SAP S/4 HANA Transformation, the Solution for the new ERA disruptions and the Journey to the new Intelligent tech.

Introduction

As the technology continues moving forward and the companies keep facing disruptive conditions, they need to move ahead of the technology curve, and the existing ERP cannot remain behind. If the pace of the technology changes continues, then you will need a new-age ERP system that is easy to scale, cloud-native, and more user-centric than ever. Many SAP customers are currently faced with the decision to switch to SAP S/4HANA.

SAP S/4HANA was originally released as a next-generation financial solution in 2014 Right after SAP experiments created HANA, in-memory computing with Business Suite on HANA (SOH) in 2013. In 2016, logistics functionality was introduced to SAP S/4HANA in four key areas: sourcing and procurement, manufacturing, supply chain, and asset management.

SAP S/4HANA is the new intelligent business suite from SAP. The ERP software (ERP = Enterprise Resource Planning) supports all business processes of a company and technologically replaces the previous Enterprise Core Components (ECC) of SAP Business Suite.

The New Architecture of SAP S/4HANA operates on top of HANA DB, using the new concept of in-memory tables, with simplified data models and embedded analytics. Time-consuming processes, such as period-end closing, can now be done very fast. SAP S/4HANA brought about many innovations over its older sibling. Key changes included the development of a brand-new code base; utilization of SAP HANA’s in-memory computing architecture, providing the ability to access real-time business statistics and analytics, and the convergence of transactional and analytical systems.

The Move to S/4 Hana is to move to the latest ERP generation of SAP and represent a great solution for the companies to optimize their processes through the innovative functionalities that come with it, and SAP is constantly updating.

SAP S/4 Hana New functionality

S/4HANA is the new digital core and intelligent business suite from SAP. This new solution, alongside, the SAP HANA data base, the SAP Fiori user interface, and the SAP Business technology platform (BTP), bring to the table of the ERP solution technology, an extraordinary opportunity for the Companies to improve their current ERP and evolve through the new difficult path of disruptions and fast change of new technology.

In a nutshell, what makes SAP S/4 Hana an extraordinary solution is:

• HANA is a database that uses in-memory database technology that allows the processing of massive amounts of real-time data in a short time.
• S/4HANA fights complexity by simplifying data models, processes, and the user interface. For instance, The Universal Journal allowed financials users to access a single source of financial truth where both financial and management accounting documents were stored. This led to better reporting, easier access to KPIs utilized by managers, and cockpits tailored to specific end users to help them make more informed decisions.
• SAP Fiori applications were introduced to provide a better user experience for employees, giving them greater insight into operations and business data in ways that existing T-codes could not.
• The SAP BTP, working in the framework guidelines based on the SAP Cloud Platform, provides the new intelligent solutions that help to work in a collaborative environment and help the companies to adapt quicker to the changes.
• Relieving the users through artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. Reusable services facilitate the integration of artificial intelligence into business processes. Employees have more options for automating tasks and accessing contextual information.

SAP S/4HANA Transformation Journey

Start Point/Pre-assessment/Phase 0

For most companies or SAP customers, it should be helpful at the beginning to get a clear internal picture of the current situation and the rough objective. In fact, this process is the base for the implementation/transformation success. In the case that the company is already using SAP, probably the ERP landscape has grown heterogeneously, often over 10 years or more, with many customer-specific functional enhancements and coupled to various peripheral systems. Furthermore, probably, there are various constellations of ERP landscapes (single system approach, geographically split, functionally distributed, etc.) which increase the overall complexity of SAP S/4HANA transformation. The critical point is now to capture the overall landscape and divide it into individual segments or clusters. These clusters provide an improved overview, equalization of the time axes and the complexity drivers. It is like divide the cake in small pieces, so we can eat it. Once formed, these clusters can form separate strategic directions (and roadmaps). In addition, it is very important and helpful to involve the business as early as possible. At this stage, it is not yet talked about a possible (technical) solution framework, but the high-level business requirements queried. If necessary, strategic business requirements can have an impact on our roadmap. We must make sure, that the right stakeholders are seating at the table and involve in the process of transformation to S/4.

Project management

The migration to SAP S/4HANA is not only a technical upgrade of the ERP system, but also necessitates a realignment of business processes. The extensive changes that accompany the introduction of SAP S/4HANA must be supported by the entire organization and moderated accordingly. Efficient change management ensures that employees embrace the change and that the full benefits of SAP S/4HANA can be realized.

SAP S/4 Hana Development options

The Development of SAP S/4HANA implementation journey could be executed by two option or implementation approaches: Greenfield implementation focuses on the development of objects from scratch, with initial data load. The greenfield approach is a new implementation of the ERP landscape. It offers the opportunity to set up the system anew on a green field, so to speak, and to break up old structures by questioning and redesigning all processes and custom developments. Brownfield implementation focuses on the migration of development objects from the existing SAP instance.

Deployment editions.

The On-Premise Editions follow native SAP S/4HANA development guidelines. An SAP S/4HANA on-premise deployment encompasses traditional in-house IT infrastructure models. This deployment model describes an instance of SAP S/4HANA that is physically hosted on customer property. The Cloud Editions follow the extensibility framework guidelines based on the SAP Cloud Platform. provides SAP S/4HANA functionality by placing a customer’s instance of the solution on a partitioned cloud server alongside other customers. The functional scope is limited due to its standardized setup.

Scope

In the SAP S/4HANA implementation journey, one of the more important steps is outline the scope. The first step in that direction is SAP S/4HANA assessment. The objective for the SAP S/4HANA assessment exercise is to calibrate how well you know your business (and associated ERP aspects) in terms of important customizations and how they will transform as you switch to SAP S/4HANA.

Data conversion

Data conversion is an essential part of your SAP S/4HANA project. In a Greenfield implementation, data conversion means the extraction, transformation, and loading of your legacy data into SAP S/4HANA. In a Brownfield migration, then the data conversion process is much simpler, as you need to migrate data from the source SAP ERP system to SAP S/4HANA

• Data conversion consists of three main phases: extraction, transformation, and load. Besides, there is the process of data cleansing and validation.
• SAP recommends SAP Data Services (DS) and Rapid Data Migration (RDM) as the primary data conversion tool for SAP S/4HANA.

Testing

The primary objective of testing in SAP S/4HANA should be to ensure there is no negative impact to current system design and performance. Testing for SAP S/4HANA is unique as compared to any ERP-based transformations. SAP Fiori provides an entirely new approach in the SAP user experience (UX), in terms of dashboards and apps. It means that testing should be done for functionality as well as performance, for each FIORI app you enable.

Security

As part of the SAP S/4HANA implementation, you design the security roles in a manner that supports compliance objectives of your organization. Security role design should be efficient to maintain and enable the least privilege principle stated earlier.

Organizational Change Management in S/4HANA

SAP S/4HANA implementation is often the biggest project an organization will undertake. It changes the way the organization works with internal as well as external stakeholders. Such changes will lead to the desired level of adoption if and only if they are fully understood and well articulated during SAP S/4HANA implementation. Managing this change effectively is the core objective OCM.

SAP Fiori

SAP Fiori is the latest user experience (UX) for SAP software and applications. It provides a set of applications that are used in regular business functions like work approvals, financial apps, calculation apps and various self-service apps. SAP Fiori provides access to SAP systems on all devices, not only via desktop or notebook but also on mobile devices, such as, tablets, and smartphones. The SAP Fiori concept is fundamentally a simplification of the user experience relying on modern design principles such as role-based, responsive, simple, coherent, and delightful.

In my opinion, SAP Fiori simplifies doing business. SAP Fiori sets the standard for enterprise user experience by removing unnecessary complexity. We put users in control of their business tasks by giving them only what they really need. This is reflected in the five design principles already mentioned.

SAP BTP

SAP BTP is a platform that provides us a variety of solutions such as database, data warehouse, analytics, integration, and programming tools. The customers can make use of this platform to fulfil their business requirements without the complexity of building & maintaining the infrastructure associated with developing and launching these applications.

It is basically a Platform as a Service (PaaS). SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) is a technology platform that includes four technology portfolios: database and data management, application creation and integration, and advanced technologies. This platform allows users to convert data value into business value, build comprehensive business processes from start to finish, and quickly create and expand SAP applications.

Advantages of SAP BTP:

• SAP BTP is the product that SAP provides to create a connected, data-driven ecosystem. It allows end-to-end connectivity and transaction management to support digital business models.
• This platform gives the fastest response time to meet the ever-changing needs of enterprise customers.
• SAP BTP helps enterprises to grow, manage their data, and drive innovation across their entire organization all in one place.
• SAP BTP allows HANA in-memory capabilities as well as Core Platform services. ? Provides a business-focused intelligent technology microservice that can be quickly established, integrated, and expanded.

How we collaborate as SAP consultants

My vision in any engagement is to become a better Transformation Leader and put my focus on business-led transformation. As a consultants we help clients transform their businesses - taking advantage of changes in technology to redesign their processes and reimagine the way they operate. Any consultant has created his experienced way to apply a SAP S/4HANA implementation methodology. Always based on SAP Activate, each consultant methodology, incorporates key differentiators, such as the approach , use of industry accelerators and the Change Experience for SAP. This provides us with a consistent and standard approach in the way we deliver to our clients helping then to make the business case and develop the roadmap for a for a successful business transformation.

Conclusion

The move to SAP S/4HANA offers companies the opportunity to adapt their ERP landscape to new, future-proof structures and business models. As the digital core of the Intelligent Enterprise, SAP S/4HANA provides the technological basis for companies to control end-to-end processes – across departmental and company boundaries. The migration to SAP S/4HANA is not only a technical upgrade of the ERP system, but also necessitates a realignment of business processes. The extensive changes that accompany the introduction of SAP S/4HANA must be supported by the entire organization and moderated accordingly. Efficient change management ensures that employees embrace the change and that the full benefits of SAP S/4HANA can be realized. I, as a consultant, think that the introduction of SAP S/4HANA is a complex project, because it has an impact on almost all a company’s business processes. Only with optimized processes can the possibilities of SAP S/4HANA be fully exploited. Therefore, the migration should be ideally accompanied by a digital business transformation, in which processes are adapted to current requirements. In this way, companies benefit on the one hand from all the functionalities and technologies that SAP S/4HANA offers, and on the other hand position themselves for the future and secure their competitiveness.

The have to leverage the SAP Activate methodology and convert it in a transformative methodology that take a people-centric, data-driven, and value-focused approach, that help the clients to implement the S/4 Hana transformation in the best way based on the transformative principles of cross-functional working & Team in which all workstreams work together and the client plays an active role in design & development of the solution.