Why all the fuss around SAP S/4HANA? The problem of landscape strategy is more important now than it has ever been. Customers are completely fed up with complex, real-time, compartmentalized judgement, and are searching for ways to streamline their business operations. Customers prefer the four-pronged approach of optimizing business processes and landscapes, improving fit-to-standard scenarios, establishing extensions and IP on the SAP Cloud Platform, and building microservices on top of a solid foundation.

SAP S/4HANA is slowly gaining traction among businesses, even those with billion-dollar budgets. Rather than debating whether SAP S/4HANA is the route to go, they are instead analyzing the integration’s impacts, time, and prices. Businesses with an existing SAP landscape aren’t the only ones considering a shift to SAP S/4HANA; non-SAP ERP businesses are also considering it. CXO’s are seriously considering implementing intelligent technology from the start, expecting to see instant commercial benefits rather than waiting for a long, expensive, or hazardous transition.

The proper solution blends a “normal” SAP S/4HANA implementation to serve core-harmonized businesses with cutting-edge technologies to stand out right now. Moreover, Digital Transformation, a buzzword these days, refers to the process of integrating digital technology into all aspects of a company. The description changes depending on who you ask and what position they play in a company, but the end goals are consistent:

  • Find new ways to provide value to customers 
  • Enhance the efficiency of corporate processes 
  • Increase revenue year after year

What’s all the fuss around SAP S/4HANA?

SAP, like most firms, is portraying S/4HANA, a suite of programs that “enables enterprises to establish a clear route toward the digital economy,” as their answer to digital transformation for its clients. Although SAP S/4HANA is supposed to be simple to use, the road to achieving full value from S/4 HANA transformation projects is fraught with challenges, with security being at the top of the list.

If you have legacy SAP systems and are unsure whether or not to migrate to S/4HANA, SAP has decided for you. SAP will stop supporting all legacy SAP applications by 2025. The clock is ticking, and you must begin planning for S/4HANA as soon as possible.

So, what would the SAP expiry date of 2025 mean for businesses?

SAP will focus primarily on S/4HANA in 2025, and its existing maintenance programme for outdated systems will be phased out. Customers of SAP will no longer get any security or other upgrades.

Although it remains to be seen whether SAP moves the goalposts and extends the timeframe for ending support for legacy systems, the migration to S/4HANA is unavoidable. Any company that isn’t sure what to do next shouldn’t panic, but they should think about what they’re about to do to be maintained after the deadline.

What role do security and compliance play in this transition?

Allow security to be an enabler rather than an obstacle as you begin your path to S/4 HANA. Organizations that include security at the outset of migration can save up to 5x the resources and are more likely to stay in compliance during and after the move.

So, what are your migration choices if you want to stay secure and compliant? Before you begin your S/4 HANA migration journey, consider the following three essential options.

Insights about SAP S/4HANA Migration:

You are not alone if you have not yet begun your migration to S/4HANA. According to the SAP corporate fact sheet released in January, the company has over 400k customers. It’s hard to comprehend that all of these customers have already made the switch to S/4HANA.

A huge number of businesses are still unsure or have yet to begin. We estimate that there will be 100x more project activities for S/4 migrations after Sapphire 2019. SAP is doing everything it can to get legacy clients to adopt S/4HANA by 2025, and to their credit, they’ve given everyone a ten-year head start.

1. There are several S/4HANA implementation pathways from which to pick.

  • A new implementation

Use this strategy if you’re new to SAP ERP or wish to re-implement your SAP core solution from scratch. 

  • Conversion of the system

Use this strategy if you’re an existing SAP customer who wishes to upgrade to the latest SAP S/4HANA system. Legacy environments must be completely migrated for this project.

  • Transformation of the Landscape

Use this strategy if you’re a large company with multiple SAP and non-SAP ERP systems that you want to consolidate into a single global instance. This method ensures that your company’s IT strategy is in conformity with the organizational vision and saves money.

  • Implementation using a hybrid approach

Hybrid implementation is a good option if you want to ease into the transition. In a staged manner, various SAP systems are moved to a new S/4HANA system. The firm would maintain existing legacy ERP systems during this installation; however, S/4 would be used to get a foot in the door. 

2. The deployment options for S/4 HANA are determined by the type of business and the company’s objectives.

On-premise deployment gives you complete control over your application’s infrastructure and software, as well as maintenance schedules, allowing you to continue doing business as usual. SAP S/4HANA 1809: September 2018 is the most recent on-premises release, and SAP HANA 2.0 SPS 03 is the most recent version of the HANA database.

Microsoft Azure, HANA Enterprise Cloud, Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud Platform are all cloud possibilities.

  • The Private Cloud 

Cloud providers provide infrastructure as a service (IaaS) in this deployment style, but you are still in charge of administering the application and deploying security fixes.

  • The Public Cloud

SAP fully hosts and administers your environment with this Software as a Service (SaaS) offering.

  • Deployment in a Hybrid Mode

This deployment method combines on-premise and cloud instances. Many businesses choose this deployment option because it allows them to tailor and expedite company innovation.

SAP S/4HANA Cloud 1902: February 2019 is the most recent version of SAP S/4HANA cloud releases, while SAP HANA 2.0 SPS 03 is the latest current update version of the HANA database.

3. SAP Activate offers two deployment strategies or frameworks to choose from:

• You can use an agile method to save time and effort. 

• You can use a typical waterfall delivery technique to save time and effort, but it will take more time and effort.

Customers may severely decrease their access to SAP innovations by postponing the transition to SAP S/4HANA in a traditional V-cycle strategy. Why should buyers, on the other hand, employ traditional recipes with new ingredients?

In any of the common scenarios – having non-SAP legacy systems and considering a move to SAP S/4HANA, having a mix of non-SAP and SAP systems and thinking of moving to SAP S/4HANA, or merely having SAP systems only and considering a move to SAP S/4HANA – a smart approach, backed by a strong application suite and agile methods, can produce quick performance with much less threat.

Do you have a lengthy and complicated roadmap with unclear business benefits? Are you perplexed by a plethora of SAP tools and accelerators that aren’t integrated with your environment and don’t scale? Do you anticipate more rapid changes with immediate business benefits? Do you want to simplify things while increasing differentiation? To make the most of your time and energy, and to discover more, do not hesitate to Lineris Solutions. We make sure your business is covered now and in the future.