There's a lot to think about when your company is considering a transition to SAP S/4HANA. When is right to start your journey? Is there a business case for commencing now versus waiting? No large-scale implementation or migration project is simple.
Let's look at three common scenarios that can accelerate your migration to SAP S/4HANA: New System Installation, System Conversion, or Landscape Transformation.
Scenario 1: New SAP S/4HANA System Installation
In this scenario, an organization would be a new or existing SAP customer implementing a new SAP S/4HANA system beginning with an initial data load. In this case, the SAP S/4HANA system is implemented, and data (master and transactional)are migrated from the legacy system. As companies prepare to embark on this digital journey, the migration and cleansing of this data is the first step. We don’t believe data migration stops with moment-in-time clean data. Utopia recently published a white paper discussing the role of data governance as the critical step in the transition to SAP S/4HANA and why it is pivotal to ensure that the data driving business decisions are consistent and reliable... and that it stays that way.
Scenario 2: System Conversion of an Existing SAP system
System conversion would be a complete conversion of an existing SAP Business Suite system / SAP ERP system to SAP S/4HANA. This scenario is technically based on Software Update Manager (SUM) but could have a database migration piece if your organization is not yet on SAP HANA as your underlying database. If you’re starting from SAP ERP 6, with a non-HANA database, you can transition to SAP S/4HANA in two steps –moving the data from the current database to HANA database and installing the new code with SAP Software Update Manager. You can also jumpstart the process by using the SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud managed by SAP or your internal teams.
Whereas a new system installation feels more like a clean, fresh start, a system conversion looks simple from afar but can have underlying complications, due to customized legacy environments you’re currently running. The important thing to remember is that you’re moving to a simplified environment with a lot of possibilities.
Scenario 3: Landscape Transformation into SAP S/4HANA
For this third scenario, an organization would consolidate its current regional SAP Business Suite landscape into one global SAP S/4HANA system. For organizations running SAP ERP 6 on SAP HANA, you can apply the new SAP S/4HANA functionality to take advantage of a real-time view and insights into your data and the entire organization. With any system conversion, compatibility checks are done on the customizations that had been done in the previous system to ensure a smooth transition.
How Can Utopia Help Your Organization Transition to SAP S 4/HANA?
The critical thing to remember is that there is no "one fits all" approach to the journey to SAP S/4HANA. Your roadmap to becoming a digitally-enabled enterprise is unique and should reflect what you want to learn from your valuable data assets. The systems are only as good as the data living in it. The road doesn't start at the transition. The critical first step is ensuring your data is clean, reliable, and consistent, and that you have a plan to keep it that way.
Utopia offers a full suite of data services to help with your journey, no matter where you are in the process. For more information, please download our brochure or visit: https://www.utopiainc.com/services.
To learn more about how to keep your data clean and accurate post-migration, view Utopia’s full suite of industry leading data governance software solutions by visiting: HTTPS://WWW.UTOPIAINC.COM/SAP
