Lesson 4 of 5
Service requests: refreshes, restores and changes
9 min
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In ECC, Sam's team could refresh a quality system or restore a database whenever it decided to. Under RISE, those tasks are performed by SAP and requested through a service request on SAP's service request platform. The R&R is precise about who does what: creating, updating and submitting service requests is the customer's task; SAP receives them, assesses priority and effort, coordinates approval and scheduling, and reports completion. SAP ECS cannot submit a service request without written approval from the customer.
- CreateContoso raises the request on SAP's platform with scope, systems, timing and contacts
- SubmitContoso submits; billable or not, the customer's approval is required
- AssessSAP checks priority, effort and approvals; may ask for more information
- SchedulePlanned and coordinated requests run in customer business hours unless agreed otherwise
- Execute and notifySAP performs the task and confirms completion
- VerifyContoso checks the result before closing
Common requests and their limits
| Request | R&R treatment (v.3-2025) | Plan for |
|---|---|---|
| System refresh (homogeneous system copy) of an ABAP system | Standard; up to 12 refreshes per SID per contract year; same region only; no data masking or scrambling | Pre- and post-processing steps not covered by post-copy automation, which are Packaged Services or the customer's |
| Restore on customer request | Standard; up to 6 restores per SID per contract year | Validating the restored data is an excluded task for the customer |
| Exceptional ad-hoc backup | Additional Service; lead time to be aligned | Order early before risky changes |
| Start or stop systems, restarts | Standard | Communicate downtime to users |
| Schedule or change application jobs | Packaged Service; up to eight jobs per request | Or keep job scheduling in-house |
Typical requests. Entitlements and lead times depend on your contract version.
Refreshes deserve special care because testing depends on them. Before each quarterly regression window, Contoso refreshes CMR, its pre-production system, from CMP so the tests run on current data. The refresh overwrites CMR, so everything specific to CMR must be saved before and restored after: RFC destinations pointing to test partners, logical system names, test users, transport buffers, and any configuration that should not come from production. The R&R excludes data masking from the refresh service, so the masking that makes CMR a masked copy of CMP is Contoso's own step, done before testers get access. After the refresh, CMR receives only transports that are already on their way to CMP.
- T-10 daysService request submitted; refresh window agreed with SAP ECS
- T-1 dayExport CMR-specific settings: destinations, logical systems, test users, transport buffer
- RefreshSAP ECS copies CMP to CMR and runs technical post-processing
- Post-copyContoso restores CMR settings, blocks outbound interfaces to real partners, masks personal data
- VerifySmoke test; testers released
Incidents are not service requests
Keep the two channels apart. A service request asks SAP to perform a planned task, such as a refresh, a restore or a maintenance event. An incident reports that something is broken. In the R&R, incident processing (qualifying, prioritizing, resolving and escalating) is a standard service, with 24x7 support in English; confirming that the resolution really works is the customer's excluded task. Logging an outage as a service request, or a refresh as an incident, costs time in triage. Sam's team uses a one-page guide so testers and key users know which channel to use and what information to include.
What would you do?
Priya needs CMR refreshed for the next quarterly regression cycle starting Monday. On Thursday, she emails a SAP ECS contact asking for the refresh this weekend. What should Sam do?
- Customers create and submit service requests; SAP assesses, schedules, executes and notifies.
- Refreshes: up to 12 per ABAP SID per contract year in v.3-2025, same region, without data masking.
- Restores: up to 6 per SID per year; validating restored data is the customer's.
- Plan pre- and post-copy steps, block outbound interfaces and scramble personal data after a refresh.
Check your understanding · not graded
Lesson check
1. Who creates and submits service requests under RISE, per the R&R?
2. How many ABAP system refreshes per SID per contract year does the v.3-2025 R&R include as standard?
3. What does the standard refresh service not include?
4. What is the first post-copy step after refreshing CMR from CMP?