Why e-mail archiving?
The advantages of mail archiving via ArchiveLink are obvious. The SAP databases and system administration are relieved. The reduced database size does not only become interesting with the in-memory database HANA (keyword: document-free ERP). This is because less memory means significant savings in memory costs. In addition, existing installations benefit from a leaner database.
The ArchiveLink interface is a well-known and future-proof technology. The e-mails are stored as a whole via the ArchiveLink interface when they are sent. The maintainability of the SAP system is also improved and the reorganization of the SAPOffice table is considerably simplified. Simple, safe and without additional effort.
Which emails need to be archived?
In fact, about 90 of all ERP systems do exactly the opposite. The mail is deposited exactly through this table. The SAPOffice functions are often unknown in detail. As a result, the SOFFCONT1 table is in the top 10 of the largest tables in virtually every ERP system. By outsourcing the content to an HTTP content server according to Note 530792, you move parts of the content (the attachments). However, the mail texts remain in the SAP database. These texts could be moved separately to ArchiveLink via transaction SOY8. This means that they are stored separately from the attachments. All in all, a procedure that is used in practice almost nowhere.
The result in practice:
Mail texts are never archived. The audit security of the e-mail storage system is more than questionable, although of course there are various standards for daily e-mail traffic. In addition, the nature of the storage creates difficulties in maintenance and reorganization. In addition, the databases grow through SAPOffice objects. There are difficulties in the performance of mail attachments on content servers. Ultimately, SAPOffice technology is a discontinued model that is no longer being developed by SAP AG.
MailCenter archiving for mail from SAP
With MailCenter archiving, you can archive outgoing e-mails directly from the well-known ArchiveLink interface. This means that the complete e-mail including attachments is completely available in the archive system. As a result, no data is permanently stored in the SAPOffice tables.
Nutzen
- Secure archiving via ArchiveLink
- Archiving the entire e-mail
- Reducing SAP database size
- Known and future-proof technology
- Improved maintenance of the SAP system
- Easier reorganization