Introduction:
CVI, or customer / vendor integration, is the procedure that guarantees synchronisation between the customer / vendor on the one side and the business partner on the other, as well as vice versa.
When we want to implement S/4 HANA, we must choose between two methods, which makes the significance of CVI more apparent
- Brownfield implementation that we upgrade our current ERP system to S/4 HANA
- Greenfield Implementations that we start a fresh S/4 HANA project from scratch
Business partners must be used as the primary master data object and single point of entry in both scenarios to retain clients and suppliers.
This is not the only element that we consider, The importance for BP comes also from:
1. The new functionalities that Business partners provide like Relationships between BPs, Time dependence of changeable data and central general data sharing between roles.
2. With the introduction of S/4 HANA, the notion of strategic utilisation as a business partner has been broadened to include a number of modules, including FI, MM, SD, EWM, and HCM (business partners should be assigned to each created employee)
- This gives a clear view why CVI is one of S/4 HANA implementation fundamentals that we should give a special care in our projects.
Scope:
- This blog is going to cover almost all elementary information needed to know before the actual CVI processing
What is needed to know before starting CVI:
1. Customer and vendor integration is a prerequisite for brownfield projects and must be finished prior to the technical update of the ERP system.
2. The CVI process has four primary stages in brownfield, with three of them to be completed in the existing ERP system and the final stage to be completed following the technological upgrade that converts ERP to S/4 HANA.
3. Only Post conversion phase to be applied if we are in greenfield implementation and system is already S/4 HANA
4. CVI is a necessary step and prerequisite for brownfield implementation, but neither the S/4 HANA conversion downtime nor the S/4 HANA conversion critical route include it. The sooner you convert master data to BP after deciding to switch to S/4 HANA, the better. Consequently, there won’t be any last-minute shocks.
5. The same advice that was given for the S/4 HANA conversion will apply here: acquire a copy from the production system to the sandbox system before beginning the CVI procedure. having problems? repair it in the Production system as well as the Sandbox, paying particular attention to the data problems.
6. The CVI COCKPIT transaction provides access to the CVI cockpit tool, a full tool for CVI implementation and synchronisation.
7. CVI synchronization to be executed across all system environments DEV → QAS → PRD
8. CVI synchronization process consist of 4 phases as highlighted before, 3 phases are functional and one of them is technical, CVI cockpit contains tabs for all 3 functional phases required for execution of CVI
9. Our main object in ERP is customer/vendor then synchronization direction goes to → business partner,
this will be part of necessary configuration under transaction CVI_Cockpit → Preparation → Automatic configuration → General checks → synchronization direction
→ Connection to PPO
10. The direction of synchronisation in SAP S/4HANA is from the business partner to the customer or vendor. The same configuration described above will be used in S/4 HANA at this time, but in the opposite direction.
11. Before starting preparation phase we need to determine which data to synchronize according to following questions:
11.A. Are we going to synchronize customers and vendors marked for deletion ?
- Yes, No further action needed
- No, then data archiving is required for master data marked for deletion (Transaction: SARA)
- No, and physical deletion needed: that possible only if there is not transaction linked to master data (Transaction: OBR2)
11.B. Is contact person needs to be added to customer and vendor master?
- Yes, then Contact person should be synchronized to BP, consider setting the internal standard grouping checkbox in BP groups number ranges in order not to phase error message
“R11124 “Business partner with GUID xxxx does not exist”
- No, No action needed, Contact person conversion to BP is an optional
11.C. Do we need customers & vendors at same time to be merged to the same BP?
Yes, then following Prerequisites must be fulfilled:
- Customer and Vendor must be linked to each other under master data account control
- Have exactly same postal address code
- Must have the same bank account
- Special tax numbers synchronization must be done according to note 2921774
- Implement BAdI CVI_MAP_LEGAL_ENTITY
No, then no further action needed just make sure BAdI CVI_MAP_LEGAL_ENTITY is not active
12. For blacklisted master data with posting blocking indicator it’s recommended to be converted to BP, with same blocking indicator
13. If CRM is implemented in the landscape, it’s possible to continue using it after converting your SAP ERP system to SAP S/4HANA, BPs from CRM should be mapped to BPs in SAP ERP
14. There is no down time in CVI, However,only during the actual conversion we are going to block Customers and Vendors master data creation and any interfaces that is going to create customers or vendors
14. If a customer or vendor was not properly created as BP after completing the CVI synchronisation in ERP and before beginning the technical migration, it is important to examine the post processing office, which provides an issue list. Before the technical conversion, it is advised that this be tested frequently using transaction CVI COCKPIT or directly through MDS PPO2.
15. After finishing CVI synchronization in ERP, using transaction BP is Not recommended, Keep using FK01, XK01, FD01,XD01 …….. once S/4 HANA system is ready, using transaction BP will be recommended then
Conclusion :
By end of this blog post, we should have answers for the following questions:
- What is CVI?
- Why CVI is important?
- Is CVI is part of S/4 HANA migration process?
- When I should start CVI?
- In Which system I should start CVI?
- What are the phases for CVI process?
- Which master data to synchronize and which to archive or delete?
- What is the main and comprehensive tool that used during CVI?
- What is recommendations to keep in mind after finishing CVI process and before S/4 HANA migration?
THANK YOU