NCDEQ – SAP Business Objects Consultant – Mid Level

Job Description

SAP BusinessObjects and SAP Crystal Reports are used across
NC DEQ for enterprise reporting and are integrated with several web-based and
legacy applications. The current environment runs SAP BusinessObjects 4.2 and
SAP Crystal Reports 2016. BusinessObjects 4.2 is no longer supported by SAP,
creating operational, security, compatibility, and maintainability risks.

This engagement requires strong SAP BusinessObjects platform
experience, Windows Server expertise, and demonstrated success modernizing
systems that contain legacy reports, applications, integrations, and
dependencies.

Scope of Work

The contractor will be expected to perform the following
activities.

1. Current-State 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.