The year 2015 witnessed the launch of the SAP S/4HANA solution. The solution can be equipped with all the advanced technologies you can seek in an ERP solution. Following this launch, SAP announced that support for the legacy SAP ECC solution would end by 2025. However, this deadline is now extended till 2027 for many different reasons.
Nonetheless, SAP customers were quick to get to the point that they soon had to migrate to the SAP S/4HANA solution. But migrating to a new ERP solution is always much easier said than done. This got much thinking about the ideal methodology for SAP S/4HANA migration.
But there is hardly a single methodology that serves everyone. Different businesses and organisations have different requirements. Yet here are some pointers you can leverage to facilitate a successful transformation to SAP S/4HANA.
1. Define the Primary Ingredients of the Transformation
Migrating to a new ERP solution means organisation-wide disruption impacting every aspect of the business. As a result, it becomes imperative to have a well-defined plan to go through with the transformation. In this plan, you need to describe every ingredient or aspect needed to facilitate a successful transformation to Accely’s SAP S/4HANA.
So, it is better if you start by understanding the perks you can derive from cloud technology. There are many perks, such as enhanced visibility, seamless data utilisation, driving better innovation, and more. Following this, inform stakeholders about the transformation and spark an interest in them. Never undermine the significance of effective communication when it comes to SAP S/4HANA transformation.
Furthermore, you can facilitate a Transformation Excellence Centre to augment your efforts for solution design, reusability, training, and more. Besides that, the centre can also help you facilitate effective group purchasing and risk management.
Finally, you need to establish a practical model for managing the transformation project. There are many different project models people use these days to facilitate a smooth transition to SAP S/4HANA. So, it is recommended you weigh all your alternatives and pick the project model that best serves the distinct requirements of your business. Once you have a model in place, you can choose the agile approach and facilitate effortless transformation.
2. Leverage Effective Business Leadership
SAP S/4HANA migration is a complex process that drains a lot of time and effort from the business end. As a result, it becomes very easy to find oneself lost in between where anything does not make sense anymore. Such adversity can have severely detrimental implications for the overall migration process.
Thus, the best way to deal with such challenges is to have effective leadership to guide you and help you navigate through all complexities. Seek assistance from business leaders to get a practical approach for your SAP S/4HANA migration. Besides that, leaders know what is best for the organisation, so it becomes much easier for them to choose the right approach to drive organisation-wide transformation.
The other thing you need to keep in mind is business needs, and not technology alone must drive that transformation. When you focus on addressing your business needs, finding the right tools and practices that serve your business requirements becomes easier. Additionally, this will help you review your business processes and understand how SAP S/4HANA can address them. Focus on key aspects such as outcomes, key roles, processes, experiences, and, most importantly, data.
3. Leverage Transition Options
Every business needs to leverage a different approach toward its SAP S/4HANA transformation. This is important because different businesses have unique requirements based on their industry and the status of the SAP system. Nonetheless, that does not mean all these approaches are always very different from each other.
Instead, there are always some core principles that make SAP S/4HANA transformation a business project for everyone. Thus, you need to keep in mind that your ERP solution is competent enough to serve the future requirements of your business. Apart from that, you need to get a detailed understanding of your existing business processes. This will help ensure you need to carry the previous bottlenecks into new systems.
For instance, you can start with a brand-new implementation model that simplifies SAP S/4HANA implementation for your business. Following this, you need to take a smarter approach to data migration. This means leveraging selective data transition, where you let go of unnecessary data that will clutter your new system. However, you can also choose to keep your historical data and investments in the SAP S/4HANA solution extensions.
4. Focus on Communication
The final thing you need to keep in mind is never to undermine the significance of facilitating effective communication with everyone involved in the process. Business leaders have the potential to either make or break a transformation such as this. So, focus your efforts on generating awareness about the solution and providing people with the necessary training opportunities.
When you communicate with your people effectively, it automatically aids in enhancing commitment among people. This also helps keep people around you motivated and inspired enough to go through with the transformation. Also, do not delegate these communications but make sure you are personally involved in the process. This will enhance your reliability, helping you drive effortless transformation.
Effective training and communication will keep everyone informed about the changes they can expect in the coming times. Remember, the people driving or facilitating the transformation are also your people, so you need to focus your efforts on helping them with the transformation. Informing them about ways the transformation will impact their job or tasks can go a long way in facilitating an effective and seamless transformation to the SAP S/4HANA solution.
Final Thoughts
SAP S/4HANA transformation will always be complex, but that does not mean one cannot go through with it. Be mindful of the aforementioned tactics and tips to simplify tour SAP HANA migration with no hassle. Besides that, you can even seek assistance from SAP experts to help you with the transition.
