Lesson 1 of 5
The three-system landscape
8 min
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Every SAP customer runs more than one SAP system. The classic arrangement is the three-system landscape: a development system where changes are built, a quality assurance system where they are tested, and a production system where the business runs. People call them by their roles (DEV, QAS, PRD) or by their three-character system IDs. As a tester, your first question on any project is: which system am I in, and what is it for?
- Development (DEV)Consultants configure and developers code. Changes are recorded in transport requests.
- Quality assurance (QAS)Released transports are imported. Integration, regression and acceptance testing run here.
- Production (PRD)Only tested, approved transports are imported. The business runs here; nobody configures directly.
Why three systems
The separation protects production. If consultants configured directly in production, a half-finished pricing change could hit real invoices before anyone tested it. The rule on every well-run SAP landscape is simple: production is changed only through controlled transports that were built in development and tested in quality assurance. Production is locked against direct configuration and development, so the only way in is the transport path.
The separation also protects testing. QAS should look like production in configuration and code, with realistic data, so that a passing test there predicts behavior in production. If QAS drifts away from production, by missing transports or containing manual changes nobody transported, test results stop meaning much.
Keeping QAS close to production takes deliberate effort. Basis teams periodically refresh QAS from a copy of production so its data and configuration line up again, then re-import the transports that are still in flight. After a refresh, test data you created earlier is gone, users may need resetting and interfaces may point to the wrong partners until they are reconfigured. Good test leads put refresh dates in the test calendar and never schedule a test cycle across one.
- Refresh weekendCopy productionBasis overwrites QAS with a copy of production data and configuration
- Day 1Re-import in-flight transportsChanges not yet in production are imported again so QAS carries the current build
- Day 1–2Reset users and interfacesTest users unlocked, interfaces pointed back to partner test systems
- Day 2–3Rebuild test dataTest orders, stock and open items recreated for the next cycle
- After checks passTest cycle startsOnly now does the next test cycle begin
Additional tiers
Large programs often add systems around the core three. Which ones exist depends on budget, risk and the size of the program; there is no single standard.
| Tier | Purpose | Testing relevance |
|---|---|---|
| Sandbox | Experiments and prototypes, no transports out | Try ideas; never use for formal evidence |
| Pre-production (staging) | A near copy of production for final checks | Performance tests, cutover rehearsals, final regression |
| Training | Stable data and configuration for classes | Not for testing; changing it disrupts courses |
| Project or maintenance track | A second DEV and QAS line so project work and production support do not collide | You must know which line a fix lives in before you test it |
Common additional tiers. Your program's landscape diagram is the authority.
Contoso Motor Co. is moving from SAP ECC 6.0 EHP 8 to SAP S/4HANA in a private cloud under RISE with SAP. During the project it runs the old ECC production system, a new S/4HANA development system, an S/4HANA quality system with test client 100 where integration and acceptance testing run, and a training client 200 that the change team uses for end-user classes. A pre-production system is added for the final cutover rehearsals that Luis, the cutover manager, plans.
Dual landscapes during a migration
During a move from ECC to S/4HANA, the old production system keeps changing: support fixes and small enhancements still go live there. Those changes may also have to be rebuilt in the new landscape, or the new system will go live without them. This is called retrofit or dual maintenance. For testers, it means a defect fixed in ECC production last month might reappear in S/4HANA QAS, and the test pack must include those recent changes.
- Fix in ECC productionA support fix goes live in the old system
- Log for retrofitThe change is recorded on the dual-maintenance list
- Rebuild in S/4HANA DEVThe same change is made in the new landscape
- Transport to QASImported into S/4HANA QAS client 100
- Add to the test packA test case proves the fix exists in the new system too
What would you do?
A Contoso consultant offers to fix a wrong tax code directly in the S/4HANA quality system "just for testing", because the transport will take a day. What should Priya say?
- DEV builds, QAS tests, PRD runs the business.
- Production changes only through tested, controlled transports.
- QAS is useful only while it mirrors production's configuration and code.
- Extra tiers (sandbox, pre-production, training, maintenance lines) vary by program; read the landscape diagram.
- During an ECC-to-S/4HANA move, changes to the old system must be retrofitted and retested.
Check your understanding · not graded
Lesson check
1. In a three-system landscape, where is integration and acceptance testing normally performed?
2. How should production be changed?
3. Why is a manual configuration change in QAS a problem for testing?
4. Which additional tier is best suited to a final cutover rehearsal and performance test?