Inside SAP Job Failures: How to Catch a Failing Background Job Before It Breaks the Business

A failed MRP run. An IDoc stuck in posting. A clearing job that silently dies on a Friday night.

These aren’t just technical glitches—they’re business risks hiding in plain sight.

And yet, most SAP systems have no proactive monitoring for background jobs. Until someone raises a ticket, the issue goes unnoticed. By then, the damage is done:

• No planned orders = delayed production

• Unposted IDocs = missing sales or stock updates

• Unprocessed invoices = finance backlog

In this article, let’s go inside how SAP jobs fail silently—and how to set up smart monitoring and alerts to prevent them from becoming business disasters.

Why Background Job Failures Go Unnoticed

1. “It’s Just a Job”—Until It Isn’t

Consultants often set up jobs in SM36 and move on. But business-critical jobs like MRP (), invoice clearing (), and IDoc processing () deserve more than a ‘set-it-and-forget-it’ mindset.

2. No One’s Checking SM37 Daily

Unless Basis or support has daily routines in place, SM37 becomes a black hole. Many teams don’t regularly check for red or cancelled jobs.

3. Errors Are Logged, But No One Looks

Failed update records in SM13, system dumps in ST22, and background job errors in SM21 all hold clues. But they’re only useful if someone’s watching.

What to Monitor—and Where to Catch It Early

SM37 – Job Log & Status Monitoring

Run SM37 with status = “Cancelled” or “Finished (with warnings).” Set filters by job name or user (e.g., , , ) and monitor key jobs like:

• MRP Batch Runs (, )

• IDoc Posting Jobs (, )

• Invoice Clearing (, )

• Warehouse Monitor Jobs (, )

• Custom Z-jobs (Z interface processing, data loads, etc.)

Always double-click on “Job Log” to catch red flags like “Document could not be posted” or “No authorization.”

SM13 – Update Failures

SM13 shows failed update tasks (e.g., material movement, accounting entries). If you see consistent red entries here, you’ve got silent data inconsistencies.

Check:

• Whether updates are delayed due to lock conflicts

• Errors in background posting (goods issue, accounting, etc.)

You can even use to find users and programs causing repeated issues.

SM21 – System Logs

This is the system’s black box. You’ll find:

• Background job errors

• Database commit failures

• Locks, dumps, and more

Set the date/time and look for keyword patterns like “Job failed,” “Terminated,” or “Short Dump.”

ST22 – Dumps from Failed Jobs

Background jobs sometimes fail with a short dump. If no one reviews ST22 for job-related dumps, the root cause is missed completely.

Look for:

• or

• RFC-related dumps (e.g., )

How to Stay Ahead: Monitoring and Alerts

1. Set Up Daily SM37 Batch Monitoring Reports

Use scheduled variants or custom programs to report failed jobs each day to your SAP support inbox.

2. Use Solution Manager or Job Monitoring Tools

SAP Solution Manager, SAP Focused Run, or third-party tools like Redwood or Control-M can raise real-time alerts.

3. Automate Notification via Emails or Tickets

Many customers set up custom jobs to email Basis or create tickets in ITSM when jobs fail especially for critical ones.

4. Add Job Checks to Your Hypercare Playbook

After Go-Live, job failures become your first source of user complaints. Assign someone to check SM37 and SM13 twice daily for the first 4 weeks post-Go-Live.

Real Example: One Missed Job, One Blocked Plant

A client had a nightly job that posted IDocs for STOs between two plants. One weekend, it failed.

No one noticed.

By Monday morning:

• Stock didn’t move

• Production couldn’t start

• Sales orders were delayed

• Logistics was manually checking every IDoc

It took 3 hours to trace it back to the failed job in SM37 and only 30 seconds to fix it.

Final Thought

Background jobs are the silent engines of SAP. But when they fail silently, they quietly break your business.

As SAP consultants, it’s not enough to configure jobs—we must monitor, audit, and protect them with the same diligence as any mission-critical function.

Let’s stop flying blind. Let’s start watching what matters.

Have you dealt with a job failure that went unnoticed? What monitoring approach do you use in your projects?

Let’s exchange strategies below

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