The CVI cockpit is a comprehensive tool provided by SAP to complete CVI implementation and synchronization in SAP ERP.
This tool is made available in SAP ERP after the relevant SAP Notes are applied by the technical team. Depending on the SAP ERP release level that a company is on, there may be a need to apply some additional SAP Notes to make this tool available and work correctly in the system. Engage a technical resource to implement the relevant SAP Notes and resolve any technical errors encountered. The CVI cockpit is also available in SAP S/4HANA to attend to the customizing activities once an SAP ERP system is converted to SAP S/4HANA. Some salient features of the CVI cockpit are as follows:
Using Transaction CVI_COCKPIT brings up the CVI cockpit shown below. There are four tabs in this tool, Read Me, Preparation, CVI Load, and Upgrade Preparation, with multiple activities or tasks within each tab.
Each tab contains the following information:
The CVI cockpit has the following structure:
Note: Engage a technical resource to implement SAP Note 2951811. Further, refer to SAP Note 2187425 (for detailed information about the SAP Note 2951811). Depending on the current version of a company’s SAP ERP system, further SAP Notes may be applicable.
Referring to the CVI Cockpit figure again, the Read Me tab contains two tasks (Note Checker and CVI Library) as well as buttons to access some additional information. Once these tasks are completed, choose the Change button to change the status of those activities from Initial to OK or Complete, enter some comments, and continue. The statuses in each tab need to be changed and saved before you can move to the next tab. The log can be checked by choosing the Information button located on the lower half of the screen.
All the tasks of the CVI cockpit require manual maintenance of statuses. There are three statuses: red, green, and yellow. When the CVI cockpit is launched for the first time, all the statuses are grayed out. Based on the status of the activities in each tab, the status of the corresponding activity is automatically determined, as follows:
Unlike the statuses of tasks in each tab, the Overall Status of a CVI cockpit can have only two valid statuses—red and green—indicating Ready and Not ready, respectively. The Overall Status of the CVI cockpit only becomes green (ready), when both the following conditions are met:
At all other times, when one or both of the conditions aren’t met, the overall status of the CVI cockpit remains red.
Initially, the Read Me tab links the information that you should check even before starting the CVI implementation project. The Note Checker and CVI Library can be accessed by choosing the respective Display Text buttons . You also need to first click on the Edit button to get into edit mode for a status. Choosing the Edit button enables you to change these statuses in the various tabs of the CVI cockpit. When choosing the Status bubble or traffic light next to the single tasks (e.g., next to the CVI Library), a popup appears in the lower-right side of the screen. Set the desired status, and choose Continue. Further, choose Save from the top menu bar to save the status just maintained.
Choose the Preparation tab next, but you can only switch to Edit mode on the Preparation tab if the statuses of the activities of the previous tab are changed to green (or OK). The Overall Status at the top indicates whether all the activities from the CVI cockpit are complete; this status automatically changes to green after all the activities in all the four tabs are completed.
The table below provides a list of standard statuses available in the CVI cockpit.
5
Warning: You can mark a status as green, even with task statuses 04 (Skip Step - Project Decision) and 06 (OK with reservation). In such cases, you’re expected to ensure completion of the relevant activities before proceeding to the next step in order to maintain system consistency.
Some additional points to note on how the system updates various statuses in the CVI cockpit are as follows:
Note: Prior to SAP ERP 6.0 EHP 8 SP17, the tasks in CVI cockpit had to be executed in the sequence listed in the tool. But, in SAP ERP 6.0 EHP 8 SP17, the Execute button is enabled for some of the tasks out of sequence. Such tasks are editable and active for execution at any time because they are independent of the preceding or succeeding tasks in the CVI cockpit. For lower releases (below SAP ERP 6.0 EHP 8 SP17), refer to SAP Note 3082229.
Note: The current version of the CVI cockpit specifically takes care of business partner synchronization for customer and vendor master data only. The following data sets are currently out of scope:
Now, let’s get back to the Preparation tab (see the first figure below), which has three tasks that need to be completed: Master Data Consistency, Automated Customizing, and Suppress Checks. All three tasks, as well as all the other tasks, are to be performed in sequential order. When all these activities are completed, change the status of each of these tasks so you can move on to the next tab. Choose the CVI Load tab in the first figure below to go to the screen shown in the second figure.
This shows the CVI Load tab and its multiple tasks. The important task to highlight here is the Load Tool, which is actually used to synchronize the customers and vendors to business partners in SAP ERP. A program is called when the load tool is executed, which will ask you to provide the information on which customer or vendor data is to be converted to a business partner. Once the necessary information is provided, you can execute the synchronization program, and the business partners will either be created in the system or relevant errors encountered during the synchronization process will be made available for you to address them. A link is also established between a customer or vendor and a business partner.
Another tool, Post Processing, is used to capture any errors after you’ve completed tasks using the Load Tool or after completing the synchronization activity. You can execute the post-processing activity to see the errors and address them quickly. Once all the errors are addressed, you then need to run the Completeness Check that provides information regarding whether there are still any more customers or vendors to be synchronized as business partners in SAP ERP.
When all the tasks in the CVI Load tab are completed, then you’re ready to move on to the next phase, which is the Upgrade Preparation phase (see below).
Here again, there are some additional post-processing tasks as well as customizing checks that need to be ensured one more time before moving on to the next phase, which is the system conversion from SAP ERP to SAP S/4HANA.
Editor’s note: This post has been adapted from a section of the book Business Partners in SAP S/4HANA: The Comprehensive Guide to Customer-Vendor Integration by Jawad Akhtar.