The change to S/4HANA - a bit overwhelming at times
GBTEC Group
We develop smart software for optimized & automated business processes to guide you through the digital transformation.
Well, the switch to the new ERP generation SAP S/4HANA offers a lot of opportunities if done correctly – but it can be a daunting task as well…
To be honest, many SAP managers feel pretty overwhelmed by the challenges. You too?
In this digital age, businesses need to have the capacity to evaluate large amounts of data, respond agilely to market changes, and accurately assess their financial situation. A process-oriented approach can assist you in avoiding common mistakes and building an optimal foundation for multidimensional and transparent reporting.
There are still two main problems:
Even while early implementations have been successful, many companies are still at the pure beginning of their S/4HANA transformation.
The German SAP User Group (DSAG) and GARTNER have noted that S/4HANA transformations without process orientation fail surprisingly often.
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Keeping these two challenges in mind, it is best to avoid a purely technical migration, such as from an SAP ECC system to S/4HANA. By employing a professional business process management (BPM) solution, you can decide which migration approach is best for your company based on its process situation and use a fit-gap analysis to match the current process landscape with the target image in S/4HANA.
With a prior process assessment, you can make sure that the new S/4HANA system actually fulfills current and future needs. Those who have already deeply dealt with transformations often complain about S/4HANA's lack of process simplification, automation, and transparency capabilities and have typically adapted their business model to center mainly on technical facets of the migration.
In addition to in-depth technical SAP knowledge, only very few professionals have a deep comprehension in the usage of business process management tools, which has augmented the fear of another complexity trap alongside S/4HANA.
To sum it up:
There is a diverse understanding between IT and functional departments of processual coherences leading to unclear demands. In addition you will discover a varied understanding of the content as well as the demarcations of processes and scope between functional departments causing even more confusion. Last but not least missing transparency and documentation result in complicated testing.
That is why a lot of fellow users long for an intuitive and affordable process management solution that can help them navigate the route to a successful S/4HANA transformation!
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Good news! The answer can be divided in a 4-step plan
Without a process-based view, ERP implementation or transformation projects are nearly doomed before the project starts. If the methods of process management are employed, the odds of a successful S/4HANA migration are quite high:
Quite often there is an absence of comprehension of
So, the objective is to set up a functional SAP system that meets all business requirements and incorporates the new technical possibilities of S/4HANA in the most ideal way. At the same time, decisive process enhancements should result in making the organization's own ERP processes faster and more effective.
Our recommendation: Precisely proceed in the best way with a process-oriented S/4HANA transformation with the following suggested 4-step plan:
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STEP 1: Documentation of business-relevant end-to-end processes
A complete comprehension of processes sets the base for a detailed description of system requirements and the following optimization of associated SAP workflows.
Therefore, the beginning of a successful S/4HANA transformation is generally the intense modeling of the process landscape by utilizing a professional process management tool that goes beyond the mere graphical functions of PowerPoint or Visio and relies on an underlying database.
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STEP 2: Linking process documentation with SAP solution manager
After Step 1, it is important to additionally provide the documented processes with technical process information from SAP. To do this, the selected process management software should have a suitable bi-directional interface to the SAP Solution Manager.
The result of merging the two worlds is a consistent process structure with all related SAP transactions: As a "single source of truth," it meets the technical requirements of SAP experts and developers as well as the functional requirements of business users.
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STEP 3: Performing a fit-gap analysis and deriving the target process
A detailed fit-gap analysis is the key part of requirements engineering and therefore very important for preparing and undertaking the S/4HANA transformation.
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By contrasting the current process landscape with the target image in S/4HANA, "fits" and potential "gaps" are discovered that need to be closed during the transformation. Consequently, technical requirements for the new SAP system can be determined precisely and the risk of incorrect configurations can be significantly reduced.
A professional BPM tool can easily answer these questions with a 360-degree view of SAP processes, which can only be mapped using BPM software.
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STEP 4: Evaluation of target processes using process simulation
To guarantee that your processes in S/4HANA run as effectively as possible and lead to the ideal outcome, you should test the processes utilizing a process simulation before implementation - BPM tools have incorporated simulation components that can be used for this purpose!
But for reasons of complexity, time and cost, many companies often restrict themselves to a mere technical migration of their SAP system and neglect crucial process optimizations. For an ERP conversion to be successful in terms of more valuable business processes in the future, a process-oriented approach is needed.
Our conclusion after a fast ride through this process-oriented SAP world:
Executing a successful SAP S/4HANA transformation definitely needs a process-oriented approach.
This involves end-2-end process documentation, fit-gap analysis, simulation and testing prior to implementing the new ERP system.
As an SAP expert you need to have a profound understanding of business processes as well as in-depth SAP knowledge. Consistently used and professional BPM tools will help you to achieve this.
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We at GBTEC with our wide knowledge and experience in various SAP projects know that process management in SAP S/4HANA projects can only be successful with a pragmatic approach and the inclusion of all project members.
In many of these projects we are confronted with new tasks, new responsibilities, new knowledge, and new skills and like this, the limit of the ?newly manageable“ is quickly reached.
This makes it even more important that BPM is seen not as an obstacle but as a big plus and an ultimate enabler of success.
GBTEC will gladly support you in creating the ideal prerequisites for a successful implementation of SAP S/4HANA for your corporation.
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Services at a glance:
Drafting a clear and structured process landscape with a cohesive documentation method and consistent granularity.
Definition of clear responsibilities and aligned process life cycles as well as support with their adherence.
Gearing of processual information with all other tools in use (wikis, test management software, project management software, etc.).
Setup of end-to-end views to clarify the integrative view at defined business scenarios and their IT-related support.
Documentation and structuring of the process landscape as method experts for process management.
Process-oriented scoping for the creation of blueprints. This involves the recording and documentation of processes to define requirements that are used for project management purposes.
You would like to get even more detailed information for a successful SAP S/4HANA transformation in your corporation?
Then visit our website and learn more via our whitepaper available in our Infohub!