The complexity of dealing with the archiving of master data in an SAP system is given by the basic condition of any relational database: referential integrity must be respected.
To put it another way: a master data item can only be archived if there are no transactions that relate to this item.
Therefore, all transactions related to a master data item must have been previously archived. This is the point that generally discourages the initiative. Because it involves the need to define the concept of deletion.
The concept of deletion leads to the fundamental definitions of any archiving initiative: residence time and retention time, data storage technology, access strategy to the archived data, and so on.
This brings us back to the origin of any archiving initiative.
The need to archive master data is often the trigger for planning, designing and implementing a comprehensive archiving initiative.
Other times, the trigger is the size of the database.
Starting from any of these reasons, we arrive at the same scenario.
What we must emphasize and insist on is that master data maintenance problems are replicated and multiplied as data quality problems of the processes that involve these data. Hence the enormous importance of having a rational and reasonable strategy in our systems.
At www.krokios.com we can help you face these challenges, clarifying, simplifying and finding the best solution for your unique case.