Overview

Data Consistency Management in Solution Manager comprises the tools and procedures required to prevent, detect, investigate and correct inconsistencies in your solution landscape. This helps to ensure the successful execution of your core business processes and prevents costly business process downtimes.

Motivation

Today's business processes evolve in complex structures involving several systems of the overall landscape. As shown in the picture below it is important to ensure the data consistency between all involved systems.

Apart from user level errors like an incorrect manual entry in the system, there are possibilities of inconsistencies as well on application and technology level. The figure below presents potential causes of data inconsistency.

Why can Data Inconsistencies Occur?

User Level

User Level: Data inconsistencies due to

Real world operation ≠ System transaction
Incorrect manual entry of data
Completely missing entry of data
Wrong usage of transaction

Application Level

Application Level: Data inconsistencies within one system or between two systems due to

Absence of error handling
No clear leading system defined
Logical inconsistencies in application integration
Errors in application programs (transactional correctness)
Errors in interface processing (failed message not detected or not able to reprocess)

Technology Level

Technology Level: Data inconsistencies due to

Data Loss due to hardware failures
One system crashes and is reset to an earlier state (point-in-time recovery)
Initial Loads may have run into problems or are incomplete

Examples

Database Crash at a customer and last backup ~12 months old. Which business documents/areas are affected?
Inconsistencies between MM and FI during goods movements with unknown Root Cause. What is the root cause?
A custom made report has accidentally deleted parts of business objects. Which objects are affected?
Some data has been replicated multiple times between two systems
Inconsistent data storage in multiple systems using sRFC/HTTP within one business step. What data arrived where?
Many IDoc errors between ECC and WM. Is there an interface error that affects my most important business partner?
What is the financial impact of erroneous FI-IDocs on my PEC?

Benefits

Global transparency across organizational units & process variants through increase visibility of current data quality and consistency state.
Reduced operating costs through automating data consistency management and reduce manual process inefficiencies and human errors. Avoid systematic process exceptions.
Higher customer satisfaction & faster revenue stream by avoiding delayed business documents and financial losses by quick reaction to interface errors affecting data of core business processes.
More accurate business reporting by avoiding inaccurate reporting data by ensuring consistency between systems and quicker clean up due to earlier detection
Higher reliability of financial reporting & possible detection of fraud by avoiding avoid inconsistencies in FI-AP and FI-AR before PEC. Review consistency between MM & FI and between systems.

Handling overview

The process of Data Consistency Management consists of 4 steps: Prevention, Detection, Correction and Investigation. In the picture below, these steps are displayed in a cycle expressing the continuity of the process.

Tools

Solution Manager includes several tools to cover the Data Consistency Management cycle and different technologies. The following figure presents those tools. Details for these tools are provided in the tool-specific section.

Tool	Description	User Guide(s)
Cross Database Comparison (CDC)	Cross Database Comparison (CDC) can be used to compare data sources with a complex structure or hierarchy. Furthermore the comparison can be executed across different systems. The user can check whether the data in the source and target systems is consistent, e.g. whether the updates in the source system have been correctly replicated to the target system. Examples of complex data sources are sales orders with several billing items or a customer master record containing multiple addresses, partner roles and bank details.	User Guide (Wiki) CDC Overview (Presentation)
Internal Database Comparison (IDC)	Internal Database Comparison (IDC) can check data for consistency within one SAP system, for example, by comparing two tables to detect any missing table entries or inconsistent field contents.
Guided Self Service for DCM (GSS DCM)	The Guided Self Service for DCM should be the central starting point of all investigations related to Data Consistency. It provides guidance how to ensure data consistency in certain scenarios like e.g. “check consistency in CRM” or “check consistency” after a corruption in the database table or business object.	User Guide
Transactional Correctness (TC) Tool for ABAP and JAVA	The Transactional Correctness Tool checks the transactional correctness of your ABAP and JAVA programs. Transactional correctness is an important database consistency requirement. If multiple programs update the same information simultaneously, data correctness can be at risk if the changes are not performed in an isolated manner. Locks control the access to data by multiple programs. In the event of a system failure, the logical unit of work principle ensures that the data affected is still consistent after recovery.
Data Consistency Monitoring and Interface Monitoring	Data Consistency Monitoring proactively ensures a reliable business process flow and data consistency. Interface Monitoring proactively ensures a reliable business process flow by monitoring interfaces, reporting failures which might lead to inconsistencies.
Business Process Completeness Check (BPCC)	The Business Process Completeness Check in SAP Solution Manager collects and evaluates log information that is written during the business process execution. Business processes have to be instrumented (coding changed - this means code enhancements to standard SAP and/or custom code, with many modularization units affected) to write the necessary logging information. The BPCC is integrated into the Exception Management Cockpit.

Media
Learn how to use the Cross Database Comparison tool in Solution Manager 7.2 by following a guided demonstration. Media Center

Solution Manager 7.2
Cross Database Comparison	User Guide Cross Database Comparison- Guide Enhancement Guide CDC Enhancement Guide SAP Help SAP Help on CDC
Interface Monitoring, Documentation and Integration Repository	Overview Overview Interface Monitoring SAP Solution Manager 7.2 Overview Interface Documentation SAP Solution Manager 7.2 User Guide Integration Repository Monitoring of Integration Scenarios
Dashboard Builder Capabilities	Cross Database Comparison Guide Interface Monitoring Guide SAP Help SAP Help on Dashboard Builder
Data Consistency Monitoring	User Guide Data Consistency Monitoring Guide (Valid from Solution Manager 7.1 SP12+) Monitoring of non-ABAP/non-SAP systems
Business Process Completeness Check	Overview Overview User Guide BPCC Setup Guide
GSS DCM	GSS DCM GSS Data Consistency Management - End User Manual
Cloud Applications and Extensions	Single Document Search Guide Cross Database Comparison Consumption UI Guide

Solution Manager 7.1
Cross Database Comparison	User Guide Cross Database Comparison End user Manual
Interface Monitoring and Documentation	Overview Overview Interface Monitoring SAP Solution Manager 7.1 User Guide Monitoring of Integration Scenarios Other Migration to Interface & Connection Monitoring
Data Consistency Monitoring	User Guide Data Consistency Monitoring Guide Monitoring of non-ABAP/non-SAP systems
GSS DCM and DC Toolbox	DC Toolbox DC Toolbox Customizing GSS DCM GSS Data Consistency Management - End User Manual