SAP Business Objects

Role: SAP Business Objects

Location: Remote

1. Current Assessment

• Inventory the existing SAP BusinessObjects 4.2 and Crystal Reports 2016 environment, including servers, services, repositories, databases, applications, reports, universes, user accounts, security groups, schedules, publications, and integrations.
• Review current patch levels, licensing, configuration, system architecture, and supporting infrastructure.
• Identify connections to databases, file systems, email services, Active Directory, web servers, and other enterprise systems.
• Identify web-based and legacy applications that embed, invoke, schedule, distribute, or otherwise depend on BusinessObjects or Crystal Reports.
• Document unsupported components, compatibility concerns, technical debt, and migration risks.
• Evaluate the proposed phased migration path and determine whether additional intermediate steps or remediation activities are required.
• Establish a baseline of existing reports, schedules, security settings, integrations, and system performance.

2. Migration Planning and Architecture

• Validate the technical feasibility and vendor supportability of the tentative migration path:
• SAP BusinessObjects 4.2 to SAP BusinessObjects 4.3.
• Continued use of Crystal Reports 2016 during the initial BusinessObjects 4.3 phase.
• Migration from Crystal Reports 2016 to Crystal Reports 2020.
• Upgrade from SAP BusinessObjects 4.3 to SAP BusinessObjects 2025.
• Migration of the platform and supporting components to Windows Server 2022.
• Recommend adjustments to the sequence based on SAP-supported upgrade paths, compatibility requirements, system dependencies, and risk.
• Confirm compatibility among the proposed BusinessObjects releases, Crystal Reports versions, Windows Server 2022, databases, browsers, authentication services, application servers, reporting clients, and third-party components.
• Determine whether each phase should use an in-place upgrade, side-by-side migration, content migration, or another supported approach.
• Develop a detailed phased migration plan that minimizes operational disruption and provides a reliable rollback strategy for each phase.
• Define requirements for development, test, quality-assurance, disaster-recovery, and production environments, as applicable.
• Develop a plan for migrating BusinessObjects repositories, universes, reports, security settings, schedules, publications, and application integrations.
• Identify reports, integrations, drivers, runtime components, or custom code that must be remediated, converted, rebuilt, replaced, or retired.
• Provide effort estimates, dependencies, assumptions, risks, decision points, and a proposed implementation schedule for each migration phase.

3. SAP BusinessObjects 4.3 Upgrade

• Install and configure the approved SAP BusinessObjects 4.3 release and required supporting components.
• Apply required service packs, patches, and security updates.
• Configure the Central Management Server, File Repository Servers, processing servers, web and application components, auditing, monitoring, and other required services.
• Migrate BusinessObjects content and configuration from the existing BusinessObjects 4.2 environment.
• Maintain compatibility with Crystal Reports 2016 during this phase.
• Configure and validate integrations with Active Directory or other approved authentication systems.
• Configure and validate database connections, email delivery, scheduled reporting, file destinations, and other enterprise services.
• Update affected APIs, URLs, Software Development Kit components, embedded reports, and authentication workflows.
• Apply security hardening and configuration practices consistent with NC DEQ and State of North Carolina requirements.

4. Crystal Reports 2020 Migration

• Assess existing Crystal Reports 2016 reports, runtime components, viewers, libraries, database drivers, and application dependencies.
• Develop and execute a plan to migrate applicable content and integrations from Crystal Reports 2016 to Crystal Reports 2020.
• Identify and remediate reports that have compatibility, formatting, calculation, database connectivity, printing, exporting, scheduling, or performance issues.
• Update custom and legacy applications that depend on Crystal Reports 2016 runtimes, viewers, libraries, or interfaces.
• Validate that migrated reports produce accurate and consistent results.
• Document reports or integrations that cannot be migrated without redesign or replacement.

5. SAP BusinessObjects 2025 Upgrade

• Confirm that the BusinessObjects 4.3 environment is stable and ready for the next upgrade phase.
• Install and configure SAP BusinessObjects 2025 and its required supporting components.
• Migrate or upgrade BusinessObjects content, configuration, security, universes, reports, schedules, publications, and integrations.
• Validate compatibility with Crystal Reports 2020 and Windows Server 2022.
• Apply current supported patches and security updates.
• Remediate compatibility issues introduced by the platform upgrade.
• Confirm that all required enterprise integrations continue to function as intended.

6. Windows Server 2022 Migration

• Design and implement the migration of the BusinessObjects environment and applicable supporting components to Windows Server 2022.
• Identify and address operating-system dependencies, service accounts, permissions, certificates, network settings, database drivers, middleware, and third-party components.
• Coordinate with NC DEQ infrastructure, network, database, cybersecurity, and application teams.
• Apply required Windows Server security configuration and hardening standards.
• Verify system monitoring, logging, backups, restoration procedures, and disaster-recovery capabilities.
• Confirm that the final platform configuration is supported by SAP and compatible with all required NC DEQ systems.

7. Testing and Validation

• Develop a test plan and detailed acceptance criteria for each migration phase.
• Validate report output, parameters, prompts, database connectivity, scheduling, distribution, exports, printing, authentication, authorization, and application integrations.
• Compare representative reports between the source and target environments to identify differences in content, formatting, calculations, or performance.
• Coordinate user acceptance testing with NC DEQ technical teams and business users.
• Diagnose and resolve defects discovered during testing.
• Conduct performance and stability testing appropriate to expected workloads.
• Verify backup, restoration, disaster-recovery, and rollback procedures before each production implementation.
• Obtain NC DEQ approval before proceeding from one major migration phase to the next.

8. Production Implementation and Stabilization

• Prepare a detailed production cutover and rollback plan for each phase.
• Support production migrations during approved implementation windows, which may occur outside normal business hours.
• Validate services, reports, integrations, schedules, security, and system performance following each cutover.
• Provide stabilization and post-production support for an agreed period after each major implementation.
• Resolve migration-related incidents and document their causes and solutions.
• Assist with the orderly retirement or decommissioning of legacy environments after NC DEQ approves the migrated platform.

9. Documentation and Knowledge Transfer

• Produce current-state, interim-state, and final target-state architecture documentation.
• Document the approved migration sequence and any changes from the tentative plan.
• Document installation, configuration, security, integrations, dependencies, service accounts, database connections, and operational procedures.
• Provide an inventory of migrated, remediated, retired, and unresolved reports and integrations.
• Document backup, recovery, monitoring, patching, troubleshooting, and routine maintenance procedures.
• Provide knowledge-transfer sessions for NC DEQ system administrators, developers, support staff, and other designated personnel.
• Deliver all scripts, configuration records, test results, migration logs, and other project materials created during the engagement.