The new concept of the Enhancement Packages (EhPs) from SAP is ingenious from a technical perspective. It’s actually too bad that SAP, the supplier par excellence for business software, has taken so long to create this software logistics concept. Based on the time and effort they’ve put in, any SAP CIO can tell you what this gap in the framework has cost customers.
Yet it’s not quite as cut and dried as one might hope. Enhancement Packages promise selective adoption of new functionality without full system upgrades. In theory, customers can implement new features from an EhP without being forced to activate all the changes it contains. This selective activation is the key promise of Enhancement Packages.
However, the reality is more complex. The dependencies between different functional areas in SAP mean that activating one feature often requires activating others. Testing effort remains significant because even “selective” activation can have unexpected effects on existing customizing and custom code.
Furthermore, the tooling for impact analysis of Enhancement Package activations is still immature. Customers need to perform comprehensive impact analysis before and after EhP activation to ensure system stability and business continuity.
beteo’s experience with Enhancement Package projects shows that success requires: thorough pre-activation impact analysis using specialized tools, careful testing strategy that covers both new and existing functionality, experienced project management that accounts for the complexity of dependencies, and a phased approach that manages risk while delivering value.
Enhancement Packages are a step in the right direction, but they are not a silver bullet. Customers should approach them with realistic expectations and invest in proper analysis and testing.
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