Embracing the Cloud Mindset to Unlock the Potential of Cloud-Based ERP Solutions

"Clean Core" refers to an approach where a company's core SAP system (e.g., SAP S/4HANA) is kept as standard and free from customizations or modifications. The idea is to maintain a "clean" or standard version of the core system, avoiding unnecessary custom code, modifications, and complexity. This ensures that the system remains flexible, easier to upgrade, and supports best practices.

Key aspects of the clean core approach at SAP are:

• Minimal Customization & Faster Implementation: Focus on using standard SAP functionality rather than custom code, enabling quicker implementation at a lower cost and easier future upgrades.
• Simplified Maintenance & Maintainability: With fewer custom elements, the system is easier to maintain, troubleshoot, and modify, streamlining the codebase for better developer understanding.
• Better Support for Upgrades: A clean core simplifies adopting new features and updates, reducing compatibility issues with custom code during SAP updates.
• Cloud and SaaS-Friendly: Cloud-based solutions like SAP S/4HANA Cloud align with the clean core approach, relying on standardized configurations instead of deep customizations.
• Minimalism & Modularity: The clean core promotes simplicity by removing redundant functionalities and breaking the system into modular, loosely coupled components, improving adaptability and flexibility.
• Scalability, Stability & Reliability: A clean core architecture supports system growth without sacrificing performance, reduces dependencies, and minimizes bugs, ensuring better stability and reliability.

Overall, maintaining a clean core allows businesses to take full advantage of SAP's out-of-the-box capabilities and agility while minimizing the risk and cost associated with custom modifications, building ERP systems that drive productivity, stability, and long-term growth.

Fit-to-suite refers to a strategic approach that guides customers through a value-driven journey toward adopting SAP’s integrated cloud solution suite, with SAP S/4HANA as the digital core. This approach goes beyond implementation. It covers account planning, iterative engagement, and long-term transformation to help customers realize their target operating model using SAP’s full portfolio of cloud solutions.

Fit-to-suite considers both the customer’s current ("as-is") landscape and their future ("to-be") architecture, enabling a phased, insight-driven path to an optimized end state aligned with SAP’s reference architecture. A key part of this process is the use of the Digital Discovery Assessment (DDA) tool to support scoping conversations and prioritize transformation steps, or "switch motions", toward adopting SAP Business Suite.

• Strategic Journey Planning: Supports long-term transformation toward SAP’s integrated cloud solutions, including SAP S/4HANA, SAP SuccessFactors, SAP Ariba, and more.
• Use of the DDA Tool: Facilitates data-driven scoping to align transformation plans with business priorities.
• Prioritized Switch Motions: Helps identify and plan modular, phased transitions to SAP cloud solutions.
• Customer-Centric Evolution: Designed for continuous engagement, adapting to evolving needs across the customer journey.
• Cloud and Suite Mindset: Emphasizes simplification, standardization, and innovation by leveraging SAP’s cloud-native capabilities.

• Discovery & Assessment: Leverage DDA to assess the current landscape, strategic priorities, and future-state ambitions.
• Iterative Planning: Conduct transformation workshops to co-create and refine a roadmap toward the SAP cloud suite.
• Alignment to North Star Architecture: Define a target operating model centered around SAP S/4HANA and supporting cloud solutions.
• Switch Motions & Execution: Execute prioritized transitions, with flexibility to adapt based on business readiness and value potential.
• Value Realization & Optimization: Track outcomes, fine-tune adoption, and ensure continuous business value through innovation.

Fit-to-suite is about SAP and our partners guiding customers on a transformation journey that reduces complexity and accelerates innovation by embracing SAP’s next-generation cloud solutions, with SAP S/4HANA Cloud as the foundation. This approach ensures alignment to SAP’s industry best practices, simplifies customization and configuration, and delivers faster time-to-value through standardized, suite-based processes.

Fit-to-standard refers to an implementation approach where organizations adopt SAP’s pre-configured best practices instead of customizing the system extensively. This methodology is commonly used in SAP S/4HANA Cloud implementations and helps companies streamline deployment, reduce costs, and accelerate time to value.

• Adopt Best Practices: Instead of modifying the system to fit existing processes, companies align their processes with SAP’s industry best practices.
• Minimize Customization: Custom development is only done if absolutely necessary, reducing complexity and maintenance effort.
• Use Standard Configurations: SAP provides pre-configured business processes that are tested and optimized.
• Focus on Business Process Mapping: During workshops, business users review SAP’s standard processes and identify necessary adjustments.
• Agile and Faster Deployment: Fit-to-standard reduces implementation time compared to traditional customization-heavy approaches.

• Discovery & Preparation: Understand business needs and map them to SAP standard processes
• Fit-to-Standard Workshops: SAP consultants demonstrate standard processes, and business users validate if they meet requirements. Check out Preparing for Fit-to-Standard Workshops for more details.
• Gap Analysis: Identify areas where standard processes don’t fully meet business needs and assess whether workarounds or extensions are needed
• Configuration & Testing: Configure the system using SAP’s standard options and test for business readiness
• Deployment & Adoption: Train users and go live with minimal customizations

The fit-to-standard approach is a core principle in SAP Activate, SAP’s implementation methodology for cloud and on-premise solutions. It ensures organizations leverage SAP’s expertise while reducing the risk and cost of complex customizations.

Cloud mindset, fit-to-suite, fit-to-standard, and clean core principles work together to drive efficiency, agility, and innovation in cloud-based ERP solutions like SAP S/4HANA Cloud. Here's how they align:

• Adopting cloud-native thinking, focusing on scalability, agility, and continuous innovation rather than heavy customization
• Encourages embracing best practices rather than replicating old, on-premise workflows
• Supports regular updates and innovation cycles in a cloud environment.

• Ensures that custom extensions do not modify SAP’s core code, making future upgrades smoother
• Instead of core modifications, businesses should use SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP), APIs, and side-by-side extensibility.
• This keeps the system maintainable, reducing technical debt and ensuring compatibility with SAP updates.

• Provides a strategic roadmap to guide customers toward SAP’s integrated cloud solutions, with SAP S/4HANA Cloud as the digital core
• Uses tools like the Digital Discovery Assessment (DDA) to assess the current landscape and prioritize modular transformation steps
• Enables faster value realization and innovation by aligning to SAP’s target architecture and reducing long-term complexity

• SAP provides predefined, industry-standard best practices that customers should adopt instead of customizing heavily.
• Fit-to-standard encourages businesses to configure the system to match their needs rather than modifying core SAP code.
• Workshops during implementation help businesses align processes with SAP’s best practices.

• A cloud mindset encourages businesses to embrace innovation and agility, enabling faster adaptation to new technologies and market changes.
• A clean core guarantees system stability, reduces customizations, and makes upgrades seamless, ensuring long-term cost-effectiveness and reliability.
• Fit-to-suite helps organizations strategically align their transformation journey, ensuring smoother adoption of SAP’s integrated cloud solutions and faster value realization through phased, modular changes.
• Fit-to-standard ensures companies utilize SAP’s best practices, minimizing complexity and aligning with proven processes for more efficient operations.
• Together, these principles drive digital transformation, lower IT costs, and enhance business resilience within SAP’s cloud ecosystem.