Introduction:
CVI or customer / vendor integration is the process which ensures the synchronization between Customer / Vendor from one side and the Business Partner from the other side, and vice versa.
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The importance of CVI becomes more clear when we decide to go to S/4 HANA implementations, In which we have to select one of two approaches
- 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
In both cases business partners must be used as the leading master data object and single - entry point to maintain customers and vendors.
This is not the only element that we consider, The importance for BP comes also from:
- The new functionalities that Business partners provide like Relationships between BPs, Time dependence of changeable data and central general data sharing between roles
2. The Expansion of strategic usage as business partner is not a new concept in SAP ERP as it mainly used with specific industries and strategic applications , Now with S/4 HANA BP usage expanded to cover several modules like 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 / Vendor integration is mandatory step for brownfield implementations, and must be completed before the ERP system technical upgrade
2. CVI process consist of 4 main phases in brownfield, 3 of them to be done in the current ERP system and the last phase to be done after the technical upgrade which converting 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 Not part of S/4 HANA conversion downtime nor S/4HANA conversion critical path, However, It's mandatory step and prerequisite for brownfield implementation. Once a decision is taken to move to S/4 HANA, the sooner you convert master data to BP, the better. This will avoid facing any last minutes surprises
5. Same recommendation as S/4 HANA conversion is going to apply here, before CVI starts, get a copy from production to Sandbox system then start CVI process. facing issues ? correct it not only in the Sandbox but also in Production system, specially the data errors
6. CVI cockpit tool is comprehensive tool for CVI implementation and synchronization and can be accessed through transaction CVI_COCKPIT
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
→ Connection to PPO
10. In SAP S/4HANA synchronization direction goes from business partner to → customer/vendor, The same above configuration to be used in S/4 HANA at this time but direction from BP to Customers and vendors
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. After finishing the CVI synchronization in ERP and before technical migration start we need to check the post processing office which contains the issue list if customer or vendor not correctly created as BP, This recommended to be checked regularly through transaction CVI_COCKPIT or directly through MDS_PPO2 and issues should be addressed before the technical conversion
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?
Finally, Thank you for reaching this stage and please don't hesitate to share your comments, thoughts or questions.
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