System i, System i5, System p, System p5, System x, System z, System z10, System z9, z10, z9,
iSeries, pSeries, xSeries, zSeries, eServer, z/VM, z/OS, i5/OS, S/390, OS/390, OS/400, AS/400, S/390 Parallel Enterprise Server,
PowerVM, Power Architecture, POWER6+, POWER6, POWER5+, POWER5, POWER, OpenPower, PowerPC, BatchPipes,
BladeCenter, System Storage, GPFS, HACMP, RETAIN, DB2 Connect, RACF, Redbooks, OS/2, Parallel Sysplex, MVS/ESA, AIX,
Intelligent Miner, WebSphere, Netfinity, Tivoli and Informix are trademarks or registered trademarks of IBM Corporation.
Linux is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries.
Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, PostScript, and Reader are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Adobe Systems
Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries.
Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation.
UNIX, X/Open, OSF/1, and Motif are registered trademarks of the Open Group.
Citrix, ICA, Program Neighborhood, MetaFrame, WinFrame, VideoFrame, and MultiWin are trademarks or registered trademarks of
Citrix Systems, Inc.
HTML, XML, XHTML and W3C are trademarks or registered trademarks of W3C, World Wide Web Consortium, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology.
Java is a registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc.
JavaScript is a registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc., used under license for technology invented and implemented by
Netscape.
SAP, R/3, SAP NetWeaver, Duet, PartnerEdge, ByDesign, SAP Business ByDesign, and other SAP products and services mentioned
herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and other countries.
Business Objects and the Business Objects logo, BusinessObjects, Crystal Reports, Crystal Decisions, Web Intelligence, Xcelsius, and
other Business Objects products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered
trademarks of Business Objects S.A. in the United States and in other countries. Business Objects is an SAP company.
All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. Data contained in this document
serves informational purposes only. National product specifications may vary.
These materials are subject to change without notice. These materials are provided by SAP AG and its affiliated companies ("SAP
Group") for informational purposes only, without representation or warranty of any kind, and SAP Group shall not be liable for errors or
omissions with respect to the materials. The only warranties for SAP Group products and services are those that are set forth in the
express warranty statements accompanying such products and services, if any. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an
additional warranty.